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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

Hi, and welcome to the story so far of my IS250. I figured since I have started to change a few things, and with some more mods & upgrades planned, I should probably keep tabs on my progress and try and document as much as possible. I enjoy reading this kind of thing about other people's cars, so hopefully you will too. If nothing else, it'll be something useful for the next owner to have a gander at when I eventually part company with it. So, the car then. It's an Argento Ice (1G1) 2011 F-Sport with optional Navigation unit, and it's an automatic of course. I traveled just under 200mls by train, to Darlington, to buy it from a thoroughly nice chap and fellow LOC member in late August 2016. This is my third Lexus IS and my second IS250 F-Sport in a relative short space of time. The previous one being a 2010 model in the rare Sable Metallic (4T5) but this was sadly written-off inside a year with only 27K on the clock. Finding another low-miles F-Sport to replace it proved to be quite difficult and after a couple of months of fruitless searching I was starting to give serious consideration to buying something else. Then one day, someone on the forum announced that they were selling-up... Being honest, silver was not my 1st-choice when looking for a replacement. In fact it was probably near the bottom of the pile in terms of desirability, but the price was just too good to ignore and it sounded like a great car - one owner (a LOC member, no less), 36K miles, FSH & it had been kept in a garage since new. At this point I was thoroughly fed-up of having to borrow other people's cars to get around so I was prepared to compromise and a deal was quickly struck. On the day I arrived to see the car in the flesh for the first time, any misgivings I had about the colour disappeared the minute I pulled-up to the seller's house in a taxi. It was a gloriously sunny day and the IS looked absolutely amazing, sitting there, spotlessly-clean on the driveway. I knew right then and there that I would be going home in it. I quickly told the driver to keep the change because I couldn't wait to exit the taxi and have a closer look. After chatting with the seller over a cuppa and pouring over the car's history and piles of receipts, it was evident that the car had been well looked-after since the day it was purchased from Lexus Nottingham in April 2011. The test drive was pretty short. Just a mere formality really as I was already very familiar with how an IS250 behaves on the road and there was nothing to be concerned about, so the deal was finalised over another cuppa and then the car was mine. There was a generous amount of fuel still left in the tank at the point of sale, but I brimmed the car at Scotch Corner services and planned the journey home on the sat-nav. The obvious choice would've been to head up the A1, but I wasn't in a hurry so instead I headed west on a relaxed cruise along the A66 towards Penrith where I would join the M6, and then subsequently the M74 as I crossed the border before eventually turning off at Abington services in the Clyde Valley to join one of my favourite driving roads, the A702. This is a road that I'm very familiar with and it has it all; great scenery, sweeping fast corners, dips, rises, a few sleepy towns & villages to cruise through, twisty technical sections and plenty of long straights and clear sightlines for overtaking opportunities. Best of all, there's no speed cameras so you can really explore the limits of whatever you're driving. Taking in this road whilst getting to know my new car truly was the icing on the cake. (forgive my lengthy into and waffling but I really did enjoy the whole buying experience of acquiring this car, so I thought I would share it...) Anyway, here's a couple of pics from the sales ad showing how the car looked before I bought it. My first six months or so with the car were fairly uneventful. It had just been serviced, MOT'd and kitted-out with a new set of tyres shortly before it went up for sale, so all I had to do was get it taxed and enjoy it. My first modification (if you can call it that), was in November when I prepped the car for the miserable Scottish winter weather - by swapping out the OEM floor mats for the set of genuine Lexus rubber mats that were included with the car, and by switching to winter tyres. The winter setup was a carry-over from my previous IS250 consisting of 18" 3rd-gen F-Sport wheels shod with 225/40F / 245/40R Pirelli Sottozero 3 tyres, so this was something that didn't cost anything, and arguably looked better than stock so I was happy for my car to wear these for the next 4 or 5 months. The 2016/17 winter weather was particularly awful. Not to the extent that winter tyres were required, but it just seemed to be constantly raining