ridgersIS300

Thanks very much, was a brilliant day

Right, need a rant, and this is the best place to put it!

Basically, my insurers (like the rest of the insurance industry!) are complete :tsktsk: takers. Profiteering scum who's sole purpose in life is to rip off the hardworking consumer! I'm quite happy to name and shame - 1st Central are the rip off merchants in question!

And the reason for my rant - well, basically I called my insurers to tell them that my partner, who is named on my policy, is now my wife and had taken my surname so I needed to get it changed on my policy. 'there is a £30 admin charge for that' was the reply. I asked for a breakdown of the 'admin charge' as I thought it was excessive for only changing a surname. I was told that they were not obliged to give me a breakdown. 'so basically your ripping me off' I said! To add insult to injury she then said that my premium was going to go up from £39 a month to £50 a month because of the amendment to the policy. Now, hang on a minute, I thought when you got married things like your insurance were meant to come down!!!!

At this point I was fuming so after a heated discussion I said I wanted to cancel, only to be told that if I wanted to do that there would be a £50 charge and an additional £49 charge to 'set up' the cancelation!

So.... To 1st Central Insurance - you really are a bunch of thieves who think of nothing but the £ sign! The only reason I have not cancelled is because, like hundreds of others, I am in a catch 22 where you are going to rip me off whatever I do! I assure you, I will never ever take a policy out with your corrupt company again. I bet you charge your own staff a £30 admin charge to take a *****!!!!

Roll on renewal time

Rant over. (mods if this breaks any rules please remove)

Where would this meet be? Ie which end of Staffordshire?

Well I'm fresh back off my honeymoon in Antigua, and this is the first opportunity I've had to say a huge huge thankyou to Steve for being my 'chauffeur' to my wedding. Steve, your car is lovely, super smooth!.... And that V8, don't get me started on that V8!!!

When Steve arrived he was suited and booted and his Lexus was dressed in ivory ribbons. What an absolute gent! I haven't got a photo to put up just yet as the photographer is editing all the photos as we speak. It may be a month or so, but just wanted to show my appreciation.

So in the meantime I have a couple of pics of our other wedding car to show you. I was surprised to find that she rode a lot better than some modern cars, no joke! And of course, a quick pic of me and my new wife.....

Lastly, Mr & Mrs Ridgers...

Steve - sincere thanks once again. I will get the photo over to you just as soon as I have it.

Mate, the finish from a machine polish simply cannot be matched by hand polishing. If you use the right cutting compounds etc you can remove swirl marks light surface scratches etc

I agree that the cheap ones are terrible. But if i were you I'd go for one which is dual action. Less chance of burning the paintwork. May I suggest the kestrel das 6 - read some reviews, excellent piece of kit and can be had for around 80 quid

Well my car came back from the bodywork shop today and they did a really good job. Apparently the car had a wash after the work was done. Hmmm, certainly wasn't to my standards lol! So bought her back and spent all afternoon giving her some attention....

Apologies for pic quality, light was disappearing fast and they were taken on my phone.

Got the DA polisher out to get a deep finish on the paintwork. Left side hasn't been polished and the right side has. It's hard to tell the difference in the photo as it was still holding up well from the last time I polished it a month or so ago.

One thing that was starting to irritate me was the headlights. They were starting to turn yellow and faded. So a quick polish with some Autosmart Evo 3 and To me it's a lot better :-)

Before: the photo doesn't pic up the discolouration very well...

After:

Products used (in the order I used them)

Autosmart shampoo

Autosmart non acidic wheel cleaner

Autosmart G101

Autoglym HD cleanser (strips back the previous wax/polish etc)

Autosmart Smartool polisher

Autosmart Evo 3 compound & Evo 1 fine compound

Autoglym HD wax

Autosmart 20/20 glass cleaner (amazing stuff btw!)

Autoglym bumper & trim gel

Autosmart Tyre dandy

Hopefully will tackle the interior tomorrow :-)

Congrats mate! I'm sure Steve's LS will give that 1924 Roller a run for its money :P

Lol they are both lovely cars in their own rights. Here's a quick pic of the Rolls...

I said to the missus that she could organise every part of the wedding accept for the wedding car, that was my job :-)

No not that high, what I meant was 20% would be too much for them to take off. :-)

Well, we have ourselves a wedding car for the groom and best man. Thanks once again Steve :-) we'll get some pics up no doubt

Gumtree is just as bad.... I put an old camera On there for £20 and within a couple of hours I had 3 scam emails. They wanted me to send a crappy camera to Africa! The postage would've been more than it was worth lol!

20% - I would say so. They normally have a minimum of £1000-1500 profit margin on a forecourt price.

