Thoughts on this IS-F

[ISFNut]

Anyone have a background on this vehicle? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301233534314

Obviously have checked MOT history. Don’t love the aftermarket lights but can probably restore to OEM. 

Looking to finally get into an IS-F as a daily after 10 years of lusting. Only doing around 2-4k per year. 

Thanks
 

 

[EP80]

Looks a nice car, price is still too high in my opinion though they have dropped it since I last looked, think it was at 15k. I would have thought £13k roughly would be a more fair price. Most of the ISFs on AT have been there for a while so aren't selling, rather they are distorting market pricing. A red ISF sold on here for £15k iirc that was roughly 100k miles late last summer, that was a realistic price. We are further into the financial quagmire than back then and used car prices are finally dropping too.

YMMV

[Linas.P]

I was about to say the same thing, but was kind of afraid to be crucified. IS-F is just overpriced for what it is, that is not to say they are not amazing cars, but 15k for 150k miles and 15 years old car is steep. Clearly it is an interesting niche and demand outstrips supply and the prices shows that, at the same time it is tiny market - so there is 10 cars for sale and maybe 15 people in the country that are interested. 

So my personal view - it is just not the right time to buy IS-F, when it will be right time? Who knows, maybe it has passed already. For 12k I would say that would be good buy, but not for 15k.

And as well note the following - Lexus are amazingly reliable cars, but don't expect 15 years old car with 150k miles to require no maintenance and not needing suspension overhaul, and for car like IS-F don't expect it to be cheap either. So if you buy it at 15k, expect to put another 2k on top for the car to really drive as it should. I am not saying anything major, but bushings, ball-joints, maybe shocks... and none of them are cheap.

So in summary - nice car, but too expensive.

[ubersonic]

Looks like a nice car to me.

One thing that did catch my eye is that it's on a 59 plate but has pre facelift vents/nav unit which I thought you only got on cars manufactured in 2008, but I could be wrong on that and it may have been an option in 2009 or something? (I know that you can't get facelift vents/nav unit on a car made before 2009 but not sure how the reverse works).

Looking at the spec though it has a lot of good markers, Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres are the best you can put on an ISF (barring track specific tyres) so the owner hasn't skimped on it and the recent discs/pads mean there shouldn't be any expensive maintenance in it's near future.  Hayward and Scott exhaust system means he did his research and that's a £1500 system the new owner won't have to buy.  The VLAND LED tail lights might not be to everyone's taste but they are to most peoples taste and so if a new owner wanted to go back to OEM the cost would be covered or better by selling those lights.

All in all it looks a great car for a good price, the amount of miles and previous owners are indicative of it's age so no red flags there.

I'm sure some people will say it's overpriced but you have to factor in that while you could have got the same spec/condition car five years ago with 70k less miles for the same money, this is that car five years ago plus five years of miles.  Once the prices of a certain car/model bottom out, then either the price or the miles is going to go up (or both), that's just how desirable cars work.  In 2012 I paid £6500 for an okay Supra TT with 70k on the clock, last year the guy I sold it to sold it on for £20k+ with 180k on the clock.

[Linas.P]

13 hours ago, ubersonic said:

Looks like a nice car to me.

One thing that did catch my eye is that it's on a 59 plate but has pre facelift vents/nav unit which I thought you only got on cars manufactured in 2008, but I could be wrong on that and it may have been an option in 2009 or something? (I know that you can't get facelift vents/nav unit on a car made before 2009 but not sure how the reverse works).

Looking at the spec though it has a lot of good markers, Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres are the best you can put on an ISF (barring track specific tyres) so the owner hasn't skimped on it and the recent discs/pads mean there shouldn't be any expensive maintenance in it's near future.  Hayward and Scott exhaust system means he did his research and that's a £1500 system the new owner won't have to buy.  The VLAND LED tail lights might not be to everyone's taste but they are to most peoples taste and so if a new owner wanted to go back to OEM the cost would be covered or better by selling those lights.

