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Forget Partridge With 400bhp to play with the Lexus IS F will get you from London to Norwich faster than Alan can say Ahaaaargh!!! Tomorrow 3 Jan isf article in Modern Classics. Lets hope its positive?

I think that Simon will have meant Birmingham UK. I have had quite a few parts off them in the past. My contact was Jo Mitchell but she left towards the end of last year and sent me an email just before she left saying that I should contact her colleague Connor Paggett in future and he would look after me. I have not yet had any contact with Connor but it would probably be worth you asking to speak to him if you ring them. The number is 0121 223 7494.

Previous Cars: Austin 1300 Estate (Lovely first car, learnt mechanics and s*x with it. Wrote it off.) Morris Marina 1300 coupe (The biggest pile of ******* ever conceived in the name of motoring! Handled so badly that if you went round a corner too fast the back end literally jumped. Think I spent more time fixing it than actually driving it.) Vanden Plas 1300 (Absolutely delightful car. Totally reliable. When I sent it to St. Peter I kept the front seats as they were so comfy.) Ford Escort 1300 2dr Mk 1 (Bright orange and just did the job with limited excitement.) Ford Escort XR3 (Loved this one but was disappointed with the handling. Found out it was a cut and shut!) VW Golf GTi Mk 1 (Absolutely brilliant car and great fun to drive. Learnt how to ‘drive’ properly in this.) Ford Cortina 1600 Mk 4 (Practical commuter) Austin Allegro (don’t ask but better than the Marina!) Landrover Defender 110 (Was living in the Thar Desert at the time and couldn’t have wished for a more suitable motor. Noisy and terrible on the road though.) Mitsubishi Pajero (Was living in the mountains of Pakistan with this one and it never let me down mechanically and always got me to my destination in difficult terrain.) Toyota Hi Lux (Still up in the mountains and need a pick up. Battered and rusty but bomb proof.) Ford Fiesta 1300 Mk 1 (Bought for £250 in 1996 and did everything asked of it albeit slowly.) Ford Fiesta 1.25 Mk 4 (Did everything asked of it but less slowly.) Ford Orion 1600 Mk 1 (Liked this but don’t know why. Quite unmemorable.) Ford Mondeo 1.8 Mk 2 (Liked this but don’t know why. Quite unmemorable but it did handle well.) Honda Accord 2.0 Fifth Gen (My first taste of a little luxury and gadgets but boring.) Volvo V40 1800 Estate (Best seats ever. Dare I say it but more comfortable than the GS!) Lexus IS 220d (Loved this car. Did 80,000 trouble free miles in this all over the UK and Europe) Current Cars: Honda Jazz First Generation (Don’t laugh. Brilliant at what it does and what we ask of it. Totally reliable.) Lexus GS 300h (The best car I’ve owned.)

I have to tell you about my experience with my ’96 LS400. Long story alert. I bought it in 2001 with about 50k miles on it and in August 2002, I decided we’d do a Grand Tour of Europe, with the intention of exercising my LS on the Autobahns. That year had torrential rain during our passage through Germany - we were limited to practically walking pace on the Autobahn, and that’s where I learned of the eminently sensible practice of traffic parting between the lanes to create a clear lane for the emergency services - they were needed due to the number of aquaplaing accidents. We witnessed some epic flooding and cut short our stay in Germany to head over the Alps to some better weather. It was there, on the Autostrada that I got up to 140mph with my wife videoing the road and speedo. To quote: “You’re not doing that again!” Just as she said that, we went under a gantry festooned with cameras and other gadgets which could well have been speed cameras!! A few days later (21Aug2002) we were on another autostrada which was so clear and inviting - but SWMBO declined to hold the camera. Those were the good old days, when it was in no way dangerous or irresponsible to hold a video camera while edging up to 150mph! I still remember just how quickly your intended exit looms up - and goes past - when you’re travelling at that speed. Here (hopefully) is a screen shot... Another story - I hope that the statute of limitations applies here. Nov. 2013 and my wife and I, my daughter and her partner were going from Oop North to that there London to see my new-born grandson. We were hooning down the M1 at about 8pm, 70 - 85 ish depending on traffic when we were overtaken by a car which settled down in front of us at a slower rate, causing me to overtake them. This was repeated twice more, and on the third time we all made eye contact with the people in the other car and smiles ensued (!). They overtook again, and I said those fateful words to my crew: “I’ll show him who’s boss..!” and floored it. Went past him at about 130mph and slowed right down again to (I think) about 110 when I saw the shape behind me. No lights as yet but I hurriedly coasted to 69mph and watched downhearted as the shape settled in behind me then put on the lights. In the back of the police car, I was abjectly apologetic, and they showed me the video: “We clocked you at 110mph…” Now, we had a “full and frank discussion” at the end of which the officer said: “We’re going to recommend you for driver education”. Wow, what a relief and surprise. I found out later that they could not have recommended if they reported a speed greater than - I can’t remember without looking it up - but say 82mph. They were adamant that driver training was a good result as “you won’t have any record, or penalty other than the cost of the course”. I complained that this was not true - the insurance comnpanies insist on being informed, and act accordingly… Many weeks pass by, with me doing extensive research on what the possible outcomes were, but still no contact from the Police. My research leads me to believe that, as the offence was reported by an officer, there is no time limit to prosecution, so I’m hoping that the reason I’ve heard nothing is that the police somehow screwed up the paperwork - they did not give me a copy of the ticket! Here we are, four years on, and I still have the Traffic Offence Report on my desk as a reminder. These days I very rarely do those sorts of speeds :~)

