McShmoopy

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I may have an interesting update for everyone. I've got my mums IS250C with only the one key, and the key itself is somewhat unreliable in opening the car despite multiple battery swaps. I've got the car booked in with Lexus Nottingham to diagnose the car for me but I've also arranged a guy from CAT AUTOKeys to pop around on Friday to supply me with a replacement genuine OEM key and program it for £250 all in. They're a local company to me in Nottingham but they seem to cover a range of areas in the midlands and reviews seems to look quite good. From what I saw they've managed to do a Genuine RX450h key based on their social media. I'll let you know how I get on, but I'll ask what's the procedure if both keys are lost and how they can get into the vehicle also as well as prices... could be handy including finding out if we can programme keys via toyota tech stream!

No worries, I'd recommend getting it from somewhere like Amazon. I bought a VLAND set of tail lights and headlights via the official VLAND website and they've lost my tail lights in the mail and I've had to open a PayPal case against them to send me out the tail lights! Customer service leaves alot to be desired so Amazon will be much better in that regard 🙂

Many documented cases on fellow members of their VLAND headlights passing without issue at MOT, however it depends which garage you take it too and how particular they are. The VLANDs will need adjustment out of the box so they may fail it on that basis if adjusted poorly. Yeah the VLANDs will fit the IS250C no problem

How are you attempting to connect the phone, I'm unfamiliar with Nokias and face-lifted IS's have bluetooth connectivity and USB connectivity supported as well as AUX. Your best bet is probably bluetooth or AUX, only USB sticks and iPhones/ iPods work in the USB slot im sure.

It was more an issue with American cars but thats down to them not using premium fuel I believe as well as their octane ratings being different, the IS350 didnt suffer from that as it had both direct injectors and port injectors I believe.

Hi mate I’ve got a 2010 F Sport and they’re fantastic cars but a few things to keep in mind. I picked up my 136k miler for around £4500 last year Christmas so see if there is room to haggle! These cars are best to be grabbed as high milers as they are over engineered for reliability so as long as the car wasn’t abused and had regular maintenance they’ll go on easily beyond 200k miles. Check the service records, 60k is the usual time to get the spark plugs changed but these are sometimes done every 100k miles. Could be a good way to get the price down if it hasn’t been done or is due. Generally as long as the car has been serviced every year you shouldn’t run into any problems, the car is also very easy to work on yourself so that can help with keeping maintenance costs down. The pre facelift/2009 versions had an issue with carbon buildup but this was addressed addressed with the first facelift so you should have a bulletproof engine 2009 onwards. Car should run fine on 95 octane fuel as well as the new E10 also if it’s facelifed. You can tell a car is facelifted by the presence of wing mirror indicators and a few styling queue. I love my F Sport but the ride is quite a bit firmer and the exhaust and engine noises are louder than a non f sport variant. It’s worth checking also the specs as the 2009-2010 facelifts and 2011 onwards facelifts are different. Certain things such as the memory settings for passenger and driver were oddly deleted in 2011+ vehicles but my 2010 still has this. Easiest way to tell is by the presence of the blue f sport badge or the white one on the side of the car, white will be the newer facelift and that has deleted a few options. If you can live without memory seats it’s still a fantastic car and overall I like the new wheels and f sport badging personally. the car will come with Bluetooth and iPhone / USB connectivity so you should be good to go with it infotainment wise. There is now an option to retrofit a GROM vline2 into these newer IS250s to get wireless apple carplay / android auto so that is an option too if you want to modernise the infotainment!

No worries mate let us know how you get on!

I've got a 2010 F Sport with a GROM VLINE LEX6 and only after some major back and forth with GROM were we able to get it fully working. In terms of your situation, you'd be much better off getting an Android Unit such as this to replace the screen unit to get a full android experience. Its quite difficult to convert from Non NAVI to NAVI and even then you may not get everything fully working such as reverse cameras or climate control. The downside of android is the AC controls can be hit or miss but I believe these units come with a UK compatible CANBUS so it should work fine, you will lose some audio fidelity compared to the OEM Pioneer but getting an android unit with a good DSP can help mitigate this. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001184644967.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.2a0d27fdrKO3dr&algo_pvid=1a4097d7-0593-4566-a3c2-12c3f28f1c43&algo_exp_id=1a4097d7-0593-4566-a3c2-12c3f28f1c43-19&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000016808205714"}

I’ve had my 2010 F sport since December of last year and I love it to bits. I have done a direct comparison between an SE-L with 18 wheels compared to my F sport with 18 wheels and the ride definitely firmer for sure. Whereas the SE-L wafts you over the bumps the F sport you definitely feel them. This could be down to how awful potholes are and road quality but it’s still a very comfortable ride. This can be further improved with better tyres and I’ve opted for continental eco contacts to help improve this as well as the fuel economy its worth noting that F sports have almost as good spec as an SE-L you do however miss out on heated windscreen, illuminated door sills, cooled seats and rear blinds. Certain 2010 /11 models come with further facelifts such as DRL headlights, new f sport styling and nicer alloys however the memory seats are deleted. For me the memory seats were a must so I’ve opted for a 2010 and I’m very pleased with it.

If you’re after boot springs I’d just suggest getting the SGS engineering ones BC99 has linked. I’ve fitted these to my 2010 F sport with a spoiler and it’s a little less smooth due to the additional weight of the spoiler but have had no issues. Some people have fitted BMW struts on one side and this is the cheaper option. However I would recommend this as that causes an uneven gap to form and both struts should be replaced at the same time to ensure longevity and prevent uneven wear and tear.

