Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Leaderboard

  1. tomRCFcarbon

    tomRCFcarbon

    Established Member


    • Points

      19

    • Posts

      332


  2. Big Rat

    Big Rat

    Established Member


    • Points

      7

    • Posts

      4,732


  3. Britprius

    Britprius

    Established Member


    • Points

      7

    • Posts

      2,204


  4. Mattmech

    Mattmech

    Members


    • Points

      5

    • Posts

      235


Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/18/2018 in all areas

  1. Lexus does sell in quite respectable numbers as a niche brand. If we're talking why Lexus doesn't sell in BMW or MB numbers then I think there are loads of factors here. Below comes from personal experience, as I used to work for the marketing agency that did all Lexus UK marketing, and my best friend made the LC500 launch film so knows the advertising team quite well. Beyond that its just my opinion: - We have a v.traditional and v.established car market in the UK where 'new' is not seen as a virtue - UK consumers are some of the most brand conscious consumers in the world. Furthermore our peculiar flavour of brand-centricness (not a word!) is closely aligned to heritage and history - For this reason no premium brand has made any kind of dent in the market...except at the mass/budget end of the market (Smart, Hyundai, Kia) - Product development takes place in Japan with American and domestic tastes as the basis of the brief. The resulting products are therefore delivered as a fait accompli to the UK, and are therefore often a little alien looking to the average household - The UK car market is one of the most valuable in Europe, therefore the established European brands guard it jealously - Historically cars manufactured in Japan have been subject to a 10% import duty to the EU, wiping out much of the profit and money that could otherwise be spent on marketing/advertising - Partly because of this and partly because of the influence of BMW/MB, Lexus haven't been able to break into the hire car market in Europe. Hiring a 'Premium' or 'Luxury' car in Europe will rarely result in you driving a car with an 'L' on the steering wheel. This is an enormous market and accounts for a large proportion of inventory coming out of Munich or Stuttgart, and how many business customers come to experience these cars - The German car industry have made it their business to 'control' Dennis (Auto Express, Evo, Octane) and the other magazine publishers by block buying the most important advertising space in the magazines (inside front, outside back pages, etc) - Lexus hasn't been good at 'playing the game' with the publishers and haven't been generous enough with the launch trips they organise. It is a bit of an industry joke that the reason the RCF didn't review well initially is that the journalists were 'only' flown economy to NYC for the launch, couldn't take spouses and were only put up for a weekend...whereas when Porsche (or MB or BMW) create any kind of iteration of their cars, they offer week long trips with WAG's to private estates and also allow journalists to jump waiting lists...interestingly Lexus fixed this for the LC500 and took the journalists away for a whole week, first class, with spouses and really showered them with hospitality - as a result reviews were a lot more generous - Outside of GT racing recently Lexus hasn't been near the track and haven't understood the link in European minds between success in F1 and Premium...in Japan motor-racing at any level is used purely to show sporting prowess, nothing more - Japanese products don't have much of a cache as premium products. Jackie Chan in the Cannonball Run didn't help. Nor did Infiniti. Nor does the newest Civic Type-R. Or Casio watches or anything else that the average UK Joe associates with Japan...rather than the reality which is: an attention to detail that borders on obsession, a natural affinity for craft, materials and engineering, a commitment to science being able to transcend art and a genuine culture of having petrol in the blood
    7 points
  2. I agree with both @Stuno1 and @wendle it’s the perception of others and the marketing’s, in my collection of all things ‘F’ there are a considerable number of pics of billboards massive electronic signs from the US and othe countries IsF related. There were were very few for the RcF/ Gsf..... massively more for the LC. Only yesterday I met up with @FTBBCVoodoo Lee and he related a car or car events he’d been to where there was complete ignorance or no interest in the ‘F’ Marque. Do others think that if they the ‘F’ cars were badged Toyota things would have been different or am I way off the ‘Marque’ 😉 Big Rat