All in all it looks a great car for a good price, the amount of miles and previous owners are indicative of it's age so no red flags there.

I'm sure some people will say it's overpriced but you have to factor in that while you could have got the same spec/condition car five years ago with 70k less miles for the same money, this is that car five years ago plus five years of miles.  Once the prices of a certain car/model bottom out, then either the price or the miles is going to go up (or both), that's just how desirable cars work.  In 2012 I paid £6500 for an okay Supra TT with 70k on the clock, last year the guy I sold it to sold it on for £20k+ with 180k on the clock.

IS-F taillights (just outer piece) are £400 a side... VLANDs are £300 combined (all 4). Hopefully owner kept original lights otherwise not sure how selling VLANDs allows you to put the lights right?.. finding UK spec. IS-F tail lights is kind of impossible now. Obviously there is always an option picking-up IS220d lights for £50, but they are not the same as IS-F.

As for the cost - I agree that this is "market price", although all IS-Fs on sale have been on sale for 6 months+ so there isn't exactly queue standing to buy them at said "market price"... There is as well what is known as "sellers market" vs. "buyers market" - IS-F is clearly sellers market - there are more people who want them then there are people who sell them, but as I mentioned because this is such a niche car we talking about 10 sellers and 15 buyers... and the chances that those 15 people all willing to overpay £5k is slim. Many people would want these in theory, but once they have to put £15k of their own money suddenly there are no takers. As well remember - these are mostly "cash" sales... sort of people who have spare 20k in cash generally don't look at 15 years old performance cars, and those who look at them generally don't have 20k in cash.

And I might be wrong - but I don't think IS-F is comparable to Supra or NSX, I just don't believe it will ever appreciate as much (nor it had depreciated as much). Very low numbers sold prevents cars from dropping very low in value, but I can't see them climbing much further. What I am saying - I don't believe IS-F is "investment" car and/or there are cars which are better investment at this price point (~15-30k). And when it comes to performance cars - for that sort of money there are much faster cars one can buy. 

[sunboy]

16 hours ago, Linas.P said:

I was about to say the same thing, but was kind of afraid to be crucified. IS-F is just overpriced for what it is, that is not to say they are not amazing cars, but 15k for 150k miles and 15 years old car is steep. Clearly it is an interesting niche and demand outstrips supply and the prices shows that, at the same time it is tiny market - so there is 10 cars for sale and maybe 15 people in the country that are interested. 

So my personal view - it is just not the right time to buy IS-F, when it will be right time? Who knows, maybe it has passed already. For 12k I would say that would be good buy, but not for 15k.

And as well note the following - Lexus are amazingly reliable cars, but don't expect 15 years old car with 150k miles to require no maintenance and not needing suspension overhaul, and for car like IS-F don't expect it to be cheap either. So if you buy it at 15k, expect to put another 2k on top for the car to really drive as it should. I am not saying anything major, but bushings, ball-joints, maybe shocks... and none of them are cheap.

So in summary - nice car, but too expensive.

Was looking at this car and other IS-Fs in general. Thanks for the analysis.

Have to agree - priced too aggressive for me, given age and potential issues.

When it comes to suspension stuff, what's the best way to check this when buying? Anything else that could go wrong at this age/mileage?

I was thinking of getting a top package pre-purchase inspection done by click mechanic or something similar before buying an is-f privately - think it's worth it? Will they be useful when it comes to rare performance models?

Cheers

 

[Linas.P]

9 minutes ago, sunboy said:

Was looking at this car and other IS-Fs in general. Thanks for the analysis.

Have to agree - priced too aggressive for me, given age and potential issues.

When it comes to suspension stuff, what's the best way to check this when buying? Anything else that could go wrong at this age/mileage?

I was thinking of getting a top package pre-purchase inspection done by click mechanic or something similar before buying an is-f privately - think it's worth it? Will they be useful when it comes to rare performance models?

