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Mark I'm sure I read somewhere that you should flush the engine cooling system with distilled water, maybe that's if the engine has had some other coolant in it.... The trouble is if you have have brought a car over 5 years how do you know what coolant it has ?, do you reckon that I could get away with just draining coolant then refilling with the pink coolant ? Cheers, Allan

Thanks normski, yes I agree with you on the emblem so I'm working on a custom one I'll post a pic when I've done it, Allan

Some good points there mark, i've used ebc pads on my motorbikes in the past and have found them quite effective in stopping my two wheel machines.... one thing I've not seen a lot of is stainless steel discs I was wondering why ? anybody know ?..... I've got stainless and drilled discs on my vfr bike they work ok........just fitted oem's on the front and back of the lex so it will be interesting to see how they last. allan

Stuart that photo is brilliant , well done mate, see ya sunday, Allan

what about this ?

I agree that the standard set up can always be bettered ie two or three pot calipers , drilled and grooved discs etc you will have more brake dust if you go this route though, it's horses for courses , depends what you use your car for, is your present braking system working correctly ? The is250 is quite a heavy car so does take some stopping.....good gripping tyres are also part of the braking scenario don't forget. Have you had your brake calipers checked to see that none of the slide pins are seized, this would impair the braking quite significantly .....just a thought, Allan

I've just fitted standard lexus discs and pads to my car they seem ok to me , I don't drive excessive speeds that I need super duper brakes.....the calipers working properly to me are more important , I have read that drilled and grooved discs are noisy and wear the pads down quicker. Allan

Sounds like a good deal to me

Where did you get the plugs from ? You know the plugs are probably good to 60 k or more. If you are going to get Toyota to do the coolant then you might as well get them to do the oils and filters, the coolant change done properly will probably take longer to do than the oils etc, I'm not to sure about the gearbox or diff oil (long time since I did this so I would not want to put you wrong ) have thought about checking the brake calipers yet ? Nag nag nag . Allan

The trouble is normski the quality of picture suffers when reduced to a small file, Allan

Eric, I got in touch with Toyota on eBay when I saw the red coolant for sale at £26. They replied that this coolant was not recommended for my car they sent me the part number for the correct coolant which is 08889-80072, the price is £39.42 per 5ltres so about £80.00 to change the coolant yourself make sure you flush the system with distilled water before putting the coolant in. If it was me I would prioritise the most important jobs, to me that would always be the engine oil change first then the brakes knowing how the calipers can seize quite quickly if not greased properly I would check these ASAP as noo bie advised. Then just work your way through your list, I would not worry to much about the plug change yet but when you do the iridium plugs are available from eBay in the states for about £50 with postage for the 6 plugs. By the way I was quoted £120. For the coolant change £76.00 for brake fluid change. Trouble is can you trust the workshop to change all the coolant ? Or even all the brake fluid ? Allan

just to add to noo bie s post, if you do need calipers/discs you can get genuine lexus ones off ebay , I paid £ 99.00 for each rear caliper from lexus Sheffield and paid £ 139. for two rear discs and pads and £139. for two front discs and pads from lexus Edinburgh. Allan

Hi Eric, I think you have the mm system on your car but the removal of the map dvd should be the same regardless , because I have ordered a update I wanted to remove the old disc for reference.... I also had the removal tools missing from the toolkit, well I had all the toolkit missing !!!!! I used some very small brass rod approx. 1mm thickness by 50to 60mm long one piece for each side. slide the rods into the small holes each side of the clock panel, when I did mine there was quite a lot of resistance ...the pins/rods or what ever you use need to go into the panel about 30-40mm ...(.there are sprung clips each side of the panel which the release pins push on ) if you ease on the release pins the clock panel should come away from the main panel, don't use a screw driver to ease the panel out or you will mark the dash !! the thing is Eric if your display screen is not functional you will not be able to get the dvd out , you need the screen to do everything .ive put some photos that might explain better. good luck, Allan

just fitted new grill to my is250 , wanted some opinions if it looks ok or not, thanks, Allan

the clicking noise is probably the exhaust cooling down nothing to worry about

I think the warranty is 60 k or 5 years whichever is soonest, but your like me worrying oubout nothing it's a lexus after all, just enjoy the car . Allan

Hi Eric, carry oil in the boot ? I think those days are gone , the is250 does have folding mirrors but they are not auto folding unfortunately ... You can buy a kit to do this though, there is a post on here how to do it , enjoy your new motor you will love it. Allan

ishaq just so there is no confusion Jemca is the Lexus dealer in collindale, JEM is a independant service garage in collindale,..... jemca the Lexus dealer will be more expensive but I think they do deals for servicing cars more than 5years old . allan

Hi noo bie, glad to hear the cars behaving, get them brakes sorted before the pins seize.......I did my front discs and pads two weeks ago then did the rear disc pads+ both rear calipers last weekend so my brakes are all sorted now, I'm maybe looking to do the mirror auto closer on my car in the near future, sorry all for going off subject, Allan

Your probably right jonas I'm just showing my age !!!!!!!! Anything is better than the shims to adjust valves ....was the worst job I ever had to do when doing my own service on my cars/motorbikes. Allan

Ishaq the cost of a minor service at JEM is £109 for small service oil change check vehicle etc major service approx £200 they do a collect and delivery service if you want or loan car you pay a £10 for insurance if you want this, they have a web site if you want more detail of what they offer, worth having a look. Noo bie, how's your motor performing now ? No more problems I hope ! Are you warming to it a bit more now after all the grief it has given you.

Hi Ishaq, can't give a specific flushing oil , I had mine done at JEM who are in colidale nw9, there will not be very much of the flushing oil left in the sump after it's drained so no you would not have to take the sump pan off , my oil was really dirty and black when I first picked up my car so I had a service at JEMs within 2days ,they always give the engine a oil flush before a oil change apparently , when I collected my car I dipped the oil and it was clean as a whistle and has stayed clean for the last 300mls so worth doing I think. Allan

I always turn my adjuster until I can't move the drum/disc then slacken off until you can move it with very slight drag if that makes sense, if the brake shoes are worn more one side than the other the number of clicks would not be the same. Allan

Surely parking brake adjustment is part of the service ?? My indi always checked mine and adjusted as needed, what are we paying these people for just looking ! Allan

Just to add to this and update, I've just fitted LED s to the front side lights and it is a big improvement over the standard bulbs, make sure the led lights have built in resistors and you should not have any problems, it took me about 15 mins to do both front lights. Allan