H3XME

Probably don't have oil filters for that car either etc. And some corporate wrench monkey wasn't "trained" how to work on it.. it's all bs

Unless it's Lexus & Toyota dealership like my local one (two separate showrooms side by side, but share the parts counter & workshops too when needed). You're unlikely to get your IS250 serviced at Toyota. Toyota UK never had any cars with this engine etc. IS300h for example is essentially a smaller Camry and RAV4 uses the same engine too, blahblah. Bottom line, they have parts and they're cross-compatible. IS250 was solely a Lexus car built on a Toyota Mark X platform but that's Japanese model only, so again, Toyota UK is highly unlikely to service this particular car because they probably wouldn't have parts.

Yes, I was having a conversation with a guy in America who went for the Fidanza SMF and it's not very good. There's a lot chatter and it just doesn't work very well on this car. When I had my first clutch changed at 140k miles, the flywheel was still fine to re-use. Garages tend to squeeze you for it and say you need a flywheel when you don't.

100% Agree. Toyota have it sussed out. Just look at this. Can't argue with it.

Arguably Tesla alone have a better charging network than everyone else combined. And the problem is also the fact that not all chargers are compatible with all EVs. Sure you can get to most places in both EV & ICE/Hybrids, but the stopping every 250 miles is going to set you back some time if you're travelling far enough. Either way, EVs should stay as alternatives to city folks, but it should never ever be a hard replacement for normal engines.

It's absolutely ridiculous it's got to this point. I mean it's absolutely GOOD that they will lend you a regular car for long journeys, but it just shows how far we are technologically from being able to use EV's the same way we use ICE/Hybrid cars in a feasible manner.. 100% agree it just makes you want to buy a hybrid in the first place.

Yeah, the airbag won't work as there is no weight in the seat.

Unplug the weight sensor under your seat. Sorted.

It's just two items not being fully compatible by design unfortunately. You might be able to get away with buying a MagSafe iPhone case. You can charge through it, and that should level out the back of the phone, so you won't have that raised step around the camera.

Hi Nathe, I think the problem there is the iPhone itself. My mrs has a FK Civic with a wireless charging pad, but like you say, it sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. However I found that to be because of the raised bit where the camera lenses are on the iPhone. It doesn't lie down flush, so any movement / bump in the road it disconnects due to the contact patch between the phone and the charging pad. I have a 15 Pro Max btw.

Happened to me before. If you're lucky and have good drill bits, you can attempt to drill it out. Worked for me on the rear one. I also broke 3 drill bits doing a front one on a different car before giving up and buying a replacement carrier bracket. It's 50/50 really.

It's not common, but it's becoming common. It's almost 20 years old.

Nice, ZR10s. A man of culture

I paid around £600 for the bumper, painted and fitted it myself. Installation process is the same on all years.

Let's see what we have here. Would be nice to build a thread of modified 2IS's in the UK for new owners to see and maybe learn from what we done to them. Here's a few pics of 3 of mine of the last few years.

Everything can be done. It's not plug & play, but it can be done.

Yeah, but he checked the plugs, if that was the case the spark plugs would be wet from fuel.

Ignore that, doesn't happen. Never seen this problem in the UK. Change your oil every 5k, put decent fuel in, red-line it every now and again and you won't have any issues. I see, worth a try I guess, but who knows if they'll accept it.

If you can stretch your budget to £4200, my mate is selling her facelift SE-L in white pearl with black interior. 83,000ish miles auto. FSH, no issues with the car.

This shouldn't be a deciding factor. Putting better fuel in, like Tesco Momentum99 works out to only £5 more per full tank. It's a better fuel overall. You can use E10 sometimes, it doesn't affect how it runs, it's only the fuel system as a whole that doesn't like a continuous use of higher ethanol. VVTi very easy to check. It doesn't happen to every car, but most higher mileage cars have this "problem".. I use quotes because the whole thing is basically just a 1s rattle upon start up. Nobody ever ended up with an engine failure because of the VVTi rattle that becomes more common on cars over 100k miles. My old one that was on 180k miles only did it after a hot start. My mates does it on cold start sometimes, but like I say, it's not a deal breaker. There's nothing to fix it but it never gets any worse. If anything, it's a great bargaining chip if it happens when you view a car. Water pump, you can see it when you open the bonnet, this shouldn't even be listed as a problem because it's a serviceable item on every single car. They tend to go around 80-100k. Easy early signs to look out for - check for leaks around the pump. Toyota coolant is pink, so it's easy to spot when it's all dried up. Brake caliper SLIDER PINS get stuck if not greased up regularly (every 2 years is fine), especially the rear ones. Calipers themselves are fine. Everyone tends to change calipers because they cba to replace the slider pins, but it's a £25 fix with a bit of elbow grease. Not sure what you mean by engine slushing up.. As for insurance, try to call people instead of doing online quotes. I'm 28, no accidents etc. I pay £480/year with all mods declared. Try companies like Adrian Flux, Keith Michaels, Brentacre, Greenlight etc. Companies who aren't on comparison sites. As for finding a car, I advise travelling further for the right car. There isn't many of them so if you stick to brum area, you'll struggle. Also, I wouldn't be buying this car from a dealer, not with your budget anyway. You can get a far better deal buying privately. oh and mirrors are electric and folding on every 250, just not automatically with locking the car.

Just to add to the above, higher mileage cars would've had stuff like water pump, alternator etc already replaced, so in theory there's even less to spend on in the future.

You can use them as they are. They will fit without spacers or any modifications, but as a rule of thumb, it's better to have a squared setup on an AWD car. However, people put staggered wheels on them, you shouldn't have any issues, but in the future it would be good put 235s on the rear once the 255s wear out. 255s will also have a negative impact on fuel economy.

'55 plate and early '06 manuals cost as much as autos to tax 🙂

It's like any car. If you take care of it, they're great. If it's been abused and not maintained, it'll be a dog. IS250s included. IS250s, unlike many other cars, are problem free if maintained well. If you pick some IS250 competitors from the same year, with the same mileage and same service history, the IS250 would have had significantly fewer "faults" over the course of its now 19 years of life. (If we look at a 2005 example). Alternator, Water pump, spark plugs, aux belt, thermostat etc are normal service items at higher mileage.

Hey dude, I'm around Brum too. I've had multiple IS250s over the years. Keep going back to them after I make a bad financial decision like JZX100, 300ZX etc.🤣 They are very reliable, and running cost is low too on a grand scheme of things. It doesn't matter what year you go for really, but given your budget you'll be looking at pre-facelift cars (2005-2008) but the changes on facelift were negligible anyway. Send me a message and I'll be happy to help you look for a car. As for what you can expect for 3k.. I would say cars around 100k miles. Don't be put off the mileage as these cars are good for 300k with regular maintenance that involves just fresh oil every 5000 miles. I would look for cars with a good service history. I wouldn't be bothered about bodywork as much because panels are cheap. They are easy to work on. Here's mine.