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After a recent thread was locked due to it being hijacked . Which I'm probably part of so I apologise. I feel the need to say something. Most people on here are extremely helpful and are nice people. The acre and Messi .to name a couple. But there's a few who just seem hell bent on an a argument. Don't get me wrong I can hold my own in a row . But if I wanted to get grief for an opinion which was no way harmful I'd go on mumsnet. Let's face it we've all one thing in common .we like cars. Mods .if you don't think this is appropriate delete away

And that's another reason for keeping the forum civil, life's far too short.

So my weeks holiday was spent creating a new home for my'F' my garage is shall we say a little full, so I know I do these things all day at work but I had to replace the rotten gallows brackets holding up the tiled canopy at the front so I thought I'd carry out phase one of the parking issues at 'Ratty Hall ' The tarmac and concrete section are for next week I've been told 🙄 Anyway a couple of pictures of holiday ! She's happier in her new home 😍 Big Rat

I think it's called 'detailing' these days .... Whilst the Mrs and the 3yr old are away, i got a window of opportunity to finally give the Lex a proper clean. This won't be a common occurrence ( a wash at most every other weekend) but i felt the bodywork was quite gritty so got to work. I used to be quite into 'detailing' but time is of the essence these days, however i still have a variety of magic potions and cloths in the garage. 1) Washed with Bilt Hamber Autowash 2) Rinsed 3) Smooth over with a clay-mitt (alternative to clay bar) 4) Rinsed 5) Two coats of the quaintly named "Soft 99 Fusso Coat Dark" Wax - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/63776/best-car-wax-and-car-polish-2017. I also have the BH Wax that won this test, however the Soft 99 is better at filling tiny scratches in the paint. 6) Final buff with a finishing cloth http://www.nipponshine.com/shop/accessories/trizex-premium-cloth/ Came out pretty well, however it really does need a machine polish. With the amount of dings across most panels, probably something I'll undertake when selling it (eventually) Proof is in the pudding, the beads of rain showing its working as expected - may do it again next year :)

You could have perhaps phrased this a little differently.

@Flytvr Hey Dav I don't understand what all the contestants are worried about I've cleaned all the tools and materials out the back of my and now as you see it's nice and cosy 😍 Big Rat

Thanks for that clarification Steve, I have followed info that up with a visit to "Lextreme" and they have some very interesting views on the tuning specs for the LS engines through the years up to 06 .It seems the con rods on the series one were the sturdiest they built ,after that engine was upgraded in 95 the con rods have gone weaker and are nowhere near as strong as the first engine. This reinforces my view that the first LS400 was the best Lexus ever built from a quality viewpoint.

Well, I've had her now for just over four months and feel suitably acquainted enough to share her positives and her foibles. Primarily I just love driving her. Since we met I've taken her to Scotland, Belgium and France where she has performed magnanimously. Not to mention the daily 22 mile each way commute along the M27. In all that time she's averaged 50.9 mpg. Not bad compared to my old IS 220d's 38.4. All with a variety of roads from fast French to windy Scottish. However, that's really unimportant compared to how she makes me feel. I get a warm sense of satisfaction every time I'm in her. Just love the sheer sense of comfort and quality she pervades. She feels like a tough cookie but has a soft and tender quality too. So yes, it definitely is love! Although the overall package is wonderful there are a few things that stand out and thoroughly impress me: 1. The quietness and comfort she endows meaning every journey is a pleasure. Many times I have arrived 'too soon', wishing the journey was longer. 2. Part of the above can be attributed to the wonderful seats. It took me a couple of weeks to get it right due to the number of permutations available with 18 way adjustment. Now I'm there it's perfect. 3. The memory seats. Am glad they are there as my body is very different to my wife's. I particularly like the fact they can be programmed to the key so that they are halfway there when I get in after the wife has been driving. I also like the fact there are three memories especially on the passenger side where l can have an upright and a slumber position. 4. HUD. I rarely look at the instruments now. Also, particularly useful over the water. 5. Contrary to some opinions I like the auto wipers. They work perfect for me. 6. I also like the auto heating/cooling of the seats although I am becoming very lazy! 7. Love the blinds in the back. Useful on hot days (found in France!). 8. Love the split screen on ICE. Makes things simple like changing AC whilst using sat nav. 9. The driving modes are great. Spend most of the time pootling around in eco or normal, use sport for quick getaways and sport+ was brilliant on Scotland's brilliant Highland roads. 10. I like the controls in the back seat armrest where you can adjust the AC and change tracks on the ML. 11. I like the fact you can disable this when kids (or wife) are in the back! There's lots of other things I like but these are the highlights. Foibles? Had to think long and hard about this and the following stand out: 1. You can't use the memory button on the passenger seat whilst moving. I can understand it being a safety issue on the driver's side but not if I want a kip whilst the wife is at the helm! 2. It's a shame that the split screen is designed for LHD so the map is closer to the passenger. 3. Am clutching straws now - I don't like the fact that the surrounds of the door mirrors are black and not the same as the car colour and mirror housing. Well, that's all. A very happy chappy!

