mister_david

Agreed - and while Tasweb has linked to the ACCC, I believe that it may have been a Choice (consumer) investigation that lead to this being uncovered -> https://www.choice.com.au/transport/cars/general/articles/takata-airbags-what-you-need-to-know-in-australia-230717#like for like You are more than welcome to call Lexus yourself and ask to validate the above: 1800 023 009, and option 3 (if you live in Victoria, like me), but there are absolutely loads of press about this. Lexus themselves apologised to me (after following up 5 times) for taking so long with a response, and explained that they had been overwhelmed by the number of enquiries following the death of a man in Sydney whose car (a Honda) was subject to the recall but the fellow had ignored the notice. And not to put too finer point on it, rather than just do a simple Google query (takes a fraction of a second) and check for yourself, you've dismissed it out of hand. Ignorance in these matters can be life threatening as the fellow with the Honda has regrettably proven to be the case.

Hi All, I have a set of the original Lexus Low Dusting Brake Pads for sale - price $250 + delivery. I'm selling my IS250, and I bought three sets of these (two for the front, one for the back) a few years ago. The car now has the low dusting pads front & back ... but they are also long wearing so I've never used the second front set :) Shoot me an IM if you'd like them. Pickup is welcome (I'm located in Melbourne)! Cheers, David

Hi Folks, Its been a great run, and we've loved the car, but after 9 years of totally reliable driving its time to sell. Happy to chat on price, but the car is in absolutely outstanding condition with some great mods. Lots of details in the ad on Carsales, so shoot me an IM here (or via Carsales) and we'll see what we can work out. Currently offered with a few bonus items, but I've got them up here for sale as well ... so get in touch quickly if you're keen on buying! Cheers, David

Hi All, With all of the news floating around with the Takata Airbag fatality, I have followed up Lexus in relation to the replacement program for Takata Airbags in our cars. My airbag was replaced in May as part of the Australian recall, but the advice seems to be that many of the replacement airbags are also faulty, The advice that Lexus provided me was: The primary risk to the original faulty airbags was age - the older the airbag, the more likely the problem. They will continue their existing airbag replacement program as the priority Around 2019 they plan to implement a second recall program that aims to replace any Takata Airbag that was installed as part of the first (existing) replacement program. I would be contacted at the time of the second program should my May 2017 replacement have used a Takata Airbag. Please check for yourself if you are worried about your Airbag ... hope this helps! Cheers, David

I think that the door open chime is the most pointless and annoying of any alarm ... most likely introduced for the US market where door chimes are (or used to be) almost ubiquitous. And as this has remained unanswered for so long, I'd say its near impossible to disable :(

Thanks PMD008 - I guess that is exactly the point I'm wanting to sign up for. My other car, a BMW, had been given very poor service by BMW Melbourne - the bottom of the car was covered in oil (from an oil change during a major service). It was so bad I thought that the engine was leaking oil ... all it was was totally c*ap job done by an apprentice that hadn't been properly supervised. I ended up taking it to SouthernBM and have been very well looked after ever since. I am looking for exactly the same organisation, but for my Lexus :) I'm not too worried about not servicing it with Lexus now (given the age of the car), but would prefer to have it done by someone who is recommended. Folks on this forum are enthusiasts and want to look after their cars ... and that's me too :) Hence the request for personal recommendations! Cheers

Thanks Bazzle ... Have you (or anyone else) used these services...? I'd prefer somewhere that folks have used and are happy to recommend :)

Hi Folks, I have a 2008 SL that I've owned since 2009 - its always had Lexus service, is low mileage and in great condition (its well looked after). Unfortunately, I've had a persistent issue with door locks failing and the Lexus service approach has been to change the locks (and charge me for it). I've now replaced all door locks in the car twice (I only got 2 "free" locks out of Lexus) ... so I am now thoroughly unimpressed with Lexus standing behind their product, and believe its time to look for a good third party service company. Does anyone have any recommendations for qualified/professional Lexus mechanics in Melbourne..? I'm in the east of Melbourne (near Doncaster Westfield if it helps), but happy to travel elsewhere if that's where good service is to be found. I've been through Lexus service in Brighton & Blackburn and both are not really looking after me. By way of example, my second car is a BMW which I take to SouthernBM (a very professionally run company that specialises in BMW's) ... so I'd like to do the same for the Lexus. Cheers!

