Normandg

I thought about doing the same for my IS 250 (2006). The price for the equipment off eBay is about 3 grand. My son could do the work, no problem. He installs audio and video equiment in cars for a living. He even said it would not be difficult. But the cost drove me away.

My son used "nail polish remover" with great success. I would exercise caution. Do this out of the sunlight. Also, wash off the area immediately when you are done. I would also recommend doing a small test area first to make sure you do not damage the paint. My son used this on his Audi A6 (4.2) and his paint still looks great.

I try not to let my tank get that low. If you start sucking fuel from the bottom of the tank that is when you can get what ever junk has collected in the bottom. Most likely your fuel filter would catch it. But then your fuel line can clog and you will need to change the filter. I try to never get below a quarter of a tank. Food for thought.

I too find the bass to be very good in my IS250. I have had my windows shaking a couple of times. I have my bass set at 2 (normally) and sometimes that is a little much for me. Normandg

I agree with Weardown. I would look at the maintenance costs. You can, in some cases, do this online. Look up some common items like an alternator, brake pads and rotors and other such common items like these. Call the dealer and ask what it would cost to have some sort of specific work done. My son owns an Audi A6 (4.2). The CV axel on that thing costs over 500 bucks. He is now seeing what the ownership costs are related to a nice car. Norman

Sometimes I want to start my car and walk back inside the house while it warms up. Most vehicles will allow you to lock the car with the remote. I am not able to do this with my 2006 IS250. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. Normandg

I have seen the NAV system on eBay for around 3 grand. You would need to be sure to get all of the bits and pieces. If you get just the NAV unit you will not have everything you need. I too have a 2006 IS250 (non-NAV). I thought about doing the same thing. I did add a PARROT Bluetooth device to my stereo. That works great. The stereo cuts out when a call is coming in or going out. Pretty easy to install. As for the NAV I decided to use by Magallen GPS (a couple of hundred bucks beats 3000 bucks). Around town I do not need my GPS. However, when I need it I pop it in. I notice a lot of people keep their GPS in all the time. Many of them have built in bluetooth so that can be pretty handy. If I were to buy a new IS I would give serious consideration to the car with NAV installed. Normandg

I should have thought about that (DAH). I will call my local dealer to see if there is much of a difference in the price before I pay shipping. Thanks for the feedback. Norman

Has anyone changed their wiper blades lately? I have a 2006 IS250 AWD. I stopped by the local auto parts store and bought some Rain-X wiper blades (Latitude). I have them on a couple of other vehicles and I like how they perform. However, when I put them on the IS250 I really don't like how they look. I know that is a little crazy. They work great, they just don't look as good as the stock blades. I tried to find the Lexus blades online and the driver side wiper is between 30 and 40 bucks. Go figure for a Lexus. Has anyone found a good price on Lexus wiper blades? Thanks, Norman

My daughter bought them for my 2006 IS260 and my son (30 years old) installed them. It did not take very long. It seemed pretty easy. Norman

My son and a friend install remote starts, and other audio/video equipment, for a living. I have a 2006 IS250. They have a site they go to for information about different vehicles. I believe it is Direct Tech. I am not 100% sure. They showed me the other day where someone finally figured out how to make a viper remote start/alarm work on the IS250. There were many pictures posted. They were trying to talk me in to letting them do this to my car. I have no doubt they could do it. But I decided against it. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done and I don't want my car torn apart for that one feature. The installation in my Ford Ranger took only an hour or two. The IS250 would take many hours (I guess about 6 to 10 hours). Food for thought. Normandg

Has anyone replaced their Oil Filter Housing? I tried to remove the top cap (the bolt in the center) and it will not come off. I removed the entire housing and replaced the filter and drained the oil at the oil pan. It is my understanding that the bolt should come out. I tried, but nothing worked. Should I not worry about it or replace the housing? Thanks in advance. Norman p.s. I have a 2006 IS250 AWD.

I have a Valentine 1 and I love it. It does not have bluetooth. I live in Virginia where radar detectors are illegal. I have my V1 mounted in a pouch on the driver’s side visor. There is a small opening, facing the front, cut for the detector to pick up laser signals. Radar passes through the pouch material. I don’t need to see the detector to know when there is an issue down the road. I can tell you that, in my opinion, the V1 is the best detector sold. It has saved me more than once. Owning a detector does not keep you from getting caught. You still need to use the one that God gave you. If you get over confident then you will get burnt. Normandg

I have a 2006 IS250. I am considering doing an HID conversion on the headlights. Has anyone done this yet? I am curious if anyone has any particular recommendations. Obviously I can look on eBay and see a dozen or so different kits. One markets his product as being the "original Japanese HID kit" where the others are said to be Chinese knock offs. Kits range in price from 50 to 320 bucks. The average seems to be around 179.

There are several GPS models that offer bluetooth with the GPS. I bought one for my son-in-law for Christmas. I bought him the Magellan. I don't recall which model. I believe it was the 3140 that I bought him. He likes it. Norman