Leaderboard

I got the dreaded Check Hybrid, Check VSC and Check EBC warning lights. Fault code readings P0A80 Hybrid and P3017 (battery cell block number 7 fault). Having gotten a quote for around €6000 to fix it, I decided to do it myself. I ordered a battery cell on ebay for €45.00 delivered to Ireland. Tools needed: Socket set with 8mm, 10mm and 12mm. Flat head screwdriver, long nose pliers and a multi meter to read voltage. (You may also need a slow trickle 12v battery charger, I'll explain later). Time needed: about 4 hours, more if your connections a very dirty. 1: Remove ALL carpeted paneling from the boot (trunk if you're in the US). This is done by inserting the flathead screwdriver into the black plastic rivets and popping them out. Remove the boot flooring too, just leave the tool tray in place. You will need the 10mm socket to remove the rear boot floor luggage anchor points once you've popped open their plastic covers. The upper hanging points need to be squeezed to remove. Disconnect the power supply to the light on the right hand panel. 2: Remove the orange circuit breaker on the HV battery by sliding to the right and then pulling towards you. 3: Remove the black air duct on the bottom of the HV battery by popping the 2 black plastic rivets. 4: Unplug the power supply to the white cooling fan on the upper right of the HV battery and remove the 2 nuts holding on the fan. This should allow the 2 upper black ducting to move sufficiently to be able to remove them. 5: Open the panel covering the 2 Orange Cables (3 x 8mm nuts) and disconnect the 2 orange cables, (you can tape them up with electrical tape if you so wish). Pull back the rubber cover on the Black cable and unbolt that too. You should now look something like this: 6: Disconnect the cable running from the HV battery to the 12v lead battery. Continue to remove the 12v battery by disconnecting the +ive and -ive terminals and the white connector plugs attaching it the the HV battery. Also need to take off the temp sensor and the vent hose on the 12v battery. Remove the 12v battery support bracket and the battery tray itself. 7: Remove the last 2 bits of black ducting that was clamped by the 12v battery tray. 8: Remove the white tubing on the right of the HV battery. 9: Remove the 4 12mm nuts holding the base of the HV battery in place, 2 on each side. 10: You need to unbolt the nuts hidden behind the back seat headrests. 11: Pull the rear seats forward enough to remove the large plastic panel in the center between the rear seats and the boot wall, its hidden behind the fireproofing fabric. Use this panel cover to hold the seats away from the boot wall by wedging it between seats and wall. 12: Pull back the fireproofing to reveal 2 smaller access panels covered by a black sticky rubber square. Now remove the 3 12mm nuts holding the HV battery to the boot wall. 13: Now the tricky bit, lift the HV battery over the bolts in the boot and slide it out. (I recommend putting cardboard on the tool tray to avoid scratching when sliding the HV battery). If you are strong enough you can lift the HV battery out on your own, if not get help, it weighs about 50 kilos. Your boot should now look like this with the access panels behind the seats visible: You should also have this, I placed mine on some cardboard on my kitchen table: 14: Take off the HV battery cover by opening all the 10mm nuts, and a few 8mm. unclip the black cable while taking off the three cover panels. 15: Unclip the black plastic covering on both sides of the HV battery to reveal the 8mm connector nuts in the orange casing. 16: Number the cells 1 to 40 using a permanent marker. Use your multi meter to get a reading across each of the 40 individual cells, i.e. one lead on the +ive terminal of the cell and the other on the -ive, and record your findings, as you can see cell 28 was low for me: 17: Pull back the rubber vent tubing running along the top of the HV battery until to get beyond your bad cell/cells. 18: Remove the white end panel holding the cells in place: 19: Remove the 80 x 8mm nuts in the orange casing and clean if necessary. I used bleach and some sand paper to clean all nuts a copper plates, if you're gonna do it - do it right). 20: Remove the 8mm nuts holding each cell in place underneath until you reach your bad cell (this will probably involve removing the support leg and the converter assembly unit below the HV battery: 21: Good cells look like this Bad ones like this: 22: Start replacing your cells back into the HV battery, it doesn't matter what order and you can't mess up polarity as it only screws in on one side. I put my new cell in last in case it was a dud. (If your new cell is of a lower or higher voltage use a slow trickle 12v battery charger to get it to the same voltage as the other cells. 23: WATCH THE TEMP SENSORS UNDER THE BATTERY CELLS (3 of them), MAKE SURE YOU CLIP THEM ON AS YOU GO. See the black plastic clip peeping out here: 24: That's it you're done, just reverse everything to put in back in. Mind your back and don't bother touching cell 1 and 40 at the same time if you have the orange connector put back on. Good Luck!

1988 Mitsubishi Starion....

I have some more news on this no firm date as yet but it is going to be most probably the latter part of April, as regards location it has not yet been decided but will either be Coventry or Cheltenham. There will be a full range of 'F' cars and LC as well as most likely 'F' sport vehicles. One of the reasons for the uncertainties of the date is that they are trying to secure anniversary models of Gsf and Rcf which would be great. Now one major plus for us is that Tim Huxley the Dealer Principal at Lexus Cheltenham has secured the attendance of one of the LFA's , now they are usually in attendance at events as a static display but he will have the keys so at the very least we can all drool and dribble at THAT noise. Just as soon as I get more detailed information for date and location I will post it up. Big Rat

Always enjoy little journeys out with my F buddies. Yesterday we did something different - a night blat. @Mark G came up with the idea of driving from the South West, through London and on to the East coast to watch the sun come up. So, yesterday evening, we met at Membury services (on the M4) and together with @emjay82 drove through the night. Here are some pics from our little adventure! Mark & Mark - a great night / day. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rather than keep updating my New Members thread I figured a build thread would be a more appropriate place to keep track of my changes. Especially as Robb/Mod's went to the trouble of opening up this new section for us. January 24th'17 - GS 450H purchased This is my first Lexus, my first hybrid and it's such a joy to drive with plenty of power and it's very slick CVT gearbox. For a big car it goes/stops and handles surprisingly well. The rear boot space was the only concern but with just me and mrsF it's worked out just fine and 6 months down the line we've made a couple of trips over to Belgium without any issues. So lets have a brief recap of the initial 6 months of ownership. The car came with a spare key but it wasn't working, thankfully a new CR 1632 brought it back to life #phew January 31st - Lexus Full+100 service @Lincoln, including a Hybrid health check - was successful and warrantied for another 12 months The Lexus health check listed these items... both front tyre valves leaking - the OSF definitely is, around the base of the TPMS sensor. I can't see any leaks on the NSF rear brake pipe corroded - all I can see is a small rub on each side, looks like the inner arch has rubbed the pipes slightly front shocks leaking from body - all four dampers are bone dry tho! - I look forward to hearing what Lexus have to say about this exhaust blowing at 'Y' section - agreed, discussing this with the dealer that sold the vehicle exhaust also has a slight leak from the mid section - I couldn't get underneath sufficiently today to check this Not the best of starts but I was prepared for some work to get an older car 'straight'. February 7th new wiper blades Feb 11th, lowered bonnet bump stops that were preventing the bonnet from closing without a really good slam. Updated the OEM satnag, using http://www.latestsatnav.co.uk/ - now the local roads appear. This supplier has the UK/Belgium/etc countries all on a single disk unlike other providers or OEM (over several disks) I needed to disconnect the 12v battery to get the replacement DVD to load. Feb 14th, Dashcam fitted, a Thinkware F770 dual channel that I'd been using in my previous steed. Hardwired into the AUX circuit via a piggy back fuse on the drivers fuse board. Earthed to the forward fuse board bolt. As the fuse board is well recessed, I've left the cover off for the moment but I may cut a slot in later and then refit the cover. Routing the cable was quite easy and only needed the drivers side end of the dash un-clipping. The cable was then tucked in the drivers A pillar and roof lining, up and over to the camera. Excess cable was looped up, cabled tied and tucked under the carpet well out of the way. As the rear sun shade doesn't run parallel to the rear screen (it starts further forward in front of the 3rd brake light) I managed to fit the camera just above the 3rd brake light, higher would have given a better image but that would have interfered with the sun shade. The rear camera cable was run around the parcel shelf, up and over the rear door but I couldn't get a neat run around the top of the b-pillar. So I dipped the cable halfway down the passenger b-pillar, popped off the lower section to loop up the excess cable (out of the way of the seat belt). The cable then went up and over the passenger door and around the top of the screen to the camera. All neat and tidy (ignore the mirror that was just pushed out of the way to show the camera install). Test views, front rear Feb 15th, gave the headlights a quick polish to see how they'd come up. Quite pleased how they came our after just a few mins work. Cargo net fitted, under the parcel shelf so I still have easy access to the boot (like this sample pic) Feb 17th, the car has been up on the ramps today with my trusted local mechanic who gave it the once over with me. All of the shocks are bone dry with no signs of any leaks or misting ANYWHERE. So for now I'm going to ignore the Lexus recommendation LOL The exhaust is definitely blowing at the rear Y (see earlier pic). We also saw that the OSR box has a few issues... Pretty obvious huh. Neither Lexus nor the last MOT flagged it. It can't just have appeared in the last 3 weeks since I've owned it. I despair. The rear section is beyond repair so I bunged my indi some beer money for using him ramps. Looks like I'll be getting a new rear section made up in the not to distant future Feb 19th, new mats fitted, this Luxury version fits a treat http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252033676404 Gave her a good scrub Including the engine bay, no treatment applied yet Turns out the passenger footwell has only been blowing cold, giving mrsF cold feet and making her unhappy. Before you ask...yes, we tried all options of Dual/modes/temps/etc. So after surfing for solutions I dived in to check the servos; Drastic eh. I eventually tracked down the passenger temp control (passenger side) but with the fixing screws out, I couldn't get the servo out :( With fading light I decided to button it all back up and went for a quick test drive. What'd'ya know, the passenger footwell is now working! The only difference is that I taped up the ducting, both sides, to get a good seal from the heater core. Result. The sceptic in me reckons it can't be that easy and that I'll be back under the dash before too long. Which is just as well as I have a few screws left over Never finish up a job in the dark! I didn't get anywhere with the heater on Saturday afternoon, so buttoned it all back up and thought the mode control was roughly working. Nah, on a 5am commute the other morning clear screen setting kicked in (I didn't test that earlier) and the heater did zip all except vent to the rear seats! For the entire 4hr round trip At lunchtime I went back to basics and figured out what lever on the heater does what. I also removed the 2 servo's/mounting plate and let them do their thing. Once I had a grasp of ALL the settings (temp, modes) I set all levers in roughly the right setting, lined the mounting plate to the heater arms (no easy feat), restarted the vehicle and the first test failed I have noticed that when you turn off the ignition, the servo's sit for a while and then revert to some standby setting. I think this has been throwing me off so I removed the servo plate, set all levers in roughly the right setting again, fired up the ignition and let the servo plate settle. With the ignition still ON, I aligned the mounting plate to the arms for the umpteenth time and gingerly pressed a different mode button... The first test worked and the servo's didn't bind. So I tried another mode setting and that worked. Trying not to freak out, I carefully went through all the possible combinations and to my delight they all work The passenger side footwell output is still hopeless tho I think I may know which control needs a slight tweak but then it may just be the way the airflows. So rather than dismantle it all again I reckon I'll buy the mrs a heated blanket/mat or fan to keep her feet warm. To help align the 7? heater control arms to the servo plate I found one of these cheap endoscope camera's quite helpful to help see around corners http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122076843254 Oh and this time there are NO spare fixings left over March 9th Yesterday I had the...pleasure? of exploring Leeds city center whilst my car was left at Tony Banks for a new exhaust. To recap the rear section had the usual split and a gaping hole in the OS muffler, so we definitely needed a new rear section. I knew the middle section had a slight blow and when Tony removed the rear...the middle section decided to snap in two! He spent around 6 hours (elapsed) crafting both sections from stainless. The cost of a new center section (with cats) was so tempting that I was already half tempted to get the whole lot done and then I'd never need consider the exhaust again. I didn't want any fancy or annoying noise so chose a standard set-up and driving around town you'd struggle to tell this system from OEM. Under hard acceleration or at dual carriageway/motorway speeds there is a slight increase in noise, which is no bad thing at OEM is really quiet. The system should quieten down a notch once it's coked up a bit. I didn't get back to the work shop before the car came off the ramps so I haven't had a close look at the system but from what I can see it looks dandy. The chaps were helpful and have plenty of varied work coming through the workshop, including a steady number of Lexus. Overall I'm impressed and wouldn't hesitate to recommend http://www.tonybanks.co.uk March 17th OSR tyre flat - punctured, replaced with an Avon ZZ5, managed saved the TPMS and fitted a new valve. OSF leaking needed which on investigation then a new TPMS sensor. April 2nd, cleaned/lubed rear calipers. OSR stone guard is badly corroded April 21st, paint correction/protection; July 6th, fitted 3M tape and a roof rack before the heavens opened. It'll allow me to get back on the bike and hit some nice trails, once I source a carrier. Found a great heavy duty bag to store the rack, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263068408736 If you want any more details about anything above, then check out my opening thread;

