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Good God - reading this thread makes me think I will stick with my pile of OS maps on back seat and a head turn every now and again to check the OS.🤣 Only times I have ever got truely lost is when relying on Sat Nav (inbuilt) or relying too much on Google (which is better, but too much for an old g*t like me). I would add (in support of LS400 satnav) it did a better job of getting me to Cadbury World then my brain, but that was a one off IMHO

Interesting thread, I haven't read it all but I have an LS460. It's had a few minor issues but absolutely nothing remotely expensive. Only had it since November 2019 and it hasn't let me down (yet!). I read about the gearbox/radiator problem and had a new OEM radiator fitted out of precaution. Other than that, and general servicing I have had to replace 1 wheel bearing and I had to get the ride height sensors removed and thoroughly cleaned because at times the car was a bit "wonky" with its ride height, but that is now resolved and didn't require new parts. Overall it has been a very good car. There is always a risk of bigger bills with more complex cars, but the additional performance over an LS400 is very significant, coupled with (slightly) better economy and more creature comforts available (especially now I have a GROM unit fitted - I have full Android integration) means that, for me, those risks are worth it. The way I see it, I bought the car outright, it isn't really depreciating, and the monthly payments on a new car lease deal would easily pay for any unexpected servicing costs on the LS460, and I am driving an LS460 instead of some dreary 1.4L diesel hatchback or whatever.

For my two pennies worth, I bought a second car as a runabout given I can and do park in places where a large and wide car would not be expected to go. This arrangement works well and for the most part the LC gets used on longer journeys. The runabout gets used for all manner of things such as shopping, trips to the tip and even (much to my angst) by my wife who frequently uses it to tow a sand school leveller! Obviously two cars to tax/insure/service but the payback is driving the LC. Oh, definitely do not underestimate the width of the car and the door lengths. For what it is worth, I have number 3 of the seat memory settings adjusted such that the seat fully reverses and lifts up at the same time. I engage this when exiting is difficult, and it can and does make life a lot easier.

I just want to say two more things. Back in 1973 my dad got a brand new car. OK, it was 'only' a Morris Marina Estate but in our street/neighbourhood/circle of friends it was almost unheard of to own a brand new car and it cost him a lot of money at the time. Thing is, we lived in a street of terraced houses with no driveway or garage and he just had to park it outside the house. I know traffic wasn't as bad back then but we still had double-decker buses, trucks and all manner of vehicular traffic passing by. When I asked if he was worried about it getting damaged he just laughed and said no - he couldn't do anything about it and there were plenty of other things in life to worry about. I am absolutely not making light of the war but, four weeks ago someone in Ukraine may have had an LC500 (or some other car that they loved equally as much) locked away in a garage because they were paranoid of someone dinging a door panel or whatever. My point is, you never know what's round the corner so get it out and enjoy it now, for tomorrow may never come.

I talked to Kwikfit again this morning and showed them the photograph. It appears that japanese company ITOCHU owns both Kwikfit and Stapletons. The manager at the Wilmslow branch of Kwikfit told me that if Stapletons have the tyre, then Kwikfit will be able to source it even if it's not in their catalogue. If demand increases he assumes that Kwikfit will add the tyre to their catalogue.

