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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!

Nice looking motor you got there; I am not jealous at all. I have just renewed my extended warranty, so I think you know what opinion is going to be. It is indeed £895 for 2 years. When you factor in the top level AA cover that is also comes with, I would say it is definitely worth it. Although, like Paul says, they do seem quite reliable. After all, the warranty for the ISF costs the same as the regular IS, so they don't go wrong very often! Having said that, it wouldn't take much for you to get your moneys worth. I have also found that little things that you would probably not bother with can be sorted without much fuss. For example, I have a slight clicking sound coming out of the back of my drivers seat. My car was in for some other work recently, so I thought I might as well ask them to have a look for me. I am getting a new rear seat frame fitted in a few weeks at no charge. It is only taking that long because they had to order it from Japan!

Don't be modest @Flytvr. Some of your technical knowledge has been published. 👍

You made the right choice. The 220d is not a good fit for the type of journeys you do. Mine has 130k miles on it and has been (touch wood) reliable. It certainly doesn't feel like a car with that mileage. As for what to look out for, have a look at this excellent thread:

@mrfunex Stuart I've seen these on one or two later cars on the Australian isF site, cant seem to find the thread at the moment, as an addition I do remember that it was quite popular to swap out the cig lighter and tray for a padded sunglasses compartment and this too is a genuine Lexus part like this....... Big Rat

Agreed the drop looks good, I'm never a fan of silly low cars I don't think it mattered what setup you had on the Honda mate it was hard I went for the most comfortable setup possible the Koni FSD's and Eibach springs and it was still far from what I would call comfortable just nice a suspension setup designed to absorb all the lumps and bumps, it was 1 of my main reasons for selling. The Meisters on a Lexus are a totally different ball game though, comfortable but also sharp for cornering, its a great setup and nothing like the bumpty skitty feeling of the civic on them

Probably why the crime rate is so high in London then. Police can't get to the scene in time 😄

Glad you like the Mesiter R's as much as I do they are a fantastic mod for the IS too, ideal for comfort and sporty looks with better handling too, what more can you ask for!

Cheers Lee, I wish I had modified the skirts and the front bumper a little more, indeed I may go back and do that if I keep the car for a while longer. The exhaust sounds like a V8 at this point, not loud at all.....more on that come. Yes Tim, I didn't realize until much later there are hints of other cars from around the same time including a BMW front end, perhaps less so after I removed the fog light holders in favour of bigger air ducts. Here's a pic of an SC that looks just right from side on. They always look better lowered and so came the swap to adjustable MeisterR coil-overs with just a modest drop. The swap to MeisterR coil-overs transforms the ride and the handling. I usually set it quite firm at the front and much softer at the back for a good compromise. It's probably the best mod you can do to an SC430.

Yeah the previous owner said that apart from the consumables and servicing, it has needed nothing at all. I'm in the same mind as you, just for the peace of mind. Well that is high praise indeed. The quickest car I had before this was a Alfa 147 GTA so it's definitely a step up!! I can't believe its the same price as a regular IS! Just shows how confident they are of their product. I'll definitely get the warranty now and see what kind of deal they can offer on the servicing package. Oh really! He was great yesterday, completely honest and I know that if he had different driving commitments, he wouldn't want to sell it. Feel very lucky indeed!

I guess Lexus have to play 'keep up with the Jones'.......I mean, Germans'

My word, you've found a great looking car there. Well done and enjoy the burble.

Lovely car 😍

Now I know I started this thread and it seems to have a bit of steam left in it, so I'd thought I'd mention that the Metropolitan Police have a large unmarked fleet of fast response vehicles many used for serious crime work where it goes without saying reliability is paramount. Amongst all the Bmw and Audi and so on there are no less than 11 is200T mostly black and grey on 15 plates according to public service fleet managers document " Of all the midsize saloon we run here in the Met without doubt the is200T has served us with its unrivalled benefits in performance reliability and occupant comfort " " The downtime (off road being repaired for non impact damage) is unrivalled in type of use " They seem to like them. Big Rat

@Flytvr Don't take any notice of him Dav got a picture of @emjay82 late again for an appointment taking a short cut through his local camp site, remerber he likes tents and stuff 😁 Big Rat

