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We had to attend a funeral last week, and while leaving the car park we were approached by a very well dressed elderly Gentleman who was not known to us. He wanted to talk about our LS430 which had the moonroof open and all windows down due to the blistering heat. He was very interested in our car and informed us that he was a former Lexus Sales Executive at a major dealership before he retired. Our car is on private plates, but he was able to tell us that it was a 2005 model, and in his view was the best ever model produced by Lexus around that time. Its very rare to hear a salesman praise a car unless he's trying to sell it to you. Some of his comments were "Solid build" "Exceptional engineering" "Built to last ". We arrived for a funeral feeling sad and pensive, and left feeling happy and uplifted. Long may it continue.

KwikRip......you wouldn't have expected anything else would you? If you want a Tyre or a back box fitting then OK but anything other that that you now realise it's Not the first port of call to say the least! 'Plastic Tools'!!!!! What's that...for plastic mechanics!!!!! You can however get 'Insulated Tools' but sounds like a BS statement so as to not do the low profit work. paul m.

Should be picking this up at the end of next week providing everything goes O.K. Pre reg RX Sport with a handful of miles. Now to start memorising the owners manual.

Just a couple of short vids, best enjoyed with earphones on max volume 😁 Big Rat

I think the two best colours are red and white. I’m not sure about the tan interior though. I have got the white with the red interior which goes together really well. I personally like the 21” wheels. The black and chrome goes really well with the white. I haven’t driven a car with the 20” wheels but the ride on the 21” is fine. The seats are quite soft and very supportive and so it makes it very comfortable.

@Stuno1 Thanx the colour I’m leaving localised to the callipers I accept you could pick it up elsewhere on the car to link things in but I’m not going to. The materials are negligible really just sourced via Brembo online and 3 hours labour to remove all the callipers strip them down and carry out the painting process and reassemble. The wheels took quite sometime longer as Lexus Cheltenham insist on removing the tyres and TPMS themselves deliver and pickup the wheels to the refurbers before refitting and I fully agree with that. The finish to the wheels in the flesh is flawless. Big Rat

Picked her up this afternoon, I knew I'd missed her journey is usually an hour or so back from Cheltenham took three hours......... Anyway the boys at Lexus have done a cracking job on her and I'm immensely pleased, so a Big thankyou to Lawrence and Paul the techie guys and Sam and Alex in service for all there hard work, in getting the colours and finish I wanted. So with our further ado here she is......... Big Rat

that sounds fun..

Good choice @C Mclean I had an F-Sport RX a few months ago, and couldn't get on with it - too noisy, and with an uncomfortable and hard ride. My standard NX Sport was both quieter and more comfortable. However, having had an RX Sport just a couple of weeks ago, it was a much softer drive - quiet and with a great ride. A totally different car, and much more in keeping with my requirements. An RX is no good for me as a bit too big for the lanes where I live - and too high to get in and out of easily with my disability - but a great car all the same.

All the diesels i have previously owned (non of them Lexus) didn't produce any smoke whatsoever when doing a regen, I thought the whole idea of a regen is to burn off the soot particles that are caught in the dpf at an extreme temperature, You could feel the heat coming from underneath the car and the exhaust note would change slightly on the 2012 Mondeo i last owned. Thankfully i now have a GS300 and no longer have to worry about dpfs, dmfs and egr valves not something i miss! I think the diesel engine has had its day and i have owned diesels for the last 10 years and although i miss the low tax and mpg i certainly wouldn't go back to a diesel now. My brother in law also has his own garage and mot centre and he said he can foresee a lot of problems in the future for diesel owners on the emissions front.

@Stuno1 Stu couldn’t agree more with that in fact Mrs Rat took some footage of a few drive pasts in great light earlier not half bad.... don’t tell her that, I’ll post them up later 👍 Big Rat

Never ceases to amaze me how much wheels can be improved just by a change of colour.

Finally managed to clean it!

I like that a lot, a great improvement.👍

@Comedian Love that classic look......tell me when you bought it did you notice if they listed a yellow one 🤣 🐀

would never take my car to Kwik fit and the like

Glad you are happy but not convinced by the yellow callipers as nothing else on the car is yellow. How much did they charge for the callipers? The wheels are a massive improvement. Love them. Any plans to colour the chrome? Stands out a lot now.

On the original check over I noticed the brake pads were getting low so I ordered some PowerStop Ceramic brake pads from Rock Auto, they arrived a while ago and I fitted them when the 430 came out of the paintshop, I have used these pads before and they are excellent, they are more progressive than the original pads and have a better initial bite, they are also better at feathering out when you come to a standstill. The best bit is they are very low dust pads and keep the wheels nice and clean, these two pictures are from the LS430 and my wifes IS250, both have done a similar amount of town driving, the difference is marked... They are also nice and cheap, only around £40 delivered from the USA and that's for front and rear sets... I have just ordered a set for the IS, the pads on it are OK but I have to clean it so it's a no brainer....!!! I have also just ordered a Vias Technology MML-T1 ipod integration for the 430, I had one in the old one years ago and found it excellent, it also presses "I Agree" every time you start so it's worth it just for that...!!! https://www.vaistech.com/product/mml-t1/ They currently have $30 off in an Independence Day Sale..!!

Good stuff. The yellow and black goes well together. I took the tried & tested safe option of "F" blue when I recently upgraded to IS350-spec brakes.

That's a mean looking machine, I'd move out of the way if I saw it coming (which I wouldn't do at the moment as Vision Express let me down this week)

As already mentioned the choice is yours at the end of the day, be careful what you buy though cheap is not always cheerful and remember road tax is over £300 if registered after 2001

I suppose at a cheap price point and with unknown history it depends on how handy with the spanners you are. I'm not that good with the oily bits so I wouldn't even be considering it. Decision is yours Dylan but welcome to the LOC anyway Lots of very knowledgeable people on here.

@NothernDan Oooooh I love divided opinions 😂 But that’s what owning anything is about in my work most in fact virtually all my power tools are Makita, others prefer Bosch or Milwaukee and many prefer De Walt........ hang on a minute where have I seen that colour combo before..... Im divided on the look of standard wheel as well and believe a shouty car should have a few shouty bits. And when I got home the callipers were still bright yellow.......... Big Rat

That's where I've stuck mine. Works perfectly.

I guess it depends how cheap. Second hand engines can be had for around £200 but there are other things to consider - clutch, gearbox, suspension etc. all at that age and mileage could be on their way out so you get an inspection done if you aren't confident yourself.

When l had the rad and oil cooler replaced the garage used about 5 L even though the lexus supplier sent 10 L.

Can’t you get some of your staff to carry the car out? Probably need about half your staff - say 30 to lift the RCF however 😜

Look forward to seeing that @Big Rat. My car is trapped in the garage currently as the drive is being done and due to the lovely weather, they cant pour the concrete so i cant get it out due to the clearence required at the gates. Ahhhhhhhh 🤪

@Comedian Sean plied her with Chardonnay and Pizza..........your forgiven now...... I'll send you the bill........what's tonite 'Cranwell big screen movie incidentally ? 🐀

@Stuno1 Stu I agree with you the ‘F’ Blue is the classic 1st choice and probably many on here would agree with us. And I did consider it....... But I am really fond of the ‘Brembo Yellow ‘ and have settled on that and matt black wheels. They are going to do one wheel and one calliper and forward me some pics just to make sure, I’m happy with the look first. Big Rat