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Here she is, doesn't look to shabby considering she did 250 miles in torrential rain. Hopefully get some decent weather over the weekend to go for a bit of a run. (That's my work not my house btw!!)

Quite a bit to report in this update. First of all, my car was in at Lexus Edinburgh yesterday for it's annual MOT, plus a major service. The car scored greens across the board during it's last health check, which was back in January when I had the airbag recall done. So, I wasn't expecting any surprises (even if it was Friday the 13th...). Sure enough, when I returned to collect the car another all-green health check had been recorded, plus the MOT was passed with no advisories. For a courtesy vehicle, I was given a Sonic Titanium NX300h. An SE model I believe as it had some decent equipment. I'm not the biggest fan of this colour, but I think it suits the angular nature of an NX. I quite enjoyed driving this around for a few hours. It was nice and comfy, plus the elevated driving position and roomy cabin are a stark contrast to the low and snug-feeling IS. Anytime I get given a hybrid as a courtesy car, I find it strangely addictive trying to maximise EV mode and fuel economy. To this end, I only managed 32.5MPG, which was disappointing considering how gently I was driving. Before I ventured to the dealers I took the precautionary measure of applying this custom sticker to the airbox of my car just in case someone attempted to replace what's inside with a normal paper filter. Probably borderline paranoia on my part and totally unnecessary I'm sure, but you never know... Lexus used to include a sticker like this with the F-Sport intake, but stopped at some point. The car is now running on a new set of summer wheels & tyres. I wanted to coat them with Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour before fitting them to the car, but a punctured rear tyre meant the switchover had to be fast-tracked. The tyre in question turned out be unrepairable so I had to cough up £144 for a replacement. Anyway, these are the wheels that are on the car now... Freshly-refurbished "Hoshi" wheels as fitted to a MY2010 F-Sport. I bought these in February and some might see this as a backward step considering the other wheels that have been on my car at various points, but I've always really liked these, and similar multi-spoke wheels in general. About a month later with Winter just about at an end, they were all removed from their boxes and fitted with IS-F centre-caps and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres. I got these for a pretty decent deal, and as with my winter setup, the rear is downsized to 245/40 instead of 255. I'm very pleased with how they look on the car, but until I take some better pictures, this is all I have.

Yes; Richard Meaden has been raving about it during his eight months of ownership. EVO loved their long term IS-F too a few years back

A little two page review on their long term car that's going back. GY17 OBF in case it comes up for sale.

@rayaans Yes saw those Rayaans in fact there were 3 others in total but the Solar flare Carbon SJ16ZKS that was at a dealers up North for some time was subsequently withdrawn and has 2 outstanding recalls on it, and VUI 1838 is some months past needing its first MOT The third one CN15 UPF Which is also white with a red interior as is the one @Tfp has mentioned also has outstanding recalls. The White one above that is going through the auctions. VUI1838 was an ex demonstrator fro Lexus Belfast who carried out a wrap on it for a show and demonstration and had this wrap on it for some, here is one of many pictures I have of it Big Rat

Hi all. Craig cracking looking motor there. Looking forward to more pictures and enjoy the car. 65mike

Very nice. Enjoy 😀

@Paul zugPaul the car is at Lexus Cheltenham so not that far from you I've sent you a pm that I think you will be most interested in. Big Rat

Please advise on location. Colour choice is not an issue for me. Only looked at the one due to its location to me.😀

@Paul zug Hi Paul I've checked my own data base on this car and have found nothing of interest or concern about its previous use, smoking in cars is extremely difficult to eradicate, as regards the mpg it's simply as others have said it's where it's been manoeuvred around and so on. If a Black car was to figure in your choice of those available at the moment I know of one at a Lexus dealership that has an absolutely impeccable history. Big Rat

Thanks @Linas.P Debica is part of Goodyear as mentioned on their global website: https://www.goodyear.eu/corporate_emea/our-company/our-brands.jsp Rotalla is sold everywhere and not just a BlackCirle own brand...there are some feed back on TyreGuru

If it smells of smoke find another one. The dealer would have tried to mask the smell with product, it'll come back. Trust me, I've been valeting cars for almost thirty years.