Onto the final major mod I've done recently, you'll notice in the above photo I managed to fit some VLAND headlights and this was done quite some months ago in October. Unfortunately I ordered some VLAND tail lights to go alongside these and to this day I have still yet to receive them! I'm currently needing to chase those up but in the meantime I spotted a new set of tail lights on the market in America and China, namely the HC Motion Tail Lights. What was special about these was not only did it have an animation when the headlights come on, but they were also sequential indicators unlike the VLAND tail lights. There is a cool little comparison video of all the tail lights lights available for the second gen IS I'll link below. After I spotted this I managed to order them from Ali Express and I received them a few days ago. Took around 2 months for shipping from China and I opted for the Smoked versions as I figured with a black car these would look great. I won't bore you with the details of how to fit them, but I will include videos from Tuner with Kids for the tail lights and Marty Motoring for the VLANDS in terms of how the fitting was done. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003445550208.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802awR4Qt I did attempt to add some T shaped weather seal for the HC motion tail lights as they don't come with that, however the ones I purchased were a catastrophic fail. The original adhesive on this T shaped seal was too weak, so I used my own 3M foam backed adhesive and it ended up way too thick for the tail lights outer potion so I ended up peeling it back off. Most people tend to remove the seals from the OEM tail lights but I didnt want to as this may affect their resale value and incase I had to revert back to them. All this means is that grime and water can accumulate in that area making it more difficult to clean, as far as I'm aware this shouldn't cause any long standing issues or damage to the tail lights. In any case I will have to revisit this when I get time. After wasting a few hours I managed to fit the HC motion tail lights with relative ease, it is rather fiddly and far less stressful than fitting the original VLAND headlights but the results are fantastic. I'll include the footage of my fitment of the VLAND headlights also. IMG_4839.MOV IMG_6804.MOV Overall both the combo of these headlights and tail lights really helps to modernise the look of the 2IS, the only other thing you could do is a bumper conversion but not only is it quite expensive it does require alot of prep in terms of painting and what not. The HC Motions depending on your year of vehicle may require the usage of resistors, the reason being that in an older vehicle without LED tail lights you can have all sorts of error codes thrown up such as VSC check engine light etc, HC motion thankfully throw these in for you but as my car is a facelift vehicle with the newer LED tail lights this wasn't a requirement for me. The only other prep as I mentioned earlier are the weather seal gaskets which you will need to add on yourself. The boot lid portion still has the gaskets I left on however this is quite noticeable so I will come back to this and redo all the seals then possible. Out of the box the VLANDs do require adjustment of their beams as this doesnt have auto levelling in them compared to the OEM headlights, not to mention AFS will not work so a fuse will need to be pulled to remove that error. The adjustment can be made without dismantling the entire bumper if required, the bolt that is responsible for the height adjustment can be accessed from above with a fairly long flathead and rotating the gear like grooves will increase or decrease the height. Mine could do with further adjusting but that'll be done when I have a bit more free time. Overall the light output seems to be better than the HIDs my car came with but the high beam is a little weak, thankfully I dont need it all that often so its a tradeoff for better aesthetics.

Hi, today I went from Swansea to Huddersfield. 260 miles one way. 77mph cruise control most of the time. 33MPG on computer. I put petrol in Huddersfield and 36 litres to make it full again. What a wonderful car! I would never believe it if I hadn't tried it. Thank you Lexus:)

Cheers. Yes 4 replies with an equal split between red and white. All personal choice I know. Hat and paper looking favourite.

As above, try and find car(s) in those colour combos. Just swing by a dealer and have a nose. Pictures never fully represent. Other factors to think about (but not necessarily consider) is when you come to swap the car in the future, does white or red sell better? Long term care is also something as well. Looking after white can be tricky, but not impossible, depends how prone you are to in car accidents 😆 Brilliant how tastes different, I'd avoid white like the plague and love the red interiors in my current and previous Lexi 😄 Best of luck with purchase and colour choice, worst case, pull bits of paper out a hat 😛

For me, its not the car or the styling, an Audi is a flippin’ liability. I’d just be frightened of having it on the drive like a ticking bomb. I can pick holes in the Lexus but it will still be going strong in 10 years.

Toyota also very good, so it's a no lose situation whatever happens.

And on the front it had the memorable injunction to “Stop me and Buy one.” I believe that a similar venture by a peddler of prophylactics with the line “Buy me and Stop one” was less successful.

I forgot; lets not ask were all this extra power is going to come from.

Cleaned the DVD and it worked again. Sometimes when something went really wrong reading it, whole centre console died. All the controls worked but nothing on the screen even when trying to access AC e.t.c.