and/or very windy, especially on the occasions when I actually had some free time! So during the dark winter months I just planned what I was going to do next and armed myself with some knowledge, and also picked up a few parts. Fast-forward to the spring and it was time to switch back to summer tyres. A successful PPI claim had given me some funds to play with so I wanted to upgrade to a set of staggered 19" wheels. Sure, the stock 18's look good on a 2nd-gen IS, but 19's look even better!. My initial plan was to save up for a set of graphite OZ Superturismo LMs, but these are pretty expensive and rarely show up on the used market, so I mulled this over for a number of weeks before deciding on my alternative choice of wheel - the OEM "blade" wheels off an IS-F. Produced for Lexus by BBS Japan, these forged and relatively lightweight wheels were hardly a booby prize and were actually a good choice for what I want to achieve. My overall goal for the car could be described as "OEM Plus". To try and make some tasteful improvements to how it looks and performs without ruining it, and to add a bit more of a sporting flavour without it looking out of place. At the end of the day this is my daily driver and I still want it to feel like a Lexus so I'll be using high quality aftermarket or genuine parts from within the Lexus family where possible. In this regard the IS-F wheels are ideal, so when a newly-refurbished set showed up on eBay, I snapped them up. Once the wheels arrived (from Latvia!), my next point of deliberation was tyre choice. I had narrowed the short-list of candidates down to three - Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3, Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 or Michelin Pilot Super Sports. In the end I stumped-up for the more expensive Michelins as they've been proven quality for years and are still featuring as an OEM application on various performance cars. Whilst, on the other hand, the other two are quite new on the market with less known about them. Regarding sizes, I took the safe option and went with stock widths as I didn't want to run into problems when I lower the car a touch. I didn't weigh them but just by handling them during fitting and removal and moving the various wheels in and out of storage a few times, the new wheel & tyre combo certainly felt lighter than the OEM F-Sport alloys, despite them being larger. What isn't in question though, is just how much sharper and more precise the steering feels with them, plus grip is superb. Refinement suffered a little of course, but I would say only a little as the car still rides extremely well. On my initial impressions, I was more concerned about the increased road noise and thought I had made a huge mistake, because, boy were these things loud! Thankfully they got a lot quieter after putting a few miles on them but they're still probably louder than a lot of other tyres on the market. I would happily buy them again though. Around this time I also gave the car it's first proper detail during my ownership, and it was badly-needed. After months of being caked with dirt and rock salt, the sides of the car felt like sandpaper, There were literally hundreds of tar spots, so an extensive decontamination and clay bar session paved the way for a course of Super Resin Polish and a coat of Soft99 Fusso Coat. This restored some much-needed shine and lustre to the paintwork, and for the first time in ages, it was actually protected from the elements. (Obligatory snow foam pics) April saw the car pay a visit to Lexus Edinburgh to be serviced and MOT'd and it sailed through with no advisories. In fact, the service manager commented on how clean it was, and how he had to double-check whether they had washed it or not. Next up, was to install a dash-cam. In my previous car I had the relatively cheap, but excellent A118c. And I was in the market for a new one because I carelessly forgot to remove it from the wreck before it was taken away. Anyhow, suitably impressed with how it had performed, I was all set to buy another one when I noticed that there was now an A119 on the market. This promised to be even better and could be installed just as discreetly as the older camera, so I ponied-up an extra few quid to grab one, along with the optional GPS module and a CPL filter. This time, I wanted to make use of the parking mode so that meant hard-wiring it into an "always-on" circuit, so I tapped into the keyless entry system. I was a little worried that this would drain the battery and leave the car unable to start, but so far so good. I've left the car parked-up for 3 or 4 days at a time without any trouble. This is especially impressive, since, after reviewing some footage that was captured whilst parked, it would appear that the motion sensor is pretty sensitive and will trigger the camera into recording an "event" quite