Hard to advise really... the best way would be to test drive low mileage newer example to get the "feel" on how car should feel - kind of hard to do with older car like this. Say 10 years ago you could have rocked into dealership and test drove their car before going driving used ones... no such opportunities today. 

As well note that 2008-2009 cars had harder and more crashy suspension anyway, compared to 2010 revision... so if you compare with newer car the harshness of suspension may give you wrong impression of being more "tight". All in all, what you would expect is that 144k miles car will be less "tight" on everything, more worn out... but there is no way of telling it by just looking or even driving, unless you have had extensive seat time in one of these before. 

I personally would just assume all bushings will need doing, they may not be ripped, but they are sure worn out and loose after so many years and miles... and let's not forget IS-F generally benefits from better bushings as factory ones were kind of too soft and comfort oriented. Shocks - again if they not leaking they are good in theory, but that is not to say that replacing them with new ones would not make the car feel better on the road.

I sadly, can't say anything specific, because everything will be worn by "feel"... 

... and no point of paying for inspection, exactly the reasons you mentioned - they would have no clue what to look for on older, rarer performance car. You can get it done for peace of mind and obvious things to maybe use as reason to negotiate the price down, but they won't pick-up on subtle issues. I probably would rather take it to Lexus and ask them to inspect... they may try to upsell some stuff and again that could be reason to negotiate the price. But the key thing here is - it is not about condition, it is about the bargaining power... 

[BTCC_ Racer]

some good valid points mentioned.

I looked at a couple of ISF before settling on mine all were early cars and other than service history (oil, filters plugs) none had preventative work done.

Some had mismatch tyres, or basic oil service no indication of wheel alignment or refresh of suspension parts. Also they had the infamous ticking noise on start up (manifold crack). Very few owners would tackle this job, either by after market headers or welding up current ones. Some have on this forum and let me tell you its a MASSIVE job! Let me tell you this is more common than you think, this noise only get louder and there is a lowish mileage car on AT which I went to see for someone which also has this noise!

In my ownership ive replaced the following over Lexus service schedule (including gearbox oil change - again not many folks do this).

Radiator - the oil cooler pipes crode

Manifold welded up and new gaskets.

New 02 sensors

Front compliance bushes, new drop links and other bushes.

New Shocks and top mounts all round.

Let me tell you the way the old car drove was good, with new shocks bushes, fresh rubber PS4s its transformed the car and feels very sharp pointing and the the rebound over a wavey road is awesome, before the work i did not have any knocks or bangs but I could feel the limits should be a little higher!

In terms of price I would say if the car mentioned has had some preventative work its worth it, especially if your keeping it for a few years or maybe ask for some money off towards the work. Truth is nearly all ISF need a refresh of some sort.

 

[Linas.P]

I guess other way of looking at it is - what is your expectation and what you can live with...

If the expectation is that car is 8/10 and that is complete satisfactory, then it seems the car in question will be 8/10... if the expectation is 10/10, then the questions is who should cover the difference? Market seems to suggest that it is expected for the buyer to pick-up the bill, again - what is your own expectation? If you happy to spend £3k on top of £15k to make it 10/10, then perhaps that is good buy. I think I am on the side that believes that for £15k this should already be 10/10 and it is the seller who should pick-up the bill.

I am not saying seller hasn't done it, maybe it is just not mentioned in the ad? So perhaps if all the things that Imy mentioned are done it is worth £15k... Otherwise I think we back to £12k and that is where I would always like to be as a buyer i.e. buy car which is NOT sorted for less and then having flexibility to decide whenever it satisfies me as it is, or I want to put more money into it and make it as it should be. Now knowing myself I always opt to fix it and it always turns out to be bad financial decision, because you just never get it back when selling (or in my case when some bellend crashes into me, writes off the car and insurance just looks at the mileage and concludes it is worthless)... If I have saved that money when buying already then who cares I guess. However, I would never overpay for the car hoping it is right and then learning I will have to spend extra on it. 