Just sold my 2010 LS600h L. Can't praise it enough. One of the best cars out there for long journeys. Few little niggles i encountered during ownership: PCS warning light. I replaced the brake switch still the same.. Next i was going to replace headlight bulbs but never got round to try this. The PCS light only came on once in a blue moon and only when it was dark outside. Hence why i suspected the bulbs light output. Noisy heater fan. Easy DIY took 15 minutes to replace. Second hand motor off Ebay £40. Apart from that it was tyres and servicing.

If you want to do shopping on bike maybe you need one like this

https://www.ebay.de/itm/253482214924?var=555253493287 Installed this in the CT. Hold 11" tablet without problems. Cheap 16€ included shipping (from UK). Compare with the one from Lexusparts UK? I like this from eBay. Cheaper, much cheaper, less clumsy, can be installed more ways so the tablet can be placed where my little one wants it to be. What's not to like? The CT is fine, we are happy with it, but Toyota here has nothing that can make little children comfortable in the car. Just look at the booster seat I bought. Company that made it was supported by Hyundai. https://poledglobal.com/79/?idx=4 10 times the quality of what El Corte Ingles (supposedly the best quality store in Spain) has to offer. Toyota here has nothing.

It's a car. Designed to be driven. Outside, on the roads. This life is not a rehersal where you make the choices here and get to carry them out in the next. You could be run over by a bus next week so use it and enjoy it the way it was meant to be.

Few other things I got done for the car, one long overdue thing was a Dashcam. I had a cheapo cheap and cheerful Chinese dash cam but I had a few issues with it. The first being that it was quite distracting due it having a screen, the second being that it was wired to the cigarette lighter which is normally fine but I was wanting to have it hard wired to the car and something fairly cheap without an official hardwire kit I wasn't very comfortable using. Enter the Road Angel 3 Halo Pro, this was a Dash Cam I spotted on Amazon and it fulfilled the following criteria for me. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HXKXLLY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LB66WCM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 1) It didnt have a screen and was fairly slim so not only was it discrete, it wouldnt be distracting me mid drive. 2) The quality was pretty decent and it provided a rear camera also which also had acceptable quality. 3) It has available an official hardwire kit as an option which was very important to me. Other features include a winter mode as well as Wi-Fi, but truth be told from what I've read and my general usage the App is pretty unintuitive and not great to use and the speeds were pretty bad. However for my needs I'm quite happy to pop the SD card out and take it to my computer to obtain footage. I will apologise that I don't have many photos of hard wiring the camera up as I only managed to do this months after purchasing this. I'll include a video of an IS F Member who wired his dash cam in a similar manner to mine. I will include the fuses below I used to wire into via Fuse taps that the hardwire kit came with for good measure. 1 FR P/SEAT LH 30 A Power seat 12 ECU-IG LH 10 A Cruise control, air conditioning system, power steering, rain sensor, antiglare inside rear view mirror, shift lock system, moon roof, tire inflation pressure warning system, (& VSC (2011-2013 Once installed and configured for hard wire mod in the pretty awful Halo Pro app, the dash cam seemed to work great. I've got audio notifications of when the Dashcam is operational, GPS is connected and when it shuts down to protect the car battery from draining. The footage seems to be quite good also both at night time and day time, and you do have the option to record audio as well as not use it. Not to mention it is fairly discreet and you wouldnt notice it aside from the blinking LED which could always be disabled in the settings. I'll include some of the footage below for your viewing pleasure. outputVideo.MOV outputVideo 2.MOV outputVideo 3.mp4