@Flytvr Ah right in view of that then............. Big Rat

I see what you mean about the orange peel. I'm no expert by any stretch but I have tried to take pictures which show this effect on the rest of the car, very difficult to take a picture of. Looking at a right angle, it looks a smooth mirror finish but from an angle, with the right reflections, you can see the same effect on the rear panels too. I'm happy with the job they've done but I probably need to wait for a few rainstorms, bright sunshine, muddy, dusty cycles to see if it remains the same. I looked all though the dashcam footage for anything of note whilst it was in repair but aside from setting some kind of World Record for the amount of times it went up and down on a lift there is really nothing to see. I know where their paint shop and detailing workshops are! I've left these two pictures at the same resolution my phone took them at (4.5Mb each) so you can see more detail. In other news, it passed its MOT today with no advisories :) EDIT: doesn't really show it on the forum, it is more clear if you can zoom in.

A week and a half in, I am definitely pleased with the RX. A motorway trip last weekend was certainly a comfortable experience. This morning, the postman has been so my coffee mug has been upgraded, although the coaster is an old one which I dug out of a draw when I got this Lexus.

Morning Chaps. So heard back from Simon at RR-Racing. He can do these at $300 a set, which is a 13% discount on the normal price. Basically $50 off each set. I'd need to add postage and packaging costs to send this out to each of you once I bring them back from the States as well. Let me know if you're all still interested, and we can get things moving. Cheers for now. Pete

At great risk of going counter to one prominent forum member here, my wife has opted to go ahead and upgrade her 2016 CT Advance (20,500 miles) to a 2017 CT Sport Plus. Including servicing, this works out at the same monthly payment more or less, with a down payment of not much more than the amount she was about to have to spend on new tyres anyway. I would commend Lexus on being absolutely open that the deal was available because of the forthcoming facelift. My wife isn't really a car person, it is fair to say, so wasn't frankly much interested in that - even upon detailed analysis thanks to this forum! The Sport Plus variant adds half-leather, a sunroof and a reverse camera to the 2016 Advance spec. Pictures to follow upon delivery next week!

Well, perhaps my thinking isn't typical, but I usually consider 4 days a long time to reply to a question.

Ive instaled on couple devices with win 10 64 bit and working without any problems. Problem if i could name like this .. is with mvci drivers.

@ rich1068 & @The-Acre TechStream is Toyotas' proprietary dealer fault code reading / servicing / programming software package. As far as I can tell it was originally written to run on 32 bit Windows XP So it doesn't seem to be too much of a resource hog, and as I discovered It can be persuaded to run OK on a 64 bit machine, the laptop I ended up using has Windows 8, 64 bit. There's some well documented (on the www) fixes to decompress and install the correct drivers and registry edits, but in my case having done these the software installation process appears to install an additional unneccesary 'windriver' that prevents the software seeing the non original OBD dongle. All I did was disable the windriver in device manager and all was good. There's also a bit of mInor mucking about with registration text strings and a replacement TechStream.exe file. I think knowing what I know now it would probably run OK on Win10 64 bit, I may try upgrading the Win8 machine to see now I've done what I needed to do. I'm also going to see if it will run on my Win7 64 bit laptop that I tried (and failed) on first. Regards Andrew

I keep looking for these (one of mine is damaged) - I would probably pay £75 plus shipping and tax but they're $160/£125 each. Even the breakers want decent money for them.