[BTCC_ Racer]

Well written Linas - I think is important to mention that my expectations on a car as you say is more on the 10/10 side if im honest. I also think its easy to miss judge the true capability of the car if its not 100%. Suspension car dynamics, brakes etc, if not 100% will in essenace make the car feel not worthy of an ISF for one whats its known for. I've had a number of people message me when I had my manifold repair done and its certainly a more common problem then owners like to admit and certainly ones who will actually repair. Suspension too -  i didnt have leaky shocks but they were just tired and not as responsive as the ones I replaced them with. Again Bushes were gone past there sell by date. I probs didnt need to do them and the car would have been 7/10 but im not just picky I wanted 10/10.

Also owners of lower mileage newer cars still need the preventative work doing at best the cars are now 12 years old, rad, water pump, the aux belt (nearly all will slip with age during high rev gearshift), bushes.  Personally I would rather buy a car with the work done or have money knocked off / put aside to get the work done and enjoy the car for what it is. I think its easy to look at a car with premium tyres and folder full of Lexus receipts and think its mint, that just a starting point. In terms of value we all can see the £30k car on AT im sure it will sell at somepoint but its bloody strong money and I agree these cars never will be collector cars as such and the inflated price is more to do with the whole car market as a whole which is starting to ease.

These later cars are early £20k tops maybe less, during lockdown a 2012/2013 reg ISF with 100K went for £16/17k maybe less there is also some which went cheaper.  At £30k your knocking on GSF money, I know what i rather have! As good as these ISF when there is alot of alternatives to the ISF putting realibility and running costs aside joe member of public will more likely pay stronger over inflated money for one of the german rivals, there is simply not a strong enough market for Lexus in the UK although as time goes on the ISF is getting a second wave which is helpful and maybe in time will have more owners like me flock to the brand!

[sunboy]

Thanks for all the replies. Some useful stuff. Seems there's a fair amount of preventative work to keep an eye out for. In terms of this car, it's had rear springs done, oil cooler and water pump. Valley plate doesn't seem to be leaking but again I don't know if this needs preventative work too. I'm unsure of any of the other bits and bobs and if they've been done as part of the Lexus services.

I didn't know about the manifold crack.

I understand there will be a certain cost to fix things on a car of this age and mileage - I'm ok with that IF I know what needs doing (to the best of mine and anyone else's knowledge) and the price is right. Otherwise I wait or pay more for a better example, which as valid options.

I guess I'm just trying to determine how best to get a car checked over by someone that knows. So how easy is it to get a slot booked into Lexus for a private pre-purchase? Or is it possible to get hold of a Lexus ISF expert (perhaps on this forum) and engage their services to look over an ISF I wanted to buy?

 

[Linas.P]

2 hours ago, sunboy said:

 if they've been done as part of the Lexus services.

So how easy is it to get a slot booked into Lexus for a private pre-purchase? Or is it possible to get hold of a Lexus ISF expert (perhaps on this forum) and engage their services to look over an ISF I wanted to buy?

Assume they were not done - service usually only covers strictly what is in the schedule... and most owners will reject any other items as to be fair it makes no sense to do them at Lexus... unless somebody is willing to pay £3000 just for rear shocks... 

I suggest later - somebody who has sorted out IS-F will be able to tell straight away if car feels tired or does not pull as it suppose to (+ calm head nearby always helps when buying car!), as for inspection just call the nearest Lexus and ask... I would say a week in advance would be good guess. Some will charge money, some may even do it for free... I would not mention anything about purchase, just that I want car to be fully inspected to understand why it needs doing to be 10/10. 

[sunboy]

Thanks.

So generally assume it's not been done then unless invoices/evidence. Thing is with so many owners hard to understand what exactly could have been done without the evidence, even if it may have been.

