B1RMA

Are they the American couple who have posted on Facebook about coming over from the USA this December? I replied but didn't go any further in arranging anything.

I very much doubt it, my Porsche had ceramic brakes (very good) and they were about £4K each and had to be replaced in pairs. Although normal road use gave them a lifespan in excess of 90K miles. The V12 twin turbo AMG I owned before the RCF was due it's C service next year, plugs etc and that was going to be just short of £3K. Makes the RCF as cheap as chips to service.

Naughty dealer, still I guess everyone has to earn a living regardless of their principles. There is a low mileage red RCF at Lexus Poole that I tried, it had the Torque Vectoring Diff and possibly the worst case of swirls in the paintwork in the universe. I drove and loved it, very tidy apart from the paintwork I made an offer on it which they didn't accept but considering the diabolical paintwork it may be worth a punt. If you check used approved Lexus there are quite a few on there from Lexus dealers that red car is £32K

Well I'm not sure how the car at Lexus Poole could possibly heal itself, I have never seen a car which was sitting in bright sunlight with so many swirl marks. I have my doubts that any amount of sunlight will sort that one out. I must admit the few swirl marks on my car were easily removed with only two areas left that maybe require a harder pad. My finished car looks amazing in sunlight and I know that the Ultimate compound I used is clear coat safe but says nothing about self healing.

I have found this problem too where one detailer firmly believes one thing and another detailer thinks something else. Which is why with so many conflicting views I tend to do it myself. In the 10 years I've been bugger**g around with a DA polisher I've found Ultimate Compound very good at removing most paint defects that a rank amateur can engage in, and as I have pretty much idiot proof. The combination of this and Pinnacle Souveran wax has won me one or two awards in the Jap Car Club for the shiniest car (a black RX7) I still have the engraved piston award. My last car had been treated with a film since new, it was like a brand new car so I can say worth every penny. Also when a very large stone hit the bonnet it just marked the film but the paintwork was unmarked.

Must have been all the people clicking on the advert, anything vaguely rare or collectable is going for silly money these days. It'll end in tears for some for sure. I was recently gazzumped on an Alfa Montreal and just walked away.

Very nice but for that budget I could buy a very high spec SLS AMG and a decent spec secondhand Ferrari 488 both right hand drive but compared to the LFA as common as muck. As much as I love the LFA my £400K would go on the above.

I think I'll get a quote for the film as I have first hand experience of just how good it is at protecting the front area of the car. Perhaps the clear coat on my red car is softer, no doubt about it just using a soft pad on the DA and using Ultimate Compound removed 99% of the swirls with very little effort. There are two small areas left with swirl marks so I'm going to use a harder pad to remove them.

You're right of course you can get a bit obsessive about the cars finish. My last car had a clear film applied from the day it was new covering the bonnet, front grill area and the front wings and it was in incredible condition. There is a very respected guy in Waterlooville near me who does this and must admit I'm tempted.

The second model I bought arrived today, it's very nice and if you have an orange car worth having. But at nearly £200 with the £16 duty extra I had to pay certainly not worth it plus no doors or boot, bonnet open so it's just a model of the car. The first one in blue for just under £100 is better in every respect.

There does seem to be a price drop recently, the all singing dancing silver car in Scotland was nearly £48K when I was looking. Think it's £45 now.

What a bummer, sounds like you need a real professional to sort that once a coating has been applied. I know a chap through local Pistonheads gatherings called Luke who has a first class reputation might be worth giving him a call. Might be worth investing in a Meguiars DA machine and some Ultimate Compound, personally I find that combo pretty idiot proof. I bought mine about ten years ago and it still gives good service.

I agree, every time you wash it and rub over with a sponge or cloth the chances of picking up a bit of dirt are there. Sometimes these regimes as good as they are can get a bit tedious though, I've made my own procedure that seems to work and involves no actual contact, I snow foam let it dwell, then wash off. Blast again with a Gilmore gun to apply a foamy UHD shampoo, rinse off then carefully blast the water off with a flattened nozzle (home creation) compressed air gun. This way doesn't touch the paint. Knowing now how soft the finished clear coat is I'll be doing regular sunlight checks although I do have some very powerful lights I have found strong sunlight shows up the swirls. All the above gives my wife plenty of ammo to take the p**s.