Nice one, this is a friend of a friends car, it's a nice one. Enjoy

@Wellsey As always patient pays off, there are very very few inherent problems with these cars which for just adds to the joy, they rarely go wrong but as always with 60k performance cars parts are expensive. One area to check is the water pump, they weep they do not fail as such but it's worth checking to see if it has been done needs changing it is covered by Lexus warranty. If it isn't it's about £400.00 to get them to do it. Ive had my car 18mts it's a 59 plate and like yours had done 30k when I bought now on 42 I love it hadn't cost me a penny apart from servicing, I got the car from Lexus along with a 3 year warranty I didn't go with the service/mot package at that time as they were not for me, the warranty well for me as good as they are I will not run these vehicles without one. But of course it's down to personal choice you can buy 2 years for I think it's £895.00 I could be wrong. They really are a car that I feel gets under your skin I've had over 40 performance cars over the years and have never kept a motor this long. Big Rat

Topics merged & moved to the lounge

Mine has this. It blows a tiny bit from the join when cold, then seals properly when warm; presumably once everything has heated up and expanded. I've had an exhaust place and my main dealer take a look at it. Both were a little stumped. I think it would require quite a lot of fettling to get the current system off to refit it. Also, I think the paste they used to seal the gap between the stock section and the H&S isn't the usual stuff. You can't mix them, so even more difficult. I live ages away from H&S, so not worth the trip to get them to sort it. Next time I've got the car jacked up, I'll have a go at tightening what I think are jubilee-style clips (not actually looked closely yet), joining the two. This might help a bit. It doesn't really bother me, but makes a 10/10 product into a 9.5/10. Oh, that and the exhaust tips need small holes drilling to let the rainwater out. A small lake forms in each one, that's blasted up the side of the house when I start the engine!

Just a thought..... Could a good upholsterer/trimmer do it for you, if you can't get the oem part/shipping at a reasonable price?

Hi UK250, I have a 2016 200T and it is lowered on Tein Hi-Tech 25mm front and 20mm rear. Have to say I am really pleased, ride is really good. The front currently sits a tiny bit higher and grounding is only a problem over quite severe bumps. Handling is amazingly taught and sharp. These springs were for the 2013-2016 IS250 but are fine on my car and probably the IS300H. Online they are currently selling for £180 and Tein as a brand have a great reputation. Hope this helps!

Okay so it must be time for a trip to the paint shop. And then I added the boot spoiler. This was the second version, it had taken ages to make with fibre glass. Painted and lacquered with spray cans as it wasn't ready in time for the paint shop. (It was later improved and painted professionally)

I agree with you Lee and I also respect the fact that some owners like to maintain their cars in original condition, there's a lot to be said for that but in my view Lexus didn't do justice to the SC430. I admit to being a serial modifier but I think the SC was crying out for it. Perhaps because there's no rigid roof, the strut brace does seem to make a difference, it takes 5 minutes to remove so it's not really a problem. I also replaced the anti-roll bar with a thicker one. I haven't replaced the rear anti-roll bar yet but I know the ISF ARB fits with slightly shorter drop links so that's on the shopping list. LED reversing lights now work, Experimental rear spoiler under construction. this one got bigger and bigger and was eventually scrapped. A little trip to the Midlands to delete the third cat and fit a stainless steel exhaust. I didn't want it to be too loud as further hifi would follow later so settled on a 'mid sport' sound. With the exhaust flowing just slightly better, I was surprised to admit it felt a shade quicker through the gears so curious after getting the alignment corrected I took it for a spin on the dyno. Prepping for the Dynajet rolling road. Dynos are strange measuring devices as figures vary significantly depending on how they are set up and what the conditions are on any given day, etc, etc so I take all readings with a large pinch of salt but 281 bhp was a good result and just about what I expected. (279 bhp standard) No significant power gain but oddly it did seem to pull noticeably better. With nothing scientific to back it up it should only be regarded as an impression, nothing more. There's no danger to ISFs at the traffic light grand prix just yet, though the garage owner wanted me to consider a twin turbo install with a piggyback ecu delivering 600 bhp. He claimed to have a map for the 430 and could complete it for around £10k but when I mentioned engine internals, suitable gearboxes and a diff to deliver the power he agreed that my figure well North of £15k would be more realistic.

