H3XME

Depends on the application.. Michelin PS4 are definitely one of the best road tyres out there. Excellent grip and hold up good on the track too - bit of an overkill for general road user who doesn't push the car to the limit though. Nankang NS2 is a great budget tyre - perfect on a daily driver in my opinion, cheap and cheerful and I'd put them on the same spot as Landsail but I can't remember the model. I personally only run Toyo Proxes TR1 now. The old T1-R compound was not that good in terms of dry grip, but I suppose they are wet tyres. The new TR1 compound has been amazing. It's grippy enough to give me confidence on slick country lanes, but also lets me get the back end loose when I want it to - it's never unwanted. I use 225/40R18s on my IS250 on all 4 corners and I wouldn't change it, it suits my needs. Tyres are very subjective and they really depend on your driving style. Paying premium for tyres doesn't always mean they're better and the tyres are only as good as your hands / foot coordination - to an extent. I don't think this should matter to luxury Lexus owners, but for example in my GT86, the stock Michelin Primacy tyres were AWFUL (despite being a good brand). Some call them dangerous, but the best thing to do is to drive, drive and drive until you learn the limit of your tyres. If you always drive to the limit of your tyres, you'll never exit the road in an unwanted manner. 

Welcome! Sweet GS300 you got.

With the mileage you do, you couldn't of chosen a better car to be honest. Lexus/Toyota will take care of you in terms of thousands of hassle free miles. They're not the best cars in terms of fuel economy, but it's a small price to pay for reliability if serviced as intended 🙂 

Unless they specify that interior is covered, it wouldn't be. It's just a normal wear & tear like brake pads etc.

1 minute ago, dephrank said:

See? Didn’t even know that pre-facelift had a square set up.
I’ve just seen a square set of XXR wheels 18x8.75 ET35 5x100/114.3. It’s almost a miracle to find aftermarket wheels with Lexus’ 60.1cb in the U.K. Thanks for the heads up. You just saved a drive train. 

Don't worry about the centre bore. This is why you buy spigot rings. 

5 minutes ago, dephrank said:

This set up all round? Thought these cars ran on staggered wheels (forgive my ignorance if I’m wrong) I’m liking the fitment but finding it hard to get a decent one with the perfect offset to give that flush or slight poke fitment as I’m averse to using spacers.

Only facelift and F sport had staggered wheels. 

9.5 +38 gives you flush/tiniest poke on stock ride height. If you Lower the car and don't want spacers, you'll need lower offset wheels. Like et22

I had the same a couple of years ago. Same as you, the bottom wouldn't budge. Took A LOT of hammering with a rubber mallet and WD40.. Replacement pins are on eBay for less than £20. If your calipers are this bad, you won't be able to salvage the pins. 

Maybe it was installed from an imported model..but i don't see why as that'd be a big job. I had factory air suspension on my Soarer and that eventually died. Even used units were mega money so coilovers were the way to go. 

3 hours ago, true blue said:

As an aside how do you like the GT86 ? I have a MX5 and fancy the Toyota as a change

Dave

Hello Dave, I'm not sure if you aimed that at me or Alan? I love the 86. I was on the fence myself between MX-5 (the latest shape) and GT86 but the 86 won as it's a bigger car and overall seems better to me. I felt a bit claustrophobic in the MX-5 as there's no back seats to even put your coat on. The 86 feels more lively and gave me more of a "race car" feel compared to the MX-5 as well.. absolutely 0 regret in getting that car. Lots of aftermarket parts out there for the 86 as well, so a lot easier to make it "your own" if you wish. Found the driving position a bit worse in the MX-5 too... similar cars in a lot of ways, but 86 was just a bit better in pretty much every way to me but that might be subjective. 

I'd go off the condition of the car. I mean if it passed MOTs with no advisories, it must've been kept in a decent shape. I bought mine without a service book because it was in a good nick. Guy before me serviced it himself, and so do I.. I know it is a bit off putting when buying, but it's worth checking the car out. If it wasn't serviced in 7 years, the engine will show some wear & tear (VVTi rattle too) because the oil loses its properties over time so it'd be like driving on water hence servicing is 1 year or 10k miles whichever comes first. 

Just now, JavierHG said:

Thanks for the code.

What made you go for this one?

One of a kind tone & quality 

17 minutes ago, JavierHG said:

I am looking at getting this exhaust following your suggestion and the cheapest i saw is £750, is that more or less the right price?