Right, well, I absolutely love my IS300. It's the only girl who has managed to put a grin on my face everytime I slip into her! (the car I mean!) The car's a minter too - 2003, 105k miles, 12 Lexus service stamps, cambelt @ 67k and not a squeak to the ear!........ The thing is, I find myself looking more and more at the GS300 and the more I look the more I want one! It seems to have the same performance (same engine?!) and economy, same tax, same insurance etc as my car but could it possibly be more comfy and luxurious as the IS I already have???

Realistically my budget would be £3000 after selling my car and throwing some extra cash into it. Would I be able to get a mint GS for 3k that is as reliable and a similar age with full service history as what I already have?

should I buy the bigger brother???

I really hate this Lexus bug! And there is nothing you can take to cure it!

Exactly! I bought mine because I loved the technology. It was also quite practical, comfy and would never drop below 50mpg. Brakes last about 70k miles and services are fixed at Yaris prices. Cheap to run!

But wont stir the soul like an IS

Amen maverick

My Prius was odd though as it had two.

A PRUIS! you should be ashamed of yourself lol

Hah! I loved it. One of the best cars I've ever owned. Such a nice day to day motor.

Picking up my IS later today, looking forward to it!

Agree. A Prius is a very good car. Forget the 'green' image, the technology behind it is amazing! People think Prius owners want to save the world etc but I know a couole that drive them just for the technology alone. I very nearly bought one. I wasn't bothered about mpg, lower emissions etc. I was tempted more by the practicality

Does anyone know where I can get one of these bumper protector things just above where the exhaust fits? Been looking absolutely everywhere but can't find anything......

I'm sure you would have covered it, but make sure you get the money before getting the work done- I wouldnt be keen on letting her settle the bill once its been done...

(in case she changes her mind and then you are left to foot it and denies it was her- 'if you havent told your insurance co already' you mighthave ajob getting it sorted).

J

She sent me a cheque and didn't want to get it repaired until it had cleared which it will on fri so taking it in then. I could've got it repaired out my own pocket but didn't fancy the cheque bouncing and then doing loads of chasing

Can't use my Lexus cos it will already be at the reception venue the night before. Also, I wouldn't let ANYONE drive my lexi!!! Lol

Wendle - that's a shame cos your GS is simply stunning matey

Well, it is fast approaching. I'm getting married a week on Saturday

We have a stunning 1924 Rolls Royce limo as a wedding car. It's one of only two still running in the country and featured in the tv series Poirot or something.

Anyhow, the Rolls will be taking the bride/father and bridesmaids to the church etc, but the groom, aka me, is getting a lift with the parents in there 2010 cee'd SW. Now, although a very lovely car in its class, I want to travel in something a bit more, well.... Something that stands out more. A guy across the road from me has a beautiful two-tone TVR T350. I was cheeky and asked if he fancied taking the groom to church (which is literally half a mile away), sadly though he will be away with his family that weekend (gutted).

So....... Is anyone local to me (Derby) and has something a little different, unique or something that will look good in ribbons and free on 18th aug to do me a little favour??? I can't offer any money for services however I will happily pay fuel money.

Failing that, anyone else got any other ideas? A hire car is out the question

Thanks in advance......

(apologies if posted in the wrong forum)

I agree with you Phil, the diamond cut alloys need to go on specialist machinery. When I was getting quotes for my alloys they all said it would bump the price up by 20-30 quid a corner due to the machine finish

Jeeze only asked lol!

Martin, Have you tried to put some washers ... on the bolts so it will keep it tight through the rusted big holes?

Good thinking batman! Rubber washers may work even better, absorb more of the vibration?

How did the course go????

It was great ... loads of info to take in ... so camera was out recording advice so I can go back to it if I forget something hehehe.

It just makes you realise that every person does it different and also that what ever you see on YouTube is not always the most effectve or 100% correct way of doing things.

Was there at 9:30 and finished at 19:30!!! lol so you get an idea!

Next day I have repolished my shot bonnet ... and managed to hide the paint problems better and applied two coats of Zaino Z2 Pro Sealant with 12 hours between coats!! This stuff is amazing!!!

Loads if gloss, depth and after driving through some prety rough motorway storms the car is still clean!! lol

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Have you put a post up on DW? Where did you get those halo lights from? Soooo tempted to do that, it looks awesome!

To cut a long story short I decided to do 3 0-60 runs in my IS300. Now Lexus say it'll do 0-60 in approx 8.2 secs. But on all 3 runs I did it in around 7 secs. The only thing not standard is a powerflow cat back exhaust, but that's not for performance just a bit more noise :-)

I put the video up on YouTube to prove it

(mods please delete if this breaks any rules, not done intentionally)

Is it just me being biased or was that quicker than 8.2? I was on a flat road not going downhill :-p

Is it safe to remove the heat shield near the back box on my car?

It's rattling like hell and doing my head in. I've tried tightening it but the bolts have rusted heavily and pretty much just go through the holes now!

I'm guessing it's there for a reason, but I ripped one off the centre section of an old banger once and for the next 12 months nothing was different :-/