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Please excuse the shirt, but it was a great day

That is because society wants actions.... whatever bloody thing that means... you know to fight climate change. Planes, trains and industry have strong lobby behind it so they are inconvenient targets, but some scapegoats are needed to kill off blood-thirst for action... yep you guest it right - individual car drivers who all in all contribute ~2.4% of pollution (2.1% diesel and 0.3% petrol) are exactly suitable target to "solve" the problem (as you said easy targets). Obviously, there are no issues with consumerism i.e. cheap clothing which we throw away after single use or cheap Chinese electrical goods and toys which keeps braking and we throw them to landfills.. no that is not a problem - problem is motorists... well you know ... just because!

Nice post. Mirrors my own thoughts in the main. Mercedes,Audi, BMW,are not as reliable as they used to be perceived. Not as rare as they used to be and certainly not driven as respectfully as they used to be. I`ve had 4 Mercs and one Audi. Never again. I`ve had my GS450h for 5 years now and nothing, repea, nothin,g has gone wrong. Lexus is the "numero uno" for reliability on the Planet. By being reliable it is also by definition economical as costs for repairs are excluded from the calculation. No doubt young Executive twirps will acquire F Sport models whilst the B.I.K. remains favourable and respectful Lexus driving will go out of the window, but that is for the future and we who are really in the minority will continue to enjoy what still remains a closed secret.

I scared the life out of a guy in one of those new Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio's on an A road near me. He was hanging off my rear bumper through traffic and I think he thought he was in a fast car until the traffic moved aside and he witnessed 50-100 from the RCF two or three times...we stopped at some traffic lights about 5 minutes later and with a big smile on his face, he opened the window and said 'f**k that things fast! what is it?'...it amazes me more people don't know about these F cars...and most of them would consider themselves petrolheads?!

So why did I buy a Lexus GS? My previous car was a Mercedes W212 E-350CDI Sport. It was mostly a cracking car. Fast (6 seconds 0-60MPH), huge amounts of torque, economical (I once managed 60MPG on a trip from Bolton to Gosport ... but it wasn't difficult on a motorway run to get late 40's early 50's MPG), comfortable (I once did Bolton to Dijon only stopping for the tunnel) and it looked quite aggressive. However it wasn't without fault... when I was changing it (4.5 years old, 85K Miles), it had a leak on the turbo seals and the DPF kept playing up and sending the car in limp mode. On top of that it was in negative equity and MB customer service can be awful. So, when I looked for a new car.... I considered downsizing to the MB C-Class but the sales staff at MB didn't have a clue. BMW ignored me when I visited a showroom (Quite liked the 5 series at the time), Audi are just too expensive and Infinity had fantastic customer service but was let down by the product. Lexus offered the best complete experience. I wanted a car with similar characteristics to my E-Class but a bit different. I looked at the 300H but felt it was too slow for me... a drop from 6 seconds to 9 second 0-60 was just too much when I'm spending £30k on a secondhand car. The 450H offered the right balance of performance, economy, comfort while also being a little bit an alternative choice from the German marques. Also being rare is a benefit to me. So the ES ... for me the FWD/RWD argument is not as much of a problem these days. Do I prefer to be pushed rather than pull round a bendy road... of course RWD is better. But with all the modern electronics which are used o FWD cars these days I don't think the gap is that huge. Saying that, Audi do go AWD on their more powerful models. The problem for me is the engine size. The 300H is just not powerful enough for a car which is supposed to be a direct replacement for the GS (Quoting Lexus). I don't want to go back to diesel and the competitors non hybrid petrols are a little thirsty for the same performance. Will my next car be a BMW/MB/Audi Hybrid... nope. My understanding is that on paper they look great but with the 46L petrol tank and a massive drop in MPG when they charge the batteries on the move (I drive 20K miles a year) make them less economical to me than my 450H. Also if I remember right, the 1.4T used in the Audi has insufficient power to charge the batteries on the move. So either I will keep my GS for a few years or look at the RX450H.

There is some silly advice and silly opinions being given on this subject. Fill in the form, which you have done, or send a letter outlining your case. Simple as that. If you come up against a brick wall threaten them with the small claims court, and put time limits on when you expect their replies. You don’t need to do FOI Act requests or requests for risk assessments at this point, if you ever will need to. Keep it simple, send them an invoice for repair, tell them you have video evidence, are willing to go to court to recover costs and the matter will find its way to the legal department.