I had a new set of Vossen wheels ceramic coated and was impressed, I paid £70 for the service so when I bought a new set of retro Rota's for my Minivan I bought a £24 dinky little container of the same stuff and did it myself. The results are really impressive the brake dust just washes off. For my car I bought a cheaper knock off of a Gilmore foam gun on Amazon it is actually better than the real thing and at £35 half the price. I use one for the snow foam and the other for the Autoglmn UHD shampoo, it's expensive at £18 a bottle but it dilutes down and lasts for ages. Plus when Halfords had a 2 for the price of 3 offer I went and bought three of them, a bit extravagant but it'll keep me in shampoo for the car for years.

Hello and welcome Mike, we have contacted each other in the past through the Pistonheads forum as fellow Phaeton V10 owners, and both seem to have landed up with an F series Lexus. Like you I love the Jekyll and Hyde characteristics of the car, one of the many youtube clips I watched where Tiff Nedell stated the more you drive the car the more it grows on you is absolutely spot on. I think the servicing costs are also a very pleasant surprise, despite the fuel consumption.

I'm still in two minds about ceramic coatings versus regular waxing. I've more or less brought the clear coat up to a decent standard with only one or two areas needing a more abrasive clear coat friendly cutting compound to achieve a perfect top coat. The wax I use is so easy to use and I enjoy doing it, plus one tub lasts for ages. I understand that most waxes contain solvents that can attack the ceramic coatings so that again has prompted me to do a bit more research.

After taking my car for a good blast yesterday I came home and noticed in bright sunlight the enormous number of swirls in my paint finish. If anyone wants to see the worlds worst example go have a look at the RCF for sale in Poole it is unbelievable, my car is nothing near as bad but does look like it's in need of some attention. I pondered whether to get a chap I know to do the complete job but at about £500 I decided to put to work my Meguiars DA polisher and some Ultimate Compound. I am very pleased with the results and finished it off with a coating of Souveran Pinnacle wax. I'll post up some pictures later today in the sunshine, having had a good inspection there are only about two areas in need of a bit more attention. Debating whether to just carry on applying a coat of Souveran every few months (the £80 tub goes an awful long way) or brave putting a ceramic coating on.

Yes I agree.

I have sent the young lady in the video a message on her website to ask if she has experienced any longer term issues since fitting the RSR lowered springs. I generally go along with the opinions of people who have actually done this sort of thing first hand plus her car is the AVS fitted RCF. Haven't had a reply yet and hope it won't be too long for me to get an answer. It's not urgent but I have to consider the warranty options and ask if Lexus would notice too.

Hello and welcome, I'm new to RC-F ownership so not as knowledgable as many members on here. I too tried a 16 reg RC-f and really liked it, I went home and did a bit of research and discovered that the 17 reg/year cars had Adaptive Variable Suspension fitted which appealed to me despite the increase in budget. Now being a self confessed gadget freak I was pleased with the AVS model and was glad I did a bit more research. The cars seem to be pretty reliable and I'm not aware of any issues to date. You can buy the extended warranty for what I consider a very reasonable price that is compared to other cars I've owned.

Thanks, I think the car could do with lowering and as you say the stance improves the overall look, my main concern was whether the RSR shorter springs would produce too harsh a ride plus my car has the AVS and wonder if any warranty claim might go badly.

I've just fired off an e-mail to RS-R to enquire about compatibility with the existing set-up.

Thanks, that's food for thought. Might be worth sending the owner of the car an e-mail to ask how the ride is, having said that of course the roads in the USA are probably a lot better than our potholed equivalents.

Good point, plus I wonder how Lexus may look on any warranty claim for the AVS if a failure occurred. From my experience of such systems they are eye wateringly expensive and to have a warranty invalidated would be part of my decision.

Having had the car a while now one of the things I've noticed is that the car could do with being lower, there is quite a gap at the top of the wheel arch. Looking through Youtube which seems to be the source of all knowledge these days I found this, my car being the AVS model it was of particular interest.