Easy to spot, the series I and II (1989-October 1994) models have a gear selector that only moves forwards and backwards in a straight line, the series III and IV models have the "gated" shift lever that has a zig zag pattern coming down from park. Series I and II style so non interference engines, engine number begins with UCF10 or UCF-11 Series III and IV style so interference engines, engine number will begin with UCF-20 or 21, the series IV has the VVTI engine.

Exactly. But don't worry, we now have several contestants!!!!! ALL male.

Metal polish for the chrome bits - autosol or similiar Just make sure its actually chrome and not chrome effect plastic or you'll take the coating off

Cheapest way is using ELM 327 and ELMscan toyota (i have full version if you want let me know) Torqe pro can only diagnose engine. ELMscan toyota have abs/vsc/trc , engine , cruise , immo, etc. Techstream is a service program something like INPA , ISTA for bmw, but veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery poor and slow :o Works on win xp - 10 32&64 bit. In my opion the best way for code , diagnose , other things is Launch X431 working on mobile phone. It is very big tool and i have always it with me, cuz program is on my moble phone. Working very fast , without any problems. Program is working with many brands.

I had the pleasure of meeting Malcolm at an MB get-together and he was indeed a lovely man who couldn't do enough for people. He was also a full-time carer for his ex-wife as she had no-one else. And he did regularly baited on the MB forums :( Jon

Thanks Pete, I'm still interested.

I can only get in mine with the mirrors folded. Plenty of space in the garage but the door is narrow!

Love it.............................. I have found them but wont answer as its my car.

Forgot to add, the Soft99 i use has a very strong chemical smell to it - the Mrs was not amused when i washed the applicator in the washing machine, it stunk for days afterwards :)

Got mine from Amayama.com a couple of years ago. They were around £75 each (plus shipping & import duty) Part # 67910-53030-C0 67920-53030-C0

Yeah that's true...which reminds of another problem all tall people will know about driving a 4-door car and having the seat so far back, you get a whole bunch of B-pillar to your right! I'm sure the V8 would help me forget this issue though :)

Here is the appropriate page from the 2013 brochure

Be Wary of servicing at Lexus mate. I bought my 4th(?) hand GS450h a couple of years ago and immediately put it in for a small service at Lexus Bolton. They tried to bluff me that i needed to change all 4 discs and pads adding over a grand onto a already large bill. I told them where to go and went back to the garage where i bought it and complained as it had undergone a '200 point check' prior to me buying. They should not, I pointed out, have allowed me to drive away in an unsafe car. I couldn't trust either garage so took it to Nick down the road. A small trustworthy garage run by Nick... of course.. :-) Put it up on the ramps, we had a look and there was nothing wrong with the discs or pads. So be wary ds001 with Lexus once they get their hands on your car. Do not trust them if they say there is work to be done. Reference the boot. Have you read through all the hand book? I keep it in the map pocket and read it when the wife is shopping. There is SO MUCH that you can adjust by holding in a button here and there.

John, I'm so sorry to hear that Malcolm has passed away. Thank you for letting me know. Not only did he contribute greatly to the Merc forum but having had three wives he looked after one of the earlier ones when she had Dementia. A giant of a man to my mind.

The Lexus paintwork is the best i have every seen - mine has been neglected lately - meaning i have not been able to wash it myself - but even with a simple wash it really gleams and thats after 13 years it came out of the factory! - modern paints are no where as durable. Shirish your car looks absolutley lovely - green is one of my favourite colours - i used to own one in the same colour.

A lovely finsih, and some products I have not heard of before to give a go. I've had a clay mitt for a while, but never got around to using it, so maybe will now give mine a clean, knowing it will expose all the bits of the bodywork that need attention. The plan has always been to get it looking like your, then take it to a spray shop and get a quote to sort out the scrapes etc. Just life gets in the way of sorting the car out!

