McShmoopy

Hey everyone,

Some of you may have seen my dash cam footage in which someone drives into the right hand side of me and scrapes and dents my doors, after some back and forth with both insurance companies I managed to get a payout of £2500 for the damages instead of my car being professional repaired.

Incase any of you are wondering why, I opted for this option as my insurer Admiral were trying to write my car off despite the damage being very minor so I went down the route of dealing with the other drivers insurance company and they've paid me out after I gave them a quote from the Lexus bodyshop.  As you can see the main damage is a dent and paint work being scraped. This does go onto my driver side door handle and edge but that seems like it can be buffed off. 

With the main damage being to the rear driver side door, I'm considering just buying a used door on eBay or from a breaker and just stick that on instead as there are many available with the same paint work as mine. I may take this to a bodyshop or have it done myself, but does anyone have any advice or tips for this? I would need to transfer my Mark Levinson speakers to the new door as well as some of the electronics and door locking mechanisms. From what I can tell I just need to loosen some bolts on the door hinge and lift the old door off and replace it with the replacement one and then transfer the existing door internals and door card onto the replacement .

Is your key used by any chance? Used keys cannot be programmed via totoya tech stream, I had this same issue when I was doing my mums IS250C. You can revirginise the used key but youll have to pay a locksmith additional money to do that before tech stream will allow it to be programmed. 

What version did you select for your vehicle also? There are certain slight configurations I found (up to 3 different ones) when selecting my vehicle in tech stream so that could play a part perhaps. 

1 minute ago, Mr Vlad said:

How do you mean you're surprised by the price of the rear tyres? I bought 2 Bridgestone tyres for mine last year and thought the price was very reasonable. Wind deflectors are a good idea I'm actually thinking of getting. I wouldn't bother with the grom as it's old hat now and not worth the money. I didn't think you was after upgrading the headunit. Bilal has now got an android unit which apart from a niggle or two is really good. If you're happy with the set up you have then keep it as it is. If you'd like to upgrade the headunit then there are a few very good android units, I personally favour the Teyes cc3 which actually looks like standard but still has the same size screen as opposed the other types with larger screens. 

Oh yes thanks for mentioning Vlad, here's the YouTube link to a little review I did for it @Jitc85

17 minutes ago, Jitc85 said:

Hi Shmoopy, 

Thanks! They look even better in black, but a pain to keep clean! 

For the age of the car, I am impressed with the equipment levels. I've connected up my old iPod and iPhone so music is sorted. The sound of original CD's is second to none on the ML system. I'll have to dig some more out! I have read about the GROM V-Line etc, but its very pricey. 

Thanks for the heads up on the boot struts, mine seem okay for now, but I'll keep an eye on them. As for the puddle lights do you mean the ones with the Lexus logos?

Car has a full Lexus service history and with all the cars I've owned, whatever they need, they get 🙂

I am thinking of adding some wind deflectors. 

One thing that did surprise me, was the price of the rear tyres!

I had a GROM VLINE previously but I managed to do some tinkering and killed my OEM USB input so can no longer use it, it does work very well however your climate control LEDs will not light up so an Android Head Unit to replace it is a good option. Ive just done that and it works rather well.

Oh the puddle lights are the ones underneath your wing mirrors, they'll take the same W5W bulbs you can get for pennies on eBay but for the doors you can get some projector lights also. I've gotten a set from @ahmed24 and they are fantastic alongside the illuminated door sills I managed to score. 

For the tyres you mean the 255 ones right? If you change it 245 it becomes the same price as the front tyres, thats what I've done and its very little difference on the ride from what I can tell. 🤣

If you need some more inspiration feel free to check out my list of mods, I'll be updating that in the next few weeks! 

Congrats on the IS mate, I've got the same IS250 F sport but in black and its hands down my favourite car! 

The mark Levinson audio is one of the best in class audio systems for that year of vehicle, you should have USB connectivity as well as Bluetooth audio so theres no immediate need to upgrade the infotainment but if you do want an upgrade for apple CarPlay / android auto there are plenty of options. 

Few things that may need an upgrade are the rear boot struts if you find the boot isnt lifting very easily, SGS engineering is the way to go for those combined with some springs for automatic opening if thats your preference. LED interior and puddle lights are a nice cheap upgrade and spruces up the car a little. 

As Vlad has stated, the brake callipers do have a bad tendency to seize up so do get those sliding pins greased up every year and it should save you having to get new callipers! As long as you service the car every year with regular oil changes the car should look after you for many miles to come 👍🏼

The Ukraine war has had an effect on fuel prices and most other things for sure, no one can deny that. That being said its as Eric said, the government and greedy oil companies have been raising pricing and causing speculative panic well before the war started so to blame it all on that is fairly naive. That being said, the government have been screwing us left right and centre for quite a number of years so I can't say its all that surprising. Things are getting so bad I'm considering getting a CT200H to replace my beloved IS250 🙄

3 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Good video Bilal and an honest one too. Shame about the issues but I suppose one has to expect one or two.

