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Hi All, Poll thread now setup in the Events section. Hopefully we can get a good F contingent in attendance. Lots of new faces since the last one, but appreciate it's a fair old trek for some. Be nice to meet some newcomers though if you can make it. Cheers all. Pete

Went along to Lexus Edinburgh tonight and was offered a test drive of this bad boy, with a professional driver sitting next to me. Must admit it looks great and didn't half turn heads when out on the road. The V8 is very quiet in comparison to the ISF and you can barely hear it running at idle. Much less induction noise above 4k but the exhaust note is abit beefier sounding. The professional guy had driven the LC at Goodwood and was keen to show me all the driving modes and tell me off for not holding the wheel properly lol Anyways I don't think I'll be trading in the ISF just yet. IS feels alot more raw in comparison even if it doesn't have the technology and stunning looks. Nothing to do with the price of course 😁

I know where your coming from with the I8. I had a chance to get a good look at a white one the other day in the works car park and I didn't like the back end on it. Like everything it's personal preferences. They had a sonic red LC500h with alot of beige leather. Wasn't sure about the interior but the colour looked great.

I meant the actual 3M sticky adhesive anyway managed to pull it off to try and make it more discrete at 6am this morning :D So here it is now: Had to use an old bank card to get the adhesive off - the string was useless. Also, there's only about an inch between the top of the windscreen and the dashcam so didn't bother cutting down the tail - I think its fine without it.

Agreed. That's why I support and buy my stuff from Rafi and Simon at RR-Racing. Everything they sell is fully tested and tried on their own demonstrator before it is offered to the public. Take the RCF throttle body. Theory was it could make some good gains on the ISF. Rafi and his team bought one, made it fit, mapped it, and dyno'd it. No dice! Gains were next to nothing, so it was scrapped. RR-Racing ate the costs, and we saved money not buying a mod that was a dud. Rafi and his team are only looking to improve our cars. Take the supercharger kit. They were being pressured to sell it from the moment they announced it was being developed. Rather than churn them out then and there, they waited until it was complete, dyno'd it a bunch, used it on the road, and track tested it extensively. It's done 10-15k miles now or something like that. Anyone can offer mods, but I personally want as much assurance as possible it won't stress or damage my car.

Slack or worn aux belt would be my first check

I thought it looked stunning in the flesh. The pics don't give an idea of how wide and low the front end is. I'm a fan of the I8 but this makes it look abit ordinary. In my opinion of course.

Got my eye on a very tidy looking Saab 9-5 2.3 Hot Aero so hopefully it sells soon.

Hope to make it with my old barge and put faces to names. I hope that is OK - I would not wish to upstage the ISF group.

So before buying my daily car which is a second-hand 2003 1 owner Accord 2.4 Executive, I toyed with the idea of actually financing a nearly new or new Lexus. But after some further investigation researching online and few videos I decided to go with a well looked after second hand car which based on my knowledge packed pretty much anything in terms of toys/gadgets one could find in a 2017 car apart from Bluetooth connectivity, lane keeping assist and reversing camera which truth be told are gadgets I can live without. Majority of my music are still on CD’s so I don’t stream music from my phone. Having owned about 9 cars in total the youngest car I have owned was 5 years old. And I am the sort that tends to change my cars every 2.5 to 3 years so didn’t want to be locked in or keep driving the same car for the next 4 - 5 years which tends to be the average years car finance/hire contract runs for. I also couldn’t justify making monthly payments on something which is depreciating faster compared to a 5 year or older second-hand which has done most of its depreciation so not a lot to loose when reselling. Advance in auto technology has improved mpg figures and emissions which keeps road tax down on newer cars but my maths concluded the savings made on mpg and road tax will be wiped out by monthly payments towards driving the car compared to a less fuel efficient but decent older car bought outright with no monthly payments being made on it. Also came across this US article which in a way persuaded me more in my decision not to bother with financing a new/ nearly new car. http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/heres-four-reasons-why-you-should-never-ever-finance-a-1638384343 So for those who prefer new cars what’s your reason for making this decision and would you go back to an older car in future or keep financing new and for those who prefer to buy and drive second hand cars would you buy another older car or finance new and what will be your reason?

