NigeSt

I did something very similar in my old IS 200, with a similar amount of damage, in a similar place. I took the car along to a place called 'Bak2Nu' in Swindon. Despite their dubious business name they did a fantastic repair - immaculate - for 120 quid. I was extremely pleased. Thanks, Nige

Looks great, those 18" wheels look fab. Wish I could get a sports grille out here, the standard one is frumpy. Is your car really an IS 200 S - is the S available with full leather? More likely an SE I would have thought. BTW, watch your rims on those kerbs Cheers, Nige

Diesel is cheaper at the pump because it's s'sposedly 'green', so there's a public demand for diesels, but the public also want performance, so the manufacturers develop high performance diesel engines, these engines have equivalent fuel consumption to petrol engines when exploited (even if they sound like a tractor), but then the government spots that it's policy has worked and everyone has switched to diesels, but now its tax income is falling, so the diesel price is hiked to bring back the status quo, except everyone has been suckered into converting to diesels :duh: I'd rather the car companies invested the R&D into getting more efficient petrol engines or hybrids. Think of the progress that could have been made if they weren't pumping money into oil burners. Fortunately, though gas (sorry, petrol) prices are rising here in the US, it's still much cheaper than the UK, and diesel cars are thankfully rare. My next car will be petrol, BTW, maybe a gas-guzzling Hummer :winky: Nige

Go for L3X CP, though the espionage implications of the M16 XUS are not receiving fair credit ;-) Cheers, Nige

Thanks, apparently Gliptone is American so theres a chance I can get it California. Exactly which products do you use? Conditioner or cleaner? Cheers, Nige

Hi, This is my first car with leather, and considering the blazing sunshine out here, I'm keen to take care of it. I'm bought the requisite Meguiars for the outside, but notice Meguiars also have products for looking after the leather too. There's a choice of Gold Class Rich Leather wipes, foam and aloe enriched cleaner and conditioner. Does anyone have any experience of these products? How often should I treat the leather? The leather is my car is black and I don't want to discolour it with the wrong product, or damage its durability. Thanks, Nige

Hope things work out Chris, Lexus are losing an ambassador for the brand. Good luck! Nige

Having had to sell my IS to move out to the US, I've just been through the 'what to buy?' round. We have a <bland mobile> for family outings so thought seriously about getting somthing more interesting for my daily commute. I came *very* close to buying a 2004 spec Honda S2000 until the dealer told me the car being sold to me 'as new' had had its seats nicked while on the forecourt. This put me right off. Apparently theft is an issue as the parts fit the entire Honda range :( My second runner up was a Mini Cooper S Works, just for the hoot, but the rattles wound me up, and that was just on the test drive! I also thought about Audi TT (too expensive for what they are), Audi A3 S4 (too expensive for what they are), BMW Z4 (too expensive for what they are), a Porsche Boxster (just too expensive ), Nissan Z350 (wrong badge ). In the end I came back to the IS: great car, great value, great dealers, plenty of poke in 300 guise and practical and luxurious with it :) My advice, stick with your IS. You'd only want it back if you sell. Nige

Hi, I sold my previous Royal Sapphire Blue IS 200 S to Lexus Oxford for a quick sale when I emigrated to the USA. I sold it to the dealer in February and I checked occassionally online and saw it sat on the forecourt for a couple of months or so. Anyway, it seems to have been sold in late April / early May. The car was basically a IS 200 S but with 17" 5-spoke SE / Sport wheels, sports grille, and with 25K miles on the clock. It was a great car and I wouldn't have sold it had I not been moving abroad. Let me know if you bought it, I'd like to think it went to a good home Nige

And why no manual IS 300? Nige

Hi folks, Some of you may remember me (Nige aka 'Snips'). I joined the club in 2003 and came along to few meets in my blue IS 200. I disappeared from the scene at the end of last year when I decided to upsticks and relocate to Northern California. Unfortunately this meant selling my cherished IS 200 Well, 5 months later, I'm now out in California, and just beginning to get settled. The relevant news is that I picked up a brand new IS 300 last week :D Here's a link to my car in the LOC garage: Nige's car in LOC garage I'd always said that I'd jump at a manual IS 300 when I was in the UK, but in the end, with a longish commute I decided to do the American thing an opt for an auto. I'm looking forward to playing with the E-shift after I've taken it easy for the first 1000 miles. The IS 300 is the only engine size available here, but with a different model range: manual, E-shift (which is the auto) and the Sportscross 'stationwagon' The manual is a 5-speed. I might have been more tempted if it was the 6-speed box used in the UK. The sales guys here can't believe we have a 2 litre IS 200 in the UK, and then don't believe it's a 6-cylinder :duh: Other odd differences: The colours here are much more mundane, most people go for white, silver or black. There was a blue car available but the interior was a mish mash (cream half leather, black and silver dash). I went for a silver car with full black leather interior On the subject of colours, the blue I saw was the 'old' Royal Sapphire Blue' (which I had in the UK) and not the newer dark blue that replaced the blue in the UK. There's also a washed out metallic blue over here that looks absolutely dreadful - like a primer coat. The door mirrors don't have electric folding - I don't know why but it seems a useful feature to drop from the US model. There are far fewer accessories available so looks like I'll need to acquaint myself with TRD. The IS here has additional side lights on the bumper corners. It also has DRLs (Daytime Running Lights), Volvo style. The rear boot fogs are also used as brake lights and rear lights so no 'rear fog conversion' required over here :) Currently the car looks 'soft' and needs a little modding. I now need to resume my quest for some front corner spats, even if I have to pick some up next time I'm in the UK! Hope you're all having fun back in Blighty. Cheers, Nige

Hi, Please could someone post a link as to where to order the 2004 calendar. Thanks in advance, Nige

Hey guys, I'm a lapsed club member (aka Snips) :-( I dropped out when my life was taken over by a relocation to California - this weekend was my last in the UK for a while. I was driving back home this afternoon from visiting family to say goodbye. I was on the A34 heading towards Oxford when a line of Soarers came past my Vauxhall Astra hire car. You didn't notice me but you all looked and sounded great I had to take time to check the site and see what you guys had been up to. Of course it was Gaydon... Glad to see you having fun. I'll be back driving a Lex asap, and I'll post photos ;-) enjoy the Summer meets, wish I could be there. Cheers, Nige

Hi, These wheels have now been reserved. Thanks, Nige