Following on from the project lights, was another visual and somewhat practical mod. When I originally got the car, the original drivers mat had worn all the way through to even the original carpet underneath and I suspected this was due to the single owner and largely motorway driving. At first I got a basic cheap plate cover to conceal the damage and give your foot a place to rest as well as look a bit smarter. This was absolutely fine, but a few months down the line my mum was moaning she didnt have mats in her IS250C and I saw an opportunity to donate my mats (which pretty much fit the same with the exception of the rear passengers) and get myself something a little snazzier seeing as I didnt want to get any generic eBay ones or go direct to Lexus either. I happened to come across someone on Facebook selling custom car mats, its the style of those Manicci or Diamond mats you can get but with customised logos. I suspected these were simply cheap Chinese made ones I could have gotten for fairly cheap but I was intrigued to see if I could get a Custom F Logo similar to both my steering wheel and my new projector lights. Using the above sample photos as a reference and providing a high quality F Logo which matched my IS250 exactly, I placed the order and after around 2 weeks or so the European chap popped around to my house and fitted the mats for me. He charged me around £140 and knowing what I know now, I could have probably done this myself and gotten them at possibly half the cost off of Aliexpress but all in all it looks very smart and I'm quite pleased with the overall look. The drivers side does come with the plate to protect the mats from wear while driving so that covers me in that regard. These mats should be far easier to clean compared to the OEM ones, plus at some point when I've got some spare cash I may go for an option in the boot to have that lined in a similar style mat but I'm in no particular rush at this point.

The next thing I did was something a little more aesthetic focussed, I noticed Ahmed was selling some of his Lexus F Door Project lights and placed an order for them and I thought this would be a good opportunity to also upgrade my standard F Sport Sills to the Illuminated Lexus Sills. These are how my standard F Sport sills look. It is worth noting that with my car being a Facelift vehicle, the standard sills for this are white and not blue. However the only two ways to get these illuminated sills is either second hand from breakers or to go direct to Lexus and pay an absurd amount of money, on top of this there are very few SE-L facelift vehicles being broken so finding sills is difficult so I opted to get Blue as this would match my overall aesthetic with the projector lights. I first started off with the projector lights, its fairly simple to swap these in with a trim removal tool, just be careful not to snag the connectors. Once in itll work straight away however its not exactly noticeable until dark. Next were the sills, now thanks to the contribution of a fellow member on LOC UK, I know that the F sport vehicles happen to have the wiring looms for the illuminated still in place as a standard. All I needed to do was just pop the connectors in and we're good to go. I did however run into a bit of a snag, those connectors were there but the placement of them rendered the connectors on my illuminated sills to damn short! I am fairly handy with electrics so I did a jerry rigged DIY solution using some block connectors and automative electrical cable I had lying around. I simply spliced the ends of the wire and joined them into a block and gave it more length then I needed and simply coiled them up. After testing it worked, I managed to transfer some of the trim clips onto my sills as some of the F Sport ones broke while trying to yank it off. I did unfortunately managed to dent them but when I get time I'll try and get them out with a suction cup! Overall I was very happy with the overall look of the sills and projector lights together, the sills fade in which is a very nice touch instead of an instant on /off and by a happy coincidence they seem to match up with the older F logo on my steering wheel perfectly! I would like to revisit this project again but to instead get projector lights in the rear passenger doors as well as illuminate those door sills as I managed to acquire two more illuminated sills for next to nothing. This will require some wiring and creativity so I'll attempt that perhaps in the summer.