Cheer Vlad, unfortunately no solution is perfect but thankfully none of them are deal breakers by any means. I suspect anyone with a pre facelift vehicle will not face the issues I have as according to a gentleman on Reddit his works flawlessly in all aspects and that’s a 2007 with NAVI

Hey everyone,

Former GROM VLINE2 owner, I managed to replace my stock stereo with a Head Unit from XTRONS and I've had a few people show some interest in it so I made this quick little review video for it. Whats good about this is with some efforts from myself and XTRONS you can get near full functionality with this for pre facelift as well as facelift vehicles. For NAVI vehicles you do need to buy an additional fibre optic box to maintain the OEM audio quality.I'll stick some links below. 

https://xtrons.co.uk/lexus-various-android-10-octa-core-4gb-ram-64gb-rom-integrated-4g-solution-pma10isls

https://xtrons.co.uk/lexus-various-iso-wiring-harness-most

The Teyes CC3 is a better head unit overall to but I wasn't a fan of getting one of their units with the OEM Stereo like configuration with the buttons as that was the only one that supported facelift NAVI vehicles like mine. I've been running this for close to 8 weeks and its been rock solid so figured I'll share this here incase anyone else is interested in something like this.

On the to do list is add DAB Radio, TPMS sensors as well as my 360 reverse camera system which this head unit does support. 

2 hours ago, scudney said:

Sounds like some folks don't know when to take good advice even when its staring them in the face(always an exception to the rule though lol)

People are entitled to their opinions even if all the facts state otherwise, that being said the IS220d/200d isnt an awful car objectively but it is a pretty awful Lexus and falls short compared to the IS250. If your preference is to the Diesel IS then all you can hope for is largely trouble free miles but if OP wants some peace of mind I'd stick with an IS250 or go for a 3rd Gen Hybrid IS if he can swing it. 

4 hours ago, Herbie said:

That could still happen, even to a pricey Road Angel.

By law, a dashcam screen that is visible to the driver must automatically blank out within three minutes and stay off while the vehicle is in motion, purely to avoid that very situation.

Most dashcam manufacturers also produce dedicated hardwire kits although some, like my Viofo one, cost a few quid extra. Third-party ones are also perfectly good.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have bought a Road Angel; it's your money and your choice. I'm just wondering who you're trying to convince that the (much) higher price was worth it

Haha its all good, I did have a cheapo dash cam from amazon in my car for a while but it just looked a little off so my motivations for the Road Angel were largely in part aesthetics 🤣

3 hours ago, Harrier Man said:

Okay you cruel lot, thanks for all your replies and scarring the bejesus out of me! 😉

You've convinced me and I've just ordered myself a dash cam.

Haha glad you made the right choice, its sad we have to resort to such measures but especially since the pandemic started assuming nothing is sacred and don't trust strangers, especially ones that bash into your car on the road! 

11 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Any dashcam can be hardwired you know, very easily

Haha yeah that I know but I didnt want to hard wire one of those cheapo Chinese cameras to my car incase something were to happen to it and mess up my cars fuse box.  Plus I found with alot of the cheaper dash cams they had those ugly screens which made it quite distracting and I wanted it to be a clean install while being discreet. The road angel while pricey seemed to meet all those requirements for me and it came with its own official hard wire kit and while the app is god awful, it seems to work nicely for me. 

19 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

WTF. Were they trying to overtake you? Hopefully your car gets sorted. My one wasn't after this.

 

Police obtained the footage and the driver was prosecuted.

Even if you end up not "needing" a dashcam, it could pay for itself via discounts on your insurance premium.

Oh yes for sure, the partial discount is worth it and you don't need to disclose footage unless you want to. Mine is a pricier road angel becuase I wanted to hard wire it but you can pick one up for absolute pennies on amazon. 

In terms of this driver, supposedly he didn't see me (which is frankly insane) but I didn't give him too hard of a time. I've just had a look at your footage, that is terrible luck what on earth was that van driver doing!  

On 5/30/2022 at 8:37 PM, Harrier Man said:

I have noticed several owners have opted to have dashcams fitted. May I ask what reasons people have for doing so?

Here is the best reason for a dash cam, you can do everything correct and be subject to an accident. This happened to me on the Bank Holiday Friday unfortunately, the damage is pretty minor and thankfully the bloke took liability and was very apologetic. More often then not that isn't the case and its your word against theres. Its best to have the footage and never need it then have an accident and not have footage to back you up. 

This would be very useful to know actually, I've made a few recommendations to people to get 2008+ IS's due to the fact it can work with E10 without issue but it does seem odd how its not clear why it isnt compatible. Lets hope its an error on Lexus's part. 

14 hours ago, MrTrendizzle said:

This is a little old but just incase you havnt done it yet you could use this https://www.amazon.co.uk/EBILUN-Converter-Voltage-Changer-Regulator/dp/B07HCC8C6Z It will take the 12v and step it down to 6v. Just place it between the wire and camera.  

I've used these for my drone's previously when i need to take the 14.8v to 5v for the camera then full power on the VTX.

Cheers for the suggestion Trend, apparently this isn’t always necessary as the Television Camera ECU supplies the 6V for the reverse camera so assuming you could find the wire it’s just a case of tapping into it as normal.

in any case I’ve decided to not bother with the stock camera due to its fairly poor quality, I’ve actually opted to fit a 360 camera system as my new head unit supports it. Watch this space! 