Also, from your comment, get services done at Lexus to maintain full Lexus SH and then additional preventative work at specialists?

Yeah getting an an enthusiast ISF owner to come along and check the car and pay them for their services would be great. Otherwise, thanks for the main dealer info - getting them to look over it to get to 10/10 will really help. I'm just wondering how to incentivise the owner to do this though before buying...

 

[BTCC_ Racer]

To be fair Lexus dealers will carry out preventive work to a point but you'll be guiding / instruction them. When I bought my lexus i did ring up the dealer for a quote on the Rad etc but they will not weldup the manifolds only replace them (i.e for new and isnt cheap nor worth it), there is instances in the USA owners have had them replaced under warranty with a bit of arguing but my cars not in warranty. 

In the end i bought all the parts from Lexus uk and went to a good mechanic who carried out the work, car was in for a fair few days and i personally took the manifold to welder had them welded up - literally took 20 mins and cost me £50 and was smoke tested to see if it had any leakes which didn't.

As Linas has mentioned i'd find a local ISF owner who is happy to show you there pride and joy and crucially a owner who would go and inspect a potential car. You dont have to carry our a suspension refresh - but its certainly worth it and potentially helps the resale vaule.

I can honestly say the ISF is one of the best cars ive owned and its a cracking car. You wont be disappointment.

[Linas.P]

On 2/19/2023 at 5:53 PM, sunboy said:

So generally assume it's not been done then unless invoices/evidence. Thing is with so many owners hard to understand what exactly could have been done without the evidence, even if it may have been.

Also, from your comment, get services done at Lexus to maintain full Lexus SH and then additional preventative work at specialists?

Unless it is something obvious like the tyres, yes - no papers is same as not done. And it is not trust thing... simple example, if you ever want to sell the car then you will be asked same questions and price knocked down for you, so it is just fair.

And yes - that is what I have always done with all the cars. I would do the service and reject all the extra suggestions, then I would go and either do it myself or use independent shop, because that works out like 50% cheaper... and on many occasions I bought the same parts from Lexus, but the labour costs is what makes a difference. And then next year I get Lexus to check the car again during service, so that kind of acts as a double-check on the work independent shops did or on what I did myself. If it passes Lexus inspection then I assume they wouldn't have done it better themselves.

The good thing as well that Lexus cars rarely needs anything apart of consumables and part of what is in Lexus schedule, so it is kind of rare that dealers will try to upsell you for major job. Sure each cars has something specific to that car which needs additional attention (on IS250 for example that is rear callipers), but all those things are well covered in this forum. The most popular upsale items are "lip" on the disks, corrosion on brake/fuel lines, advisories for the tyres when they have 4.5mm+... all in all nothing egregious and generally easy to spot and overall they generally not pushy, they just say "that is what we would advise done" and if you say no they never ask again... kind of appreciate that when dealing with Lexus.  

[DamianLEX]

Can you ask Lexus to change diff oil or TVD oil during major service (paid for) free of additional charge? 

[Grey One]

I'm not sure I have much to add here, except I have owned (and still own) an ISF (two in total) over the last eight years.  I think it comes down to:

- what you want to use the car for

- how the car has been looked after

For me buying the 'right' car I can fettle with is better than buying a car just because someone has spent some money on preventative servicing.

I use my car everyday and so appreciate it as a beautifully made, simple and classic V8.  I don't use it for track driving or racing, so my expectations are maybe less than someone who wants to use the car more 'on the limits'.  Stock suspension seems to last forever, and is IMO fine for everyday use, bushings may need replacing at higher mileage, but this kind of wear is also how the car has been driven in the past.

I would rather a good car, with a careful owner that needs some money spending on it, than one that has been thrashed, but had suspension mods etc all done.

Pays your money and takes your choice etc.