Hey everyone, been a while since I've had some updates for the car. Quite a few little things have been done and a few big things. One of the main things done was changing out the boot struts, the OEM ones had seemed to worn out so I had to use quite alot of force to open them up every time. I wanted to have these open up on their own and I opted with a replacement favoured by many of us on LOC, the following provided by SGS Engineering. https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc2655-lexus-is300-boot-strut I have seen some people on the inter webs replace these with a BMW strut on just one side or sometimes both in order to either save some money as the SGS ones arent the cheapest, or to open up their boots automatically. However I've found through research this presents a few issues. The force for the BMW struts is excessive so while it does open the boot with ease, it takes alot of effort to close the boot also. Secondly especially if only one side is changed, there is unbalanced forces on both sides and this can cause excessive wear of the struts but the boot also doesnt close completely which does not correctly seal the boot from the elements. The benefit of the SGS engineering ones are that its just about enough force to open it and this makes it easy to close, the boot doesn't automatically open but with the addition of springs this is possible. Following on with some advice from Ahmed, I ordered some heavy compression springs as well as some M8 Penny washers. The sizes that fit the SGS struts perfectly were the following. Outside Diameter: 22mm Inside Diameter: 11mm Length: 60mm Blue: (This was for light loads I believe) Penny Washers: M8 x 20mm I got mine from the following eBay links and if you wish to do so you can grab them for there also! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223830215262 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163939882420 After I got these I simply unscrewed the ends of the SGS struts and slotted in some the springs with washers on both ends. Replacing these was fairly simple if not a bit fiddly, the interior ceiling of the boot liner has to come apart slightly via 4 clips. I was able to use my car trim removal kits clip pry tool to unfasten the boot struts with ease and my new ones seemed fit on with some persuasion. Its worth noting that the SGS engineering ones are slightly longer than the OEM so the way to get these to fit is to push the suspended boot a little more further to accommodate the length. Once in, the results speak for themselves. It does open a little slow on my vehicle but I put that down to the spoiler giving the additional weight, I may try adding some new more powerful strings but if it isnt broken I suppose theres no need to fix it 😂 IMG_5866.MOV

This took a huge amount of time to film and edit, but I've finally completed part 1 - the disassembly! Part 2 editing phase begins tomorrow! Enjoy! 😁 Includes: Timing belt Water pump Idler Tensioner Thermostat Spark plugs Valve cover gaskets Cam seals Oil filter Air filter Cabin filter Radiator and hoses (aftermarket) Radiator coolant Engine Oil Premieres at 9:45pm tonight!

I watch quite a few of this chaps you tube stuff - seems like a nice guy and test some interesting cars. He's quite a big Lexus fan and has had various models he has bought, done up and sold through his garage. Noticed this one recently which you may be interested in if you own an LC500 or are a prospective purchaser. Should You Buy a LEXUS LC500? (Test Drive & Review) - YouTube

Recently, the blower motor on my IS250 started to make a horrible rumbling sound which was more prominent at higher settings but gradually got worse. A new motor from Lexus is pushing £500 and one from a breaker about £70 to £100. Of course a used one might end up the same depending on mileage. A quick look on Youtube found the following video on removing and dismantling the fan. I took his advice and bought a couple of small ball bearings and fitted them but they didn't work and were very noisey. I removed the 2 bronze bushes and measured them and the shaft from the fan. The shaft was approx 8mm and the bushes had an inside diameter slightly bigger but had worn badly causing the fan to rock. The outside diameter of the bushed was 14mm and about 14.5mm long. A search resulted in finding a supplier of new oilite self lubricating bushes but imperial. 5/16 x 9/16 x 3/4 which are very close. So having bought two of these and some new Starlock washers, I basically started an 8mm drill through the center to slightly enlarge the hole and kept trying them for a fit over the shaft until it was a smooth fit. Next I had to reduce the outside diameter a fraction so I could press them into the plastic carrier in the coil windings. Assembled everything with a new Starlock washer and the fan is now whisper quiet. All done for just over £10. One other thing is that the guy in the video describes the circular disc under the locking washer as a thrust washer. It is actually magnetic and I think has a part to play in the electronics so don't break it. I also took out the top washer of three at the bottom of the shaft and put a copper washer so the flanged bush would bear and run on that. Taking the fan out and pulling apart can be done in minutes. Links to video and suppliers below. The whole process is much easier than reading the above would have you believe. https://www.hendersonbearings.co.uk/catalog/product/view/id/74546 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163259494535