I think, the one and only LS460 in flame-blue or ultrasonic-blue 2.0 (8X1):

Morning Chaps, Just thought I’d share a few photos of my new steering wheel, centre console, and inner door handles. The carbon paddles and steering wheel controls also work I think with making the overall result rather special. Will probably be sending the old wheel State side as buyers are few and far between over here sadly. Anyway, hope you like them. Cheers, Pete

So like a few of you my RCF is my daily car, but I really don't do many miles in a year nowadays <4k. My pride & joy is my UK Spec MKIV Supra. And for track duty I have an old MR2, which is quite rough around the edges, but means I don't care if i run out of talent on an airfield or track somewhere

Well I'm sorry to say, and I am because I have loved every minute of ownership of my isF but she's gone a year or so earlier than I planned but with big 60 on Monday Mrs Rat said "Go for it treat yourself " bless her. So left early this morning with a list of 3 RcF's to view Hatfield- Swindon - and Cheltenham, leaving Cheltenham to last as it's nearer home and that's where I bought a great deal IMO and a fantastic car pictures below not good it was getting dark by then. Thanks for all the help at Lexus Cheltenham Alex Ben Karl and Tim. I want to say that the journey from Isf on this forum to the RcF isn't only about the cars for me it's about the people on here a considerable number I'm pleased to call friends and I have had some great support and advice about an assortment of matters from you I'm naming no one there are to many, I don't care if this sounds a tad odd to some who may read this but I like being on here and the banter and personalities make this place the cars are a secondary issue whatever model age colour and so on you drive cheers guys 👍 Some will be horrified I bought something that isn't SILVER 😳 Big Rat

Happy Christmas to one and all. And to a great forum also. Piers.

Here are my first impressions after three days and 560 miles in the C63 AMG. Bear in mind I am comparing a 2008 IS-F with a car six years younger so I have tried to be as objective as possible. Ride - I may be wrong but I don't think it is solely due to having 18" wheels as opposed to 19" on the IS-F but the ride feels better damped. In the IS-F the suspension used to rebound a couple of times which I had gotten used to but bumps and imperfections in the road are less intrusive in the C63. Don't get me wrong, it's still a firm ride though. As my IS-F was a 2008 model it's an unfair comparison as the ride is supposed to be improved on the later IS-Fs. Handling - when the C63 was facelifted in 2012 the suspension was improved significantly so although I've not pushed it too hard yet it feels slightly more planted than the IS-F. Again an unfair comparison as the suspension was improved in the later IS-Fs. I've not experienced any wheelspin in the C63 yet so it's not as tail happy in the wet as the motoring press like to make out. Economy - IS-F wins easily. I saw an indicated 25mpg (calculated was slightly less) in the C63 on a steady motorway drive I normally get 28-29 mpg from in the IS-F. The extra gear in the IS-F helps with this obviously but there is more engine braking when lifting off in top gear (7th) in the C63 than when lifting off in 8th in the F. I suppose this is due to 8th being a much taller gear. Equipment/Technology - The AMG is a 2014 model so ignoring where tech has moved on I'd say Lexus wins here. In absolute terms I have lost keyless entry/start and radar guided cruise control (radar guided bit is an extra, I just have standard cruise). I have gained bluetooth music streaming, USB integration and hard drive based sat nav (all three standard in the later IS-F anyway). Transmission - I always thought the F's transmission was underrated anyway and the C63's was similarly rated by the motoring press. There are three gearbox auto modes (comfort, sport and sport plus) as well as fully manual and a 'race start' launch control. Auto downshifts are not as smooth as the F but the facelifted C63 allegedly has a much improved transmission where it went from a torque converter auto like in the F to a Speedshift MCT - which is not a multi clutch like DSG or PDK (despite being called MCT) but uses a wet clutch instead of a torque converter. I'll need to drive it more to come up with a verdict for this bit. Engine/noise/performance - Both cars' engines are masterpieces in their own right. The secondary intake induction noise at engine speeds over 3700rpm in the F sounds better than the induction noise in the C63. The C63 seems to have more low down and mid range torque - down to the extra 1.2 litres of engine capacity I would guess. The C63 seems quicker revving or more free revving as well. Also, the 6.2 engine is artificially restricted to 457bhp to stop the C63 being faster than more expensive AMG models with the same engine. A remap removes the artificial restriction (throttle is limited to 65-75% opening depending on where you read) adding around 50bhp but I'll hold off for now. It does feel a little quicker than the F by my seat of the pants reckoning. Exhaust - I'm sure everyone knows already but the OEM exhaust on the C63 is loud! Interestingly, it's not louder than the F (inside the car at least) when pottering about but it really sounds great with cracks, pops and bangs when flooring it or auto blipping on downshifts although inside the car is much quieter than I expected - the noise is mostly on the outside. I'll add a quick clip. Practicality - my reason for changing cars - mine's an estate so decent load space, folding rear seats and seating for three in the back. I also think a debadged estate is more discreet. I deliberately avoided black and white C63s and went for boring silver. (Sorry don't mean to restart the colour debate again!) I will just add the front seats in the C63 are awesome though! That's the end of this brain dump for now, if I think of anything more I'll add to this thread.

My work mate does photography as a hobby and fancied trying some car pics. We spent a full day on Sunday in the work car park and out on some quiet roads. I'm pretty happy with the results so far, especially as he didn't charge me 😂

As per the title, I got my LC500 today. Here's a quick picture. All seems good so far. I need to set up all the gadgets next.

