g00se

I love SGS kit..  my garage workshop is littered with their stuff. Good prices and good quality.

goose

ps. no i dont work for them :)

19 minutes ago, Assa1974 said:

Good thread. I've gone for those valve caps now too! What mud flaps have you got, out of interested?

Thanks Assa1974...  I went for these, again from fleabay but genuine Lexus parts so fit and quality are awesome: -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251936471906?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I like them as they add just a smidge of girth to the narrow "legs" of the RX.

goose

6 minutes ago, Haken8 said:

Hi Goose

May I ask where you sourced your Lexus logo valve caps from? I have been trying to get a replacement for a missing one with no success since I bought the car

I too was missing a couple of caps, so I just went with these off the bay: -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-STYLE-DUST-VALVE-CAPS-BLACK-x-4-UK-Stock-/172208943926?hash=item281873f336:g:o~8AAOSwVcFXOfUJ

goose

Hi all, this is more for my own tracking benefit than anything else..  but I thought some of you may be interested in my experiences.

So in order they were completed:-

Car bought end of Jan 16...

1. Feb - Lexus boot lip plastic scuff plate

2. Feb - K&N drop-in air filter

3. Feb - Full white LED interior bulb kit

4. Feb - Bosch Aero wiper retrofit

5. Feb - MTEC Drilled & grooved front disks & brembo pads

6. Mar - White LED puddle lights and clear covers

7. Mar - Rhino UK boot liner (for my Ridgeback)

8. Mar - White LED number plate bulbs

9. Mar - White LED reversing bulbs

10. Apr - Lexus logo valve caps

11. Apr - Lexus number plate surround

12. Apr - Lexus mud guards/spats x4

13. May - De-badge rear

14. May - H&R 20mm rear wheel spacers

15. May - PlastiDip black front upper and lower grilles

Mostly cosmetic, and 95% of people wouldn't even notice the above or know they weren't standard...  and that's exactly what I wanted.

On my to-do and may-do lists are:-

Wheel refurb, or swap for 19" RX450 alloys / MTEC drilled & grooved rear disks with brembo pads / Eibach -25mm springs / Ultra Racing rear ARB / Poly bushes / Harrier mesh grille / and a damn good detailing!

More to follow :)

Goose

On 14/05/2016 at 11:25 AM, Eame64 said:

I have always used dental floss tape and worked it across gently.Then use a hair dryer to heat the glue so you can peel it off.You will need to be patient though.

After that just polish and wax.

 

 

ditto the above.

i try to heat the badge and glue first with the hair dryer, and then use the floss..  that way it takes most of it off on the first attempt.

Then a bit off Auto Glymm Intensive tar and bug remover to get rid of the sticky mess, and wax.

goose

Fair play to you for sticking with this...  I'm pretty sure i would have found someone to sandblast them by now, and just get to stick to the fun stuff like the painting :)

I know a bloke in Reading who does old car panels for £20 each...  he also does bike frames, wheels, floor pans etc

goose

21 hours ago, PCM said:

From another forum, but I really like these lights ...

Lights.

hhmm not a fan...  too high up & inboard for my liking. They need to be low in headlights or bumper, and further out to the corners of the car IMO.

goose

20 minutes ago, ChrisKaye said:

Me and the missus give it a thumbs up Goosey, good job!

cheers Mr and Mrs K...  had a feeling this mod would split the opinions lol

goose

3 hours ago, Eame64 said:

Sorry it took so long to get a picture up goose.

 

Nice - i like this a lot!

The 450 defo makes the 400 look a bubble-but!!

goose

5 hours ago, rayaans said:

Maybe its just the number plate holder overpowering everything lol

fair comment - it does "draw the eye" a lot more on a silver car than it did on my last black car...

i think it was adding that, that then made me feel the rear was a bit cluttered, now its de-badged i don't mind that black plate holder

goose

1 hour ago, rayaans said:

Hmm I wonder what it would look like with a silver edge and just the inside of the grill plastidipped?

That is actually what I intended to do... i thought i'd leave it as is, and peel off the outside chrome bit again when i get bored.

goose

5 hours ago, DanD said:

I was expecting not to like it, but actually, I do!

Thanks - me too.

Honestly - half of me was still unsure even as i was doing it, but i figured what the hell at least its an easily reversible mod.

I now think it makes the car look a little newer..  like the black mesh grilles in the f-sports.

goose

22 hours ago, The-Acre said:

That's a good result, looks professional,  but I've never heard of it.  Do you not need a primer of any kind?

Thanks - nope, no primer...  just a damn good clean then 4 coats with 20-30 mins drying time between each.

goose

1 hour ago, rayaans said:

Dont know. Im in 2 minds. I think it looks a little too bare.