TRD has released their bodykit for the LC Unlike the TRD kits for the other brands, it appears this one is fairly subtle and all the better for it

I need to charge my battery, do I need to disconnect the terminals whilst the charger is doing its work? Many thanks.

I guess LC is kind of more organic, natural (not a bad thing) - whereas i8 is futuristic... to the level it stands out from any cars surrounding it - it looks like it doesn't belong to this time. A bit like DeLorean in back to the future ( I am sure if they would remake the film i8 would be the actor).

That is funny, because I am a big hater of apple, but same as you got 160gb iPod classic (that was £30 I believe) - all I would ever need for music, nothing wrong with my phone but if I need navigation the phone is best for that work, sadly I am unlikely to find better navigation in any car anytime soon.

I had quite opposite opinion on this - LC is a wonderful looking car on its own, but after i8 it looks a bit ordinary and normal. Obviously, there are as many opinions as there are people. I personally, never like grey cars (sorry rat) but even other colours of LC looks rather normal, yellow is outright ugly for me, black somehow is a bit dull - my choice would be maybe burgundy red or deep blue... Interior is different story - I believe LC has one of the best looking interiours whereas same i8 is pretty much standard BMW

Have you looked to see if the serpentine belt is worn? They can give a slight slip under hard acceleration if they're on the way out.

Rear view reminds me of Renault Megane somehow. Anyway, I hope it succeeds (and compresses Turkey (RCF) prices further down) ;)

Welcome fantastic and wise choice too! As for information system my advice would be buy an ipod classic, I did the same thing when I got mine despite really disliking apple and itunes but coupled up to the Lexus information system it works very well for my large music collection

Ok so this one is very rough around the edges and a bit of a mock up for my wireless arm rest charger, please don't judge it on looks it was made for function. Which I can confirm it functions perfectly. I'm a big wireless charger fan and user, have 1 next to the sofa at home, 1 next to my bed for bedtime and 1 on my desk at work so despite using my phone a lot for work purposes when estimating, I really don't need 1 in the car but hell why not its a project that so far has cost me £10 This is the tray that just sits there but it easily removed if you need to get to something under the tray My wife's phone placed in and charging dock (mine was being used to take the picture), obviously it works with either phone or any phone with wireless charging capabilities I would like to look at ways to work on the dock to make it look OEM, as I mentioned it is very rough, would like to get a much neater and nicer shape with removable bumper supports then have the unit flocked to match the interior of the arm rest, but I cant figure out how to achieve a nice OEM looking unit

This is my recent with Fuelly. I have the SEL Premier. I believe the facelift one of these is expensive. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

why risk your warranty for the sake of £100 or so unfortunately when you have a nice car you find servicing is more expensive. if you want to service a car at halfords buy a corsa..

The first thing to do is to put the 12volt battery on charge for a short while. If the 12 volt battery is low "possibly because the doors were left open for some time" it can give rise to false warnings being given. If your 12 volt battery is the original it is at the end of it's life, and will have little capacity left. The battery is in the boot under the carpet cover on the passengers side. Try to find out if the "AG man" tried to jump start the car. John.

Had 4 Saabs before I went to Lexus.....you can't go wrong

The biggest danger with broken coil springs is the possibility of the end of the broken spring puncturing the side wall of the tyre. Common with McPherson strut suspension. Unlike most suspension the Lexus sprig is mounted further inboard than most lessening the possibility of tyre damage. Even if the spring was able to fall away completely the car would still be derivable sitting on the substantial rubber bump stop. Neither the spring or shockabsorber are in any way used to hold the wheel or it's alignment. This job is done by the double wishbone multi link suspension system. John

I would say Advance/Advance plus is the one to go for - however, it does depend on your needs and wants. Luxury spec might be a good option if you're wanting leather. I think the main thing that divides opinion on the CT is the ride quality and power - so worth making sure you're happy with these before purchase.

