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Sorry its been a few days...i wanted to test it out and its SOLVED all problems. I still need to clean the egr anyway but so far so good. I wanna thank everyone for their input its all been a major help. Now its time to see how everyone else is getting on lol.

The Daf was belt driven, the Lexus uses Planetary gears. Much more reliable.

My NX300h Sport has been with Lexus Swindon for the past three months so that they could fix what they - and Lexus UK - thought was a very minor issue until they investigated further. Glad to say it is all fixed now and Lexus has provided me with 'goodwill' of a free set of alloys (for my Winter tyres) and free side-steps as an apology. I've had Lexus courtesy cars for the duration, mostly a 2017 NX300h F-Sport, and I thought it might be useful to compare that with my own Sport as the differences were far greater than I expected. I should say that for the first two weeks - bear in mind originally my car was expected to be at the dealer for less than 24 hours (!) - I had an IS300h Advance. I liked it to drive, but it was no good for me as I have mobility issues and I also struggled with the foot operated parking brake, so Lexus provided me with a new NX F-Sport to use instead. It was interesting to have it for a while though. Based on my experience, God alone knows why I don't see more of them on the road and fewer Audi A4/BMW 3-Series... Anyway, the rest of the time I had the NX F-Sport. I'll start with the positives. First, it is far more 'focussed' to drive, and the handling is in a different league. I know manufacturers talk about the differences between different models, but until I had the chance to drive both for an extended period 'back to back' I wouldn't have believed the difference could be that noticeable. The normal Sport model feels a bit 'wobbly' in comparison. 1-0 to the F-Sport. Second, some of the extra goodies that the F-Sport comes with are useful. The headlights are especially good far, FAR, better than those on my Sport and they look groovy too. I like the fact that it comes with front fog lights as standard, and the way they light up the kerb automatically when cornering which I found surprisingly useful. A couple of other nice touches missing from the Sport model, both of which I thought to be gimmicks until I had them. The lights under the door handles are really useful, as is the way the (electrically adjustable) steering wheel moves out of the way when getting in or out of the car. Who knew? Not me, that's for sure! There were some things I didn't like about the F-Sport though. First, the ride. I've said above that the handling is much better, but at the expense of comfort. It isn't uncomfortable as such, but again I'm surprised at the level of the difference. The ride quality in the Sport suits me far better personally. Secondly, the seats. I couldn't really get comfortable with the seats in the F-Sport, mainly because they were harder, deeper and the bolsters too high. Now, I do have mobility issues around my hips and legs so this is a big thing for me that others may not notice. Even so, getting back into the soft 'armchair' seats in the Sport was a relief and I find them much more comfortable as well as easier to get in and out of. I'd say that if you are considering an NX try both the standard and F-Sport seats if it is likely to make a difference in your circumstances. The biggest difference though, is the amount of noise in the car at pretty much all speeds. I can't work this out at all. In comparison with the Sport, the F-Sport had so much more road noise. The difference is so stark that I've found myself wondering whether there was something wrong with the F-Sport I've been using, although I guess it could be partly down to tyre fitment? I'd be really interested in views on this and whether others have noticed the same. One other odd thing. Colleagues of mine - mainly not 'into' cars I should add - thought that the basic Sport was actually the model higher in the NX range. I'm sure a lot of that was down to colour, as the F-Sport I had was white which I personally don't think suits it as well as some colours, but even so. Weird, right? I thought the F-Sport looked obviously 'superior' because of the grille and wheels, but there you go, just shows what I know! My summary? Keener drivers will prefer the F-Sport, of that I have little doubt. That isn't me though, as I prefer to waft about. I didn't test-drive an F-Sport before I bought my Sport, but having had the chance for this comparison over an extended period I'm happy that I made the correct decision for me, especially given the extra cost (from new) involved.

My own NX 300h Sport has been with Lexus for the past three months - long story . Anyway, I finally collected it on Saturday, and now have the side-steps fitted. I really like the look of these - I had similar on my Honda CR-V - and they may even stop some of the mud from splattering the sides of the car. Although it will instead collect on the bottom of the steps! Ho hum... As an added bonus, these were a no-cost 'gift' from Lexus UK as an apology for the issues I've had. They are also providing a free set of alloys that I can use as my 'Winter' set. Safe to say they are VERY sorry for my experience... I thought I'd share a picture in case anybody else was considering these. Happy Christmas to all!

A few of us getting it built back up. Can't seem to find the folder with all the finished article shots in it but hopefully these give an idea of how it's ended up. Hope you enjoyed 'em! Now back to ISF's

First coat of pure brilliant white (not Dulux!).

All filled and smoothed and in the first coat of stopper.

All the various bumps and scuffs along with the annoying bump strip and all the joins between bumper and bodywork have been fibre glassed, filled and fully smoothed-in so the only obvious joins are the doors, bonnet and bootlid etc. Everything else is smoothed-in.

Border Front Bumper and Rear Spats fitted and fibre-glassed in place to prevent cracking of the full-smoothing job that was to come next. The car came with the side skirts already (badly) fitted, can't remember the name of them, it'll come to me. As you can see, a fair few dents filled and smoothed too. We also decided to remove, fill and smooth the factory bump strip that ran all the way down both sides.

Forest Green 1990 MR2 G-Limited, rust free but full of dents, bought on eBay for £480. Here it is stripped and ready for work to start with a few previous botch jobs visible. Came with a full decat Magnex Exhaust and a load of HKS under bonnet trickery already in place. x

Initial D? I have seen both the animated series and then film adaptation. Defo a JDM petrolhead thing :-) Would love a Panda AE86 Toyota. Rocking horse Shizzle nowadays :-(

Merry Christmas everyone, have a great day 👍

Merry Xmas Piers, and no advisories for 2018 to everyone... Ed

Hi Ed - sorry to hear you’ve had lengthy problems with your NX. If you recall I had one years problem with my CR-V before it was finally resolved, so I know what you’ve gone through. Glad to see Lexus have come up,with some compensation. I’m not a great fan of side steps, but you had positive results re your CR- V and side steps. Hope your and yours have a very Merry Christmas and every good wish for 2018.

The HPS was fitted when I got the car. I also got the oem intake and ran the car with that for approx a month before re-fitting the HPS. Main thing I noticed was the noise, much deeper, particularly low down. Throttle response did improve slightly but I did also fit an apexi throttle controller at the same time so it could be attributed to that.

You might like this Malc.......... I've just spent a few months in the USA. One day I saw this old gentleman getting out of an immaculate black LS 400. We got talking and he told me that he had bought it brand-new, in 1994, from a dealer in his home town of Amarillo. He bought it on his 69th birthday !!!! Now 92 years old, it is still his daily-use car. He was in the middle of a 2,000 mile round trip to visit his daughter. It had 180,000 miles on the clock and he calls it his 'LFT' - Lexus from Texas. He still gets it serviced at the dealership where he bought it. He told me that, last year, while picking up his car after servicing, a young salesman tried to interest him in an upgrade to a 460/600. He said something like.....'Thanks son, but I'll stick to the 400. After all, the engine is only just getting loosened up'. So, as long as you can keep idiots from doing any damage, you should be OK for a few years yet'