It’s been around a year since I purchased my GS450h. I figured it might be useful to others to do a review of what a year of owning one of these cars is like. My Car It’s 2008 (MKIII) GS450h SE-L, with ACC (adaptive cruise control), PCS (pre-collision system), and a sunroof. This means it’s the top model, with every option ticked. It’s black with light grey leather, and piano black wood including wood inserts on the steering wheel. At the time I bought the car it had approximately 58,000 miles on the clock. It’s now on about 72,000. I bought it from Lexus Edgware Road. Driving Experience I’ll get to the point, it’s fast. When the battery has charge and the 3.5 V6 is warmed up it’s very quick, especially above 50 mph. The rate at which you can gain speed when you floor it once you’re already moving is incredible. Off the line it’s quick without being ridiculous, and if you find yourself in a situation where the battery is depleted (say, having crawled through slow traffic for a mile or two), outright full bore acceleration is blunted as you’re relying purely on the V6 to haul 1900 KG of car and driver up the road. While undeniably quick, I wouldn’t describe the GS as ‘fun’ to drive on a twisty road. It’s certainly competent, and between point A to point B is probably just as rapid as the obvious competition, but I do have the sense that you’d be having more fun in a BMW 5 Series. The handling is predictable, grip is good, but you do get the sense the car would rather you stopped being silly and drove properly. The flip side of this is that it’s outstandingly comfortable when driving at 7/10ths, and is quiet, comfortable, and competent. So, it’s fast, but it’s not sporty. I also find myself missing the soundtrack of a car accelerating through the gears, but that’s mostly because I’m immature. The rest of the time when you’re not driving like you're qualifying it’s a very smooth and comfortable drive. The radar cruise control is absolutely excellent, as is the stereo and infotainment system. Following a few weeks of driving brand new Lexus courtesy cars I was glad to leave their garish graphics and contrived menus behind and get back to the simplicity and elegance of my decade old GS450. I’m half considering a GROM VLINE to bring connected apps into the car, but at £500 there are more pressing uses for my money. I do with the car had a bigger fuel tank. With my fuel consumption (see below) I'm generally needing to refuel after about 320 miles. An 80 litre tank would make my trips to the forecourt far less frequent. The silent running when stuck in traffic (as I frequently am in Cambridge) is really enjoyable, as is the feeling of cruising along burning no fuel. This is an addictive quality of hybrids that is hard to appreciate if you’ve never driven one before. Obviously subjective, but in terms of looks I think it looks best from the rear three quarter view, and overall it’s not as good looking as a Mercedes CLS or properly specced BMW 5 Series. Maintenance Since I bought my car from Lexus, it came with a 12 month warranty. In the 12 months I’ve owned the car the following things have been replaced under warranty (remember this is a relatively low mileage car with a full Lexus service history, bought from a Lexus dealer). TPMS sensor Water pump Offside rear shock absorber Driver side washer jet Passenger side washer jet Driver’s door mirror Front passenger seatbelt and mechanism I’m not quite sure what this lot would have cost had I been paying myself, and to be honest I probably would have sorted the easy ones myself, but I’d say it’s comfortably in the £1,200 to £1,500 range. I had an issue with my brake light switch which was resolved by the AA (cover included as part of the Lexus warranty). I’ve had the car serviced once in my ownership, that was relatively cheap at around £250, including the Lexus Owners Club discount. My next service at 80,000 miles will be a bit chunkier at around £500 but that’s some months away. Last October I bought four new Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres to replace the budget tyres Lexus sold it with. The Michelin PS4s were around £650. Tyre wear is predictable and I expect the Michelins to last about 15,000 to 18,000 miles. I’m perfectly happy with this as this as the PS4 is a high performance tyre and they’ve barely lost traction in the entire time they’ve been fitted – money well spent. I’ve had one wheel refurbed following a close encounter with a kerb, which was £85 from Lexus. I bought a front wiper blade at around £20. I’ve not spent anything on the brakes since ownership, though I will need new discs and pads front and back in the next few thousand miles, for which I’m looking at £700 ish. I’ve taken the two year Lexus warranty which is £1095, which I’m paying off at 0% over 12 months. This seemed like a no-brainer given the relatively high number of issues thus far, plus for peace of mind. You don't need much to go wrong on a decade old £50K Lexus before you comfortably cover the warranty outlay. Fuel Consumption This is where Fuelly comes into its own. Every time I’ve refuelled the car I’ve (very anally) entered the details into the app. Screen shots below. In terms of outright fuel consumption it’s not what you’d call economical, but it is pretty good relative to its size, weight, comfort and especially performance. To put the 28 mpg of my GS450 in context, over the same sort of use in my BMW E46 330i I was getting 23 mpg, in a Toyota Prius 1.8 I get 46 mpg, and in a Volvo S80 D5 I was getting 38 mpg. It seems I have a heavy right foot, or I’m just a rubbish driver, or maybe both. As stated above I wish it had a bigger fuel tank. 320 miles between fill ups isn't ideal. Owning my Lexus My local Lexus dealer - Cambridge - is also essentially the same as my local Toyota dealer so I see them a lot between warranty claims on my Lexus and regular servicing on my 20,000 miles per year Prius. I’d say they are pretty good, but hardly exemplary. The staff are lovely when you’re there, the coffee is good, and they have the option of collecting my cars from my office and dropping back, which is really convenient. I have needed to escalate and push to get things done in a reasonable time, and I’m not sure they are really that switched on when it comes to customer retention. I’ll carry on using them but I’m not sure I’d chose a car because of them… Will I keep my Lexus? In short, yes. I certainly plan to run my GS450 for at least another two years while it’s still under warranty and potentially more if it seems to be holding up well. I’m not entirely sure on what to replace it with anyway. My experience of modern Lexuses have left me a bit cold, and aside from a MKIV GS450h not much else appeals. I’ve looked with interest at the Infiniti M35h but an E Class convertible appeals despite the diesel engine. Thoughts on Lexus as a brand I’m not sure I necessarily see myself as a dyed in the wool Lexus owner. I really like my car and appreciate its virtues but the current range of Lexus cars doesn’t really stir me, and the absence of non-SUV Lexus estate means when I need to replace my family transport Toyota Prius with something bigger I’ll end up looking at E Classes and 5 Series which is annoying as something like a GS300h Estate would be ideal. As a Lexus driver there is a slight feeling of being in a Toyota with better quality materials and finish, which isn’t really surprising but may not be what everyone wants from their luxury motoring. Would I recommend a GS450? Hell yes! Brilliant car and if you buy well/have a warranty/are lucky then it’s also very cheap to run. In my view I’m running a £50K car with almost all the peace of mind of a new car but at a far reduced cost. Thanks for reading.

Well, in anticipation of the creation of a giant 'F' section of the forum, and as a previous ISF owner; I thought I'd leave this here: I’ve gone and bought a GSF! I’d had my ISF for around two and a half years and after sorting out what was, in my opinion, a hilariously firm OEM suspension setup, it was smooth sailing all the way. I loved that car – great looks, biblical noise (thanks, H&S) and a real Jekyll and Hyde personality. The last bit was so important to me as the old ‘race car for the road’ adage gets pretty uncomfortable and wearing on a daily driver. I’d covered 12,000 miles, taken it to Le Mans, done a Silverstone track day and on one occasion discovered the speed limiter – yes, there is one and yes, it’s around 170mph… The trouble is, just after it was launched, my local Hedge End dealer had a black GSF in the showroom and ever since I’d sat in it – I’d wanted one. I’ll stop the preamble now with – I caved eventually; it’s around 16months old, it was previously owned by the area manager for Lexus, travelling the South West, and it has 17,500miles on the clock. What’s it like in the cabin? I’ll start with the seats – they are a vastly improved over the ISF, which weren’t bad at all! – they’re heated and ventilated. There’s a cornucopia of materials used all over the dashboard etc, which displeases some people. I like it. I love the alcantara topped dash, the bespoke clock and the carbon fibre detailing. There is a bewildering array of settings, both for the radio/sat nav and the dashboard hidden within menus and submenus, but thankfully the basic controls are simple and easy to use. The Mark Levinson stereo (is it still a stereo if it has a dozen speakers?) is excellent and Bluetooth integration is seamless. The screen is over a foot wide and makes the satnav look spectacular, where post code lookup is available! Driving? The engine sounds different to the ISF, despite being of very similar design and the noise in the cabin is a bit more aggressive on cold start. The rev limit is now 7300rpm and the gearbox seems identical to the ISF with slightly smoother shifts. There are 4 drive modes – eco, normal, sport and sport+. These progressively quicken gear changes, firm up the steering, sharpen throttle response and change the behaviour of the torque-vectoring differential (which I believe acts more like a traditional LSD than the e-diff on the early ISFs, which applied the brakes to the wheel struggling for grip). Sport and sport+ also introduce more engine noise to the cabin through first the rear speakers, then the fronts as well in sport+. The brakes are exceptional – grooved discs now rather than drilled. On the move, the ride is slightly softer but definitely more composed, and the car feels a lot more grown up over my local potholed roads. It’s bigger than the ISF (obviously) and more powerful, but I would guess the performance to be fairly similar. Initial journeys suggest it’s slightly more economical than the ISF too, perhaps 2/3mpg better on average. Other random musings… The boot is HUGE – utterly cavernous! I love the noise it makes – the over-flowery blips on the down change are still there! The headlights are the clearest/brightest I have ever seen. The carbon rear spoiler is extremely pretty. The carbon front splitter is a magnet for stone-chips. The steering wheel is pleasantly chunky. The high build quality is obvious immediately – it’s like the thing has been hewn out of granite. A head-up display makes me feel like a fighter pilot. The previous owner ought to be horrified that this car has lost £2/mile in depreciation alone. The amount of information you can display on the dashboard is enormous – amount of torque applied to each wheel – yup, G-force – of course, lap timer – no problem! So, there we have it. It might seem like I’ve only got positive things to say*, but I liked the ISF so much, and this is essentially a newer version with everything turned up to 120%. I’ve only had the car for a couple of days, but I shall keep this thread updated every once in a while. Happy to answer any questions…. *One negative. I had real trouble getting the headlights to switch to full beam. It turns out that there are TWO auto settings for the lights. One for switching them on automatically as it gets dark, and the other for auto full beam (switching back to dipped beam in the face of oncoming traffic and a few other parameters). Human Factors obviously has a day off when they put these two switches on opposite sides of the driving position! It’s all sorted now!