Thanks folks ... I'll pop a listing up on Whirlpool and see what recommendations folks there have for auto electricians. I'm annoyed at Lexus as they've completely disowned the problem, despite it being there during the warranty period: so much for paying for Lexus service :( Not at all pleased having paid for the privilege of having them ignore the issue. Not good enough for a premium brand ...

Hi Folks, I find myself in familiar territory once again: the door locks on my IS250SL have once again decided to fail. And I say "locks" deliberately ... having only recently replaced the drivers door lock, the both locks on the passenger side have now started to fail. This tedious problem has now completed its second circuit of the car: the dock locks fail in sequence ... starting at the driver, rear driver, rear passenger and front passenger. I've posted previously about this problem and just put up with the fact that the car needs a new door lock once a year ... However, with three locks failing in a six month window, I'm convinced that this is not a problem with the locks, but rather with something in the electronics of the car. Does anyone on this forum have a recommendation for a solid/reliable auto electrician in Melbourne who would be able to look at this problem...? And although I've had the car regularly serviced by Lexus (and paid Lexus to fix the door locks previously), I find that they are unwilling to do anything more than change the lock (and charge me for it) ... despite the problem starting while the car was in warranty. Of course, other suggestions are welcome too :) Cheers! David

Hi Folks, My IS250SL (2008) drivers door lock/actuator has failed again (this is the third time for the front door alone), and Lexus are not interested in replacing the unit under warranty ... actually, all of my doors locks failed, one-by-one in a clockwise pattern, starting with the drivers door ... its been the only consistently unreliable part in the car. I ended up paying for some of these replacements as they started failing towards the end of my warranty. Lexus has quoted me $600 to replace the part - what a bargain :( I'm not at all impressed, having had the car always serviced by Lexus, they show little interest in fixing anything post-warranty. As they won't honour any warranty, it looks like I may as well take a look at sourcing either a 2nd hand part, or having a new one sent from overseas. Has anyone had experience with sourcing these..? I did a quick search, and there's only one prior post but no real discussion :) I found one on e-Bay (from a wrecker - $120), so that's an option ... but maybe there are other better options..? It looks to me that I can replace the door lock/actuator fairly easily - I've already installed the folding mirror option so I'm familiar with the fun of getting the door panel off ... and I'd guess that the actuator just plugs in. So I'd have a crack at it myself ... Anyway, I'm interested in the experience of others and what folks advise ... $600 seems poor value when I'm only going to get a 1-year warranty and they appear to fail within 4 years anyway!

Hi Peter, I understand your frustration ... as I started reading your post I couldn't believe how much you'd spent on the sound system relative to the value of the car ... I guess mine is worth about $25k-ish (I've got a 2008 SL, with 67K's on the clock - car is in brilliant condition) and spending ~10% of that on a sound system doesn't add up for me :) In relation to road noise, I find that comment surprising. I have very little road noise in my car - my father, who only ever opens his mouth to insult me or say offensive cr*p, said "I can't believe how quiet this car is, I can't even tell if the engine is running". And I get comments from other folks who've got German cars (last one was a Merc owner) who commented how quiet it was. I have Pirelli tyres on the car, based on a recommendation from a (good) local tyre store. I always prefer Michelin, but he persuaded me that the Pirelli's were better and I took the advice ... maybe the road noise is from the tyres or perhaps insulation that has come loose during the fitting of the new stereo..? I've fitted an override for parts of the SatNav system ... glad I did so. It doubles as my iPod integration point, so its useful ... but I still can't operate the SatNav while driving and I'm not keen to invest further in the car :) I'm going to enjoy it till it dies ... I'll probably turn over my BMW for something else (Tesla?) in due course, but the Lexus is reliable and relatively inexpensive driving so I'm going to hang onto it for a while. Cheers, David

