VLM

Got the insurance cheque through. After some discussion, and pointing out it had the Aero pack on it, the valuation came out at £3100. My excess had to come off that. The assessor apparently said the car was top book. Insurance was with Tesco, who I have to say were very good in all respects. Fortunately there happens to be two temporarily spare cars at work so I've been knocking about in an A4 TDI and a Touran. A4 very competent but uninspiringly remote control. Still the 55mpg is impressive. Took a while to get used to 6th gear = 1000rpm at 40mph. Some difference from the IS. Still looking for a replacement, obvious choice is another IS of course. Flirting with the idea of a Merc C class, but for sure the IS will be a lot less trouble by the sounds of it. Besides I like to keep a low profile. Plus the IS is about the last 6-cyl car you can buy. My budget could just stretch into new IS territory. I'd want the 250 petrol - no offence to diesels, I've had several in the past, but these days they seem to be trouble as they get older. I've said I want at least 5 cylinders, or a turbo, preferably both (I'll be changing my Volvo when the time comes to the V70 T5 - or the Subaru Legacy Outback 3.0 flat 6 - but I digress)... Interestingly my insurance claim does not seem to have made much difference to my insurance premiums - I tried a few cars out on Confused.com. A Saab 9-3 Aero (210bhp) added about 10 quid.

The police didn't say anything, but they've seen it all before and no doubt thought quiet road, guy just taking it too fast, classic oversteer single-vehicle accident. Obviously I was going too fast - too fast for that tyre for sure. I was going the speed most people go round the roundabout. I was in fourth gear at 20 mph, and the skid happened accelerating out the other side at I reckon 30mph in 4th. It's all slightly downhill. Usually the road is busier and I'm in lane 2 in third at that point. I was not pushing it. If the tyre was on the front it would have run wide and with lane 2 being empty I would have got away with it. I've been beating myself up about how I drive. Am I a twit? I've a wife and three kids, no claims is 15ys+. I drove to work yesterday in my Volvo, taking every corner nice and slow. Nice set of Bridgestone A001s on the back of that. Never ever budged.

It looked soft/low yesterday - put the gauge on it to find it was 15psi. Found a nail in it. So I changed the wheel in a car park and put the spare on, which was at 31psi, and drove home last night. I was going to get it repaired tonight - nail was in the centre tread.

I lost control of the car today, spun, hit a lamppost backwards. I totally and utterly blame a tyre...yesterday my rear offside tyre looked soft, I checked the pressure with a gauge I carry in the car, 15psi, checked the spare – 31psi – put the spare on. Spare is a Fullrun, looks new. This morning, exiting a wet roundabout at normal speeds, the back spun out. I couldn't control it, went sideways, full brakes (I was aware that the ABS was not pulsing, presumably it thought the car was stopped), then along the grass/gravel verge backwards, grass and stones flying past the windows, and bang... stopped. Got out to see the lampost on its side. Rang 101 on the mobile, Police came, who were very helpful and corteous, did the obligatory breath test etc, waited for the recovery vehicle and then dropped me off at work. Recovery driver managed to drive it up the ramp but car was crabbing sideways about 20 degrees. A total loss I'd think you'd agree. I'm a tyre snob. I had (or did) have Vredestien Quatrac 3s on back, their grip was excellent, almost sucking the road. The front (Goodyear Efficientgrips) always gave way first, even under power. So this useless get-me-home Fullrun has cost me the car. I'm evidently not the only one to dislike Fullruns: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Fullrun/HP199.htm As fellow car enthusiasts you will understand the annoyance of losing what is an excellent car, and one that will become a minor classic in time. Mine was 100% stock OEM, unmodified in excellent condition, just 55kmiles. I'd got it mechanically perfect, it was just needing a little cosmetic on the front, planned for this spring. It was a lovely precise drive, and powerful enough for me. Well the car did well in it's final milliseconds, all doors opened and shut afterwards, airbags did not deploy as going backwards I suppose. I'm really not sure what the impact speed was, probably about 15mph at actual impact. I have a little whiplash I think, sore lower abdomen and lower left back (seat bolster I think), left shoulder, left wrist. Nothing too bad, I'll check in with a doctor tomorrow. Interestingly no other drivers stopped. A van driver laughed and pointed as he went past. Thanks. You do feel a right twit.

I've never of course tried mine on 17s - at first I thought the 18s would be too harsh a ride but I'm impressed with the IS's suspension - it rides a whole lot better than the Honda Jazz it replaced (the Jazz doesn't really have any suspension!). Does the car behave better on 17s? I'm not a fan of too-low profile tyres, but the 18s weren't as skitty or tramliney as I feared.

That's a decent mileage! How's it running? These cars can apparently take the mileage, but not many do, as long distance drivers tend to buy diesels. It would be interesting to find out what's been done to it over the years.

Do the IS250 wheels fit straight on, nothing required?

Since the handbrake works in separate drum I would think a rewind tool is not necessary - but not done it (yet) myself.

It's been on the front and now the back. No vibration. There wasn't that weight on it when I had the new tyres fitted - I do remember a very slight vibration on the old tyres, but not enough to bother. I must be borderline getting away with it. If a wheel is out of true, how can you tell - is it DIY measurable?

I've got the Aeros, last time I had tyres one of them needed 90g of weights added. It's all spot on to drive. The spare looks in good nick but don't know if it's out of balance.