Four months into GS F ownership I finally got around to taking some pictures. So here it is, early car with fixed dampers, sonic titanium with red leather, Mark Levinson but no sunroof -perfect spec for me. The plate doesn't really suit but came off my V10 Phaeton which the F replaced. Plan is to keep it forever -one of the reasons I chose it over an M5 or AMG. I love the sense of occasion you get when driving, and the Jekyll and Hyde character. And, of course, the noise! I feel very fortunate to own three of the best sounding cars ever -the GS F, an S54 BMW Z3 M Coupe and a Gordon-Keeble. Hi to everyone on the forum! Mike

Lexus does sell in quite respectable numbers as a niche brand. If we're talking why Lexus doesn't sell in BMW or MB numbers then I think there are loads of factors here. Below comes from personal experience, as I used to work for the marketing agency that did all Lexus UK marketing, and my best friend made the LC500 launch film so knows the advertising team quite well. Beyond that its just my opinion: - We have a v.traditional and v.established car market in the UK where 'new' is not seen as a virtue - UK consumers are some of the most brand conscious consumers in the world. Furthermore our peculiar flavour of brand-centricness (not a word!) is closely aligned to heritage and history - For this reason no premium brand has made any kind of dent in the market...except at the mass/budget end of the market (Smart, Hyundai, Kia) - Product development takes place in Japan with American and domestic tastes as the basis of the brief. The resulting products are therefore delivered as a fait accompli to the UK, and are therefore often a little alien looking to the average household - The UK car market is one of the most valuable in Europe, therefore the established European brands guard it jealously - Historically cars manufactured in Japan have been subject to a 10% import duty to the EU, wiping out much of the profit and money that could otherwise be spent on marketing/advertising - Partly because of this and partly because of the influence of BMW/MB, Lexus haven't been able to break into the hire car market in Europe. Hiring a 'Premium' or 'Luxury' car in Europe will rarely result in you driving a car with an 'L' on the steering wheel. This is an enormous market and accounts for a large proportion of inventory coming out of Munich or Stuttgart, and how many business customers come to experience these cars - The German car industry have made it their business to 'control' Dennis (Auto Express, Evo, Octane) and the other magazine publishers by block buying the most important advertising space in the magazines (inside front, outside back pages, etc) - Lexus hasn't been good at 'playing the game' with the publishers and haven't been generous enough with the launch trips they organise. It is a bit of an industry joke that the reason the RCF didn't review well initially is that the journalists were 'only' flown economy to NYC for the launch, couldn't take spouses and were only put up for a weekend...whereas when Porsche (or MB or BMW) create any kind of iteration of their cars, they offer week long trips with WAG's to private estates and also allow journalists to jump waiting lists...interestingly Lexus fixed this for the LC500 and took the journalists away for a whole week, first class, with spouses and really showered them with hospitality - as a result reviews were a lot more generous - Outside of GT racing recently Lexus hasn't been near the track and haven't understood the link in European minds between success in F1 and Premium...in Japan motor-racing at any level is used purely to show sporting prowess, nothing more - Japanese products don't have much of a cache as premium products. Jackie Chan in the Cannonball Run didn't help. Nor did Infiniti. Nor does the newest Civic Type-R. Or Casio watches or anything else that the average UK Joe associates with Japan...rather than the reality which is: an attention to detail that borders on obsession, a natural affinity for craft, materials and engineering, a commitment to science being able to transcend art and a genuine culture of having petrol in the blood

one day and the next

Right place at the right time, I landed some mint condition cream isf seats off a much younger car. Took the decision to swap them over. I think the colour works very well with the grey paintwork and really lifts the interior...

Had an awesome day at Mallory Park on Sunday. There were some hardcore cars and drivers there so the first few sessions were spent getting out of their way! After some tuition from a professional and some practice I felt as quick as I was comfortable with and even overtook some of the cars that were all over me in the morning 😀 The car was amazing, brakes didn't fade once, temperatures were steady and the Michelins were like chewing gum. A few people were interested in the car, not sure if any of them knew what it was though! Luckily with my exhaust people knew it was something interesting. Lots of people said my car and a C63 were the best sounding cars out of the 60 that were there 😊 I'm trying to get some photos from the professional photographerwho was there but in the meantime here's me and my mate's stunning M3...

REPAIRED FOR £7 !!! Hi all, I have finally repaired my transmission oil pump on my GS450h !!! After many months of 'trying to find time' to repair it, I finally got the car on a ramp today. Firstly drained the ATF fluid from the gearbox (approx. 4.5 litres came out). I them removed the exhaust bracket mounted on the gearbox (4 bolts). Then I unbolted the oil pump (4 bolts) from the gearbox and unclipped all the connectors from the oil pump controller and wiring mounts from the chassis and fed the cables back from the engine compartment to the gearbox area. I then checked out continuity of the wiring from the connectors to the pump. All were fine. Next I removed the pump housing from the motor and inspected the shaft by trying to spin the shaft on the output of the motor. It was seized. I tried moving it with some mole grips and the shaft moved, but grated. I then took the pump assembly apart to look for brushes (had to drill out 3x M5 screws as they were seized on), only to find that it is a brushless motor with 3 coils, like a stepper motor. I checked out the front shaft bearing and found that it was worn, causing the shaft magnets to grate against the motor coil assembly. Bingo.!!!!! Fault found!!!! I then visited my local bearing specialist and, hey presto, he had the correct bearing in stock! I also purchased the rear bearing too, just as a matter of course, totalling £14 in parts. They are only little 22mm bearings, and are common parts. Then I started to reassemble the motor with the new bearings. I had to drill out the 3 M5 screws completely and re-tap the threads to M6 and fit 3x new M6 screws in place. I then reversed the removal procedure and then filled the gearbox with ATF. I started the car. The same Hybrid fault came up. So I plugged in my code reader and cleared the P2797 code, and HET PRESTO. NEXT TIME IT WAS STARTED, THE CAR RAN PERFECTLY. I now had full Hybrid functionality and a fully wrking car. I am ecstatic. and extremely pleased with myself. Considering Lexus say the only remedy is a new oil pump at the cost of £3240. I have fixed it for £7. All in all, it took me 5 hours to repair (not including finding a bearing supplier). Lets hope this is good news for all of us GS450h and LS600 owners (same pump on both cars). Regards, Giles.

Following on from the demise of my old 430, another joins the fold... This is my third... The first one was sold many moons ago, the second one had a slight mishap, well, alright, a **** for a driver.....ME...!! See it's rise and fall here.... I couldn't find another Blue one with a grey interior but I did find a nice Smokey Granite Mica one with a grey interior, I do like the grey and I love the Granite colour, same as the old 460 I had, it's a 2005 so two years newer than the last one but has done the same 130,000, it has a very full and detailed Lexus history up to 100,000 with a new cam belt. If was then looked after by the previous owner who kept records of all it has had so it has been loved a bit... I picked it up last night and drove it around 200 miles, it drives very nicely, slightly better than the old one but still not quite right... The engine is very quiet and really does purr well... The plan was to make a great one out of the two so today I took them both to my mates garage and stole a couple of his lifts for a couple of hours... Beauty and the beast And, yes, that is a tow bar on the new one, a Curt made one from America, these are about £350 to import with all the taxes and then there is the electrics as well, I was just about to buy one for the old 430 as I have a small trailer I use, as we are refurbishing a house.... It's not the prettiest of things but there again nor is the back of a 430.... I have made it look better (IMHO) by removing the LED light strips that were wired into the reversing lights but most of them had burn out...!! So, get them on a lift and pose for more pics..!! And just as I thought, the bottom front wishbone rear bushes had gone, this causes a terrible wheel wobble when braking from speeds above 60mph, it feels just like warped discs Not to worry I had two new ones on the old car.... also swapped the front discs and pads as they were very new and swapped all four wheels and tyres for the set I had just had refurbished and fitted four new Dunlops.... I have bought the salvage of the old one from the Insurance company so I'm not stealing anything, I do want to keep it drivable though, and yes it is roadworthy as all the lights work and there are no sharp edges... Maybe not to good at night as the headlights have moved back, but it's handy to keep it mobile. It took a while to fit 4 front bushes, 4 discs, 8 pads and 8 wheels...!!! That was about it for the mechanical swap overs, I took those LED lights off whilst it was airborne and had a good check of it underneath, noting it's two new rear suspension sensors which the previous owner had just done. The inside is in nice clean undamaged condition apart from the driver's seat which has a hole and some other damage... Not to worry I have a spare.....!!! luckily it is the passenger seat that has damage on the old one so I was able to make a good set out of the two... Whip the seat out (5x14mm bolts and three electrical plugs) and it wasn't too bad underneath for 13 years.... A quick hoover and it's ready for the new seat (If you do one, remove the door threshold, saves damage from the bottom of the seat..) If anyone wonders what it looks like underneath their seat it's like this..... right side of the picture is the front... Bottom center of the picture is an oblong hole, this is where the filters for the seat heater/cooler go, they do get full of fluff.... An airline blown from the back sorts them out.... The drive home was superb, the 430 felt like new and had got back it's "waftability" and Magic carpet ride.... A few more things to swap over and then it's bye bye to the old one.... The new one needs some bodywork, it has a scrape on the rear nearside arch and a few other little marks... I shall machine polish it and see what needs doing, there are also a few other things to do with it..... May have to spend the weekend with the polish as my brother is coming to stay next week and will be in his absolutely mint SC430...