easily, So, at times (like when it's raining) the camera can effectively be recording 24/7, yet it doesn't seem to be too much of a burden on the battery. This is something I'm mindful of though, so I'm keeping an eye on it. For the past couple of months, I've just been concentrating on keeping the car clean, but a couple of days ago I done my first "performance" mod when I swapped-out the standard air intake for the official F-Sport one (PTR03-53100). I'd had one of these in my eBay watch list for about 2 years, just waiting for a deal nice enough for me to pull the trigger on. Well, such a deal showed up a couple of weeks ago so I jumped on it. Some pics I took during fitting. Installation was a breeze, very straightforward and quick. I took my time however and cleaned my MAF sensor at the same time, and also cleaned-up some parts of the engine bay that were dusty & dirty before putting everything back together. As for the intake, it's a nice piece of kit. Being an OEM upgrade, you would expect the quality to be very good and the fitment to be perfect, and it is. The general consensus seems to be that this will free up around 3-5 bhp, but that's not something that can be felt. What is noticeable though is the induction sound. There's very little difference, if any, during normal driving but when you push the revs above 3K you're greeted with a fantastic throaty roar. My next move will probably be to lower the car another 10mm or so via a set of H&R springs that I bought ages ago, but until then here's a few pics of how the car looked with the 19" IS-F wheels. Quick Links: F-Sport Gear knob Winter Wheels prep & installation Interior LED upgrade New & current wheel setup IS350 Brake upgrade

I’ll start my review with a huge thumbs-up to Lexus Hedge End. They’re consistently a pleasure to deal with but this time one of their sales guys and true petrol head, Michael, really pulled out the stops for me... I’ve been given a LC500 as a courtesy car. So, “how does it compare to the GSF on a rain-soaked February afternoon?” I hear you all ask... Under normal driving, it’s remarkably familiar! The engine is the same 5.0 V8, albeit with twin intakes over the single one of the GSF/RCF. The gearbox is now a 10-speed, with a slightly clumsy new design of shifter, but economy appeared the same. The rear-wheel steering is unusual! Sage advice from a slightly nervous Michael - “take the first few roundabouts gently, and don’t steer as much as you think you need to!” He was right - it feels like the rear wheels are sliding sideways! An odd experience, but ok once you learn to work with it. I believe the rear wheels turn slightly in opposite directions to the fronts at low speeds, effectively shortening the wheelbase - this has the result of making the car feel more like a go-kart, together with the Torque Vectoring Differential. The opposite happens at high speed to increase stability. Picking the speed up, the twin intakes give the V8 a proper howling scream above 6500rpm with lovely pops and the occasional crackle on a downshift. The car is more of a GT that can be hustled than a sports car - I though it felt it’s weight a bit more than the GSF. The OEM tyres are 21” runflats and provide good, if not exceptional grip - perhaps the non-RFs on the GSF as well as, frankly, me owning rather than borrowing it, allowed me to push the saloon harder. The ride quality is good - only the occasional thump over really bad roads, but I did notice a bit of squirming over undulating poorly maintained tarmac. The brake pedal felt slightly spongy, but the stopping ability was good. Inside, the seats are just as supportive, the cabin roomy (in the front) and the equipment list is extensive. Many of the features the GSF has buttons for are now incorporated into the computer, which now uses a touch pad to navigate instead of a mouse-lever-platform-type thing. Compared to the (dare I say “corporate”) interior of the GSF, the designers have really cut loose here! They seem to have used every type of material/surface/texture they could get their hands on, with bold, swooping lines devouring the insides of the doors. This is, of course a matter of taste, but I found it a little busy. A few bits of the switchgear are in different places - I particularly like the drive mode selector and the traction control knob to either side of the instrument binnacle - a nice nod to the utterly unobtainable LFA. There’s not much room in the back - it’s a 2+2 at an absolute push - I’d say if the person in the front seat is 6ft+, you’ve just generated a bag storage area behind. Finally - is this a car I’d look to trade up to? I’m not sure. It’s very good indeed, but apart from the looks, it feels so similar to my GSF (not a bad thing!!), I’d need to think about it more. I’d like to try the hybrid sister LC500h before a firm verdict! So, there you have it. Enjoy the pictures!