    4 points
  3. same review (basically) as the print one on the website, best quote: 'A simple straightforward head to head between the new Lexus GS F and a BMW M5. And yes, it’s a ‘30 Jahre’ edition M5, not because it swings the power barometer even further in the M5’s favour, but because it was the only one that BMW had.' Hahahahaha...this is BMW's press team responding to a request for an M5 for a group test against a Lexus? A car that has been designed to embarrass the m5 and surprise, surprise the £25,000 more expensive special edition was the only car they had to hand...have you ever been to BMW UK, every middle manager is driving an M car and most are driving M5's they have so many in their fleet that on any given summer day - you can go to one of about 5 different national/local country shows and there will be a full M product range on display. So it is quite funny and a credit to Chris Harris (probably annoyed about the reality of the above), that he finds in the GSF's favour. The fact that the Top Gear website is dripping in BMW M advertising makes this doubly more surprising...but its why he never got the Editor-ship job at Evo, he just couldn't tow the line...he wrote a column in Evo about it once, how influenced and under pressure he felt from advertisers - which no one would have thanked him for.
    3 points
  4. Lack of marketing/image. Youngsters into cars or learning to drive will know nothing about Lexus/F cars to inspire them to want to own one in the future. Personally I hope it stays this way as a big appeal was the rarity of F cars. I blame Doc Martin for the image btw....
    3 points
  5. Regular without doubt. Using Premium in an engine that doesn't require it, is just a waste of money. You're just paying for higher octane required by the higher compression of performance engines, which is not required or recommended by Lexus. Fuel providers will tell you different but it's their job to separate you from your money, don't believe them.
    3 points
  6. Yes mate I wrapped mine last year. Not that difficult to be honest and most of it comes apart quite easily, there are videos on YouTube showing how to get things apart. The wrap is probably the cheapest option and cost me about £20 but you can't rush it and make sure everything is clean before you wrap it. Get some samples before you decide as the pictures vs how it looks and how it suits the car vary a lot. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
    3 points
  7. Let’s have some thoughts on this then.. the way I see it... - Lexus don’t spend as much as competition on marketing and sombrand awareness isn’t there. - Most reviews are based on a few hours in track and on a road and do not show off the cars in all weather conditions and over an extended time. Chris Harris did a review of the m5 and gsf and due to poor weather the gsf shon. - People are too focused on 0-60. Lap times between the f cars and rivals are usually within 1 second if each other. - Brand image. As above, due to lack of spend on marketing those non car folk still see Lexus as an old mans car. stu
    2 points
  8. and this: https://jalopnik.com/how-money-is-not-made-in-autojournlism-1679747807 (sorry)
    2 points
  9. and this: https://jalopnik.com/what-the-f-is-a-lexus-performance-car-1688464178
    2 points
  10. this is worth reading too: https://jalopnik.com/5760248/how-ferrari-spins sadly this now applies to how Porsche, etc roll
    2 points
  11. The batteries in the hybrids are AGM batteries, but you do not need to pay dealer prices to get AGM batteries. Exide do a direct replacement AGM battery however the best AGM batteries to buy are mobility scooter batteries. These are available in the same dimensions as the OEM battery, but have a higher capacity typically 55 or 60 amp hours for the OEM 45 amp hour size. The only downside is the terminals are usually bolt on type, but this is not a real problem. They are deep cycle batteries, very ruggedly built, and cost around £75, John.
    2 points
  12. Lord Leverhulme is quoted as having once said "50%of my advertising budget is wasted, but I do not know which 50"
    2 points
  13. The power of advertising never ceases to amaze me. John.
    2 points
  14. It's true though. The issue is that the journalists end up in an impossible situation, of their making, but devised by the big brands (a bit like Russian Kompromat). After all no one forced the averagely paid journalist to accept the 'free' Macan that Porsche is lending them (for over three years) for the school run, but if they do - how do they resist the pressure to write a positive review of the new four cylinder 911? Back in the day Chris Harris was quite honest about it, in his Pistonheads review he went as far as basically describing how annoyed he and his fellow journalists were that they had to go straight from the airport to the briefing to drive the car and still had their bags with them! https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-chrisharris/lexus-rc-f-first-drive/30817