I've found the seller, his name's Noel Botham and he also wrote this book...

A rare occasion for me, I had to drive from London to the west Country on my own on Friday Night, to meet up with the wife and kids. My Lexus is 18 years old and has just tripped over a Hundred K. I am an old git staring sixty in the face and am mostly well behaved these days. Once I got past the road works on the M4,found myself cruising at 85-90.Then an occasional blip up to 110 just for fun ,then I heard this voice in my head saying" I can do 150 , Go on, Pleeeaaase!!" Common sense kicked in for a bit ,then I was reasonably well behaved until I got off the motorway and passed through Melksham.You then have a series of Roundabouts with a two mile stretch of straight between them. So obviously I put it into sport mode and floored it, talk about Jeckyll and Hyde!,It can fly!, Slow down for each roundabout, ( a bit), then off again I turned up at Trowbridge grinning like a loon, The Oldest Boy Racer in Town! The best and fastest car I have ever had.

Was driving into work this morning, having not used the car for a while, and noticed a strange bongo like sound which I’d not noticed before. At first it sounded like it was coming from the nearside front but after a while it seemed to be coming from the offside rear. All very confusing. It appeared to be either suspension or brake related and wondered if I had a seized calliper or two having not used the car for almost two weeks. Was getting a bit concerned at this stage so slowed down in the inside lane of the motorway and turned the stereo off to try and identify exactly where it was coming from but it seemed to have disappeared and thought maybe it’s speed related. Accelerated up to 80 in the outside lane and it definitely seemed to have gone. Ah well, I thought maybe it’s sorted itself out so put the music back on and it reappeared. Turned out it was actual bongos! Thanks Mark Levinson. Was listening to the low spark of high heeled boys by traffic and could heat a level of detail I’d not heard before. Love this car!

So here I am back here again....... I went online originally to check my thread on a car I bought back in 2010 with hardly any miles on it as I bought it off a mate and it was his wife's ride... It is now my daily ride and I have personally put 100K+ miles on the clock since I bought it.... I have had some issues since then, so see my related posts, but all is good now...Touch wood as they say... The wheel wobble, steering, brake issue. brakes and hubs??? seems to have all been down to LCA's... appreciate that was my cars prob and not yours..... but my advice is to still check out any suspension parts before or part of brakes renewal. I have now done 3K on the car since all the work I had done last year and it is a joy to drive... Like Brand new!! Best wishes to all on this thread.. it has been very helpful and def helped me to narrow the issues down.. Have a great 2018 all.. Best Damo

Unfortunately not, the changes were cosmetic and equipment related, other than the addition of a sport mode. The following has information about the different grades:

Oh Crap! UK time.....

If I search for that part number on www.toyodiy.com it shows the same part is used on the 4.3l V8 used in the LS, GS, and SC 430s.

"And as for the wind whistling through your hair, there's no guarantee you'll have much hair left to whistle through. " Clever advertising.

Damn, that engine note never gets old Good vid, thanks for sharing Dan @NothernDan The guys garage is...dope!