[sunboy]

19 hours ago, BTCC_ Racer said:

To be fair Lexus dealers will carry out preventive work to a point but you'll be guiding / instruction them. When I bought my lexus i did ring up the dealer for a quote on the Rad etc but they will not weldup the manifolds only replace them (i.e for new and isnt cheap nor worth it), there is instances in the USA owners have had them replaced under warranty with a bit of arguing but my cars not in warranty. 

In the end i bought all the parts from Lexus uk and went to a good mechanic who carried out the work, car was in for a fair few days and i personally took the manifold to welder had them welded up - literally took 20 mins and cost me £50 and was smoke tested to see if it had any leakes which didn't.

As Linas has mentioned i'd find a local ISF owner who is happy to show you there pride and joy and crucially a owner who would go and inspect a potential car. You dont have to carry our a suspension refresh - but its certainly worth it and potentially helps the resale vaule.

I can honestly say the ISF is one of the best cars ive owned and its a cracking car. You wont be disappointment.

Thanks @BTCC_ Racer. I hadn't considered getting servicing done at Lexus but then any other work carried out by indy specialists.

I'd love to connect with some ISF owners and getting one to come along and inspect a car would be great, but I'm well aware I'm totally new to this forum and takes time to build that rapport. In the meantime, Ill have to figure out another way.

Yeah good to hear you endore the ISF. I deffo would love to own one.

[sunboy]

15 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Unless it is something obvious like the tyres, yes - no papers is same as not done. And it is not trust thing... simple example, if you ever want to sell the car then you will be asked same questions and price knocked down for you, so it is just fair.

And yes - that is what I have always done with all the cars. I would do the service and reject all the extra suggestions, then I would go and either do it myself or use independent shop, because that works out like 50% cheaper... and on many occasions I bought the same parts from Lexus, but the labour costs is what makes a difference. And then next year I get Lexus to check the car again during service, so that kind of acts as a double-check on the work independent shops did or on what I did myself. If it passes Lexus inspection then I assume they wouldn't have done it better themselves.

The good thing as well that Lexus cars rarely needs anything apart of consumables and part of what is in Lexus schedule, so it is kind of rare that dealers will try to upsell you for major job. Sure each cars has something specific to that car which needs additional attention (on IS250 for example that is rear callipers), but all those things are well covered in this forum. The most popular upsale items are "lip" on the disks, corrosion on brake/fuel lines, advisories for the tyres when they have 4.5mm+... all in all nothing egregious and generally easy to spot and overall they generally not pushy, they just say "that is what we would advise done" and if you say no they never ask again... kind of appreciate that when dealing with Lexus.  

@Linas.P thanks for the info. You've given me some thoughts on how get an ISF sorted in the future. I hadn't considered the indy specialist route for repair work outside of Lexus MD servicing. Just need to take an educate punt at some point

[sunboy]

1 hour ago, Grey One said:

I'm not sure I have much to add here, except I have owned (and still own) an ISF (two in total) over the last eight years.  I think it comes down to:

- what you want to use the car for

- how the car has been looked after

For me buying the 'right' car I can fettle with is better than buying a car just because someone has spent some money on preventative servicing.

I use my car everyday and so appreciate it as a beautifully made, simple and classic V8.  I don't use it for track driving or racing, so my expectations are maybe less than someone who wants to use the car more 'on the limits'.  Stock suspension seems to last forever, and is IMO fine for everyday use, bushings may need replacing at higher mileage, but this kind of wear is also how the car has been driven in the past.

I would rather a good car, with a careful owner that needs some money spending on it, than one that has been thrashed, but had suspension mods etc all done.

Pays your money and takes your choice etc.

@Grey One I feel like I overanalyse any purchase and can lead to paralysis when purchasing. At some point I'm aware there will be some maintenance to do and that's just part of owning an aging car. I guess I'm just very inexperienced with Lexus, performance cars, V8s etc so the culmination of these factors is giving me too many things to consider it seems. With some more experience in future, I'm sure I'd be more comfortable with making an easier choice.