Did you get it in the UK or imported?

Cheers

Yeah thats about right with some discount. I got in the UK. You can buy it here with a discount coupon "TYPB10" 

https://www.part-box.com/product/32003-bt002-hks-hi-power-409-exhaust-system-lexus-is250/

WBAC are awful for most. Here's an example, my dad bought his 2015 370Z with 9k miles last year for £18k. Decided to sell the other week as the prices went up loads. WBAC offered 18.8k, which is still more than he paid (had 14,5k miles), but ended up selling it to Arnold Clark for 22k.. 

28 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

As for your issue with the steering pulling. That could be down to the tyres, not the brakes.

My own car tramlined quite badly when I had 19" wheels on it.

It wouldn't be happening under braking. 

And wheel diameter wouldn't make a difference. Unbalanced wheels or uneven pressures more like

2 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

Thanks for the reply.

My rear brake discs are much smaller than my front ones. If my rear discs are 310mm, I wonder how big are my front discs. But my rear discs are not ventilated. I read the solid not ventilated rear discs are 10mm thick. So I was guessing I had 291mm x 10mm rear and 310mm front as the front ones are ventilated.

 

About the pulling, what you said makes a lot of sense. In any case I have decided to change the discs and calipers on the front to GS ones as well as pads.  So hopefully this will solve the pulling problem.

 

For the rear, as you said, doesn't seem to be worth it putting GS brakes on the rear. But I would like to at least get larger discs for the rear. If I will have to buy new ones anyways because they are worn. But I don't want to replace the rear calipers at all. I'm just not sure if it's possible to get larger discs for the current rear calipers, or if to get larger discs I have to also upgrade the calipers.

Interesting. Must be some NON-UK low spec thing. I don't know if my rear calipers would be the same as your calipers then since my rear discs are 310 vented. (bigger than front) - BMWs do this a lot, they have rear discs bigger than front, but it might be something to do with hand brake mechanism - even though mine is a manual with a normal hand brake as opposed to electric foot brake on auto's.

13 hours ago, Lex_utor said:

I have an IS250. My car is pulling to the sides when I brake. It doesn't pull to just one side. It depends on the road I guess. But it pulls heavily to either side. Also squeaks and or I hear the brakes. But the wheels are not hot, so I guess the calipers are not seized. I have 19" 8.5 J wheels all around. Front tires are 225/35.  The discs are lipped. So I guess I need new discs and maybe new pads. So I thought about upgrading to GS350 front calipers and ventilated slotted discs all around. I found Rotinger, which came well recommended. Anybody ever used them? Thinking of going with their graphite line.

So for the front I will go GS350 calipers with larger discs. The stock IS250 front discs are 296mm right? How thick? 28mm? Mine are ventilated.

Rear discs I also want to go larger. Stock is 291mm? But I would like to keep the stock calipers for the rear. Is that a problem? I did some research and it seems since I have non ventilated discs at the rear, my discs are 10mm thick, while the ventilated would be 18mm. I found a Rotinger 291mm rear disc and they are also 10mm. Meaning they would fit my stock rear caliper. But they are ventilated. In a 10mm disc, I was wondering, not too thin for ventilated? But I guess it must be 10mm thick or it won't fit my stock rear calipers. And if 291mm is the same as stock size, I would like larger ones. Just not sure it's possible to go larger while using the stock rear calipers. I just thought if I'm going to get new discs, might as well get larger ones as the stock ones look a little small in my 19" wheels.

 

Thanks as always for the advice. 🙂

If they are lipped and squeak, you definitely new brake pads. Maybe even discs.. They might be warped if it's pulling or maybe the braking power isn't being distributed evenly. I'd give the calipers an overhaul, grease up the slider pins just in case and get new pads/discs. Brake fluid flush would be beneficial too..

As for bigger brakes, I was toying with the idea of doing the fronts on my IS250 as well. 2005+ GS300/350 GS450h use the same calipers and discs IIRC. Find whatever is cheapest (eBay / scrapyard) and get it refurbed - can even pick your desired colour then 😉

And the rears... I doubt yours would be 291mm as mine are 310mm x 18mm vented rears. I believe only 220d and possibly the BASIC spec is250 had the smaller brakes. This is why I wouldn't bother putting GS brakes on the back. 90% of the braking is happening on the front anyway, that's the real gain. 