Hi Peter, Sorry about taking some time to respond - I've just decided to live with the sound system as it is. The suggestions that StormIS made have helped improve the sound, but the quality of it remains rubbish when compared to standard sound systems in other cars (the standard sound system in my BMW is *far far far* superior). When I purchased the car at Lexus of Brighton, there was a very enthusiastic young fellow who raved about the quality of the ML sound system ... so for a long time I thought that it must have a failed component/incorrectly configured/needed additional tuning. The realisation that it was utter cr*p took a while coming, but I realise that it just is like this. There's a lot to like about the car, but the sound system isn't part of that. And yes, the software that sits around the control centre is incredibly tedious in how it behaves ... I think it adds to driver distraction rather than being a safety aid. I drove a newer model at the last service and it looked to have been improved somewhat.

Hi Stormis, Thank you for the suggestions - I've tried to paste an image of my initial settings up, but I can't figure out how to do so. Anyway, they are (or were): Treb => +1 above the centre setting Mid => the centre setting Bass => +1 above the centre setting. I have adjusted to now be: Treb => -1 below the maximum setting Mid => +1 above the lowest setting Bass => the maximum setting I have only driven the car once since the setting (up the train station), and while it sounds much better, I will want to see whether this brings it up to the spec of the (standard) BMW unbranded system. I'll let folks know how I manage. Hi Jonokhoa, Thanks for the offer of help - I am in the Doncaster/Box Hill area. I will see how the settings StormIS has recommended work out, although they are not too dissimilar to what you've specified. Also, I think my "centre-ing" of sound is identical to what you have specified. Cheers, David

Hi Folks, I have 2008 SL which is equipped with the standard Mark Levinson sound system. I came to the IS250 from a BMW X5 (2001 model) and could not believe how hopeless the sound is compared what I got in the X5: I took it back to the dealer who told me that it was operating normally. I sold the X5 to buy the IS250 so I just thought that it was my imagination, but as I've recently become an owner of 2 cars I now have a second car in my garage (a BMW X6) and the stereo on that is vastly superior. I figure that there must be something wrong with the sound system - it can't be that awful when it is promoted as being a feature. I figure that the dealer couldn't be bothered looking at the problem and dismissed my complaints about it. I listen to mostly classical music, but also to (80's) pop and from time to time contemporary music via the stereo. I've found that the sound quality is awful regardless of whether I use a CD, the radio or an iPod (I have an iPod connector system that I installed in the car). The sound is tinny, shallow and there is no sense of being in a music hall that I would expect from a top-shelf system. I wondered if anyone has had any experience with getting their system looked at: I am Melbourne based, so I'm looking for someone in the Eastern suburbs who might be able to help. And perhaps there is something obvious that I can/should check (e.g. a blown fuse)..? Cheers, David

Hi ilv1004s, Not my first luxury car, but my third. And by quite a large margin, its easily the worst for reliability. I've been completely let down in the ownership experience, and turned off Lexus as a brand. I'd planned on keeping the car for a while, and mean to continue doing so, but if this fault rate keeps up it'll soon make sense to cut my losses and ditch the car. That said, the folks at the service centre are really very good - they could not be more helpful (and unlike the BMW folks). BTW, the $485 wasn't for a set, it was for a single globe. Hi Atlantis, Well, I did actually research and I found objections to the 6000K units - apparently they are "aggressive"..? However I believe that this is what is in the car right now (according to my research, the 6000K are the default installation from 2009 onwards). Cheers, David

Hi samsung001, Thanks for the tip: I was wondering what type to get. I've been looking at the 6000k or 8000k globes ... less than $70 for a set. I'm still gobsmacked that Lexus want $485 for a single globe ... and I appreciate the suggestion of others to look online as I was about to pay that price! Cheers, David