Usually I just spray onto an MF and wipe the panel with it, much easier to control

My weekly routine = wash, dry, dress tyres, plastics and sometimes glass if needed- thats it! If Fusso is getting towards the end of its life, I top up with Sonax BSD until I can use Fusso again. Yep, revolt won't have as much effect on bodywork as wheels. Its the wheels which get most of the iron contamination. I get a good effect on bodywork as I always pass under a rail-bridge to work. Autosmart Tardis is the best tar remover there is by the way - it literally melts tar but don't get it on plastics

Fusso is here, still waiting for the IPA and some Autosmart Tardis to arrive and I'm about set for the big detail day. I decided to get some Autosmart Tardis over panel wipe for 2 reasons 1 so my boss doesn't moan at me and 2 because Tardis can be washed off with water and will leave nothing on the panel where as panel wipe just evaporates but isn't designed for detailing so though Tardis may be a better bet

If none of the above dates works, we can look at some alternatives for later in July or early August. Bring the wife and kids if you want. They tend to enjoy shopping and spending money whilst the rest of us chat and talk cars! Lol. Hope to see folks soon! Cheers. Pete

Out of interest what is your weekly routine on your cars once you have done a major detail finishing off with soft99 fusso? Had a couple of hours free time this evening so had a play with the Carchem shampoo and revolt. Initial impressions of the shampoo are good it's a decent product and a little goes a long long way. Decent amount of suds and did everything i could ask of it. I'm wondering if like you mentioned above i used 40ml in a bucket what effect that would have as far as creating something similar to AG UHD and still be a more cost effective solution. There's no reason to waste product and use more than 2 cap fulls to clean a car, would do it as more of a test to see if it made a similar effect to AG UHD. Then moving onto revolt i tried this over my entire car and the wheels and i now know where the name comes from it smells well revolting! Product seems good nothing much happened on my bodywork it essentially just stayed clear however on my wheels even though i had just cleaned and dried them before applying the revolt they still went a nice purple colour and once i had washed all the revolt away i was left with the cleanest wheels i have seen since the day i fitted them! So decided to spend an hour or so AG HD waxing them then giving them a dose of AG wheel sealer so essentially that's the wheels bossed and looking great. Just waiting for a few more products to arrive and to decide on which polish to actually use then once i have a full free day i will get the whole car sorted and looking better than ever before hopefully! So far though great recommendations on the Carchem products really like them.

remember that the board computer is inaccurate. it will show 60mpg and it will be 55mpg. the car is really nice if you are looking for a 3 years old why dont you lok for a new one? I got mine ( after carwowing) with 2000 deposit and paying £299 a month very decent spec

Maybe we need to write that rule. I like the idea of the Roger Moore eyebrow. The chap in his LS this morning passed me on the inside (coming up to a roundabout) gave a discreet wave, however as he was by then slightly ahead of me, my only option would have been to open the sun roof and launch a 'thumbs up' blimp. That would have not been very understated. I remember years ago the effusive nature of MG owners (of which a girlfriend as one) passing one another, but that maybe more down to the fact that they were celebrating not parked up in some layby shrouded in steam trying to work which bit of the car had not been fitted by some bloke in Longbridge 3 years previous.