Long post...please bear with me: I think that people may be missing the real points here and there seems to be too much splitting of hairs on top trumps and technicalities that really don't figure at all in the marketing side. Lexus doesn't make marketing decisions based on straw poles about what people say that they might or might not want. They make marketing decisions much like any equivalent car manufacturer, based on sales figures particularly those from the largest markets. They do not care, or even think about how this might affect those "loyal" lexus customers who (like me) mourn the passing of possibly their best all round saloon, the GS. Whatever opinions are bandied about on personal preference, the fact remains, sales figures to one side, that the 3.0 V6 and the 3.5V6 were amongst the most reliable petrol engines on the planet by all measured assessments over the years and that they offered the best compromise of economy to performance. Whether we need a 3.5 V6 is irrelevant otherwise we'd all be conned into buying the absolutely godawful plethora of turbo/supercharged 1.5 litre direct injection disposable monstrosities. Before anyone gets hurt by that remark, it's incontrovertible that issues such as petrol dilution of oil sumps from direct injection cold running (cold start) foibles, equals more frequent oil changes and less engine protection, and that's before we even get to a puny little 1.2 or 1.5 motor, lugging about 1 to 1.5 tonnes, stressed to the nines to achieve over 200BHP and high torque figures. All the evidence from Honda and Ford shows beyond all reasonable doubt that these engines are problematic, short lived (by comparison with non-direct injection normally aspirated larger engines) and as such the carbon footprint over time is only likely to be higher. You can argue either way and try to justify your points but for some of us, we don't care if technology provides an alternative. The simple fact is that many of us don't care for those alternatives, in terms of pride of ownership, of likely longevity (most of these cars are frequently sold as disposable assets with shorter lifespans likely which helps boost car manufacturers towards their future model sales) or of the driving experience. And please, if anyone is tempted to respond by "telling" me what I would or wouldn't like or should like...don't go there! Some of the remarks (no names but we know who I refer to) on this thread have been downright arrogant, uncalled for, rude and aggressive. Some folk need to grasp the fact that we are all entitled to our opinions so to call people "stupid" is bang out of order on what is usually a more gentlemanly and better mannered forum. Might I humbly suggest that we try, at least, to keep it that way? There's a hell of a lot positive about the normally aspirated straight 6 or Vee 6. It's inherently smoother, better balanced, and in anything over 2.5 litre upwards, produces ample torque and power whilst remaining under-stressed, by and large bombproof reliability wise, simpler, and over time, likely to have far better longevity and durability. Some of us want a 3 litre or 3.5 because we prefer a lazier larger, less stressed engine that makes adequate power. This isn't about 0-60 top trumps (I couldn't care less what a 1.5 turbo 4 pot does the 0-60 in...really, it's an irrelevance) because any modern 3 litre normally aspirated car will have more than enough shove for safe overtaking and relaxed long legged motorway cruising, or for lugging loads up steep hills. Personally, I wished that I had kept my GS300. It was far and away the best car (and one of the better driving experiences) I ever owned, and I have owned fast German saloons and estates. What this whole thread boils down to is that Lexus are discontinuing (in the UK at least where sales figures of around 350 cars per year make no sense to them) possibly the best all rounder that they've ever made. Whether it is the "best" is irrelevant to them or to us, as sales figures are what it's all about. The GS was never picked up in anywhere like the same numbers of the target audience....executive company car fleets, because 1) it was sold at too high a cost compared with the economies of scale of BMW/Audi/Mercedes to compete and because 2) it appealed only to those buying (rather than leasing or as a company vehicle) to the over 40's due to initial purchase price and insurance. Take those main contributing factors to low sales away and compare the car like for like and it many ways it betters the competition, in reliability, comfort, finish and refinement. Performance figure comparisons belong on paper. The driving experience is what it's all about and sadly, part of that was lost when the switch to hybrids came along due to the weight penalty it brought with it and most certainly to the switch to fwd. Lexus do a good job (except I'd argue with the CT which is has imho appalling ride quality) and have made cars like the GS and even the RX hide their mass well. People in the market for the GS I don't think will want the LS. It's that much larger and costlier to buy and run, new or used, plus costs more to insure, and in the case of the hybrid, has a pathetic boot size for such a large car. The irony of all of this is that the best selling Lexus in the UK also remains the worst Lexus in the UK (the CT) which is beaten in just about every area except internal finish by its competitors and especially on ride comfort, which goes to prove that none of these decisions are made on what a great car the GS was. It was, and remains a great car. So where does that leave the customers who hanker after a 3.5 V6? Well, Lexus are mistaken if they think for a second that people are likely to stick with them and accept a 300h or the underpowered and rather rough running lump that the 250 is. I wouldn't. Those customers will be lost to Lexus but that doesn't really matter to them because they only amounted to 350-odd annually anyway compared with 21,000 for the RX, or even more with the CT. Hard facts, because running a successful business is about profit and reinvestment. Are electric-only cars really viable presently? No. You might like them an want to argue the opposite, but once you look into what viability entails, none of the arguments I've so far heard bear up to close scrutiny. Not if you do loads of miles and not based on purchase costs and most definitely NOT on carbon footprint. You have to look at the efficiency of getting electric from burning gas (where a majority of our electricity generation still comes from) in terms of the generation process, the distribution (and distribution losses) and charging losses (battery efficiency) and motive efficiency (motors and transmission). Petrol likely still remains more efficient and we will not have national capacity for a switch to electric any time soon, by all official estimates, not for well over a decade or two. So should you feel bad about running a 3 litre V6 until such time as things change? No, of course not. From every aspect including durability/ longevity and whole life carbon footprint it remains a valid choice. Sadly though, the powers that be disagree and will tax the behind off you should you ignore them and decide to buy one. Think about how that affects sales too. The reasons for people buying into electric-only are more due to the worries about particulates (valid and understandable), Nox (ditto), about government subsidies and about tax breaks making them suitable for urbanites and semi-urbanites who do relatively low annual mileages where cost of ownership may be lower over any given annual period. Not all of us want an electric only car (I certainly don't, at least not yet) and I'll be honest and say I only went hybrid because the car I wanted was still offered as a V6, and over the years, I have loved every 6 cylinder motor I've owned from my 1970's Triumph 2000TC through to recent cars like the BMW and Lexus models owned and because I wanted the extra grunt. We also have a butterfly-friendly Honda i-vtec and it wouldn't pull the skin of a rice pudding unless revved until the valves cry out for mercy. It was a decision of the head. A V6 is a decision of the heart as much as the head.

This has been a little while coming, so please bear with me. I'm a bit of a perfectionist (it's a curse) and never more so than with my cars. I have a bit of a history with 'refreshing' cars. This usually involves returning cars to a better than pristine state and then (lots of money later), getting bored, selling and starting again. Thus it's hard for me really appreciate my cars and to keep them for any long duration. Like I said, a curse. Anyway I'm hoping to change my ways with my move to Lexus. It just ticks so many boxes for me right now. The base car was a really good place to start: low mileage and a full service history from the original dealer. The car had been well looked after; the paint work original, in good nick and the mechanicals sound. However, as with everything that gets used, it picks up some perfections along the way. The first thing I wanted to do was sort the paint. The car had picked up some front end blemishes/marks and the odd chip. To do this properly required a complete front end refresh. The next issue is that nothing lets a fresh paint job down more than putting tatty trim back on. So new headlights, grills, and a plate mount later and we were looking good. I love the original look of the ISF, so while salivating over an amazing set of forged Vossen alloys, I chose to refurb the oem 10 spokes for now. I didnt want the car sitting on axel stands for a week, so i opted for getting another set. After sourcing a great set from a very helpful member on here, we got these refurbished and sent up to me. The wheels came with new Bridgestones, however I'd already bought some PS4Ss which had been in the garage, getting in the way of the Mrs. I really rate these, having used PSSs for years. New wheel centers finish these off well. Turns out the old ones were actually in very good condition anyway. The ISF's interior is in really good condition, if a little dark. Theres nothing i hate more than saggy seats with crumpled bolsters. It was also a nice surprise considering how badly my previous new Audi seats wore over 2 years of light use. I toyed with the idea of a quilted cream retrim, having seen how good the colour looks combined with an USB car. I'm going to sit (haha) on this for a bit as it strays from original and I'm not sure how well it resists dirt (i have a little one on the way). Ive settled for now with a new set of Lexus mats, Lexus boot liner and some replacement plastic trims (replaced some scuffed boot trays and sill trims). Finally, to tie everything in, the car came back today after several days away with a really nice man called Clark. His reputation preceeds him and im never dissapointed with his work. He treated the ISF to a paint correction, detail and a protective quartz coating on the body, trim and wheels. Next plans... well I'm currently trying to source a Jap s/s & titanium exhaust to help the v8 sound a bit meaner. Then I'll see how I feel about the Vossens and the retrim again. Big thanks again to Mr Rat and Sam at Lexus Cheltenham for helping me out big-time with the wheels. Top blokes. Right, ive prattled on enough, see what you think:

Sooooo...... Best news ever, my baby son has been born today!! 7 weeks early and only 4.7lbs but he and mum are both doing fine and recovering well 😃 Which brings me onto the worst news ever, clearly I won’t be there this weekend now 😭 Have fun guys and bring me some photos back. I’ll let Lexus Derby know the score but somebody else will have to be lead driver! I’ll post a simplified step by step route plan later today that I finished off last night so you can all reference it tomorrow if you get lost!! Have fun!!!