Where's that black ball - only joking! On the Mercedes forum there is a Man who has posted over 20,000 and a nicer man you could not wish to meet. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable but has assisted many members with their problems and even their electronic parts when something needed repair. Having owned over 100 cars and been an electronics engineer and a car trader in his lifetime his knowledge is invaluable with a marque that frankly has more electrical gremlins than any Japanese car. Despite this on occasion he gets "banned" maybe for a period of three months. Personally I've never found any of his threads offensive but the mods do sometimes feel he has overstepped the mark or perhaps trod on their toes?

I am now at work, and still not responding to you..................................

A connoisseur, I see :) Fully agree it makes washing so much easier afterwards. I had my 911 professionally done when it was getting an engine issue sorted at a specialist, the bodywork was like glass afterwards. Two years later and appreciate it's garaged, it doesn't need much more than warm water to clean the bodywork.

I am not here, I have left for work.................................

I refuse to answer that.................

I've got nothing against old baz. Good luck to him. If you want to change cars regularly fine. But everytime it's the same excuses. My wife doesn't like it,I do weddings so I need a different colour. Even though he had the colour he's looking for 6 months ago. These are the reasons I think people accuse him of being a trader. I don't know what your problem is with me or my comment dendonc. Other people have said far worse about him

Your car looks great and I'm sure well worth the effort. Will do mine when back off holiday from Cornwall, it's covered in dust and flies!

In addition to people of any age with a visual impairment even for those without a recognised impairment it becomes fairly common as you get older. Probably not helped by modern lights being brighter and bigger (compare a Morris Minor', VW Beetle, 2CV's front and back lights to say a Volvo! It's a while since I did my IAM but I'm virtually certain that they teach you to use the handbrake when stopped at lights or any junction where you may be delayed and part of the reason is to avoid blinding the person behind. After typing the above I've just looked at the RNIB link and I'm almost word perfect. That's probably a good thing as I regularly carry out accessibility audits!

Maybe your right foot??

Sorry for pointing that out, I am sure you happy to get it back, I might be wrong but it seems like quite a lot of orange peel on the paint. Now that is not necessary a bad thing - maybe they tried to match it to the rest of the car and not to make it completely flat as it would stand out too much. I don't know what was agreement as well - did they left it to fully cure before flattening ? My point - as long as it matches with the rest of the car - is is good job, but from what I know Lexus have rather flat paint with less orange peel.

Really not sure what you are sorry about? Thanks for reply and I will set my expectation..

As I always say when warranty enquiries come up, it's a phenomenon called The Lexus Paradox - people are drawn to the brand because of their reputation for reliability and then spend hundreds, maybe even thousands of pounds on warranty cover because they're worried about the reliability! We bought our 2005 RX300 about 15 months ago from an independent trader with 6 months warranty and that's it. I use a good, trusted, local garage to service it and do any other work necessary and it will never again see the inside of a Lexus main stealership. Nor will it ever see "genuine Lexus/Toyota" parts such as brakes, battery, exhaust etc., etc., because Lexus/Toyota don't make those parts anyway, they just buy in from whoever does make them. I've been at the garage when delivery vans from motor factors such as Euro Car Parts, BBC, Andrew Page and Dodgsons have been dropping parts off, so if the mechanic says that it needs new brake discs and pads (for instance), I know they are buying in reputable parts from reputable places and not some sweatshop in China, so I'm happy to go with whatever they get. Of course, it really depends on how new/old your car is and whether you intend to sell it on at some stage. Our car is 12 years old, 95,000 miles and we intend to drive it until it dies a death, hopefully with another 200k or so on the clock

Was behind this yesterday. And look at the number plate

Its a great brand Lexus, wonderfull cars, some really great dealers, some not so wonderful, the airbag recall is a massive worldwide issue, BUT, agree with Normski2, communication is relatively inexpensive, even if Lexus don't have an immediate solution due to supply then an email or call would go a long way to say " Clients , we are sorry and we do care" !!!!!

Hi Try this group on Facebook Lexus IS200 Classifieds (+IS300/Altezza) Ricky Smith is always breaking IS200's and posts stuff to your address. 2ddesign