Oh, just to add, leaking water pump issues only seemed to be an issue on the earlier cars (2008 and 2009), I think the updated design pump may have been used by the time yours was built.

So glad that you didn't drop it too much, looks about spot on that I fitted those coil overs to my Honda and they were...firm, handling was fantastic tho. Robb has them on his IS and rates them, so maybe the spring/dampers are a better setup for Lexus. They're rebuildable and you get good customer service from the manufacturer, all of which bodes well.

Alfa 147 GTA you say? Did yours have a LSD fitted, or did you enjoy understeering off the road?

@Rusty Crobar Russ I can just picture you driving your future GSF twin turbo in my minds eye with me whooping for joy in the passenger seat............ or should that be pooping in the passenger seat 🐀 And here we are 😂 Big Rat

Don't have any experience with them but the orange resistors look almost identical to the ones that I had in an aftermarket HID kit. They were sh*te. Solder joints went every few months and then intermittent errors shortly after. Only solution was to keep swapping them out. So watch out! Like the idea of such bulbs though

Lucky boy Ricky, she's a beauty -especially that colour - enjoy!

@Shahpor Good point about the AA bit forgot about that 👍 🐀

I'm sorry, I just don't know how to contribute meaningful technical input. I'll make my New Year's resolution to not do it anymore. in the meantime.......you could use superglue or blutak instead of staples. But whatever you do, watch out for the passenger airbag!!!!!

Sooo happy with it Paul. Glad I waited for the right one to come along. She's got FLSH, only 2 owners with 32K on the clock. Planning on keeping her for the next 3/5 years so mileage was a biggie to me. Quick Q, do you think the extended warranty and service packages from Lexus are worth it?

@Wellsey Well done Ricky hullo to you she looks great, some will come on say things like blue is the fastest blah blah blah..... They are all good 😊 Hooe to meet you both some time enjoy 👍 Big Rat

Excellent idea, maybe drop the Blue Peter team an email and they could make some additional replica parts using a cornflakes box and some fuzzy felt 😂.

Looks like a rather tired taxi ... Leather on rear seats quite worn, as is the driver's bolster. Paintwork badly swirled, wheel kerbed. And who puts a steering wheel cover on a 40k miles car??

Guys thank you all SO MUCH for your advise. It's really put my mind at ease now about the 250 i have obviously been reading some utter crap! Online about these cars. Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. Decision made now am going to get the 250... Just going to have a good hunt around now for a good one In my budget. Last thing and I promise I'll leave you all alone lol the cars in my £2000-£2500 budget all have around 110-140,000 miles on the clock. Is that a lot of miles for a car like this? They are on as I said 2006-2007 plate. Anything I should be aware of? Thanks

If on a budget, get some felt like material from Hobycraft. I think they also sell staple guns 😜🤡

Pics of my old car are finally up! Would be a good buy for someone if they're interested in a 3RX F-Sport!

@Peter P18 Peter I'm just waiting for a materials delivery, so I thought the best use of my time is to do some isF research. Seriously though I'm going through all the threads on the Aus site to see if I can get some more info on this will report back 👍 Big Rat

Wow what a great transformation, well done The front/sides look much more purposeful, the kit isn't OTT and doesn't look out of place on the car at all. The zoorst looks fab and I bet it sounds nice and fruity too

Hey Paul, this could be something I'd be interested in? Do you think it's something Lexus Canterbury can order up?? I've recently bought a new Defi meter that will replace a couple of my gauges when I go the supercharger route (need boost and AFR in the binnacle really), so trying to work out where I can fit it! This could be a first step for sure, as it's only a small unit.

Erm don't think I'll be trading my IS250 F-sport in for one of those any day soon unless I wanted people to think I was a clown on my day off 😅

Really? I guess you haven't ever driven one then and your other comments are equally bizarre bordering on inane. I always find it bemusing how such a flippant comment can be made unless you actually own and have had an experience of the car. I have had 2 old shape IS250's, a 2009 and 2011, now a 2016 IS200T. The IS200T is far more responsive, offers better mpg, idles more smoothly without that annoying VVTi ticking sound and altogether feels like a more engaging model than the sometimes slothful albeit smooth old IS250. For me it is a shame they have stopped this model- probably a slow seller due to the c02 war that the Germans have no doubt been fiddling.

