DAW

Hi Dave nice choice of wheels!! Just for your info re the powder coating wheel refurb. A friend recently bought a car which had refurbished powder coated wheels. After about a thosand miles he noticed a vibration when braking which got progressively worse. Got the brakes inspected with no issues found so did some research and contacted a guy who races cars and specialises in brakes. Having got the guy to checked the car he confirmed that there was no issue with the brake discs etc, but found that there was excessive powder coating to one of the rear wheels on one side of the contact area with the hub. The guy skimmed the coating to flatten the contact surface and the issue has been resolved. I hadn't heard about anything like this before, never having had powder coated wheels, so just thought this may be useful info for anyone considering it.

A friend has just bought a very nice GTS and having driven it I have to agree with Stuart. That said I think the Quattroporte is one of the best looking large saloons to have been produced and I much prefer it to the current version together with a lot of the competition. The interiors are stylish and are a very special place to be with plenty of space. I was surprised by how small the boot was for a car of this size - It would rule one out for me purely from a practical perspective (probably a reflection of the front/mid engine setup). But they are fun to drive for such a large car, with light communicative steering, and I could listen to the roar from the engine at higher revs all day (gave me goose bumps!! - just brilliant). However imo they are just not as agile as the smaller saloons and the brakes and engine torque were less impressive when compared with the ISF. It very much depends on what your priorities are and for me they are just not dynamic enough. My friend had an E46 M3 before and was tired of the firm ride on our less than perfect roads. He loves the Maserati and I can totally see why. That said he has already had an issue with the CD player not working, which to be fair may equally be due to the age of the car. I just hope this car doesn't prove as unreliable as Maserati's of old because he will need very deep pockets to keep it running from what he has told me!!. We all buy cars based on our own preferences so go and drive one (if you haven't already) because its a great car. I'm sure you will enjoy the experience whether you decide to buy one or not!! Let us know what you decide and what you think of the car.

Having had same major bills on German cars I did a lot of research on the ISF before buying one. Other than the water pump issue mentioned above they really don't seem to suffer from any serious weaknesses. The only reference I ever found relating to a gearbox was on an Australian forum where one failed straight after the delivery of the new car to its owner and this was immediately replaced by Lexus. There are large numbers of these cars being run in the US and there was no mention of any gearbox issues on their forums. I took out the Lexus extended warranty to cover the only other issue I read about at the time, which was the occasional fogged zenon head lamp unit. These are are expensive to replace and because the warranty also comes with breakdown cover including Europe it seemed pretty good value to me. As has already been mentioned above kerbing your wheels is more of a concern to most of us because the twin colour coating is difficult to match, which means its usually easier to refurb all 4 wheels. The only other minor issue to be aware of (similar to the BMW 3 series E46) is age/mileage softened front suspension bushes which result in inside front tyre wear which is worth checking because obviously the tyres are not cheap. I've had my car since 2014 and it really hasn't missed a beat. I honestly can't think of another car of this type which comes close to the ISF's reliabilty. Do the research on its competitors and I'm sure you will agree!!

Saw a friend yesterday who also has an ISF and apparently his local dealership in Devon have booked his car in for the airbag recall work. They want the car for the day and were organising a courtesy car for him. So the parts must now be arriving reasonably soon!!

Same hear not a peep!!

Hi Andy did you resolve your boot button issue?

Hi Peter, great article and photos and nice for you to have a life long reminder of the car. Can't be many people who can say that!!

HI Peter, glad you are hanging onto the F, for a while at least, and look forward to checking out the article in Banzai. Managed to be on holiday for both the Bluewater meets since I joined the club, so hopefully will still now get the opportunity to see the car in the flesh at some point. I'm sure you'll also be pleased to hear that I'm now seriously considering getting the RR-Racing USRS given all the very positive feedback - my 1st mod!! I look forward to hearing about your visit to RR-Racing and on your progress with the headers etc.