If your warranty won't cover it then look for a front end damaged 400h at a breakers.

Don't think you'll get any fuel with that recall....unless you have had to make a longish journey to the dealer. Wouldn't hurt to mention that the dash is silent when you drop the car off! I actually got my wife to make a video for about 10 mins while driving to prove (if it had been necessary) that there were no noises whatsoever inside the car or from the dash. Thankfully it was not needed as the work was done and all was good and silent again. Happy days

So your work for Henry VIII??

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear it has not been resolved and that you are having to resort to the dealers warranty. I hope that works out and will be interested to get an update on the integrity of the dealer.

Thanks for the heads up Tim. Paul has just PM'd me.

@Tfp I've no knowledge of this car at all, I will endeavour to make the auction I'll pm @Bluethunder 🐀

@Tfp Tim I'll check my work schedule, I'll check my database on the car in the meantime - thanx. 🐀

Yes, it's DG15 WRO Maybe you could go and have a peek if bluethunder is interested. It's being entered by a Lexus group dealer so needs inspecting carefully, must be a reason it's not going on their forecourt unless it's overage stock.

@Bluethunder If you're still looking there is a RC-F going through Bca Bridgewater later in the month, 27th April. It's white with red leather, 15 plate, 20,769 miles, had two services. Tim

When are we going to see/ hear a video, no good saying how nice they sound and not share!

1. Yes the two come together - both features utilise the same radar detectors installed inside the rear wings/bumper. 2. I believe for UK vehicles the LDA feature comes with steering control - note this isn't Lane Keep Assist which is meant to keep the vehicle within the centre of a lane, it will give a small pull on the wheel if you cross a white line without indicating first.

As it’s very easy to do .... I’d remove and do a solvent clean of the maf sensor. Then you can dismiss that if the light is still on. Have the upstream fuel/air sensors ever been changed?

Congratulations, cracking car.👍🏻 Nice work!!😉

Whooooo! Enjoy 👍

That sure told me.

He is, just celebrated his 25th year there! Well celebrated by taking a week off in France, how very dare he!! Big news while we were there, Tony and Deborah have sold out, to a consortium of London based investors ...... Please don't let them change the ambience of the place, we've been going there once or twice a year since 2007.

If you want real exclusivity get a GSF.....................

Thanks Big Rat. Looks like its sorted now, we have 2 possible sources of pads apart from Lexus. All we need to do now is source some reasonably priced rotors. I like to think ahead,you see!

Phew, that's better re: Hybrid issues - Richard @hybridbatterysolutions is a wizard and will see you right

So I’ve had a reply from WRS Motor Factors they are supplied the Brembo orders by the below company in the UK who source them direct from Brembo in Italy. https://brakedepot.co.uk/ Big Rat

Absolutely. My wife doesn’t understand why I value that attribute in a car. It gives me a sense of pride and just feels good. Loved that with the Evora. Frequently returned to car parks to have to wait while people took photos in front of it. I look forward to this with the rcf.

Agree 100% but that said my CLS55 was pretty exclusive but much like the IS-F, it didn't really stand out, looking (to Joe Public at least) very much like it's "lesser" variants. The RC just screams out at one, even parked up in the corner of a car park there's almost like a big balloon floating above it saying "Look at me"!! Even without the rich burble of the V8 to attract attention mine seems to catch the eye of passing patrol cars (it's not my driving, honest!!), a couple have done a U turn to catch up and shadow me for a couple of miles before giving the thumbs-up and turning off. We're just back from a midweek break on Burgh Island and we lost count the number of cars on the A38/A303 that pulled along side then dropped back to check out the car. Exclusivity is great but one still needs the car to be noticed. 18 months into ownership and I still grin like a Cheshire cat every time I drive it

Agree - there are some pretty 3 / 4 series cars out there.