That's a fair comment...  the way i looked at it, was that it says Lexus on the scuff plate, and on my number plate, and it has a big L on the boot..  if people don't know its a Lexus from that, then tough!

As for removing the RX400h...  again the blue L logo on the boot denotes it as a hybrid, plus it says hybrid on both the back doors, so again, tough!

But that's just me :) i prefer a clean look.

goose

5 hours ago, DanD said:

I like it.

Is that a Karman I can see in the background?

Thanks, and yes it is (well, was!!)

goose

Have been watching many youtube clips of people plastidipping everything, so i decided to take a punt on a can from amazon and had a go at my upper and lower grilles at the weekend.

Honestly, it came out better than i thougt it would, and really like the change. Plus if i change my mind I can just peel it off again :)

goose

ps. I have no issue with a little chrome, just prefer not too much..   which is why i peeled off the centre L badge to leave some contrast. Plus i dont want a "murdered-out" Russian gangsta car!

the vote tally came to seven nah's and one aye....   therefore i ignored seven of you (sorry!), and did my own thing anyway :)

goose

On 24/04/2016 at 3:10 PM, Eame64 said:

De-badged mine recently and just left the 450H part on and i think it looks fine.

Will get a pic when i can.

that would be great - thanks!

On 24/04/2016 at 2:22 PM, rayaans said:

What colour is the car? Plastidip only looks right on light colours IMO and it may look slightly odd as you'll be unable to plastidip the Lexus logo due to it being the hybrid version. You could of course make it uniform by debadging that and purchasing an RX300/350 one and plastidipping it.

Another option might be to take a page out of the USA Lexus vehicles. They dont come with a Lexus badge, only the model so you could just debadge the Lexus badge on the left side.

Car is silver. I also like cars with contrast.. figured I'd try the plastidip first, and if i still don't like it I'll de-badge :)

goose

Currently sits at 5 to Leave and 0 to de-badge...  which makes the devil in me want to do it even more lol

Am thinking of trying PlastiDip on them first, to see how that looks... and if i don't like it, i can just peel it off :)

Have also been thinking about 450h black honeycombe mesh in my 400h grille, so maybe I'll try PlastiDip'ing that too first just for sh1ts and giggles

goose

My last decade of car ownership I have been waiting for the driveway to be empty in the mornings...   VW R32 Golf, Audi S4, BMW X5.

Now I own a Lexus I sleep soundly :)

Goose

On 25/03/2016 at 9:38 PM, morph said:

unfortunately my springer pup can get through the gap guard is genuine lexus part

I did buy a boot liner from Rhino UK tho..   material quality is excellent, but for a "tailored" fit, its very average for nearly £100 :/

In my old E70 I had a liner from UKCustomCovers in Southampton, and both quality, fit, and price were awesome, but they don't make one for the Lex :(

Goose

On 30/03/2016 at 6:14 PM, maurice1 said:

I know what you mean, been thinking of changing to led too.

I had to change cigar lighter fuse last week and noticed them.

I put a voltmeter on the 2 wires feeding the black housing around the orange led and it read 8vDC.

I was surprised but may be worth double checking before you purchase.

I was using one of those fluke hand held AVO meters- doesn't go to 1 decimal place

 

In my last rx300 I put in patio LEDS which were about an inch in diameter and 12vDC.

Bought in B&Q in a pack of four, looked quite nice. easy to wire to Lexus blue sill lights

 

do you have any piccies of the above? ^^

22 minutes ago, Assa1974 said:

Ha ha,  I was about to start a very similar thread albeit with a somewhat lower budget. I've got 3 RX400Hs in mind:

2007 / 70K miles - £9,990

2006 / 100K miles - £7,150

2005 / 130K miles - £6,750

They are all SE-Ls and  all have the beige interior, exactly the spec I'm looking for. So the question in my mind is how much of a difference does 30k miles make? Is the 2007 car really worth the best part of £3K more? I was going to go for the 2006 car but the service history is spotty and the dealer doesn't know if the cam belt has been changed, although he's prepared to negotiate on price. The 2005 car has FLSH although it looks like it's missed a couple of services as it's only got 10 stamps. I was thinking that if the 2006 has a good interior (I've struggled to find cars of this age without a lot of scratches and tears or dirty carpets) and I can beat him down to around £6k then it's worth the gamble as it'll go straight into Lexus for a full service anyway. 

Thoughts or advice?

 

IMO that 70k '07 is a bit much..  i just paid £10.5k for an '07 with 49k on the clock.

if you could get the '07 for closer £9k that would be my choice.

goose