Both the XE & XF are classed as executive sports saloons which are superb to drive with excellent handling, whereas the ES 300h can hardly be classed as sporty as it is at least 2 secs slower for the 0-60mph than the Jaguars which both also have a top speed of around 155mph, but where can you do that in this country. The only reason for wanting to switch back to the XF after having 2 XE's was to have more room inside, but that was not to be. At least with the ES I will have a lot more safety features which would have been very expensive options on the Jaguars and the fuel economy greatly enhanced from around 35mpg to around 50+ mpg. Also the ES seems more luxurious but I will miss the real leather seats and the Jaguar roar when accelerating away. I think Jaguar will be doing away with their saloons and as you have said, they have already done away with their new XJ that was planned, and I think this is the beginning of the end for them in favour of only SUV's which I detest. I was told that the delivery for an XF was at least 12 months and could be cancelled at any time without notice, hence my decision was to walk away from them and purchase an ES 300h Premium and as I am now a lot older, speed is not important to me but luxury, safety and reliability with an excellent warranty is.

The 450s do seem to be on a quicker track than the 350s for some reason. As I have a 350 on order, I think that's a disgrace. If I had a 450 on order I'd think it was entirely reasonable 😀

this is just brilliant .......... over 22 years driving a Ls400 people have been in quite some awe of me and my car ... well, the car really that long ago coz they were new and rare to be seen on the roads . then a bit more common . but now, again in awe coz it's so rare to see one on the roads I've probably driven 250k miles over those years in a Ls400 .... I've enjoyed supreme comfort, style, reliability, power and acceleration at Will and by the bucket load .. and enjoyed every single moment of my motoring, the UK, Ireland and much of Europe ....... Ok there's a few dings from time to time and this old lady is now a quite presentable but Cat N ...........4 ltr V8 limo I would earnestly encourage you to drive your cars to the fullest you can, to enjoy every minute of owning your car and not to worry too much about the inevitable odd dings and dents Life is for living and one fine day it will all come to a sudden STOP ...... so Just get out there and ENJOY ........ it's so important to do so ... don't live to regret not enjoying your car Malc

All my servicing is done by Lexus MK on an annual basis as I no longer do sufficient mileage. It also means I can coordinate it with the MoT. I appreciate the convenience of being able to plan ahead on an annual basis and, originally, having it done on the basis of a Service Plan.

I get my wipers from Blades direct. Last lot I had seemed better than Bosch, and cheaper. Just ordered new ones for my LS400, so hopefully as good as before LS460 (wiper set)

I remember the days when the Walls Ice Cream man rode around our locale with one of those Malc

Coming along nicely, just needs some good pics of the outside 😉

It can get a bit noisy I suppose, but only when the car is under hard acceleration, not all the time. On any given journey it may be a bit noisy for 5% of the time, which means it's not noisy for 95% of the time. Are you really saying that you can't live with that?

I have the same problems at petrol pumps, even when i park right up against the pump is a large car, van,or truck parks at the pump opposite i sometime can't open the door far enough to get in.

Ok so it is most likely sat-nav which is faulty, or somehow corrupted during the update (maybe before you got the car), or card contacts damaged. I guess there is slim chance that contacts are just dirty, but that is quite unlikely - you can try contact cleaner and carefully dab with the cotton buds (although the port is so small I am not sure how you get in there), then blow it with compressed air. I am not sure there is much else you can do, perhaps previous owner was switching cards for it to work in EU and UK and damaged something. In short it is only Lexus who can advise what is wrong. Now that car is 6 years old and Lexus Relax does not cover sat-nav (parts excluded -e. multimedia system), so it may be costly repair. However as Len has said, Lexus navigation is very poor so I am not sure it is even worth fixing it. I know the feeling that it is annoying when something doesn't work, but in this case it is really not worth fixing it. I know there are entire replacement systems with android, which provides genuine look and wide-screen. The cost is ~£400-600 and perhaps that would be better way to go. e.g. https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/blog/10-25-lexus-rc-android-head-unit-hd-touch-screen-upgrade-factory-screen-replacement/ Not sure how long ago you got the car, but if not long ago you may be able to discuss this with seller and agree that they will cover the costs of repair (ideally replacement with android unit), or part of it.

