New to the Club and Lexus

[DT_Racing]

Afternoon LOC members.

Just wanted to drop a quick note on here to introduce myself, I joined the club a week or so ago in anticipation of my upcoming purchase which I collect tomorrow, as you might imagine I'm in quite a good mood looking forward to this. I've read a lot and learned a lot in the past week mainly from you good people of this forum and am confident I've put myself in the right car.

I am sure most of you will be aware of the limited number of ISF's avaiable at any one time, I made my selection after viewing and test driving three, two from lexus main dealers, a pre-facelift 08 and a 13 plate, but my favourite was in between the two settling on a 11 plate in Black from a ford dealer (of all places). Only have dealer pics until tomorrow, but I'll post a few more at some point.

The Lexus is a bit of a departure for me, my more recent car history is quite varied but all the changes have been for one reason or another. This change was necassitated to the imminent arrival of my second child and a move to 5 doors was all the justification I needed to talk myself into this... This and the fact that hopefully I wont be tempted to modify it which is a bit of a habit of mine.

So I'm coming out of a Audi S3 3-door but it was no ordinary S3. Beyond the engine block casting there wasnt much standard about it, she was running 406Bhp on low boost (1.5bar), full modified Volkwagen racing Cup suspension and braking via Brembo/AP Racing, apart from basic stance she looked like a standard S3. Lovely. I think to an extent it is this wolf in sheeps clothing that pulled me to the ISF over the C63 AMG or M3, I've always prefered the understated. Back from this I had a Mazda RX8 R3 special edition, a very brief fling with a mazda 6 sport (still dont know why i did that) and prior to that a Lotus Elise R.  With exception of the Mazda 6 I have loved all these car as they suited my perfectly at that given time.

All being well I plan to keep the ISF for a few years until the litte uns are out of their kiddie seats. So here starts my ISF Journey... happy to be part of this quite exclusive little club.

Dave

 

[JonP]

Congrats on your purchase. I have had a 2011 for nearly 3 years and I have no intention on getting rid of it. Still puts a smile on my face every time I get into the car and start it up. Though I have just bought an old Range Rover to lug stuff around as there is a definite limit to how much you can get in the boot or back seat. 

[MrW]

Welcome, that's the one at Geoff Cox Right?? nice colour combo that one.

[DT_Racing]

Thanks for the welcome gents. MrW it is indeed, I wondered if it had made an appearance on here previously, has anyone seen it before? This one ticked all the boxes that mattered to me, I loved the 13 plate in chester but was more 'obvious' (in that lovely blue) if you can level that at an ISF. Really liked the black with light interior.

[stevet]

Hi & welcome. Great looking car. Love the light interiors. Which others did you test drive?

[DT_Racing]

Thanks for the welcome. I drove the 13 plate at Chester Lexus and the Mesa Red at Manchester Lexus. I wanted to see if any one of them really stood out or if there was anything I would be compromising on. Had I have seen the Mesa red first I may have gone for it but after the light interior of the others it felt a little dark, still very pleasant just didn't pop for me. 

[rayaans]

Yh the car has popped up before and the general consensus was that it was awesome but had minor scars which all cars have i.e kerbed wheels and some scratches near the drivers door. Im assuming they sorted that out for you though?

[DT_Racing]

I'm happy to hear that, always good to get a feel from those in the know. I checked rims and looked freshly painted certainly weren't showing any kerb rash. Unnless I missed it I couldn't see any paint defects, nothing more than a polish full of fillers could conceal anyway so I'm hopeful. One of the first jobs will be a full detail anyway so if there is anything nasty I'll find it pretty soon.

[stevet]

What sort of warranty are the Ford dealer offering? Might put a cheeky offer in on the Massa Red one myself, its way over priced and they've had it a few months now.

[DT_Racing]

There was nothing wrong with the Mesa red, I loved it actually. There would certainly be a deal to be had on it. We only touched on it but he was keen to throw in a 2 year Warrenty, next service and MOT free and that was without trying.

 

No Warrenty as such from Geoff Cox other than your standard 3 month cover. I wouldn't doubt (at this point) they would honour it and if there were issues I would be looked after. Pleasant garage to deal with. I am considering paying for the 2yr Lexus extended Warrenty after the 3 months expires. Still something in it having 16 fuel injectors that makes me nervous.... Despite Lexus's reputation for reliability. 