It was a press feature car for quite some time.... according to my data it does have TVD, was on a private plate for sale for quite sometime and didn’t sell, a two owner car I believe. For the record I love the Orange.... 🐀

Perhaps surprisingly the hybrid system works better in a front wheel drive car such as the Prius or CT200H. It would also be more efficient in a four wheel drive vehicle where regen could be gained from all four wheels. The problem with rear wheel drive hybrids is that there is only so much energy that can be recovered before the rear wheels begin to lock up particularly in the wet. This effect is much reduced on front wheel, and four wheel drive vehicles. The Toyota/Lexus hybrid system reverts to mechanical braking at any sign of a wheel under rotating or if the car is rolling in neutral. It must be remembered that the hybrids get all there power from petrol. Using EV or milk float mode uses more fuel. This is because of the losses involved in turning engine power to the generator produces a loss. Turning the 3 phase electricity into a DC charging voltage produces a loss. Using the electricity to charge the battery produces a loss in the chemical reaction. To reverse this chemical reaction into electricity produces a loss. To turn the DC battery voltage into 3 phase AC produces a loss, and finally using that electricity to turn the electric motor produces a loss. It would be much more efficient to use the engine to drive the wheels. The hybrid gains when energy that would normally be lost when costing or braking is recovered for re use. There is another time when using the engine to drive the wheels that allowing the engine to produce more power than is needed for this. The excess can produce electricity to charge the battery allowing a wider throttle opening with less pumping losses within the engine. Thus making the engine run at a more efficient level than it normally would. John

I take it a 2006 IS 220d wouldn't be ULEZ exempt as diesel? Why aren't they targeting planes, trains and industry more. They have more clout than the easy prey motorist! Not that I have ever been to London, but sure in the near future, Birmingham will do something similar. I'm sure if all towns and citys have a charge we won't get a reduced road tax. I liked the French system where you pay a one off charge on engine CV during your ownership. If I remember correctly you got a discount if car was over 10 years old. In 2003 had a 1986 740GLE estate 2.3 James

The noise is cased by the oil draining down from the VVT "variable valve timing" sprockets. They then rattle on cold start till they are filled with oil. According to Lexus this is not problematic apart from the noise. The official Lexus cure for this is to strip the top of the engine, and replace the 4 VVT sprockets, and empty your wallet. Many Toyota/Lexus engines suffer with this problem to varying degrees. I have developed a low cost reliable solution that pressurises the oil system before the engine starts eliminating the noise. The system also reduces cold start engine ware as the engine is lubricated before it turns over to start. I am testing the system at the moment to iron out any possible bugs, but I am virtually at the point of issuing the details of the method here on LOC. Parts used are all obtainable on the net the most expensive part being a 12volt DC solenoid valve at circa £12. The other parts are mainly small pipe fittings, flexible hose, and a suitable pressure container holding about 1ltr. John.

You should have told him the truth... I mean we all know there are no limits for Vauxhall Calibra customisation Look even found one in Sun Flare colour! P.S. I am obviously joking (right?).

@Jon_B Expensive time looming close now then matey...... now you've given him a taste for American muscle he's going to be wanting one of these then..... when he's seventeen...... whole new insurance thread about to start there 😉 🐀

@Big Rat, what I've just realised is that it was that Dan's 6th Birthday and he is 15 in August 😮

For God's sake man! Stop being so reasonable! This is a forum! If we can't go wildly off topic, speak with authority on something of which we have no experience and have arguments that we'd never have face to face then what the hell are we all doing here??

@Jon_BGreat pic don't worry about the attire full 'Boss Hog Look' goes with the occasion 😂 🐀

I consider myself a badge snob (love BMW's) so when I was searching for a new car I never considered a GS, well, it has big petrol engine, heavy, not popular and while test driving other cars (after GS) I was doing my research and Lexus is comfy, plush inside, actually quite a looker, very reliable BUT hitting 62mph under 6 seconds was one of the factors I like about the car even if I use it 20% of the time. I like quick acceleration or even just to make a quick maneuver and having this ability just makes driving safer, for the same reason I would not buy my wife a car that is slow but "economical", it can be not safe. For most people (people buying A-class 180d for example) acceleration does not matter but it does to me. Just saying.

I always wanted a 69 Charger 440RT. Hired one for my sons birthday a few years ago now. What a noise and what a size 😀

Or it's this...

Jay, I was lost after word WHILST! 🙂

Worth mentioning that this will only be for a limited period of time

Wax cylinder for me, mate. But that was only a recent innovation. I much prefer the actual artiste in the car, nothing like a live performance.

I've got a rather nifty mini disc player in my IS300. I believe you had some sort of phonogram in yours didn't you Glyn?

At the end of the day, you need to do what feels best for you. If a warranty gives you peace of mind, then it's worth every single penny. Now, just sit back and continue to enjoy the IS300h!

Have a look here: http://nice-reg.co.uk/number-plates/number-plates/diplomatic-number-plates-embassy-plates.html. It's for non-diplomatic staff working (in my case) for an international organisation. I'll change it back though as insurers willing to provide insurance are few and far between. Admiral (who I was with originally) said they would but then conveniently changed their mind after I had gone through the process and was confirming the registration plate change, leaving me to find alternative insurance at about twice the cost (just before a Christmas trip to the continent)...

Interesting - I hadn't really considered the RWD impact on regen but of course it has to be the driven wheels which are 'braked' by the regen system. Fair play to Lexus - they've done a good job of tuning this system as it doesn't feel any different from FWD hybrids in use - I'd have thought braking just the rear wheels when lifting off on a corner would unsettle the car but it really doesn't seem to. Also, nice work on explaining what I was trying to say about losses in a much clearer fashion!