Hi samsung001, The car is just out of warranty, but I suspect that their response would have been the same even if it had still been under warranty as headlights are considered a "consumable" (like brakes, tyres, wiper blades etc). Hi sherlockyou, The car was about 14 months "old" when I bought it: it was a Lexus fleet car, and the story I was told was that the dealer principal's wife had been driving it (it had only about 7,500Kms on the clock). It meant that I didn't wear the heavy initial depreciation on the car, but I'm not happy about the number of problems we've had with it. Cheers, David

Hi Z, My last car, a BMW X5, was actually cheaper to service than the IS250. And it had a whole lot less faults. The only "mistake" that I consider I made in the process was buying an ex-dealer car (you know, one of those that they use as a staff car). Maybe it was abused before I got it ..? I've ordered some from eBay for a fraction of the cost ($66 delivered for two lights, as opposed to $485 + installation for the one from Lexus) Hi coconut2001, The service folks at the dealer actually look after me pretty well. While I'm inclined to accept their assurance about the cause, I'm not happy with the way Lexus has engaged. I'd actually considered looking at the new GS250 to replace the IS250, but that idea is now (permanently) scratched. The part must cost Lexus all of $20 (or less) ... not really a great way to sell your brand I would have thought. Cheers David

Hi Folks, I've generally had a very disappointing ownership experience with my 2008 SL - a myriad of faults and problems most of which have been "repaired" under warranty (I gave up trying to get two of the issues "repaired" since Lexus didn't seem to be able to fix the two remaining problems). Since the warranty expired in May, I've had two component failures that have required repair, the latest of which is the low beam HID headlight. The first instance of this was the central locking actuator on the rear passenger side door failed: that cost me $220 after Lexus said that they would cover half of the cost of the repair (the driver side rear actuator had failed as well, but was replaced under warranty). The second instance was the failure of the low beam HID headlight. I am totally astonished at the cost: $500 to replace a bulb! What I'm particularly ticked off at is that this has happened *immediately* after the car had been to Lexus to fix the door actuator, and I can't help but draw a conclusion that something happened during the repair process. The repair happened on a Thursday and I noticed the failed headlight on the Friday (at night): I know power was disconnected during this repair as all my seat/mirror settings were cleared, and Lexus left a notice on the rear vision mirror to warn me that this was the case. Anyway, I contacted my Lexus dealer about this. They explained that these lights fail without warning, but asked Lexus to help contribute to the cost of the bulb ... they declined. The car has only just done 43k, which is really low mileage so if you took the view that average mileage is 25k per annum, my car should have had a theoretical mileage of over 100k ... hence the lamps have lasted less than half what they should. And I note here that there is an implied (but incorrect) assumption here that Lexus engineers the lamps to fail at the end of the warranty: so realistically, my lamp got (maybe) 10-20% of its expected lifespan. Before I go ahead and get the bulb replaced, I thought that I'd throw it open to folks here for suggestions. I had thought of writing to consumer affairs about it: $500 for a bulb seems over the top, especially since you'd anticipate it lasting for many years given the price ... Thoughts folks..? Cheers, David

Hi Juzblasze, Thanks for the information: I don't know whether I'm comfortable buying the product, but appears to answer the question as to whether or not the front and rear pads are the same (they are different), so I'll make an enquiry about ordering the Lexus pads from the US. I don't know where to buy the Bendix pads (I'm really not very technical with cars, I just like the style/features of the IS250), so I may as well order the Lexus ones since I've found where I can get the in the US. Cheers, David

Hi Manny, Since I'm going to replace all the brake pads (front and rear) at once, is part 04465-53030 suitable for the front pads only (this where the biggest problem is with brake dust) or can the same part (04465-53030) be used to the replace rear brake pads as well? I've taken a look at the Japanese website in the link above, but it seems the pads are out of stock. Seems that they are freely available in the US, but no one wants to ship here. Would you know if they are available locally ... or where else I can source them at reasonable cost? The Bendix pads look to be a good alternative from a cost point of view! Hi dajaja, Can the Bendix pads you've mentioned above (Bendix General CT P-DB1852GCT $125 a set) be used instead of the genuine Lexus pads (04465-53030)? Is the price is AUD$125? Would you have a suggestion or recommendation for where to source them...? Cheers, David