[rayaans]

44 minutes ago, stevet said:

What sort of warranty are the Ford dealer offering? Might put a cheeky offer in on the Massa Red one myself, its way over priced and they've had it a few months now.

Yeah Manchester have had it for a few months. Its actually a previous club members car and is in impeccable condition but the price is higher than it should be.

[Stuno1]

Welcome to the forum. Lovely car. Congratulations chap. Some nice cars in that history chap. I am sure you will love the Lexus, it is a superb car. 

[GibletPH]

Welcome to the club. You picked the perfect colour, especially with the cream interior. 

As an owner of a black 08 ISF the only thing I would really change is the black interior as it does seem a little dark at times. 

Have fun collecting the car, I'm less than a month into ownership and the car still puts a smile on my face when I fire it up. Enjoy in good health. 

[LEX_ZED]

Welcome to paranoia free supercar motoring.. mines got 100k on it and runs like a beast! 

[DT_Racing]

I like it when I hear something like that makes me feel better. I should probably have worried more about my S3's reliability than I should the Lex. Fingers crossed.

[DT_Racing]

Run home was most enjoyable despite it raining. Very happy with it though, looking forward to a dry day. As it was so wet didn't manage any hoonery but did a 27.2mpg half motorway half a road, better than expected. Sure this will plummet with a bit of right foot :-) 

[gazza5]

Without sounding too cheeky how much did you get off?

The car was opriginally up for £25995, then jumped up to £27995 and noticed the other day they had reduced it by £1000 to £26995.

I would def get the lexus warranty, although these cars are fairly bullet proof you never know.

[DT_Racing]

Not cheeky, I think everyone on here will know what these go for more or less. I didn't actually know it was down at that price originally but I paid £25k on the nose. I was happy to pay that looking at others

[GibletPH]

3 hours ago, DT_Racing said:

Run home was most enjoyable despite it raining. Very happy with it though, looking forward to a dry day. As it was so wet didn't manage any hoonery but did a 27.2mpg half motorway half a road, better than expected. Sure this will plummet with a bit of right foot :-) 

Yup. I had an indicated 31 mpg on the first drive home (Oxford to Leeds) but a tank of pretty much pure urban with a bit of WOT saw me doing nearly half that at 16.1

[gazza5]

I will be honest £25k is about right as well in the current market. Not that it matters too much now as the price paid won't matter due to the fun you will be having!

[DT_Racing]

I don't mind paying the right money for the right car. Good to know I was about right with it though. Thanks

[MrW]

I think that is about right, the 2010> model years are certainly more desirable and carry a premium. Some one should point that out to the Manchester branch.

[Mark G]

Great looking car, I am sure you will enjoy it, absolutely love mine.

[stevet]

3 hours ago, MrW said:

I think that is about right, the 2010> model years are certainly more desirable and carry a premium. Some one should point that out to the Manchester branch.

That's the problem as its registered in 2010 they are pricing up as so, even though its a 2009 build. In price guides its probably spot on. Unfortunately for them ISF buyers know a lot about the cars they are looking at.

[DT_Racing]

I did promise that a detail would be one of the first items on my to do list. You never really know a car until you've given it a proper clean up. Turns out the paint is in pretty bad fettle, not marked or damaged just neglected its been treated to an 'average joe' care car regime I suspect. There is only one area I suspect has had a patch/scratch repair and thats on the back drivers side corner, in bright light you can just see a haze under the lacquer where its been blanded in. I might have the bumper painted to get rid of this but no hurry. So the process begins... as the saying goes 'you cant conquer Rome in a day' so today was stage 1.

The paint was so dry it pained me and felt like very light sandpaper to the touch

It was going to be a long but enjoyable day

Quick pressure wash off the onto the Snowfoam, obligatory snowfoam shot...

Two bucket wash and dry, wheels treated to Pro valet Bilberry wheel cleaner

This is the paint after the wash before I started working on it, warning, explicit paint damage pics coming up, if you have a weak stomache look away now...

A not so quick clay...damn these are big cars compared to an S3

Wash off, and out comes the DA for a once over. Medium pad, heavy cut compound just to kill off the big stuff as a temporary until I have more time.

Apply large amounts of polish full of fillers - Autoglym SRP

Top off will Collinite 476s and this is what you end up with. You just have to know which products work in which situations. If you have knackered paint a polish full of fillers will work wonders.

I will finish the detail at in the not so distant future I promise.