This is a big draw and I classify it as the ‘ownership experience’. Much like when I had my evora. It got so much positive attention it indirectly made me feel good to own it. Also, turning up to car meets and being the only one or one of 2 or 3 max is also a nice feeling. People massively underestimate exclusivity.

Brembo manufacture from 15 sites around the world, a massive new factory was opened in Michigan USA a couple of years ago, China admittedly can copy anything very well, they look the same as the originals until you come to use them the way they were intended..............then you will realise if they are real or fake.................

Welcome to the club & a very nice example👍🏻 First RCF I sat in was a similar but darker grey (I think) with the red interior and is a great combination. It was Lexus Woodford’s demonstrator & was back with them for sale when I was there for a service last August. I had arranged a test drive but unfortunately they sold it before I got the chance ☹️ I have always had a bit soft spot for the red leather seats!!

@08ISF I’ll pop in to the Motor Factors and speak with Sam when I get a minute, personally I still like this personal contact aspect and I’ll report back. As always with something as important as braking components I think it unlikely an over the counter Motor Factor like them or ECP selling complete rubbish, may not be 100% OEM quality but then neither are the prices. Big Rat

The web master strikes again!! - that’s brilliant Paul thanks for the info mate👍🏻

@ColinBarber My experience of the ones from here for my isF is that the material is different undoubtedly ceramic and the dust reduction was huge. I used the car with them and there was no discernible difference in performance on the road in normal driving or fast road, I was impressed. Big Rat

Yes on public roads you will never notice due to the high limits you need to reach, but the nerd in my will always want it, I had a few Honda's with LSD but they were front wheel drive with lower performance limits, on them you could few it work and made the car feel more fun. No hurry to change current daily car as I have had it for long time so will see what else comes up. Hope you enjoy the car as it really is a nice one.

After driving a few I couldn't tell much difference between the suspension on the later models and certainly couldn't get into a situation where I could tell the difference between the ediff and a LSD on a test drive. I wont be driving hard in the wet or tracking the car so it wasnt essential for me. The condition, mileage and history of the car were the main factors and this ticked all the boxes. You pays your money and makes your choice, its not like there are lots for sale and I think anything around the 20k mark without mega miles is hitting the bottom of its depreciation curve. Good luck with the search.

My hand was forced really as my car was written off so I didn't have the luxury of waiting. They had dropped it a further 500 the morning we went to see it so I'm pretty happy with what I paid In the end as I wanted one with warranty. Have you been to see the back 11 plate?

There are several threads on the various forums about greasing caliper pins, what grease to use or not to use. There is a newly formed company called ProSlip which is marketing a pack of three little tubes of grease for the various brake components. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ProSlip I have no connection with this company other than buying a little pot of the caliper pen grease before this triple pack was available. I asked ProSlip if they would give any discount to LOC members and they said yes! Enter the code LEX6YOU6 at checkout to get 20% off. John

Enjoy. Look forward to some pics. I think you made the correct choice. The rarity of any f model is something to be enjoyed.

Rumours are a 4l V8 twin turbo for the LC F (600 bhp). There is also the 3.5 V6 twin turbo being used in the new LS500 (415 bhp) which could receive some tuning to make it suitable for an F.

Weight wise the difference is next to nothing, the Gsf comes with more kit as standard but its a later car, I think it comes down to which car you prefer or suits your needs, both great cars.

Love the GSF. By FAR the prettiest front end of any F (excluding the daddy) I was admiring Blue’s GS-F just this morning!

@JonPAnd fitting a Quicksilver system has saved just under 19kg over the OEM...... mind you with the cooked breakfasts and multiple coffees Mrs Rat and I had at the Sea Front this morning would have negated any weight savings.... Big Full Rat