Hi Manny, I'm interested in your experience (or anyone else's) with these brake pads ... I know that mine are going to require replacement at the next service ... and aside from the constant problem that I have with dust (the wheels are dirty after a couple of days of driving, and filthy after two weeks) ... the dust also creates squealing in the brakes, so I'm keen to get something that solves the problem. How have you found the replacement Lexus pads..? My dealer (Lexus of Brighton) told me that sometimes they can't get products like these brake pads: they didn't check to confirm whether this was the case, but rather made a comment when I raised the issue of alternative pads to resolve the dust/squealing problems. And just to be sure, it is part number 04465-53030 that you've ordered/fitted..? Cheers, David

Hi Folks, I've just recently purchased and installed one of these units. I've never tried doing anything of this nature on my car, but I thought that it seemed reasonably easy to do: I was very wrong about this and would strongly advise the inexperienced against trying it yourself :) I'm very grateful to the help of both Atlantis and Cecil in helping me get through the installation. However, that said, let me share my experience installing the unit in a 2008 Sports Luxury. Purchasing I bought mine via eBay, which cost me $250.01 including postage from the US. Here is a link to the eBay store selling the product -> eBay Store for VAIS Product Note: they sell other stuff - just navigate to the VAIS products using the "VAIS Technology" link on the left panel. This fellow sells VAIS units for other Lexus/Toyota models Quite usefully, the site contains the installation manual for each VAIS product that they sell I downloaded the SL2i-UP installation manual when considering whether I would install the unit myself. I've attached it to this message in case others are interested :) I found it took 17 business days for the unit to arrive: 2 days longer than the worst case delivery time according to eBay. Not a big deal for me, but useful to know if you're worried about "where is my unit"! Physical Installation I located the VAIS unit near the gear stick, with the iPod in the glove box. I found removing the head unit, particularly the removal of the air-vent covers above the head unit, to be pretty difficult. I botched putting the unit back in (I knocked the LHS air vent) and I've decided to get Lexus to fix that. Be very careful with the air vents as they are fiddly and easily come apart! Unless you are prepared to disconnect all the cables to the head unit (I wasn't),the head unit will only move about 1" clear of the dashboard, which makes it really hard to figure out which cable you have to disconnect to install the "Y" adapter that supplies the VAIS unit with power/control. The diagrams suggest that the cable to disconnect from the head unit (so that you can install the Y adapter) is at the rear of top left corner, however it is in fact at the bottom right side. Getting the cable to the iPod by running it behind the dash board was really hard, complicated by the fact that the head unit can't be moved to far from the dashboard, and the gear stick lever sits exactly where you'd want to place the head unit. The result of (5) is that you have to perform a delicate balancing act with the head unit on the gear stick lever while trying to get behind the dashboard. It took two of us to do this. Tip: we used a torch that we shined through the slit at the rear of the glove box to work out which gap in the rear of the dashboard we should be poking the cable for the iPod. Suggestion: Cecil told me that he removed the glovebox - this may make the process of threading the cable easier. I just wasn't game to try that! After threading the iPod cable behind the dashboard, I encountered another problem with getting the other end of the cable to the VAIS box: it has a large rectangular box on the cable, which prevented me from threading it through a gap underneath the support for the head unit. I found a very small space (sufficient for a cable) underneath the head unit, so I was able to place the iPod cable there ... and there was sufficient length in the cable for the rectangular box to sit near the gearstick. Programming The instructions in the manual are very misleading - be warned that they do not correctly reflect the process you go through. A couple of the problems that I noticed were: On the physical unit, the dip-switches are marked "ON" (I presume the other position is "OFF", although its not marked as such), but the manual just refers to "UP" and "DOWN". Nice diagrams in the manual which show switches in the "DOWN" position are the exact opposite of what you want them to