Well eventually I'm an ISF owner and I'm sooooo pleased with it. Collected today from a member here so thanks David @Dave400SE for the opportunity. Great to meet you. I gather its belonged to at least 1 other member too so perhaps I'm just the current custodian of this fine machine. I took the long way home through the Peak District and haven't stopped grinning yet. I didn't stop to take any new photo's either, Doh, but here's a couple of Davids. Its in great condition but I cant resist spending a few ££ to make it the best it can be. Thanks to all you guys on here from which I have leaned so much on my search to find the right one. Love it. Love it. Love it.......or is it "her" ?

6 wheels of American muscle.

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]!

Just got home after another day of brilliant service from Lexus Liverpool.. think they will be glad see the back of me😂. Some photos of it in the showroom and one of it in its new home.. Didn't stay white for long that's for sure! So happy with it and can't wait to get involved with you lads on the forums and at events. Thanks all for your kind words ❤️

Here’s a few of mine.

Freshly cleaned after our long drive back from Nottingham yesterday. Have to say I'm mega pleased with the work BCS did. Worth every penny and the long drive up North! Just in the Emirates lounge about to go to Dubai, then Dubai to Auckland in New Zealand! Long flight!! Hope you guys like them as much as I do.... Cheers all! Pete

Hi, I've not been on here much recently due to my holiday and then coming back to a load of work that my colleagues kindly left for me 😧 Here's my quick update for anyone who cares: Holiday to florida was good and at least now I can say I survived a hurricane! I saw one gsf (doesn't look good in red) but no isf's. I got a 2.3 turbo mustang convertible for the trip. Overall it is a good car, apart from the completely numb steering, but a 4 cylinder engine is just wrong in a Stang! It went ok but just makes the wrong noise 😔 While I was away my car was in the paint shop having the front bumper, bonnet and sideskirts resprayed. No photos as it hasnt stopped raining since I picked it up but he's done a great job for £700. I've also had the mot this week which it passed with no advisories, not bad for 9 years and 107k miles 😎. Having said that the estimate for a service was a bit scary, apparently there is no record of my spark plugs ever being changed so i need them doing at great expense 🤤. Going to get that done next week once I've recovered from the shock. I've also ordered the usrs today and will be getting a full valet and ceramic coating for the new paint soon so let's hope the wife doesn't find the credit card statement this month 😳 P.s. there was a dodge dealer just down the road from where I was staying in Florida who had a very rare and random super bee tribute parked outside next to the hellcats. Not to everyone's taste but put a smile on my face 🤠

So I promised a write up of my adventures into searching for a vehicle to replace my 3RX. Nothing wrong with it, just fancied a change and thought it was a good time to buy after 5 years. Initially, I was thinking of changing brands and spending the next few years with something new but I didn't rule out the vehicles from Lexus. There were 3 categories the replacement would have to fill: 1) Had to be an SUV 2) Had to be different to the norm 3) Had to fall within my budget of £45k From some quick research, the initial contenders were the Volvo XC90, Jaguar F-Pace, BMW X6, Mercedes GLE, Lexus NX and Lexus RX. I excluded the Porsche Cayenne as the interior was too busy and the Range Rover Sport as it was more expensive and had well known reliability issues. The Q7 was also excluded as I just didn't like the bulbous look it has even though a good example was available within my budget. Additionally, I deliberately drove the 4RX last so I got an idea of all the other vehicles before it and therefore I could compare better. The next step was to find any vehicles I fancied by trawling through Autotrader and Manufacturer Used sections of their websites. The Lexus NX was the exception here as I didn't find anything I particularly liked and it would have come within my budget new, so I would have taken the new option of Mesa Red/Red with Premier pack. Volvo XC90 The first vehicle I looked for was the Volvo XC90. I found one in Sunderland with the D5 2.0l diesel engine and in Inscription trim. I liked the colour and it was in my budget so went to test drive it. Initial impressions were that it looked classy but was also quite boxy. It looked great it the Luminous Sand colour but would have preferred