    2 points
  15. Young drivers seem to either be the “Em-free, innit” lot, or aspire to own a diesel Audi A3 on PCP. The German marketing machine has certainly done a number on us. This, coupled to the general state of our roads, traffic levels and the utterly relentless war on the motorist, I think petrolheads might be a slowly dying breed. As I understand it, in other countries, Lexus has a better market share, but they’re quite small in the UK. Here I’d imagine a very healthy percentage of all sales are the CT200h, more for tax/BIK reasons than anything else.
    2 points
  16. As the above. A total waste of money buying premium in fact it can reduce your MPG. John.
    2 points
  17. providing I can sort out dog care I am up for this!
    2 points
  18. This time I decided to take the 450h on a longer route to Spain. Bolton --> Maidstone (I like classy places) --> Troyes --> Evian --> Turin (via the St Bernard Pass) --> Monaco --> Nice --> Valencia (Spain) --> Orange (France) --> Reims --> Bolton. As usually, the car didn't miss a heartbeat. The only issue was leaving Reims, my tyre presses warning came on. Looks like driving at 140km/h in 30+ degrees heat and then parking overnight with temperatures dropping to 10 degrees caused the pressure to drop 0.4 bar on all tyres. Luckily I had my compressor in the car. My MPG over nearly 3,500 miles was an indicated 40.6. Considering the amount of miles I did driving at over 85MPH, going over the Alps (although going down the other side used very little fuel) and driving around cities... I am again impressed with the GS. No turbo = no noticeable loss of power at 2,500m up a mountain 🙂 Longest sprint was Nice to Valencia which was about 900KM and took 9 hours to complete. Parked up at the other end, a quick stretch and I was ready for a walk and some dinner. It is a shame the GS is no more as I would buy another. I am seriously considering buying my GS off Lexus in a few months at the end of my PCP and running it into the ground. The only other car which is currently interesting me is the RX450h. Whatever my next car is... it needs ventilated seats. Driving in 40 degrees heat and getting out without a sweaty back is lovely. SW.
    1 point
  19. Hello all, Has anyone converted their wood trim to carbon fibre look on their is250, I have looked at several options, hydrodipping, vinyl wrapping or buying a kit already cut out with a laser. Any advice on companies to use, what method, or some pictures of your interior conversions would be great. Thanks
    1 point
  20. Hi, Did you try changing AVRCP to version 1.3 via developer options on your phone?
    1 point
  21. I had my local indie garage who are also Lexus enthusiasts change the atf fluid in my 2005 GS300 last Saturday. I did a bit of research beforehand and the general opinion was to use genuine Toyota fluid which i bought from Ebay. They could only get just under a litre back in but then started the car and went through all the gear options drive, reverse, neutral and then checked the levels again but it only took the total fill to just over a litre although the book says 1.5l. It has been running fine ever since and the gear change seems smoother unless its just my imagination. My car has done 70k and the fluid had never been changed since new to my knowledge. I also got them to change the diff oil at the same time. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Toyota-Prius-Auris-Yaris-ATF-Fluid-Automatic-Transmission-1-Litre/112758271898?epid=651236881&hash=item1a40eaaf9a:g:WfgAAOSwJ71aXdkj
    1 point
  22. Since buying my GS300 in Jan this year apart from one time when I used BP I've used Shell every other time & never used supermarket grade, I sometimes use V Power & get more MPG. I have some family members who work in the fuel retail sector & there boss gets offered the supermarket fuel about 5-7K cheaper per tanker than the normal stuff which would allow them to make a bigger profit but they take the good stuff. OT: Still my car has been off the road since Friday with something completely different, I have to say I expected more from a Toyota sub brand @ 80k miles, luckily work leant me my work van 🙂
    1 point
  23. Just using the premium grade from COSTCO, cheaper than anyone else locally.
    1 point