Been following this thread with interest.... I would ask......what vehicle hit which vehicle? Ie Did the van hit the car side on or did the car hit the van side on etc. In other words which vehicle was actually hit? If the car was already negotiating the roundabout and the van hit it then I would suggest van at fault. If the other way around then car at fault.

Pretty good that nice gaff to, I'd make good use of those 3 Garage spaces. isF........gsF.......rcF...... 🐀

I just assumed it was your trusty sidekick, sharing its wisdom..

Meant in it not with it before I get banned from this club!

Learnt to drive in a Triumph Toledo Singer Chamois - my first car, totally rebuilt it into a Monte Carlo tarmac rally car Vauxhall Firenza HPE - aka Droop Snoot Vauxhall Chevette HSR - totally mental road car Vauxhall Cavalier (first child) - totally forgettable Rover Montego 7 seater estate (second and third child) - great car but rusted away before my very eyes! SEAT Alhambra (3 children + Labrador) - 190k trouble free, comfortable miles Mercedes C270 estate - bought as base model and then retrofitted every option possible bar sunroof Mercedes CLS55 AMG - absolute rocket ship, awesome lowdown torque. Glorious V8 growl + supercharger whine. A licence looser, had to go

Have you tried a rummage under the seat (bit difficult I know) to ascertain if the plugs are all nice and tight? Nothing spilt at any time, a water bottle slipped under there and leaked maybe? Be careful of any airbag connections though.

If none of the actions on that seat are working I would hazard a guess that it is a supply problem and not the seat/switches themselves, as the movement is done via motors and these draw lots of current on initial movement ( especially if a person is sat on the seat, which 99.9% of the time they will be!) Along with any fuses I would expect some relays to be involved due to this high current draw. really need a circuit diagram for this and I can't help on that (at the moment) paul m.

Thank you for the reply - just seen techstream for £19.95 on ebay - so probably worth a try to begin with

nice little review, don't think I disagreed with anything they said.... Thanks for posting.

Overall car looks in good nick which is expected as the mileage is low and priced reasonably. The rear seats don't look used at all. The driver side seat is in good condition too. Lexus Leeds used to be fantastic when they were under the Benfield group but have since been taken over by Vantage. The whole staff have changed and they are nowhere near as good tbh. However, what you will get is decent service as they're trained albeit like robots. Don't expect more than £500 discount off the car though and autotrader p/x value for the GS if trading in

That's where I got my Luxury from. Quite a disappointing experience overall, but very pleased with the car. I decided to jump on the train from London only to find the car in a pretty sorry state from the inside. This did help me establish though that the previous owner was a dog owner, hence managed to get a further discount on the price. Mine was a similar mileage, September 2013 car, advertised at a lower rate than this one. May just be a reflection of the overall state of the car, but there does seem to be room for negotiation.

Pretty much. For example, the O2 sensor is reading too lean, so the ECU adds more fuel. The problem is that, after adding fuel the O2 sensor still reads too lean, so the ECU adds even more fuel. Eventually, the ECU will get to the end of the lookup table, with the O2 sensor still saying it is too lean, so it will throw up an error code to signal that it doesn't know what to do anymore. There are other things it can do as well, such as adjust the ignition timing, but that is beside the point here. Using the O2 sensor in this way is called a closed loop engine management system. A better description can be found here: http://www.enginebasics.com/EFI Tuning/Closed Loop o2.html

Two weeks old apparently! good from about 6.30 onwards

Like it!! I'm assuming the tinting is on the outside of the lenses? Not a "bake them open in the oven and tint the insides" job?

Hello, Sorry, I seemed to have missed your original post. The general consensus on here is that white smoke points to a 5th injector problem. Although, if this is the case, then I am surprised Lexus didn't find anything wrong with the car. I am not sure if you want to investigate the problem yourself or not, but if so, then a copy of the TechStream software would give you an idea of the DPF blockage and would allow you to force a regen yourself. They are quite cheap on Ebay along with the appropriate cable.

One of the images from the shoot @Toothy, I don't have the car anymore, I swapped it in for a GS-F.

Some better views of the newly spaced wheels. The spacers use longer lug bolts fitted into the hubs so you can use the stock nuts and lockers. Gives a much more aggressive stance and most importantly... no rubbing!!