cheeky

Well a few weeks on, the mystery is sorted!! That little rocker switch is an on/off switch for the rear parking sensors!

Well guys, I'll report back when I know! Got a work stint for 6 weeks abroad now then back and she'll be in for a service not long after. They can go figure..! Ha!

It's weird actually... A one owner car, older chap, very low miles for age and full Lex history... Strange...

Just tried that... Nope, but thanks. Well, it's definitely wired into something as I can see black and red wired clipped neatly to the main loom running under the jack. Being an electrical menace I'm loathed to strip it back much further so I'll probably just ask the garage what they think when it goes in for a service.

Bingo!

Right it's not appeared has it.. Only got the Iphone to hand at the mo, will upload from laptop in a bit!

Ok here it is... Top left showing the red side. It's located above the flap for the jack on the LH side. Tried it on and off with the radio on and it makes no difference. Cheers for any help.

Hi All,

I've looked in the handbook and no answer there so apologies if I'm being very thick... But, on the RH side boot carpet of the IS200 saloon, there is a small rocker switch I noticed today. Press down and it is painted red, other way, black. Looks factory fitted to my eyes. So... Any ideas?

Lovely, thanks... I'll have this done at service time in the early Autumn.

This is weird. The brakes on my IS200 are excellent and work well. The discs look good and pads still have wear. However, if the car changes direction, in other words if going forwards and then reversed up a bit or vice versa, there is a loud metallic clank from one of the front wheels. Usually this only happens once after the change of direction. Then all is silent and all is well. Any bright ideas? If not ill get it checked at the service in 2000 miles time. Cheers all.

Yep. I think I'll bung it in autotrader over the summer and see if it gets any interest. The car is in outstanding condition so hopefully things should work out. Just depends if anyone wants to part with £15 - £16k for a used car. Still full warranty though I suppose.

Thanks for the words of wisdom guys.

Yep -- it's on a PCP scheme. Not too bad at the outset so I thought. £16k is the agreed settlement figure so I may advertise privately and see if I can get near that. Still staggered they could only give me £14k and then tell me Astral Black and Oakham trim was 'not a great colour combination'. That was after they described it as 'stunning' when I put the order in. Don't you just love salesman bullsh*t?!

Don't think I'm ever going to use car finance again if I've been stung. Did the usual checks though - Lowish APR, haggled £1000 off purchase price. I bet the pricey sat nav option has let me down here. At £2500 in March '04 it was a pricey extra.

I got one hell of a shock at the weekend. Went to have my 04 IS200 SE (with DVD Nav) 14k miles valued as I'm going to need more boot space etc.

Lexus could only offer me £14k top whack as a cash buyer, and an independent garage said max. £13.5k to trade for a car on his forecourt. Really peeved as even with a good initial deposit I still have nearly £16k as a settlement figure. Similar cars are still advertised at £17k on Lex forecourts.

They claim that used IS's are very difficult to shift with the new model coming out soon, but that valuation left me very surprised.

If anyone seriously wants an 04 Astral Black/Oakham trim manual SE spec with Sat Nav and can make a serious offer of £15k PM me.

Other than that I'll have to struggle on until the finance 'half-way' point (10 months!!!) when I can just hand it back. If anyone knows of another solution, let me know.

Cheers guys and sorry for the long post.

The 6th gear is great for motorway driving especially when you've got the compressor kit fitted

I think that 6th should be higher. It's still spinning at 3-4000 rpm at motorway speeds whereas most other cars in the IS class are much lower and more relaxed. The close ratio box is good - but I do think 6th sould be tailored more as a cruising gear. Hardly any difference between 5th and 6th when compared.

Yep - common one that. HUGE thread if you do a search, but may indicate some amount of clutch wear. Keep an eye on it for now...

Welcome aboard.

WTF?? I don't think I've ever seen anything so ridiculous. If he sells that for £2.8k I'll eat my hat. No to hell with it, I'll eat my cat...

Unbebloodylieveable. :yack:

Call mine Gladys. Suits her no it all stiff upper lip pomposity.

Was great in London and France though. Nearly crashed laughing when she pronouces foreign words so completely correctly.

Gladys Still thinks Northwich near the M6/Runcorn is the same as Norwich tho....

Amazing. I like very much. No open kebabs in the back then....

More like - "It's good to blag...." :P

What a complete plank that guy is. The snow control had me laughing nearly as much as the 7 gears including reverse nonsense.

His spelling sucks too.

No -- dammit

Well, after sitting for 2 hours in the dealership bored to tears and nearly murder yesterday waiting for my pitted alloys to be changed (surely it should only take 1/2 an hour???), I was browsing through the options book.

Chrome wheels look available in 17 and 18 inch through UK dealers unless I am completely mistaken. Just returned from a fantastic USA holiday, lots of cars have chrome alloys - look very bling, but also tres smart.

:zee:

Well the inevitable is happening - corroding/pitting and bubbling alloys on my '04 IS. Spoken to Lex today who say it will be dealt with under warranty, so going to drop it in after I've come back from holiday.

Currently has the standard SE 5 spoke 17" rims which look great.

However - what you think my chances of getting them to put on the latest style multispoke wheels instead as fitted to the LE and 54 reg SE/Sport models? Just wondering if anyone else has tried this!!

If I have to pay for this 'upgrade' I won't bother.

:)

Yep - go to the Manager or as high up the hierarchy chain as you can. If you've dealt with service, go to the top now and go in hard, but always polite of course!!!!

All the stamps in the service book are Lex and all at the right times. The only unusual thing is the car has had 4 owner before I got it. One of the owners was actually a local garage (used car sales type) which I thought was a bit odd.

I think you're on to something there. If used by a garage as a run around or loan car I bet it got thrashed. 4 owners is on the high side too.

As it's a 2000 model and out of standard warranty, I would complain principally to the supplying dealer and list all those problems you've highlighted here. Although they may not do much for a nearly 5 year old car, it would not do any harm to inform Lexus UK of the problem also. They seem to lists after care and aftersales as a high priority so nows the time to test them out!

Let us know how you get on.