[4969_LXS]

@sunboy I looked at all sorts of cars before I got my ISF 4 years ago. I can't add any more than what others have said. Take someone with you to look at one and if it's the right car take the plunge ! I wanted a reliable V8 whilst I could have one. And if something does go wrong it was simple enough to do with patience, spanners and several cups of tea.

I replaced the water pump and radiator on my drive way and the lower control arm bushes were replaced with GSF bushes at an independent garage I knew was full of experienced and professional car enthusiasts.

Another item of note, I replaced the touch screen digitiser which is a common failure across all Lexus models of the time, easy job at home again.

Compared to its German rivals reliability is excellent with the biggest cost being the manifolds (which you can live with ticking of need be) and the valley plate which must be done if it does leak but is extremely rare over here.

Plenty of YouTube clips to do jobs at home if you're good with spanners and the American Facebook groups are very helpful as well. Apart from the rad, pump, digitiser it's just been fuel, tax and tyres in my ownership. My car is a 2008.  suspension is overdamped but is holding up very well for 15 years old.

[sunboy]

29 minutes ago, 4969_LXS said:

@sunboy I looked at all sorts of cars before I got my ISF 4 years ago. I can't add any more than what others have said. Take someone with you to look at one and if it's the right car take the plunge ! I wanted a reliable V8 whilst I could have one. And if something does go wrong it was simple enough to do with patience, spanners and several cups of tea.

I replaced the water pump and radiator on my drive way and the lower control arm bushes were replaced with GSF bushes at an independent garage I knew was full of experienced and professional car enthusiasts.

Another item of note, I replaced the touch screen digitiser which is a common failure across all Lexus models of the time, easy job at home again.

Compared to its German rivals reliability is excellent with the biggest cost being the manifolds (which you can live with ticking of need be) and the valley plate which must be done if it does leak but is extremely rare over here.

Plenty of YouTube clips to do jobs at home if you're good with spanners and the American Facebook groups are very helpful as well. Apart from the rad, pump, digitiser it's just been fuel, tax and tyres in my ownership. My car is a 2008.  suspension is overdamped but is holding up very well for 15 years old.

Thanks @4969_LXS.  I want to take someone with me but don't know anyone with relevant Lexus ISF experience, just other cars. I guess you make me less nervous about the potential issues.

Where can I find good recommendations for Lexus specialists around NW Kent / SE London or even parts of Essex? Bushes and other suspension bits I reckon probably will need doing.

Yah valley plate I've heard about. So the manifolds will be ok even if ticking does still last? 

Other smaller bits of work I don't mind doing myself.

[4969_LXS]

@sunboyI'd go to SRD tuning. I think I've seen them mentioned before on here and I know they've built an IS300 Sportcross with a 800hp 2JZ attached to an ISF gearbox. Yeah as far as I'm aware, when mine had a cracked manifold it ticked on cold start, it didn't tick once warm and didn't seem to affect the car. I was lucky and had it done under warranty 

[sunboy]

4 minutes ago, 4969_LXS said:

@sunboyI'd go to SRD tuning. I think I've seen them mentioned before on here and I know they've built an IS300 Sportcross with a 800hp 2JZ attached to an ISF gearbox. Yeah as far as I'm aware, when mine had a cracked manifold it ticked on cold start, it didn't tick once warm and didn't seem to affect the car. I was lucky and had it done under warranty 

Thanks. Yeah just found another post mentioning SRD, Tech One in Sidcup and Westfield Motors in Essex.

Oh right - so your manifold was done under warranty. So that means it is seen as a fault. Do you know others that have left the manifold with the ticking?

[4969_LXS]

When I purchased my ISF from a Lexus dealership I was given a 1 year warranty, I noticed the tick a week later and got it done under warranty. I've only read the American forums and groups and they've said you can run the car with the tick.