I've had 498 miles to a tank. Now you've set down a challenge! They do well in steady conditions, I reckon it takes 30 miles to fully warm up the drivetrain etc. What tyres are you on? Does anyone think "eco" tyres make any difference?

Funny, I prefer the 11 spokers. The 5's are too open for my liking. But I have the 18" "Aeros" which look the best, and not too open. I don't like the super-skinnies that look like a pair slippers!

It seems to be urban driving that kills mpg. After 6 months of ownership, my average is 34mpg and I get 420-450 miles till the light goes on. But I rarely drive in the town. Best is 36mpg, never had less than 31. I'm a fairly brisk driver but no speed freak. Remember it's the brake pedal that costs fuel, not the loud pedal (unless you hammer it). Just don't slow down for corners - no need to in an IS!

That looks like the No.2 arm bushes - the diagonal one. I replaced the No.1 arm - the track control arm I suppose, with the camber adjusting bolts. With the new arms and the WIM settings now applied, the car is rock steady on the motorway and very precise to steer. I'm on 18" wheels. Nothing seems to push the car off course, no bumps, no corners, no sidewinds. Recommended!

The Torque app itself is excellent, I went and paid for the "pro" version 'cos I thought the guy earned his money. The reliability of the interface is all down to the bluetooth (or other) adapter itself. The cheap ebay ones are "ripped" ones, I don't know how you'd even buy an official one. Anyway they seem to work generally. Remember the bluetooth adapter is a protocol converter - it converts the Torque app's OBD2 messages, received over a bluetooth transmission, into to one of the OBD2 electrical formats - the adapter doesn't need to understand the message itself, just forward it on. It should be a transparent interface between the car and phone.

Yep mine's a bluetooth. It's completely unbranded so I've no idea who made it. And I can't find it in my Amazon order history so maybe it was ebay... It was about £10.

I bought ADL Bluprint lower suspension arms from http://www.livingstonautoparts.co.uk/Service-Parts/Groups.aspx for about £90 each. They also have cheaper ones. I'm understand Blueprint to be a good part. I had to have new arms prior to getting the wheel alignment changed to WIM settings, as the camber adjusting bolts (that go through the bushes) were rusted solid and it was not possible to get them out without ruining the bushes. Also needed new camber adjusting bolts, about £25 a side from Lexus. Note the new arms/bushes improved the car noticeably, this was prior to the WIM alignment settings being applied. The old bushes were "fine" from an MOT persepctive.

I have exactly the same thing as well. Thought I had an ABS fault but realised the light was only on when the bluetooth adapter was in. Has anyone tried plugging it in after the engine has been started? I've always plugged it in, then turned the ignition on.

If you have an Android phone, you can use an app called "Torque", coupled with a bluetooth/OBD2 adapter (£10 ebay/amazon) and you can read and reset the fault codes. It works - done it myself (once when I left the air temp sensor unplugged).

According to the maintenance manual/CD you can get it to flash the ABS code to you. You disconnect a short pin in the "Check Connector" under the bonnet, link two others and it will flash ABS light as a code. Page DI-223 of the Lexus manual/CD. Never tried it myself. Note that when I plug in my OBD2 Bluetooth thingy it puts the ABS light on! unplug it and it's fine again. I thought I had a problem until I realised the light only came on when the OBD2 was plugged in. Must be a well dodgy bluetooth adapter I have...

I love the Volvo 5cyl engines - sound better than a 6, and since a diesel horsepower is better than a petrol one, 200bhp will feel quick. I think the Volvo 190hp petrol LPT would fit lovely in the IS200, or the T5 of course. There's an excellent Volvo forum - one of the most useful car forums I've come across - http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/. If you're a speed freak check out http://www.T5D5.org.

Did my cambelt yesterday. Got the belt kit (belt and tensioner) from Lexus Birmingham's ebay site (£95 delivered). Didn't change the idler. Got coolant from Toyota dealer (a whopping £60 for 10litres!, but only used 5 - expecting 7 - presumably because I never drained the heater block). My old belt was 10yrs and 55000 miles. Worn on the edges, and stretched by half a tooth. Had to turn the camshaft forward, which was not something I was expecting. Checked a thousand times, but all the timing marks line up and she runs perfectly.

With the engine at idle, the alternator is having to keep up the 14 odd volts at a slow rpm. Add a high electrical load and it can struggle at the IS's slow 600 rpm idle. Does the voltage come up to normal by about 1000rpm? Most cars idle at 800-1000 rpm and the alternator can handle this. I've noticed on mine that with all the electrics on the voltage dips a bit on idle. Sounds like the alternator's not the problem, but something else is loading the electrics.

I've got an old V70 (1998) and it's been the best car I've had (possibly pipped by the Lexus, it does drive a bit sharper). What year is your new one? The '08 onwards looks a classy car - I'll be having one of those in about 10 years time. Interestingly when I test drove the Lexus it reminded me of the Volvo.

Sounds like the one I bought a few weeks ago. Mine has the TTE body kit and Aero wheels. My front bumper is pretty chipped. I like the wheels, I think they have a certain bulk to them - not too keen on those skinny alloys you see about. I really don't know exactly what mine is called - I thought Sport just meant the runout models in 2005 so I was obviously wrong there...