Hi John thanks for your interesting comments, I have the car partially stripped down in my workshop, I'm a marine engineer and I always do my own repairs however not being familiar with the pro's and con's of these particular motors I decided to do some research, I like to be well prepared... I must be honest I started out with a plan to change the lot idlers pump everything, this was based mainly on thinking it would be a nightmare to get at should I get an issue with something else like the water pump later on, having got it apart its not as bad as I was led to believe, yeah its tight for space but it only took me 20 minutes to strip it down so this will probably take me 21/2 hours job time taking my time and I'm not familiar with this car At this point I'm seriously considering just changing the belt over and I'll have a close inspection of everything while I'm at it, I would prefer to leave the genuine Lexus parts in place rather than fit aftermarket parts if you know what I mean, also I'm not comfortable with dumping perfectly serviceable parts for no good reason, if somethings worn then that's a different matter I'll changed it out while I'm there You would think that Lexus would want to sell me more parts but far from that they were trying to prevent me from wasting it, rather refreshing I thought, good to get the opinion of others though thanks again.

My Celsior’s life in Japan.

I currently own a is200 2001 plate with 136645 on the clock and still run's sweet as a nut.

Grey colour is my least favourite on any car, best way to improve it is adding dark contrasting details.

Nah... It's always taken up by men in leather on crotch rockets. 😉

Assuming the 06/07 GS uses the same clips as my 06 RX then the ones in the eBay links above are the ones you want. I bought the same as @Chris111 linked to but from the dealer and they were considerably more expensive. Obviously! Part number for genuine is 53259-48010

The black one with black exhaust ends could be me and the blue one is more than likely my friend who I work with (at that certain insurance company on a big roundabout) Yep. Will get something sorted.

H&S will build you an exhaust without the tips if you like, so you keep the OEM collectors instead. That was my preference. They offered a small discount too, as cost price would have been less for them.

@Jon_B Couldn’t agree more Jon, bet that was quite an experience. Never owned an American car considered it one or twice, hired a dodge dually a couple of times in the states loved it. But the Chargers Bullit has a lot to answer for....😁 🐀

No, absolutely not. No one who test drives a car as a buyer or journalist judges it on the objective facts, they judge it on the subjective feel of the car and their own experiences and/or preferences of a brand or model or type of car. That's why people dismiss entire ranges of cars because of the badge on the front. It's also why even the boys on Top Gear or The Grand Tour don't always choose the car that objectively should be the best. Every car ever built is compromised in one way or another, it comes down to which compromises you're willing to live with. If the fact that the 0-60 time of the ES is slower than the 530e is not one you're willing to live with then that's your choice, but that choice is no more right or wrong than someone who does choose to live with it.

I work in Bournemouth and live in Poole. how have I never seen yours around?!? the only ones I’ve seen locally is a USB one and black one with black exhaust ends! Looked the business too in black! yes give me a shout when your about if you could then we could meet up. thanks

Obviously not too over the top in price! exhaust is priority!

Thanks for your input! id too want something that doesn’t drone. so maybe the H&S is the option. do you know the rough cost of a H&S fitted? id like to keep the original look too if possible but I feel just needs to sound a bit better and let those C63s & M3s know that I’m there 😂😂

My 2004 3UZ LS430 was certainly quiet, you can easily hear the cars in front above any noise the LS makes at sensible braking distances. It was quieter than all 3 LS460 models I drove and both of my old GS430s but going back a few years the 1UZ LS400 was whisper quiet too and now I think about it, the 1UZ Soarer engine was near silent and super smooth.....until I let it 'breathe.'

From what I've seen so far I'd be happy with one to replace my GS in about five years time. My decision will be made subjectively!

Not worth it IMO. Ours is 5 years old in 3 months and no issues at all

Brilliant well found Stuart this definitely deserves a pic! Clickable link to the ad - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-LS-400-THE-ROZZERS-TOP-GEAR-COPY-BANGER-RALLY-CAR/332677335991?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49129%26meid%3Db6b223d54f9143fa8589af9fdf50af57%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D132656423518%26itm%3D332677335991&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Congratulations & grear colour choice - it certainly does look good in the flesh . I’m sure you will notice the positive attention & comments 👍🏻

Dont be daft Martin he clearly means more like this

That's it! My ISF has finally returned home! The gearbox has been paired up (remaped) with the car and everything is working correctly!

I have a Lexus CT bought new in 2016. very rarely managed true 50-55 mpg in the motorway my previous GS250, a brilliant vehicle, usually managed an average of 25-28 the 3-litre twin turbo AWD 740d, manages a true ( by true a mean checking amount of fuel divided by distance) 44 mpg in the motorway and an average 40.8mpg on the meter ( for comparison, Lexus CT has an average 46mpg on the meter, mostly driver in the city though) so yet, for high mileage cruising, I still think a big diesel is better

Driving off without having unfolded mirrors stikes me as driving without due care and attention!

I understand from another member in the trade that my recently sold ISF didn’t depreciate at all last year, so it would appear the residuals are currently bottoming out for low mileage examples. If the ISF is anything to go by 30-35k is a good point to pick up a well looked after low mileage RCF. Keep the mileage relatively low & it will work out as cheap motoring for a performance car with strong residuals later 🤞, especially as they are currently rarer than the ISF 👍🏻