The landsail I have are ls288 225 55 16 you can get a set of 4 on ebay for £200

ye i would like to get update as well my maps are 2007 version so sometimes its confusing when it says take second exit on the roundabout, but there is no roundabout anymore or sometimes i drive on the road and the map shows that i am driving on the field

@mikeyv Yep you are absolutely right, personally I think the GXL was the best of the bunch, a friend had an Orange one black vinyl roof, mine was Fern Green all over. IMO one of the best engines ever let alone in its era, I seem to remembering the Essex V6 was original penned for a diesel, which was why it was such a torquey motor. I loved it. Big Rat

I had 2 capris in the past, both were amusing. First was a Mk 1 2.0 GXL, the old v4 engine so it was one of the first, which I really liked, though by the time I got it it was a bit rusty and then a few years later a 280, which was my first ever company car.... The 280 spent most of the first year in the garage, long list of faults, I think Ford were using up the last of a whole bunch of part bins with it. Once it got sorted out it was good fun though. The combination of dinosaur suspension, a reasonable engine and an LSD with no traction control made getting away from the lights in a hurry very amusing at times. First time I ever had a tank slapper in a car....

Had one of these about a decade ago in the classic green - broke down every 3 miles

my Dad used to have a Humber Imperial, which was basically a spruced up Super Snipe. We used to go on holiday in it all over the UK. He used to spend at least a couple of hours under the bonnet every weekend doing something to it, fabulous car, wish I had it now...

I would never buy part worn tyres, but I am also not a tyre snob. There are some very good "cheap" tyres on the market, and some very bad expensive one's. People tend to believe if your paying a high price they must be good. There are some tyres called "Landsail" that were tested against some of the so called top tyre brands by a German tyre test company. The Landsail tyres held up in all respects coming in third place in 20 brands. I am testing some cheap tyres at the moment, and I am currently nearly half way through the test. I can say without doubt the tyres I am testing would exceed most peoples expectations for wet, and dry grip, handling, and although still at limited millage the ware rate appears very good. I would rate them above the Yokhama's that were taken off the car. Yes there are some bad tyres out there I agree, but they are not always the less expensive tyres. A few years ago makes such as Kumho, and Hankook were frowned upon. Now they are there with the other so called best. John

@Womble72 Never use that phrase of " How many handbags and shoes " The response is always the same..... Big Rat

Good luck with the sale, my house is a building site n has been for last 2 years, BUT I've got a Z1000sx n a MK1 MR-2 t-bar n the wife is on my case about "how many toys do u need" 😳......the "how many shoes do u need" doesn't hold any weight......apparently. Boys n toys 👍👍

Geeza don`t service car in Halfords, just get service plan from Lexus and split it to monthly instalments. After that drive and sleep well. Lexus is way complicated car to give it to halford blokes to service. My car is still on warranty and when it will expire I will get extended one from lexus and even if I had to change light bulb I will go to lexus. I think budget services are ok for average cars without warranties.

Hope not renewing your extended warranty doesn't come back to bite you Adam. I've had two IS250s in recent years and had claims greater than the warranty cost in both cases. Only had my RX for 3 months, but first thing I did was to put extended warranty on. Not all independents will be familiar with the complexities of the Lexus hybrid system. Oil and filter and check brakes is all well and good, but despite their reliability, Lexus cars do develop faults. One claim I had was for c£650 for a misted up headlamp assembly, no servicing is going to prevent this. I view the servicing costs as an expensive route to vehicle care by trained personnel, but with attached peace of mind. The warranty premium (£500 pa for my RX) I view as an insurance policy. I don't wish to claim on it (just like my home insurance against burglary), but I'm mighty please it's there if there's a problem. Maybe you consider the risk element to be lower on your CT model ?

Service plans normally 'freeze' the price for each service, so, if during the covered period, the service cost rise, yours won't ..

Eh? They won't charge you more for the service plan lol. Itll be the same price as paying independently.

Your CT serviced at Halfords? Holy crap I wouldn't trust them with a bike. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, I have mine now. A genuine Lexus supplied wheel and tyre fully fitted into the well and covered with a polished aluminium fully customised boot floor plate (even has an IS250C logo ) and the whole lot overlaid with a quality fitted carpet, made to my own template. Really does look the part and true Lexus quality.