I'm a big fan of using an F and not pampering it in the garage Today, I took my car out into the outside world - beyond my garage! I took my mobile phone along with me to document the occasion, stopping off for a few snaps. So there you have it - proof that my car is not just a garage queen. She is however booked in for a full valet tomorrow and will then it will be back home for trickle charging and oil warming 😀

Picked her up this afternoon, I knew I'd missed her journey is usually an hour or so back from Cheltenham took three hours......... Anyway the boys at Lexus have done a cracking job on her and I'm immensely pleased, so a Big thankyou to Lawrence and Paul the techie guys and Sam and Alex in service for all there hard work, in getting the colours and finish I wanted. So with our further ado here she is......... Big Rat

Got fed up of the yellow, dull side lights so fitted a pair of Philips Xtreme Vision LEDs (W5W 501). Got them here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111887498917?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT They match the headlights really well (6000K colour). Should make me a bit more visible with just side lights on, without the need for dipped beam. Five minute job doing the passenger side. Driver's side was a bit more of a pain, had to un-bolt the airbox and shift it out the way to open the back of the headlamp up.

Well if we are posting photos of our ISFs here is one of my favourite pictures of mine,................cant believe how much I miss this car......................

Last month my LS 460 marked its 10th anniversary. I bought it 5 years ago - it now has about 80,000 miles on the odometer - and thought this would be a good time to reflect on my ownership experience. I had, previously, owned an LS 400 for 15 years and would like to think I can keep this machine for a similar length of time. I did consider an LS 600 but decided that the extra complications presented by the hybrid set-up might be too costly in the future. I found the transition from 400 to 460 very easy. They are, however, different in a few ways. We all agree that the engineering on the 400 is second to none, and that it is a wonderfully quiet and smooth automobile. The 460 is NOT as quiet, mine has the 19" wheels which I would not recommend. It is still a very quiet car. The seats are not as robust as the 400 because they are heated and air-conditioned. After 10 years, my leather still looks like new. It has air suspension with 3 settings. I find it very comfortable although the 19" wheels mean that it doesn't 'waft' like the 400. The 400 was very well equipped, electronically, for its day - and the 460 is a natural progression. However, I think that some of the features are a waste of time: the Self Parking for instance.......I never use it. If you read the US Lexus Forum you would think that the 460 has lots of problems......the air suspension, wind noise, upper and lower steering links etc. I have my car serviced at my local Lexus dealer, here, in Holland. Apart from the annual service I have only had 2 problems; a shattered wheel bearing, caused by an evil road in Scotland (during my annual visit) and a glitch in the parking computer which caused my steering wheel to sit 'off-centre'. The 460 has electric steering and a computer re-set fixed the problem. I had to have a new battery in 2015 - replaced free because it was still under warranty - and then another one 2 months ago (again replaced free). When I took my car in for its service last week they did some investigating. Here, on the Continent, there is a lively 'trade' in stolen, nearly new, luxury cars - which usually end up in Eastern Europe or Russia. Some insurance companies insist that new high-end cars have a 'Track and Trace' device fitted. This involves a monthly subscription and most owners stop paying the subscription after about 2 years. The device, however, is still fitted and hot-wired to the battery. The power drain is the equivalent of leaving the boot light on. The dealer found the problem and disconnected the device. I did not have to pay for this......they want to stop giving me free batteries :) The Service Manager is an acquaintance of mine and gives me lots of good information. There are very few LS 460/600s in Holland but, as far as problems go, here is what he has told me: they have changed 2 air struts on a 600 which had 200,000 miles on it. Steering links; one so far - at 150,000 miles. They do have computer glitches which require a system re-set. Remember I said I had chosen a 460 over a 600? They haven't changed a 600 hybrid battery ever! The dealer is a combined Toyota/Lexus franchise - separate receptions, workshops and, of course, far better biscuits in the Lexus coffee room :) They have only changed a handful of hybrid batteries, and only on the early model Prius. Perhaps I was too hasty opting for the 460 over the 600. I know that, as LS owners, we are fiercely loyal to our cars. Unfortunately your 400s, 430s and, indeed my 460, will eventually become uneconomical to keep. Moving up the LS ladder isn't a problem!

Note to moderator- please leave this in the ISF forum, it’s more likely to be of interest to ISF owners than GS owners. After one year running a GSF, I thought you might be interested in my experiences compared to my previous early ISF. First thing to say is that running a high performance car like this makes no sense at all in the suburban environment that I live in. It drinks petrol in traffic, it’s big to park and you cannot use the power. However, I don’t care about all that, I love driving it, I love the noise and I’ll continue until the eco mentailists or the mayor makes it impossible. I’ve always loved muscle cars and this is definitely a muscle car. In summary I’d say it is an evolution of the ISF, it rides better than my 2008 ISF, it feels more planted and agile despite its size, and it has a slightly more bubbly exhaust note, but it still retains all the other ISF traits such as build quality that we are all familiar with. It is more relaxing to drive than the ISF due to the better ride. A couple of longish trips have been made with no driver fatigue whatsoever. It has of course been absolutely reliable, (but I haven’t yet done that many miles). Update after year 2. One glitch was a broken windscreen which took about 3 weeks to sort because Lexus couldn’t supply one right away. I hope this is not a flag that parts are going to be difficult because Lexus have only sold about 50 of these and their bean counters won’t be happy about stocking spares that might be slow moving. To be fair they did loan me a car for 2 of the 3 weeks. The much criticised mouse controller for the sat nav and audio is fine, it just takes getting used to and the sat nav now accepts full postcodes. The info display on the panel is a lot simpler than it looks, again just need to get used to it. Has a lot more information such as g forces, but it no longer has a battery voltage display! The car complains if the battery voltage is getting low though. The car has a lane departure warning system which can be set up to correct the steering if you wander out of lane. This has been turned off. The car is not driving, I am. It has speed limit detection which displays the speed limit on the dash and the HUD. The only thing is that some of the road signs near where I live confuse it and it displays “unusual” speed limits. Don’t think the magistrate would accept that the car told me the limit was 90, when it was really 40. The headlights are pretty good but possibly not quite as good as the ISF. The 4 driving modes can be summed up: Economy and normal – no perceptible difference in feel or fuel consumption between these, feels slightly softer than the ISF in normal driving. Gearbox sometimes reluctant to change down when you boot it. Sport – similar to the Sport mode on the ISF. Gearbox more responsive. Nicer to drive in this mode. Fuel consumption similar to Normal and possibly a bit better providing you can actually drive the car rather than sitting in queues. Sport + -Don’t select this in the wet, there’ll be a lot of traction control warnings at even quite modest throttle inputs. Hangs on to lower gears for some time after you’ve finished accelerating. Very entertaining in the dry though and much easier to get the engine into the 3500rpm+ range. This is the mode that reveals the true brute character of the car, (when you get a chance to use it). I can’t say what Sport+ does to fuel consumption as the opportunities to use it for any distance haven’t been there. Haven’t tried the diff setting options yet. The finish on the car is superb, people have commented that even when it is obviously dirty it still shines. My car was a demonstrator so it may have been coated. Costs – Service due next week, but for some reason Lexus think it’s OK to put a £100 premium on the servicing costs over the ISF. Insurance – you have to shop around. Most companies load the premium because of the value of the car. I managed to get cover for about the same as the old ISF but had to accept a £750 excess which I covered for another £60. Not so good points: No spare and you can’t buy one in this country even though the handbook mentions a space saver. I don’t like the idea of a can of goo which will render the tyre unrepairable and probably screw up the TPMS sensors. Does anyone have any ideas where a spare can be obtained? The boot is enormous but the rear seats still don’t fold. Why?? No passenger front seat lumbar adjustment – penny pinching on a £72K car! But the wife thinks the seats are OK! Possible costs of brake pads and discs – horrendous costs have been mentioned on the forum for RCF items and the GSF uses the same parts. Non-Lexus parts seem to be unobtainable in the UK at the moment. Not an immediate problem but one that needs to be kept under review. If anybody knows where to get RCF/GSF pads and discs from somewhere other than Lexus UK, please shout. Graham

So a few might remember but I've been on the hunt for an IS-F for a little while and finally put a deposit down on one yesterday and will be collecting tomorrow! I'm literally like a child waiting for Christmas! If anyone is around the Sussex/Kent area and wants to go out drive sometime, do let me know. The Lewes tunnel is always fun!