Mine's a Ls400 so will probably be different size to yours ! Just measure the existing ? I generally go for the simplest cheapest functional rubbers these days as they will be ok for another year I'm sure The last set of brilliant Lexus / Toyota Main Dealer supplied rubbers weren't of the same quality as in earlier times . previously a set lasted 3/4 years and 30/40k miles .. the last set I bought from the Main Dealer only lasted a year ... they dumbed down on quality methinks but still, unjustifiably, charged a huge premium quality price Malc

very informative posts! and great mods!

Thanks Caspa - I'll pop into Kwikfit again today and show them.

Welcome to the LOC! I'd 100% agree with Herbie. Drive it and enjoy it thoroughly! It would seem a shame just to let it out only now and again. I'd only dream of having a car history like yours. Keep it garaged of course when at home. Get it secured as much as you can. Keep it detailed well. Cherish it. Enjoy those moments on country lanes or motorways when you can. When you get that nod from a passer by that "gets it" it'll be worthwhile!!👍🏽

I have a 2019 infrared with black interior also, a real eye catcher. For everyday short trips I use my SUV that is well protected on the door panels. My concern with the LC for everyday is parking as the car is pristine and I want to keep it that way at least for now. I am paranoid of someone dinging the door panel.

Since my accident, I noticed my front and rear plates were a little mismatched and my OCD naturally kicking in I felt the need to replace these. On top of this I always found the oversized plate provided by Lexus for the back never looked quite right. I took the opportunity to order some fresh Aluminium pressed plates from https://www.number1plates.com/ . They were reasonably priced and I managed to get a few pounds off and they arrived a few days after. I also wanted to get a number plate surround as I hated the look of the number plate screws and wanted to have something cleaner. I have noticed that people have many different branded Number Plate surrounds and there was one available for Lexus's too, however I never really took to that as it had the additional L logos which I didn't think were necessary or symmetrical. I'll link that below incase anyone Is interested in it. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174213889416?hash=item288ff4fd88:g:UiIAAOSwr9BfHAz8 This one I did spot on eBay and it really caught my eye for obvious reasons. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323883042039 It had the F sport motif, it wasn't too in your face and I liked the simplicity to it. Once ordered it arrived a few days later and it was onto fitting it alongside my new pressed plates. Unfortunately I didnt quite read the instructions and I managed to break the tabs a little on the new surround, Doh! Aside from that getting the rear plates on was extremely difficult as the original plastic screws broke off and I ended up drilling new holes. There was alot of adhesive stuck behind the old plates so it required alot of persuasion to eventually get it off and the new surround on. With the front I had to break the old plate just to get it off as one of the screw heads managed to break off also. This was easier to secure however as it just took a 10mm screw / nut. Once on they looked absolutely great, you can just about notice where I broke the number plate surrounds but its not worth me ordering a replacement! I'll perhaps get some plastic weld or super glue and sort that out when I get a few moments spare... At the very least if I need to swap the plates it is a heck of alot easier in the future, plus I think they look far smarter and cleaner.

@Lexiguyi see. what abt the cd player, can it play mp3 cd or just old fashioned cd

I have to agree, I like the standard system, I have tried the DAB, Apple Music, Spotify, and the apple radio app on the system and they all sound really good.

I have had both colours - Sonic Titanium (ST) on my previous NX and Sonic Grey (SG) on my current one. I liked the ST very much and may well have chosen it again but I fancied a change. The SG is quite dark so be aware of that. Both do tend to change their appearance in different light - the ST more so, due to it being lighter. It's a bit early to tell if the SG hides dirt and grime but I found that the ST did that quite well. Hope this helps.