I had the same thing happen to my mums IS250C, will need to take it to an exhaust specialist to get it welded back on. She did complain that the car felt a little sluggish but that could be a result of the exhaust coming off so try to get yours fixed when possible! 

I’m knee deep into the apple ecosystem so I’ve got one of those MagSafe chargers. This is my second one from Anker and the only reason I got this was the cable is integrated into the assembly and goes all the way to the back (it’s not even 15W so what a rip!) 

I’ll be figuring out a way discretely run the cable through the dashboard at some point (perhaps by lifting the centre speaker plastic grill) 

I would say based on what I've seen on the forum and generally from people I know is unless you're getting the car for absolute pennies or you intend to do alot of miles you're better off with an IS250. 

Ignoring the reliability issues, the economy is pretty bad in comparison to the petrol which is only slightly worse, consider the cost of Diesel at this point in time and the incredibly clunky gearbox, sixth gear is pretty useless unless you're doing around 80 but I have heard the sport versions have a slightly better gearbox. 

I have a 143k IS250 and for the most part drives as if she were brand new and while I am heavy footed I'm able to get 28 to 32 with sensible driving in town and achieve around 43mpg doing 70mph on the motorway with cruise control on. 

If you are dead set on the 220D or the 200D, I heard doing either an EGR or DPF delete as well as remapping the engine can help with addressing all the aforementioned concerns. Hopefully we've convinced you to steer clear of the 250 but failing that just have some money aside for repairs / maintenance! 

6 hours ago, H3XME said:

@Marleez @McShmoopy @ahmed-abrar @Linas.P

I'm flexible with most weekends, whatever is convenient for everyone! 

20 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Have you contacted Xtrons about this issue? How's the fit of your Xtrons unit? I've seen too many where the fit is naff.

I've been in touch with them but they did tell me from the get go the standard OEM camera isnt compatible out of the box. That being said I did speak to my local dealer and they advised me I can check out the Lexus Tech site and get my diagrams for a small fee for the hour. I havent had time recently but will attempt this on the weekend. I did also order a 360 camera system from Ali Express so do watch this space as that will be a good alternative to the OEM camera. 

In terms of fit, its actually spot on and looks close to stock, almost reminiscent of the new NX450h+'s infotainment. This is probably because my car is a facelift and these style of android unit fascias are better suited to the newer air vent shape and the way the clips for it are. If you had a pre facelift the air vent leaves a horrible gap at the top and the android unit doesnt quite fit into the below stereo / radio part without grinding off some of the clips. The only gripe I have with this is that the colours dont match quite the same but I suspect its down to my original plastics fading, and the bottom section of the radio no longer illuminates but I've tried to match the green close to the stock LEDs. 

Im based in the East Midlands but I'd certainly be down for a meet up! 

29 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Your link says - it is for car 2006-2011. I have wiring diagram, but it is the same as already provided they are simply for IS250, not specifically facelift. 

What makes you think that camera wiring would be different between 2010 and older cars?  

Well I didn’t think so at first so I took a look where the connector I need to tap into is (connected to a television camera controller ECU) but when I tried to locate the television camera controller I wasn’t able to find it for my vehicle. 
 

That then LED me to believe the wiring could be different but I’ve not been able to confirm my suspicions and I’d rather be sure which wires I’m tapping before going about this. 
 

Hi Guys

I've recently gotten an XTRONS head unit for my IS250 and while it does work wonderfully, one thing that wasn't supported out of the box was the reverse camera. This has something to do with the fact that our IS250s operate the camera on 6V and if we plugged it straight into the RCA output it would probably fry it as that runs on an elevated 12V.

I have been made aware that we can get it working but to do that require us to tap two wires and wire it to an RCA cable and depending on your specific car you may need to convert the signal to 6V. Only problem is that I have no clue which wires to tap.

On 06 to 09 vehicles this is very well documented on the US Club Lexus forum by one of the members. Only trouble I'm having is that there are not many wiring diagrams for a facelift IS (09 onwards) and the ones I have seen I can't spot the television camera controller or the camera being wired into the head unit. 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-3rd-gen-2006-2011/885999-tesla-style-headunit-with-oem-camera.html

If anyone wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction for these (even if its a paid option) it would be greatly appreciated. As much as I have gotten used to parking my car without it, it would be nice to have it working and if I can't I have been eyeing up a 360 Reverse Camera system! 

Some velcro could be a good option too, I've only had to remove this for running some cables for a replacement head unit / dash cam and accessing some ECUS and cables so for most people you dont need to access this often. 

6 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Oh dear that's a shame about carplay. Didn't you research the headunit before buying it? I'm sure the ones I've read about have carplay and android auto. Mind you there's a few headunits like yours which look the same.

Oh it did clearly state carplay support but the manual makes reference to wireless carplay so whether it clarifies it does or not is a little hit and miss, in any case XTRONS customer support confirmed it didn’t but it’s not a deal breaker in the grand scheme of things