another interior colour other than black but it wasn't a huge issue. The boxy shape obviously led to a huge amount of interior space and the boot was cavernous. The XC90 was also the only 7 seater I looked at - didn't really need a 7 seater but it would have come in handy when the in laws were around. Spec wise, it was OK. Didn't have many optional extras and no panoramic sunroof either but it had huge side windows so the interior was fairly airy. The interior quality was good yet there were some cheaper feeling gloss black plastics scattered around and whilst the infotainment screen was very simple to use whilst stationary, it was a nightmare whilst driving and I missed dedicated buttons from my RX for certain functions. Driving impressions - This is where the XC90 fell short. Yes the wind noise is suppressed well but the engine makes itself noticeable and being a 2.0l diesel, it does sound rough at times, especially compared to the buttery smooth 3RX. There is some road noise due to its wide tyres as well. The spec sheet also read 0-60mph in 7.4s or something like that - no chance! It felt heavy and realistically, it must have been around 8.5-9s as the engine seems to run out of puff over 3.5k rpm. The mid-range acceleration was pretty mediocre compared to the 3RX as well. Having said that, in town it was perfectly acceptable and if driven sedately, should be fine for most people. The handling was OK for a big bus, it did roll a bit in the corner but only slightly but this was the result of relatively firm suspension. The gearbox (an 8 Speed Aisin unit used in some Lexus vehicles) was jerky when pressing on a bit and overall, it just needed to be driven sedately to enjoy it. Conclusion - in the end, I felt the XC90 wasn't for me. It gets rave reviews from the press and I can see why - its built very well and suppresses noises from the outside very well. However, the engine remains its weakest point and ideally, it needs around 270hp. The fuel economy was dismal as well (30mpg) and when Volvo have downsized to a 2l for that very reason, it makes you think that Audi's strategy of "right sizing" is a much better option as it seems to get better fuel economy with a lot more power and refinement. Jaguar F-Pace After deciding the XC90 wasn't for me, off I trawled to Jaguar Preston to see this car! First impressions - a good looking vehicle - certain angles looked funny (the front looks odd IMO) but overall not bad and certainly not a vehicle you see everyday (although they are getting more common now). I haven't see one in Black yet so thought that was probably the one to go for if I did decide on a Jag. This particular example had two tone red/black leather as well but also had a 2.0l diesel engine. Spec wise, it was OK. It had a pan roof but it didnt open, tinted windows and memory seats (all optional extras). Apart from that I think it was fairly stock. This basically meant that there were no LED headlights, no reversing camera, no adaptive cruise control etc. The biggest difference when getting into the F-Pace after testing the XC90 was the reduced cabin space. There was less headroom and shoulder room in every seat and reduced boot space. The greatest problem was the rear seat foot space. Its probably the worst design Ive ever come across in an SUV - the footwell is extremely narrow and my wife's IS has a bigger footwell. The quality of materials in the Jag was also poor in comparison to the Volvo. The main bits that I noticed was that some of the stitching on the dashboard was not straight, some of the buttons felt a bit cheap and components moved more i.e steering wheel, armrests etc when giving them a vigorous shake. The door panels had a tinny sound when tapped too (something I just do in all cars I see now, sounds stupid but gives you a good idea of how the car is built). The infotainment was easier to use on the move compared to the Volvo but overall, just a slower system. The audio system was crap compared to the ML in the 3RX so this was off-putting. Im also not sure on the leather - it didn't feel like real leather. Driving impressions - what the F-pace lacks in interior quality, it makes up for in driving experience. It handles very well and feels connected to the road. Again, the weakest link is the diesel here. For a great handling car, there's just not enough power to exploit the handling characteristics. The engine is also less refined than in the XC90 and there is more tyre roar and wind noise. Of course, the 3.0l is available but this was out of the budget! Conclusion - The F-Pace left me feeling cold. Whilst the F-pace is a brilliant handling SUV, I realised I would hardly exploit its handling