@Big Rat thought you might like this one 😁

As I can't amend the title of the original post I have started a new one and a link to the original is above. I am acutely aware this is a Lexus forum but it was Lexus that started me on the electric journey and a number of posters asked that I give an update on Tesla ownership. So here it is, in brief, and intended to be helpful and informative. I will of course respond if desired and if this in even a teeny weeny way helps move Lexus along the electric drivetrain journey then so much the better. The drive is fantastic . For those of you in a hybrid, imagine driving as you do now solely on the battery and multiply the experience by 10. Beautifully serene and silent, then ridiculously fast and still silent. The lack of engine noise hides the sensation of speed somewhat, and you need to be aware of that. The acceleration is immediate and it's almost impossible not to grin like a child. The regenerative braking takes about 5 minutes to get used to and then becomes second nature, if you anticipate the road ahead correctly the brakes only need to be touched when you need to come to a complete stop. Parking is not easy. It's a big car and the "hips" make it difficult to park squarely, despite the dipping mirrors and rear camera. I have never before struggled but there's something about the Tesla that makes it a slight struggle. I've only used the auto parallel parking once and it was perfect but very quick and frightened the life out of me. Fit and finish is much better than I expected, no rattles, squeaks or vibrations. I have done 3k miles in the 2 months since I got it and so too early to get carried away but the initial signs are very good. The technology is amazing, the 17" touchscreen is a delight to use and having the full screen as a nav very helpful when venturing to pastures new. There is a secondary Garmin nav in the instrument binnacle as a back up in case the permanently connected to 3/4G data connection drops, which can happen in remote of rural areas. This connection also gives Spotify and web access etc and the voice control is a million times more accurate than the ones I've experienced before. The range and charging. I bought the 60 kWh which has a 75kWh pack and was software limited to 60kWh. Real world mileage between 160-200 miles depending on conditions and speed. Rain, cold and speed impacts on range dramatically. Driving in mild/warm conditions at or around the speed limit improves range considerably. This is of course no different to "normal" cars but the refuelling process is not as quick. That said, I charge at home overnight using Economy 7 drawing 8kW of power, equivalent to a cooker. This gives me a full "tank" every morning and I only have to consider refuelling if my daily drive is going to exceed 150+ miles. I've used the Tesla Supercharger network half a dozen times, and the battery has been recharged sufficiently in the time it takes to go to the loo and grab a coffee. Since purchasing Tesla have dropped the 60 kWh battery option and reduced the price of "unlocking" the 15kWh to turn mine into a 75kWh. I paid to unlock so now have the 75kWh, which equates to a usable battery of 72.6kWh. The attached pic shows that I have a lifetime average of using 330Wh per mile. Real world range is so far 220 miles, compared to what Tesla say is the average for my car, 239 miles. Ignoring the fact that the Superchargers are free, using Economy 7 means I am paying 2p a mile for fuel, compared to 15p a mile (based on 35mpg I used to get on my NX). A couple of explanations of the pic icons, the greyed out speed limit icon shows adaptive cruise is ready to be activated, and the greyed out steering wheel shows autosteer is also ready. A double pull on a steering column lever will activate both, and the car with drive using the camera, radar and sensor suite. The driver must maintain contact with the steering wheel, and if the car doesn't sense occasional hand resistance, i.e. up and down torque resistance, not a tight grip, the car will nag and eventually disengage "autopilot" and bring the car to a stop. The power meter on the right shows the energy burn over the last 30 miles (other options available) with the wiggly line showing deviation from the "typical" usage. This photo was taken whilst I was stopped at traffic lights by a passenger. The radar sees the car in front, and often the car in front of that as the radar bounces underneath the car in front. Downsides? The only part of the financial equation that stacks up is the "fuel" cost, everything else requires a healthy dose of man maths. That's not a problem in itself, man maths to one degree or another is employed as soon as you deviate away from the cheapest vehicle that will get you from A to B. Long journey's take some thought and research into your travel pattern is a must IMO before you buy. There are Tesla owners doing 30k miles a year plus, so high mileage in itself is not a barrier. Not having the ability to charge overnight would be a major challenge, but some do it, particularly if you live close to a Supercharger. The competition? There isn't any. Yet. The sooner it arrives the better as that can only be good for everyone. The Jag I Pace seems to be the closest one to actually coming to market, the rest are vapourware. Unfortunately ask Jaguar about a nationwide network of high speed chargers and its a mumble about "that's on the way". Where, when, how are met with more mumbling. Sorry, I did say brief.. That's about as brief as I can be. Hope the mods don't mind me posting this, it was born out of genuine interest from Lexus owners.

Hi all, Just got back from collecting my New IS-F. What a car!! I've come from a B7 RS4 but this thing makes it feel like a tractor! That intake noise is massively addictive and the throttle blip on down shifts just makes you want to keep doing it! Would just like to say thanks to the previous owner 08ISF for the information, I think I'm going to really enjoy this car. Happy Friday! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello - Wow was I surprised at how damn good this car was - This is my playful review which I hope you find balanced and fair. Its ok I asked the mods if I was ok to post. :)

Update - new hyperlinks for easy navigation. Interior section will be coming soon and I will be making changes throughout Last updated - 19/10/2015 Thanks to bluenose1940 for egging me on to get this finished! Rayaan's Guide To Detailing Your Lexus.pdf

Hey, I recently upgraded from a IS220d, so without further ado, the pics: A 2013 GS450h Premier Bought from Lexus Sidcup with 71,000 miles and a full Lexus history. I did pay a bit over the odds, but I managed to get 3 years warranty and a discounted service plan. I have only had it 3 days, but here are my impressions so far: THE GOOD: The most obvious one first - performance. I admit I was a little underwhelmed with the speediness at first, but then I discovered I had been a bit silly today; I didn't realise the car had a 'kickdown' accelerator I put my foot down properly and damn did it shift! The acceleration above 60mph is especially good. Next we have comfort. The 18 ways adjustable seats are supremely comfortable and supportive. I also cruised to work this morning and the suspension rode the bumps very well. It does have AVS fitted, but I've yet to try it properly to see if it makes much of a difference. What I can say is that in normal mode it holds the road well. As you can imagine, it has plenty of toys. The 12.3 inch display is very nice although I wish you could have the modes full screen. All the usual refinements, and I find the powered boot lid quite amusing. I haven't gone through a whole fuel tank yet, but it is looking promising. I have been exploring its performance potential somewhat, and it still looks to be on target for high 30's mpg. Not bad for something as quick and heavy as this is. Also, something un-Lexus like for its non F brand, but the noise of the V6 when going full pelt is quite nice. It has quite the growl when pushed. One other thing that occurred to me on the way to pick it up - the rarity. GS's are seldom seen on the roads, whereas I saw countless BMW, Audi's and Mercedes on the trip. I like being different, so this is something that is often overlooked as a nice bonus. THE NOT SO GOOD: Lets get the inevitable one out of the way first - the gearbox. I really wish it had a normal automatic gearbox. I'm sure I will get used to it eventually, but I am not a fan of the drone that permeates the cabin when you accelerate hard for longish periods. On a similar note, the lack of sense of speed could be a problem. Maybe it is because there are no gear changes, but I am having trouble determining how fast I am going without constantly looking at the speedo. So, since the car can gain speed so quickly, it is difficult to modulate the performance. What I really miss is a feature my old IS had - the light ring inside the speedo that lights up orange at a pre-determined point. I found it very useful and it would have worked well here. The heated seats have an annoying feature; they turn themselves off. I am not a fan of the car deciding when they are warm enough. I like them quite toasty, so their performance isn't fantastic. So, in conclusion, it is a brilliant car that is perfectly happy cosseting you to work on a cold morning, and then launching like a scalded cat when you mash the accelerator before refusing to give up grip around the corners on the way home. I can certainly appreciate the lamentation of the salesman at the dealership that there is no 450h variant of the ES. If you are ever in the fortunate position to be able to own one, I highly recommend it.

Mesa Red has never been the most popular of colours within the ISF world, it was the lowest selling colour when they were up for sale with only 6 or 7 sold in the UK (I think!?) Well today is the only day of the year that it will be sunny up here in Scotland so here's of few pictures of what Mesa Red is supposed to look like! I can imagine most of you will of only seen a Mesa Red ISF in the shade/clouds, I promise they're not maroon!