I haven't come across any other way to lock the boot beyond what you have already tried. I did have a boot locking issue last year where the boot remained unlocked when I locked the car, and locked when I unlocked the car. This seemed to have been triggered by opening the boot from the key, when the car was locked, which seemed to confuse the locking system. Thankfully I eventually got it back in sync after repeated attempts with the key and the buttons on the drivers door (single/double presses). Unfortunately I have no idea what finally worked or whether it was the car itself that resolved it. I asked Lexus to check it at the next service but they couldn't find any faults or reproduce the issue and the fault hasn't reoccurred to date. Might be worth further attempts as described above, but as you said, could just be the switch. My Lexus dealer didn't charge me for checking so may just be simpler to take it in.

I had the notification letter through a few weeks ago as well. Had the car serviced weekend before last and was also told that the parts haven't arrived yet. Apparently its not unusual for recall parts to take several months to arrive so we may have a bit of a wait.

Thanks Peter thats very helpful to know. I would just hate to spoil what is already a great car, having made a mistake previously.

The RR Racing USRS seems like a really well manufactured product and a sensible idea just to help prevent any inside tyre wear. I had a similar problem with a BMW E46 330 sport which was known for this issue. My local dealer had a minimum stock of 80 pairs of oil filled suspension bushes because they needed replacing on roughly a three year cycle. On a friends recommendation I replaced them with neoprene bushes rather than the BMW stock items and I have to say it made the car very twitchy and tiring to drive, especially on poor road surfaces. I would be very interested to know, from those of you who have the USRS's fitted, what your opinions are on how much they change the steering over standard and if its likely to cause similar issues to my 330??. I am unlikely to ever use my car on a track so I am mainly interested in how the car handles on the road and if it changes the steering drastically. As I said these seem like a really good idea, but I dont want to make the same mistake I made with my 330 and given how little mileage I do (2k/yr) is it worth it re tyre wear? I realise that this will be purely down to personal preference and is completely subjective, but thanks for your views in advance anyway.

I'm only doing about 2k a year, but I am having it serviced yearly because that's the service interval required by Lexus. It makes sense to me from a resale perpective, as discussed above, and because I have the extended warranty. I also have a service plan which includes free MOT's so makes sense to get them both done at the same time in case there are any issues (unlikely I know!!).

Hi Peter - well deserved!! the car looks stunning.

Late 2011 - 10200

Nice job Peter and thanks for the info!!

I use nitogen in my tyres and like others have mentioned, find there is pretty much no loss of pressure compared with air filled. A friend had recommended nitrogen on this basis and I too was surprised, after initially repeated checks, that the pressures did indeed remain remarkably consistant. For me this consistancy was the most important reason for doing it to optimise tyre wear, safety and fuel economy etc. There may not be any other advantages to using nitrogen compared with air, but an advantage is exactly that and there don't seem to be any disadvantages other than the time and minmal cost of getting it done (providing you are not getting scammed of course!!).

Welcome to the club, Nice car - looks very shiny!! I'm sure you will a lot of fun on your way home from picking it up!!

Congratulations and wlecome to the club. I'm sure you'll have fun travelling home tomorrow!!

I second that!!

Hi Mike, again Clementine is the original colour for his car. I suspect you would have much in common & plenty to talk about!! I hope you are enjoy the contrast of the ISF!

Hi Mike my friend was very impressed by your beetle and tells me he thinks the colour is Brilliant Orange (L20B) not Clementine (L20D) like his. He then suggested he should get his coat and leave for being such an anorak!!. Lol

It was my friends first car as well and he has also rebuild his, along with a couple of other and a camper van over the years. He is always off to shows to pick up parts etc. He also currently helping out with a friends beetle which is being rallied at various events including the Goodwood Festival of speed. I know he will be interested to see the pictures. It looks like it's in good nick you have clearly looked after it. Funny it's so similar to his . I think his is clementine - will have to check!!

Hi Pete, you have certainly been busy!! Will be worth it when you see your car in print though even if it has added some pressure. Looking forward to hearing the revised exhaust setup.

Wow I do love that colour. It was my preferred choise if I could have found one with black leather. A friend will be interested to see the beetle as he has owned one in a similar colour since he was 17.