capabilities and therefore, preferred the more refined option which was the XC90 after testing the Jag. The XC90 had better interior quality and was ultimately, a more solid feeling vehicle and at this point, the XC90 had gone to the top of the list. Now I realise that the F-Pace was cheaper than the XC90 but it feels that way - the real question is, would I rather have a newer, cheaper feeling car or a 1 year older, expensive feeling car for similiar price and I would go for the older, better quality car everyday of the week. BMW X6 Off I went to BMW in Rochdale to see a Flamenco Red X6 M-Sport. Initial impressions - Personally thought it was a great looking car. I loved the colour and quite a rare one too with only 15 being sold in the country in Red. This particular one had a decent spec with a heads up display, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats and surround view. It was also the 40d version. Interior quality was very good. Everything felt solid and was functional but it was slightly boring in that the same sort of interior has been used on BMWs for the past decade. There was enough interior space although rear headroom was limited due to its sloping roof line. This car also had the nappa leather which was very nice to the touch. This particular car was missing tinted windows but this could easily have been sorted. The infotainment system was the easiest to use IMO, even on the move and the car itself felt solid on the road. Driving impressions - This is where the BMW shines. Its a very good handling car. Its not as good as the F-pace but it has an extremely potent 3.0l diesel engine and every time my foot planted the floor, there was a huge smile on my face. Having said that, it fell short in other areas. Whilst wind noise was well suppressed, there was a huge amount of tyre roar from those massive tyres and the engine still sounded slightly gruff despite being a 6 cylinder. Smoothness of the engine however, was exceptional and the torque was very addictive. Conclusion - I really liked this one. The road noise was a problem but I think the current tyre choice wasn't helping. This was now on the top of my list followed by the XC90 and then the F-pace. Merc GLE The next vehicle to test was the GLE350d. I'd seen a white one on the road a few weeks earlier and it had huge road presence and is a fairly rare sight so it was on the shortlist. Initial impressions - yes, huge road presence from that front end. The vehicle itself is very large. I thought it looked brilliant in white as well. Interior space was not an issue although it had the same problem as the X6 with the rear headroom but it wasn't too bad. Same with the boot, it was bigger than the X6's. Interior quality - This is where the Mercedes was let down. The interior is extremely aged. The centre console seems to have been lifted straight from a W204 C class with the addition of a modern screen. Just looks odd in my opinion. This car also had the nappa leather which was nice but the seats were poor in both support and comfort in comparison to the X6 and Volvo. Driving impressions - The Mercedes felt the most tank like to drive. The way it drove just felt solid - it was genuinely like driving an indestructible behemoth on the road with the added benefit of everyone just moving out of the way. The ride was firm, almost jarring and the handling was rubbish but it was quick in a straight line. Nothing much to say here apart from wind noise was fairly well suppressed but road noise, again due to massive tyres was the biggest thing upsetting the refinement. Lexus NX This one was tested at my local dealer. Nobody had a Red/Red NX300h with the Premier pack to see or test so it would have been ordered new as it fell within the budget but my dealer had a white/black F-Sport with Premier pack. Initial impressions - Sharp styling and I liked the DRLs separated from the headlights. Wasn't a huge fan of the rear, felt it looked too upright TBH. Would have liked some larger wheels - 19"s would have done nicely but the diamond finish on the F-Sport was nice. The interior quality was great. It was closer to a GS than an IS but overall, the interior space was quite compact. It felt more like the IS whereas my 3RX was more open. Rear legroom was similiar to the 3RX but the headroom was reduced slightly, especially with the panoramic sunroof. The quality was definitely better than the F-pace and GLE but not at the same level of the other vehicles which is understandable due to the price tag. The tech on this car was amazing - it beat the spec of every other car I'd tested. It had the pan roof, head up display, mark levinson and the surround camera