Hello all, I have recently purchased a 2001 GS300. This car is very much a project for me - and a venture in to Japanese cars from my principal hobby car brand of choice - BMW. I own a '98 BMW 740i which has been my main hobby to date, but have always hankered after a Lexus, from teenage years and onward. It was purchased using my usual rule of trying to find something interesting for under a grand... enter the car in question: It has pretty high miles - 184k and a complete lack of stamped service history, with the notable exception of a cambelt change at a Lexus main dealer at 160k miles. Engine oil is reasonably clean, transmission functions as intended - but I bought with my eyes well and truly open, which leads me to the discoveries... I have a pathological fear of rust, so first thing was to strip of all the sill covers and asses things down below. Here's a couple of shots of the rear jacking points as I found them: NSR: OSR: Given 17 years on the road and some likely abuse through being jacked improperly, I was happy to find that the corrosion is just surface stuff. I've hammered the pinch welds straight again, scrubbed everything down, and given the length of the affected areas a coating with POR-15 (https://www.por15.com/) and stonechip primer: I don't have pictures of the final product, but basically any grey area was covered with black stonechip - and with the colour coded sill covers on, this area isn't visible - so I'm not fussed about the difference in colour. I've scrubbed and treated all 4 jacking points onthe car, and any area on the length of the sill that looked like it was rusting. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said of the inner wheel wells, and I was able to push holes in them in the area where they meet the sill section – thankfully the rot doesn’t affect the sills– so I got the wheel wells inspected by a local underbody welder whom I trust – and repaired wherever rust was found: Looking from the hole down the sill (!): As before, the sill looks good, just the wheel wells not so much! I plan to get some waxoyl and a flexible applicator and thoroughly treat the inside of the sills once I have the car back from the body shop. I’ve also found some curious examples of previous owners/those in their employ attempting to hide faults – rather than fix them. Can you see what’s missing in this shot of the rear of the instrument cluster? Yes – the telltale bulbs for the VSC system have been removed. Putting replacement bulbs in immediately showed up that the system was deactivated and faulty, as was the ABS; I can only assume a PO did this to hide the faults and pass an MOT test. The other frustration was that the MIL light had been painted over with black nail varnish (!) – lightly removing this from the outside of the cluster (no I didn’t spot it on the test drive) of course revealed the MIL was illuminated. I’m thankful I was able to get codes using my OBDII reader – and the damage could have been worse – 2x separate lambda sensor faults. One traced to *really* poor workmanship on a presumed universal sensor installation: Fixed as (self amalgating tape added to the length of the repair afterward): That was fixed by remaking the wire joints with solder/heat shrink insulation. The other sensor needed to be replaced entirely and then the MIL light could be extinguished; an easy fix for the sake of some time with a soldering iron, and £50 for a new DENSO universal sensor. The VSC/ABS system was easily brought back to life with a trick for resetting zero point calibration using a paper clip that I found somewhere on a USA Lexus forum post – bingo, no more warnings on the dash. The plan for this car will be to give it a complete brakes and suspension renewal, and service everything I can, before making some subtle modifications. Broadly, I want to lower it, give it a slightly louder exhaust note (actually there has already been some work done as the silencer tips are not original to the car), and some nice deep dish wheels. I’ll post up my progress on here, mention any useful part numbers; if anything for my own records. I’m a keen DIY’er so largely I’ll be doing this in the garage/ driveway. First service item was to a drain/refill the ATF. I use a suction/syphon drain and got some Type 4 ATF from Toyota: Coming from BMWs it was great to have a dipstick to work with. Fluid removed was dark, but didn’t smell burned; I think I managed to put about 4 litres of fluid in to the box – definitely I put in more than I removed so I think the box was lower on fluid level than it should have been. I’ve also put a new radiator on the car, as the plastic cores on the old part appeared very brown and mottled – like you could touch them and they’d spring a leak. New part from Ad-Rad.co.uk, delivered next day – made by Koyorad; fitted in under an hour: Next up will be to replace the rocker cover gaskets, as there’s a fair old oil leak from the top of the engine. I’ll post on that when I have the car back from the body shop. I'm hoping this car will be some fun to work on - and broadly speaking a valuable learning experience on a vehicle that isn't German/ a Land Rover! Thanks, John

Hi all, My car recently ticked over 91k miles and needed a full service, last service was August last year at 83k. As it was at 91k I booked the car in for a 100k Major service with Lexus Plymouth. I understand a large service like this is only done at 60k miles and 100k miles, please correct me if im wrong, Just thought I'd add a post on costs and what was carried out if anyone is getting near that service point in their cars life. I purchased 2 new Pirelli P Zeros for the front wheels a couple of months ago as the inner wall had the dreaded tyre wear, middle and outside were like new 😞 I got a great deal from Oponeo.co.uk I saved them for the service so Lexus could fit them (which they kindly did free of charge). Lexus did all the usual full service items, changed the Oil, brake fluid, engine coolant, screen wash, all filters screen wash, checked for recalls, plugged the engine in the computer etc etc, Also a full visual inspection, they took off, checked and re-tourqed all 4 wheels, tyre pressures, checked control arms brakes, suspension, literally every nut and bolt of the car was looked over and tightened. There was nothing wrong with the feel of the car before the service but it honestly felt like new when I picked it up, felt solid. I had a rubbing noise from the passenger wheel in the week building up to the service, they checked it out and found the heat shield had slightly bent and was rubbing, all fixed for free and no more noise. It was a bit of a relief as I've only owned the car since April so this was it first proper full inspection by Lexus under my ownership, they confirmed the car is in great condition and had been well looked after. There were only 3 things to sort at a later date, air conditioning needs regassing which I'm not fussed about, with the Hayward and Scott exhaust burbling im more of a window down kinda guy. Heat sheild above the exhaust was ripping a bit and may need replacing, and lastly 3 clamps on the exhaust were leaking slightly so will need replacing, as it was a Hayward and Scott exhaust they didn't have the correct clamps so wouldn't touch it. All in it cost £595, Money well spent IMO, I am curious as to what a simular service would be for a M3 or C63, RS4 etc. The customer service and work carried out at Lexus Plymouth was first class, added benefit of it being a 5 mintue walk from my house it's a relief to have a garage like that so close. Another stamp in the service book and a warm fuzzy feeling the car is in great condition. Apologies for the long read Cheers Ian

Hesitate to wade into this passionate discussion, but I want to stress that for at least one Lexus owner, the availability of a hybrid drivetrain was the primary reason for getting into the brand. I think the Toyota/Lexus hybrid system is brilliant, blending mechanical simplicity with sophisticated software to liberate the internal combustion engine to work at its most efficient, while delivering low-speed refinement that was previously only available in very expensive luxury cars, and doing so with outstanding reliability. However creamy a non-hybrid V6/V8/V12 might be, I never want to own a car with something as crude as a starter motor again. Drivers – and in particular motoring journalists – who’ve been used to conventional transmissions seem unable to get their heads round the idea that an internal combustion engine’s speed might vary with road speed in a non-linear way. But once you’ve accepted that, the planetary power-split gearset and the associated software take care of the rest. Some of the hybrid system’s overall efficiency comes from letting the ICE run in its most efficient operating zones, as well as the recovery of kinetic energy under braking. As a hybrid purist, I’m somewhat sceptical about the added complexity Lexus is introducing by trying to simulate conventional drivetrains with virtual gears, paddle shifters and two-stage transmissions. Though I'd happily accept the extended loan of an LC500h to explore this further. This just a way of saying that I don’t think all or even most IS/GS/RC/NX300h owners reluctantly settled for hybrids just because of the tax breaks. Some of us love the way they drive.

@tomRCFcarbon Tom I know what you mean about the BMW stance, here’s a certain Bm M4 owner from this forum he shall remain anonymous....... is that ok @Warrington guy Dave......😁 Anyway here he is at the recent Goodwood event admiring the rear of a 10th Anniversary Rcf...... at least I think that’s what he’s looking at.......😉 Big Rat

Guys, the time finally came today to let the ISF go to a new home. I have loved every minute of ownership but there are lots of cars I want to own and only so much time in which to do it. The car that has replaced it is a 2018 civic type r and although first impressions are epic, the ISF will always have a soft spot in my heart. Thank you to all of the forum friends I have made and good luck for the future. I will still be dipping in from time to time as the banter is just too good to miss!! Cheers guys. Marcus

I haven't been on here for a while, mainly cos my ISF search came to an end. I wasn't having any luck find one that ticked all the boxes [will I did, an ex-forum car, but unfortunately the owner had to sell before I could get sorted], when all of a sudden a different car become available that I have always been interested in. In my head, there wasn't a massive difference...fast, Japanese, more than 3-doors! So here's what I bought [if this pic works]!

Here's my old one!

So......... results are in from the dyno................. Have a video, but won’t upload! I can’t stop smiling! Lol.

But not going so far..... With the prices of the RCF's dropping I decided to take the plunge, particularly when I realised how low my annual mileage is nowadays, that the petrol consumption is not a big factor to me. I picked up this fully specced (Sunroof, ML, TVD, ACC & PCS) example in blue on Saturday. I have been trying to clean it properly since the weekend but the weather has defeated me :( So have used the original advert pics above. I have no idea how long i will keep it (owning 3 sports cars is a little OTT in some eyes) but am definitely enjoying it so far. I want to thank Raj at Lexus Derby for his sales approach and attending to the issues that i raised. It's my first experience of this dealership and I was impressed how they went about the sale compared to my local dealership, who also had a car I was interested in. So I will still be around on the forum, but maybe not so much in the RC sub-forum as that seems a little quiet

With the weather now improving and the days getting longer I decided to get on with my project 134,000 mile series IV LS400. TBH since I purchased it a year ago I haven't done a lot to it apart from replace all the brake discs and pads complete with a fluid change and repair the driver's side mirror and the electric aerial. I gave it a good clean today as only have one garage so been stood out all winter and plan to replace the cambelt kit and water pump next weekend. Both the tilt and telescope are not working on the steering, unusual for both to fail together but having made checks on the ECU it does seem to be a double motor failure. There are marks on nearly every panel and the rear bumper could do with a paint job but no rust so looks like a few days of detailing coming up.

Just dropping someone off at Brighton station when another car pulled up and the driver called out, 'Excuse me, mate, are you thinking about selling your car?' I told him that I'm planning to be buried in it.