The funny thing is there was a few posts saying that the VLANDS may technically fail due to the DRL bulb being fixed voltage and not being able to dim at all. However many fellow members have had the VLANDS pass an MOT without issue, mine is due next year so i won’t know til then. The specialist I take my car to for its MOT isn’t particularly over the top so it’ll vary which garage you take it to! they will need adjusting for height out of the box so if that’s untouched those will no doubt cause a fail if not adjusted correctly

The main thing to identify is the type of infotainment you have, some 2009 vehicles were pre facelift and some 2009s were facelift. easiest way to tell is by the loon of the infotainment, if it’s silver / white you’ve got the facelift one (I’ll attach a photo for good measure) I have a IS250 SE-L from 2009 and this does support usb audio, the port is located in the centre storage console next to the 12V cigarette socket.

I can’t comment on the bulbs but I believe you need to have specific ones due to the way the low beam are housed and the beam pattern. One alternative is you could upgrade the entire headlight unit to something like VLAND or something else and this would give you LED lights and indicators. They are pretty much plug and play also. you can DIY for them with a few hours spare on a weekend but take it somewhere if you’re not confident!

I wouldn’t be too fussed on the DAB radio, from what I’ve seen generally the reception for it was known to be fairly poor for those who got it with their MK2 IS’s. An aftermarket solution for DAB would be dramatically cheaper and probably better reception! One example people do is get something like a GROM VLINE and buy the DAB accessories for that

Yes the SE-l (lowercase) does miss out on some of those feature. Unfortunately I did have a link to compare the trim levels side by side but it’s now stopped working! The facelifts did come with USB connectivity support (including iPhones) as well as Bluetooth. I’ve never tried a USB stick but I can certainly try it out for you. Pre facelifts only had aux or required a mod for Bluetooth so I’d stick with the post facelift unless you’re willing to change the head unit or get a grom audio unit. i assume the multimedia pack is the Navi screen with reverse camera, it is a definite must and it saves you doing any drastic mods to the car so that alone is worth it.

Hi Roland, I'd highly recommend going for a fully loaded SE-L model or an F Sport as you get a lot of creature comforts which now I couldn't live without! Don't let high mileage examples put you off, as long as the service history looks good these cars run into very few issues compared to the competition. I got my 2010 F Sport at 135k miles and aside from an air con regas no issues really to report, compared to our 70k miles IS250C they both drive pretty much like new. Most pre facelift cars (Before 2009) that had the NAVI option almost always come with Mark Levinson Audio. Any NAVI opted car after 2009 it was something you had to opt for specifically, but the speaker systems for both are quite impressive so don't let that be a deal breaker necessarily. The main reason to go facelift I'd say is the additional features like auto folding mirrors when you lock / unlock the car as well as wing mirror indicators. In addition to this they've addressed some carbon build up issues the pre facelifts suffered from and added a few styling changes. Regular servicing yearly as well as good fuel with additives and you shouldn't have those issues really. High mileage IS250s can be picked up for an absolute bargain, so if the service history looks good and the bodywork is in good condition its an option worth seriously considering!

Hi Paul that looks like a rather nice example however it is only an Advance trim so personally I'd go for a fully loaded SE-L as you get all the bells and whistles for the most part! Don't be too put off by the mileage, as long as its had regular oil changes you shouldn't encounter many issues reliability wise particularly if its a facelift (after 2009) as they addressed the carbon build up with these engines.

The IS250C is a lovely car to live with, its not mine but I near enough drive my mums more than she does as I tend to look after it and I like it more than my IS250 F Sport sometimes (Especially when you can get the top down!) You don't see many of them on the road so it is a pleasure to see fellow drivers on the road with one. 😁

So strange update, got the car back and the air con seems to be working how it should be! The garage working on the car were telling me they intermittently got the air con blowing ice cold but it could be the compressor playing up. I'll be calling an Aircon specialist still to get it looked at to diagnose what my issue was.

Thanks for the insight Dave, you and Herbie are right. I’ve been mulling it over and after looking at other forum posts, the cost of compressors I’d rather get the second opinion from an Air Con specialist and there seems to be a few that I could contact. I’ll keep you all posted on further updates!

Quick update on my end, dropped the car off and the car still seems to have gas and has no error codes or leaks to speak of. The guy said it looks like it may be the compressor so I may need to look for a replacement one and try having that fitted in. Sounds like it could be a very similar issue to myself! Seems like a lot but I’ll try sourcing one, j did see a similar forum post on here where they found an aftermarket one instead of OEM that worked just fine

Thanks for the insight, I suppose that could be an option. Once I take the car on Monday I'll be sure to update everyone 🙂

Haha the funny thing is I pretty much use it 24/7 as I hate being warm as I tend to sweat easily. So I can probably rule that out, I got the car at 135k miles and the aircon was flawless until probably last week so unless I've had a rock chip do some damage. I'll be certain to keep everyone posted!

Hmm that is an excellent point to be fair, I was planning on doing all the general servicing myself such as filters oil changes etc but its been a hectic few weeks so free time is limited. This reason alone I may consider servicing myself next year at least you know its done that way! The IS250's seem pretty nice to work on yourself compared to most other makes

What usually causes the leaks, wear and tear? I do tend to look after my cars but the previous owner did alot of motorway miles and was the sole owner. For that reason this is why I've taken my car to this garage as they state they're a Lexus / Toyota specialist and I'd rather have people who know what they're doing! But that is good to know that you should only need to recharge AC if there's an issue or a very minor leak.