It is also possible with the 350h. The app allows the individual seat heaters, the steering wheel, the front screen, the rear screen and the interior temperature to be set. I tested it on the steering wheel but it will apparently start if you demand interior heat or a high load so not tested that yet. I can also tell you that setting the seat heater and the steering wheel heater on auto works a treat. It varies the temps according to the interior heat setting. The steering wheel is fully heated on this NX unlike the previous version which was just the sides.

Rear seats…... I gave a lift home to two friends after dinner last night. Baby seat installed behind passenger front seat. I was about as far forward (and upward as rear passenger feet have to go under seat) as I could be and still be able to drive competent I’m 5’10 14 stone. I don’t think I could have driven a long distance like that. So ended up a mate who’s about 6’1 and 18 stone in the front who seemed fine, and another about 5’5/ 14 stone in the back behind me and he wasn’t a happy bunny for much of it I can tell you. He admitted I was a lot quicker and cheaper than an Uber though.

It'll polish out. [ An oldie but a goldie. ]

Hi all, Quick update further to my visit and discussions this week at STG. Sorry for War and Peace in advance, its all relevant I hope. This process has already and will continue to involve lots of the right resources, work in development time and testing/refinement to get this to where we need it to be. Lots has been spent in order to get to where we will be as a group at the end of the month. The bonus byproduct of this will be a UK company having new expertise in performance manifold production to our UK and wider European F community. What are the next (high level) steps? As we all want to make an informed decision with rolling road results; Rolling road sessions booked; To establish a baseline on a stock 2008 ISF with the aftermarket STG exhaust & no other mods. Test fit and check calculations for the new headers to confirm the precision engineered components for future scalable batch production which in turn lowers your purchase cost. Remaining rolling road sessions; To look at the gains using the same 2008 ISF with the new manifolds/headers and primary sport cats. To look at the gains using the same 2008 ISF with the new manifolds/headers no cats. Final session to look at the gains using the same 2008 ISF with performance induction including larger MAF housing and RR Racing tune. High level specifications of the production run released. Timelines In terms of timelines the above should all be completed by early-mid May. At this point STG should be ready for the start of a limited production run. I want to know more If you are looking to purchase one or more units within the production run of headers, this will require a deposit of £400 at STG. This is fully refundable - up until the point that the units go into production. The greater the number of units that can be purchased in this batch the lower the production costs can be. To manage expectations, it is likely that the per unit price will be around £2-2.5K per set (volume dependent) and this has been based on the interest in this current thread. Bear in mind that this will be a limited production run using someone that is experienced in this application. More orders during this run will ensure a lower production cost, and resulting lower cost per unit. If specialist finishes are required ie. ceramic coating, this will be additional. Later production runs are not planned but potentially possible based on the blueprint, research, development and testing via STG. Fitting is optional and if required needs to be discussed with STG directly. Due to the variety of requirements specific owners may have (new cats, new exhaust etc.), the headers can be shipped to you at cost. Is this right for you? The stock manifolds are known to crack and as our mileages and age of the vehicle increase - if not required now, you may want this in the future. Compared to what you could get elsewhere, equivalent headers (PPE as an example) would be £1,600-£1,800 (exchange rate dependent) plus shipping and import duties @£500. If you have recently purchased an ISF, this along with an exhaust and tune is one of the more desired HP gains (excluding Turbos or superchargers.) especially if you want a little more poke combined with a lovely oral experience. You have an IS-F and money burning a hole in your wallet. You are thinking of buying the entire production run to sell at a markup at a later date. Note to the moderators: This is not an advert for services, simply an informed guide of what is new and now available based on information provided to me and my current experience. To be clear, I have not, nor will I make any money or commission on this (more fool me) 😪🤧 The satisfaction of knowing this will provide value to me and fellow passionate F owners (🤢) is enough. Thanks for reading! 🙂