bondms

I'd like to think so, but I guess the biggest factor is that 90% of my driving is on motorways and fast A-road dual carriageways where the car just sits in 6th gear and I don't need to touch the clutch or the break for mile after mile.

To be honest, since I use this car daily for my 100 mile round-trip commute, I need it to be reliable and as soon it stops being so I'll look to change it. So far it hasn't let me down, but there are signs of age. For the first 190,000 miles I never needed to top-up the engine oil between services. That's no longer the case. I guess it's starting to burn a little oil, and that might be sign that the piston rings aren't as good as new any more. The exhaust system, alternator, starter-motor, water-pump, clutch, etc. are all originals. They continue to amaze me that they hold out, but I can't imagine they'll all last much longer. I'm sure something expensive will need doing soon, and it'll be hard to justify an expensive repair when the rest of the car has such a high mileage.

I've generally used Dunlops with the IS. I tried one pair of Bridgstones (RE040s), but they didn't last nearly as long. I started with the OEM SP9000s before switching to SP3000s and then SPORTMAXX RTs. I think another 9 years at my mileage would be pushing it a bit. But if Lexus promised me an IS-F in exchange then maybe I'd give it a try

Thanks for your advice. I definitely don't want my car ending up like that! Will look to get them changed very soon.

Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you. I didn't want to reply before giving your suggesting some consideration and doing some research. I hadn't previously heard "So many reports of them giving way with no previous noises or play detected." so my experience didn't quite match yours. Thanks for your advice; it's certainly something I'll look into some more.

I'm just a software engineer. It just happens that the office is 50 miles away from home.

I wouldn't be disappointed with 200,000 from a hybrid. Compared to a regular non-hybrid engine it's a much newer and more complicated technology. Hopefully if they are capable of 200,000 miles already, then after a little more development they'll soon close in on reliability of regular engines. Perhaps the ones they are selling today already have.

I've had to replace amazingly little. In terms of replaced non-service items the full list consists of two items: There was a leaky shock absorber that was replaced under warranty during the second year. There was a faulty crash sensor that was replaced a few years ago when the air-bag warning light came on. That's it for non-service items that have been replaced. The alloy wheels were refurbished (but not replaced) when they started to corrode. A common problem with Lexus I gather from the frequent posts on this site. Even service items have done well. The rear disks are still originals. The front disks have only been changed once. Even the pads have only been changed once on the rear and twice on the front. The ball joints are all originals. The battery has only been changed once. The tyres have, of course, been changed several times. But even these do well. The first set got 50,000 miles for those that started on the rear and 70,000 miles for those that started on the front. The radio has suffered the common ERR-1 or ERR-3 fault twice, but in both cases it was easily fixed at home without having to buy any new parts--just took the device out, freed the stuck disk, added some grease to the moving parts, cleaned the CD lens, and put it back together. All the indicator, brake-light and tail-light bulbs are original. The other external lights and some bulbs for back-lighting the dashboard switches have been changed at least once. I guess some of this has been due to the way the car has been driven, almost exclusively on motorway and A-road journeys causing little wear on the car. But I've still been impressed. The car has also been garaged most nights. Petrol has been by far the highest contributor to running costs. I've spent £39,000 on fuel averaging between 36 and 37 mpg.

Back in September 2001 I was very excited to take delivery of a brand new IS200. For a twenty-three year old, not yet on the property ladder, it seemed a rather extravagant purchase, but seeing it there on the forecourt--with just 4 miles on the odometer--I was looking forward to it serving me well for many years. Well, thirteen years later I have exactly zero regrets about making that purchase. Yesterday the odometer rolled over 300,000 miles and the car hasn't let me down once. Sure, the cost of the petrol required to travel that distance has far exceeded the original cost of the car, but other than that it's been extremely reasonable to run and has had absolutely minimal problems. It's also remained both fun and comfortable to drive. If only all cars were as good as this :)

Yes it is backlit. I've had to change the bulb on mine. It's an easy job to do (just prise the switch out, twist the bulb to remove it, and do the reverse to re-fit the new one). Lexus charge several pounds for a new bulb which isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but still feels like a rip-off for what's just a tiny incandescent light bulb. I don't know where else you could get one from though.

I don't know which oil is best, but I've been happy using Halfords own-brand differential oil (API GL-5 / SAE 80W-90).It's not a difficult job if you're used to working under cars. You need to raise the rear up (obviously using something secure, such as axle stands rather than just a jack), undo the filler plug with a large allen key, place a container under the differential and undo the drain plug (again using a large allen key), wipe the magnet on the drain plug clean, replace the drain plug with a new washer, pour in the oil, and replace the filler plug (again with a new washer). The most difficult part is pouring in the new oil due to lack of room above the filler plug. You can buy syringes designed for this that may help. I tend to do it by squeezing the bottle to force the oil out and into the differential. It takes about 1.1 litres before it's full.

The official schedule is to replace the rear differential oil every 20,000 miles or 2 years and inspect the manual transmission oil every 40,000 miles or 4 years. My IS200--which I've had from new and always serviced myself--is approaching 13 years and 300,000 miles. It's never had the gearbox oil changed or even topped up, and it's still going fine. The differential oil has been changed 8 times. Initially this was in accordance with the every 20,000 mile schedule and the first change or two did remove some metal filings that were suspended in the oil. For later changes, the oil coming out appeared like new, so I stopped replacing it quite so often. Again, I've had no problems with it at all.

I think few dealers would replace the brake fluid every 2 years or 20,000 miles, despite what the Lexus service schedule states. I've heard of at least one that measures the amount of water that's been absorbed by the fluid and uses that measurement to determine whether to replace it or not. Perhaps you could check whether your dealer has been doing this?

I've never removed the wheel to get to the oil filter, but I would definitely recommend a tool that fits over the end and can be used with a ratchet driver. There is very little room to get a chain-type tool in there and they can be too stiff to remove by hand.

This document shows you the location of the oxygen sensor: http://bahamutcars.free.fr/workshop/IS_98-05/rm/rm684e/m_ec_0008.pdf