4 minutes ago, Texas said:

I have never heard of (high) mileage being the downfall of a 250, 220 yes but not the 250.

plenty of 250’s on the Clublexus ( US Owners site) with 200k+.

Oh yea, there's nothing wrong with high mileage Is250... Unless it's £6k 😂 they'll be sound if serviced well. 

23 minutes ago, PGarner528 said:

Hi,

I am looking to buy an IS250 as my daily driver, though with working from home this means driving a couple of times per week and a total annual mileage of around 3k. I have seen a 12 plate with 160k miles and 16 Lexus & specialist service stamps. Its a bit of a way to go to see the car in person, but I would be interested to hear if people think this could be a reasonable buy.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109237720147

From what I have read, reliability of the IS is great but 160k is a little off-putting.

Thanks

Hi, I wouldn't focus on the year of the car at all. They're pretty much the same across 2005-2012. That particular car seems alright, but If I was to spend £6k, I'd be looking at some around 60k miles (and there is a few!). I drive a 2008 IS250 manual, fully loaded with black leather, rev. camera etc and it's on 159k now. Had the car since 2019 and 128k miles. Been spot on, touch wood. I only had to change the clutch last year but 140k+ miles on factory clutch is a good going for any car. If they've been serviced well, there is nothing serious to go wrong with these. I wouldn't be against buying a well maintained 160k car, but I'd be looking to spend £2k, not 6.. 

FIY, my friend has bought her Pearl white IS250 2009 facelift automatic a few weeks ago for £7.5k with 59k miles. Very nice car, drove it back to Derby from London and it felt like a new car. Get one with lower mileage for £6k.. never-mind the bullet-proof engine, suspension, water pump, alternator etc get tired too. It's not worth getting a car with such mileage if you have a healthy budget of £6k.  Hope it helps 🙂 

33 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Do you mean hybrid F models?

No haha. IS-F, RC-F, GS-F

24 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

In my view "Driving a Lexus" and "Foot to the floor" is a contradiction in terms.

John, don't forget the F models 😉

33 minutes ago, eleveneleven said:

Hi All

Music playing though Aux (Aux to USB-C) crackles and cuts out. It seems to be happening more often now to the point where I've just given up playing music from Aux. The ML system is incredible and was a big selling point for me as I'm a music lover so it's a bit of a bummer 

From what I've seen online the issue appears to be one of 2 things, some say its the Amplifier others say its the head unit. 

Just wondering if anyone has had the same issue or has replaced/repaired their amplifier yet? did sound work  after that? is there anything else I can try before I commit to buying a new amp? 

thanks 

 

 

I think it might be the amplifier, mine doesn't quite crackle when it's playing through the AUX cable, but I do have a bit of white noise in because I play music via Bluetooth. I've got a plug in the AUX & Cigarette lighter to transmit Bluetooth signal - but quality isn't the best that way. I prefer that than plugging my phone in everytime though.. small price to pay and you can't really hear it when the music is on. Only between the songs. 

As for general audio issues.. My subwoofer stopped working about 6 months ago. I've replaced it with a scrap yard unit and it worked until about 6 weeks ago.. blew up as well, but I'm thinking it might not be the sub because sometimes it briefly comes on. Surely if it would've been blown, it'd be just dead, whereas mine is intermittent. I have to say, I hate wiring & know nothing about audio systems, so I didn't have a crack at doing anything much with it. I got the amp out before (what a nightmare of a job) and checked it out for water damage, but seemed okay. I'm a bit lost with this tbh.

It's really bad around west Birmingham area. I didn't personally have much of an issue.. Tesco was dry, but managed to get some V-Power so not complaining. 

6 minutes ago, dephrank said:

Hi Lucas. What if I want a lexus is250 lowered by about 30mm only. Can these coilovers do that or will Eibach springs suffice?

They go up & down so it's up to you. You can have 10mm lowering if you want.  coilovers  will be more comfortable though. 

2 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Did your car have halogen lights or the HID ones?

Halogen, but my friend’s facelift has HID and these are still brighter

4 hours ago, Alfalfa said:

Is Mot any problem vith spacer in the UK?

No problems. 

4 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Eh up, I think I missed something in your thread Lucas. What are those headlights on your car? What did they replace and how do they compare?

Vland headlights. They are amazing. So much brighter compared to factory lights. Looks aside, it's it's the best and most functional modification I did to my car