be. Programming the VAIS in CD-MP3 emulation mode: Have the ACC ignition for the car on, but power to the VAIS unit disconnected. The iPod should be connected to the VAIS unit. I had both of the dip-switches in the "OFF" position, and then plugged the VAIS unit into the power. I moved the left hand dip-switch into the "ON" position - it then emitted the long beep, followed by a few short beeps. I didn't get the confirmation beep until I moved the left hand switch back into the "OFF" position At this point, you should see something like "VAIS SLi ..." appear on the screen of the car Turn off the car ignition Turn on the ignition and you should be ready to go! You should now be able to navigate to the "CD Changer" and there should be six buttons (numbered 1 - 6) across (with the VAIS unit in CD-MP3 Mode) (Note: in point (4) above, the left hand switch is the one that is closest to the edge of the VAIS box) Programming the Auto-Confirmation of the Warning Message: The manual seems to imply that this is automatically configured, but it isn't - you have to do this yourself! The car ignition must be on, and you need to be in the "CD Changer" for this to work. The "CD Changer" is how the VAIS unit appears to the IS250. You press the "SCAN" button very rapidly in order to put the unit into "SIMPLE" mode. According to the manual, a message supposedly comes on the screen to which you respond: in my experience this didn't show up ... the display just changed the name of the Folder (to "VAIS SLi ..." ) and the File (to "Firmware 4.5") I pressed and held the "RAND" button until I head a long beep, which I assume to mean that the program had been accepted (i.e. Auto-Confirm was turned on) At this point the display appeared to get stuck .. nothing I could do would take the VAIS out of "SIMPLE" mode. What appeared to work, was to turn off the ignition and pull the power from the VAIS unit. I then reconnected the power, turned on the ACC ignition and navigated to the "CD Changer". With the display still in "SIMPLE" mode, I rapidly pressed the "SCAN" button until I heard a beep. This took it out of "SIMPLE" mode, but the display was still showing as per step (4) above. I then pressed one of the other buttons from 1 - 6 and the display refreshed itself and cleared the name of the VAIS unit. Operation Some observations on the operation of the unit: I have found the sound to be much better than the arrangement I had via the AUX port. I have used an old 16GB iPhone as my iPod: every time I start the car the iPhone gives a warning message about the VAIS unit not being optimised for the iPhone. I don't care about the message as I don't see it (the iPhone is in the glove box). The "Folder" button is not selectable when the car is moving: the folder button effectively allows me to select the name of the album I want to play. Workaround: select the "Next" button to scroll through the albums one at a time (tedious). When answering a telephone call (via a bluetooth connected phone), the music will resume at the point at which the call came through. When making a telephone call (via bluetooth connected phone), the music won't resume - it goes back to the start of the track. Turning off/on the ignition the music won't resume - it goes back to the start of the track that was last playing when you turned off the car. For my part, it'd be great to select how you wanted the unit to behave (resume/restart) when making calls and/or turning off the car. I'm aware that the limitation on the Folder button is likely due to Lexus disabling certain features while driving, so to be fair, I don't believe its a limitation of the VAIS product ... maybe it would work for those who'd "fixed" this problem for their SatNav...? Apologies for the length of this post, but it should give others who want to take on the installation an idea as to how to get the job done! As I said above, I could not have managed this without the help of both Atlantis and Cecil - thanks again guys! Cheers, David Manual_SL2i_v444.pdf

Hi Atlantis, I recalled that there were some instructions on hacking the DVD unit .. only took me a minute to find them :) I should be able to to follow these. I hadn't thought to put it near the gear lever - thanks! The part about where the cable runs is going to be the challenge for me. Not being an old hand at this, I don't an intuitive feel for where this would go :) Sweet - thanks for the tip. I also noticed in the instruction manual that it automatically gets rid of that annoying message about the navigation that I currently have to manually clear every time I start the car. I almost think its worth the $250 just to get rid of that - the fact that you get the iPhone/iPod integration on top is a bonus! Cheers, David