  24. It's exactly why I bought my ISF I didn't want a car you see 500000 times a day and people still bang on about them, those who know cars know about the f brand which unfortunately is also another reason why I reckon it's a small market as a lot of folk tend to go with the flow and copy each other sad but true.
    1 point
  25. advertising does nothing for me as most claims are over exaggerated and most don't even live up to the hype😊
    1 point
  26. 1 point
  27. Lee. Using neutral forces 100% of the hydraulic braking system as the two motor generators are electrically disconnected in this mode. This is the best way to clean up the discs, and pads. This is also why the car should not be left in neutral, and ready mode. If the engine is not running already when put in neutral it cannot start, and therefore cannot charge the HV battery. If the AC is on this will quickly discharge, and have no power to charge the 12 volt battery so this also becomes discharged. If left for too long the HV battery will not have enough power to start the engine, and an external charge is then required. John.
    1 point
  28. Well premium certainly made a positive difference in my AMG and I'm continuing to use it in my RC. Have used nothing but V-Power since purchase. The extra £5 or £6 per tank is insignificant in the scheme of things..
    1 point
  29. Additives which are neither required or recommended by Lexus.
    1 point
  30. If you do a forum search you’ll find quite a lot about carbon wrapping of those components.
    1 point
  31. Hey Guys, So thought I’d share some photos of the different bits for reference purposes. If you can let me know the cost difference between double and single sided please Dan? Might be worth getting the prices first, then we can all decide which we prefer.... As long as the parts on show are carbon, I’m not worried mate. If you have parts on show that aren’t carbon, you may need to get them painted body colour.... just something to consider as it will be an added cost. Cheers, Pete
    1 point
  32. Yeah, the LC, both 500 and 500h, with sport or sport+ configurations have a carbon roof. Sport+ also has carbon scuff plates.
    1 point
  33. Dear Santa I’ve been mostly good this year........ I don’t mind what Colour it is....... even if it’s not standard....... or stock or whatever the word is........ I don’t care I just want an LFA 😆 🐀
    1 point
  34. Had a look at the above isf for sale on auto trader as it is local to me. nothing to do with me and I have no ties with the dealership. If anybody on the hunt would like info on condition then give me a shout. matt
    1 point
  35. No problem, good luck with the hunt. Being patient is the key 😁 thats the bit I struggled with!
    1 point
  36. Hello Matt, thanks for the PM and taking the time to go look at the car - really useful info. Paul (bigrat) cheers for the comment and thanks for numerous posts on the forum - it's been really useful to read through them.
    1 point
  37. Another non-F to add to this thread...I wonder if one of our F cars will be still going in 20 years time, tuned to this extent and owned by such a talented haveagohero!
    1 point
  38. Finally wrapped the roof metallic black and windows tinted limo 😎
    1 point
  39. If folks are travelling I’d drop me a line first. 👍🏻
    1 point
  40. @Mattmech I’ve got some great pictures of that in various parts of Germany at and to and from the the Nurburgring between 2011 - 2017, looks in lovely condition. Big Rat
    1 point
  41. Toyota Guildford won't touch it, the Lexus dealership is owned by the same franchise and so they will only let the right hand side building work on it.
    1 point
  42. RAC and Lexus? Neah.. 😂😜
    1 point
  43. Gave it a quick clean earlier today.
    1 point
  44. Before I vote, are Lexus illuminated door sills classed as a modification or an accessory ?
    1 point
  45. Hps intake pipe toms panel filter secondary cat delete, full system keeping standard tips usrs bushes uprated from pads wider mps4s tyres
    1 point
  46. Couldn't resist parking next to the Quadrifoglio at the shopping centre this morning........
    1 point
  47. Just a phone snap of my wheels parked up in the Ordesa Valley Monte Perido National park in Spain. Everything that is right in life can be seen in this snap. Great scenery, great weather, good car and camera lurking [emoji6] Needless to say the cars been great on the journey down via the Alps, Dordogne and French Pyrenees over the last week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    1 point
  48. maybe, but they provide info on tyres and brake pads so why not alignment.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...