Bought my IS200 6 and a half years ago which was in need of a new clutch. Since then, i've had the timing belt, water pump and ball joints replaced... Ohh and some new tyres. All other money spent has been on modifications. 6 M.O.T's 6 passed I'd rather spend the depreciation value of a new car, on an older car I own and modify it, that's just me. But we need people to keep buying new cars to help the economy even if it is a waste of money. I've had many tell me I need a new car, I ask why.. They say because mine is 15 years old. Ohh do you get a 'cool sticker' when driving a new car? I drive the car not the number plate! Going out in my 15 year old car now to drive and smile! :)

Buy what you can afford and enjoy it.

I agree with this, investments cars are NOT, even Classics can be costly to maintain especially, and you're lucky if they appreciate more than they cost " all-up " property portfolios, well, unless you're a professional with a suitable sized portfolio I would question the rewards ( after tax ) outweighing the grief ( from poor tenants etc ) other " investments " well ... buyer beware, values do go up AND down too. NEW CARS a crap way to invest imho ............. good and well considered used cars can be brilliant to run, rarely in the garage for repairs, less technology to go " pop " and can be minimal cost to purchase, often from spare cash that's earning zero interest anyway ! Amongst other jobs/ careers I was a used car dealer for 10 years following being a let property owner and a career City banker. I have by choice NOT bought myself ( with cash ) a new Lexus or any other marque, nor would I. I couldn't be arsed having to spend so much time in the garage/main dealer getting things " fixed " I'm retired, started a new business ( 2 years now ) and happily running my brilliant used cars ............ brand new cars are for companies with tax sparing capacity and personally, the thought of using monthly payments that just cover depreciation, blimey, why would you want to just throw away all that depreciation in your hard earned cash. Hope I'm not too " off the ball " here ... maybe I'm just "old" with different life values eh Malc

I think running a vehicle for people on here is a lot more than getting from A to B. Income / money is the BIG factor for all of us. Given a choice, I am sure we would all like to easily afford a new Lexus. Imagine you could buy a new Lexus today for £1,000. ( I appreciate this is very hypothetica but bear with me!) Someone could give an excellent financial argument for NOT buying a new one, as the second-hand ones only cost £250! At that sort of money it would be a no brainer, of course we would all buy the new one - I hope! Owning a car, to me, is more than just practicality. It is more emotional and personal for me. There is also the number plate snob angle for the neighbours for some people. As Rayaans said, he has bought two new cars and when you work out the depreciation, it makes most repairs look insignificant, Rayaaans £6200 for ONE year could buy a lot of repairs, even at a Lexus dealers, so I appreciate why he would think twice before buying new again. On a side issue, I used AutoTrader to give me a quote for a Trade-in on my 2009 Mitsubishi Grandis diesel with 74,000 miles - they suggested £2400 - If I had the opportunity to buy car like that for £2400 I would jump at it! Whenever you get a trade-in price, turn it around and ask yourself, Would I buy this car at that price? Food for financial thought - not the heart!

I guess seized calipers. So you might be lucky and replacing pins going to help, or you need to replace calipers. That is all assuming you have bled the system and have no air or leaks anywhere.

Poor picture, but the box and two strips you see here are what's on my 2010 car. So this is the DAB aerial fitted as an option by the dealer?

...and if anyone would like a laugh - then I'd also completely forgotten that my car has a dashcam fitted. I've now reviewed the journey that my wife took on Sunday afternoon... She was in a hurry... Sets off from home, and within 50 yards passes over a speed-table at normal speed, without any braking or consideration for it at all. 50 yards later there's a slightly raised mini roundabout - and she also goes directly over the top of it (you can hear the suspension "thunks" as she takes it). Almost simultaneously with taking the mini roundabout at speed you can hear the "ping ping" noise, that the dash makes when it displays a warning message. She doesn't seem to notice this, or just ignores it. Around 20s later the dash again pings twice, and obviously continues to flash up messages. At this point she is heard to mutter "What's going on here?" and stops the car for about 10s - only to then just continue driving. At this point she's less than 300 yards from home. A short while later, when around a mile away from home she calls me for a "Is your car OK to drive with these messages popping up?" conversation. We've now had a discussion about the true course of events and the subject of "mechanical sympathy" where road surfaces are concerned.