system. It also had the adaptive cruise control etc. The spec was genuinely impressive when equipped with the Premier Pack. Driving impressions - The NX handled well enough. It was flatter than my RX and rode less firmly. However, road noise and wind noise were certainly more evident, albeit only slightly. The car felt much more agile than my 3RX and didn't exhibit the same bouncy behaviour at the rear axle. I also preferred the size, much more manageable in town than the others that I tested. Having said that, the drivetrain was the weakest link. Whilst adequate in the IS, the NX needs a more powerful engine. It felt slow in almost every situation apart from in town and at low speed. The engine would make itself heard almost all the time when going up hills near where I live so it was a disappointment. If only the 200t was available with the Premier pack - thats what I would have gone for (despite @Linas.P's views on it being trashy ) Lexus RX Left the most familiar option to the end so that I could compare it to the rest of them. I was initially looking at the one in Cambridge which was White/Black with Pan roof and HUD. It was also slightly out of my budget. Anyway I couldn't be bothered going 130 miles just to test drive it so I had a quick test drive with my local dealers demo - a Black/black F-Sport with pan roof only. Initial impressions - Looked impressive. I liked the angles but the black paint didn't work on it as the wheels blended in etc. The first thing I noticed was that the panel gaps were very tight and paintwork, extremely smooth - none of that orange peel stuff you get with the German brands. I also noticed that it demanded a lot of attention from pedestrians - they all seemed to be working out what it actually was! The interior quality was great - up there with the Volvo. The weakest link was the infotainment system - more complicated and something you have to learn to use rather than use straight away unlike the Volvo or BMW. The seats deserve a special mention. They fit me like a glove and are very supportive, yet also comfortable. This was an issue on the NX which had narrower seats. The infotainment screen is impressive and the panoramic roof let lots of light into the cabin despite the interior being black. The spec list was great too apart from the absence of the HUD which was fitted as standard to the 3RX F-Sport. It didn't have the ML but this didn't bother me as the standard sound system is as good as the ML in my 3RX. Driving impressions - It felt familiar to the 3RX but improved in every way. The ride was more composed (non of that rear axle bounciness of the 3RX). Its better than the NX F-Sport in terms of ride comfort and the AVS did a good job. Its firmer than the XC90 but then, it handles better as well. Its not a car which you can throw into bends like the X6 or F-pace but it handles well, better than the 3RX but you always know that the weight is there. Wind noise and road noise is NON EXISTENT! I found myself on the motorway thinking I was doing 60mph, looked down and it was doing 90mph (oops). In terms of the drivetrain, I don't care what the journalists are saying but for me, its great. Its refined all the time, even when flooring it, its relatively quiet compared to the diesels in other brands. There's also nothing that compensates for the V6 burble in the background too. Oh and lets not forget, this drivetrain is very quick in the mid range. Conclusion - In the end, it was a fairly simple decision to make. The 4RX has very little in terms of flaws and a part of me knows that it would sell like hotcakes if it had a German badge on it. Through 4 generations (ive owned 3 of them now) its been improved constantly and it shows. Yes, it has some annoying characteristics but overall, as a package, its absolutely brilliant. In the end, I didn't get the car from Lexus Cambridge. I eventually bought from Lexus Cheltenham who had exactly the same spec as Lexus Cambridge but with 1500 more miles and the red leather instead of the black for almost 10% less. Having said that, Lexus Cheltenham did offer the lowest P/X value from anyone. I was offered £18k for my 3RX whilst BMW, Volvo and Jaguar offered £19.5k. However, my local dealer also offered £18.5k so I think its mainly the book that Lexus dealers use (Ive consistently found they offer the lowest p/x value of any main dealer).

Nice little meet today. Pleasure to meet some of you and put faces to names. I think there were 7 F's in total? A new record! Hope everyone gets home safe. Enjoy the photo's...

2 sleeps to go until I become the next new owner, of this.....thanks in advance to Paul for his time (and jet washing skills)