SeanR

True that, Remember a firm that imported Japanese cars years ago telling me the same thing because some of the cars had been sat for such a long time.

Reading the recent additions to this old thread, was expecting some kind of grim tales of engine faults etc. Glad its just folk being picky haha

I used to have an older gs300, brilliant car with the straight six. In fact, bought another because i liked the drive so much, the sport version. Think they were around 1997/99 Was not a fan of the looks of the next one, think they rounded the back end off and didnt look as sporty but i guess still great motors. Paid £240 for year for the insurance, cheap really.

Just checked autotrader as i was not happy with a valuation that compare the meerkat came up with. Typed in 2010 with 80,000miles or less, lowest price was £6800 (not included cat D) Not a far cry from Feb when i paid £7500 Insurance out of touch a little as they reckon £4400

Been reading posts on here since February and not read of anything catastrophic yet. No engine out and repair issues, no talk of worn timing chains!, So thats good. I know Linas had a weird problem with his but im assuming this is uncommon ? Mine has developed a problem, when i put up the side passenger window the trim lifts up about 5mm with it, but i can live with that lol, maybe try some silicone spray on it or something. Perhaps the hot weather recently making the rubber seal grippy. Will say that the F sport grille has improved the looks from standard. Think the car still looks quite modern apart from the rear exhausts. Modern cars seem to have the exhaust and bottom trim a bit more up to date and integrated, but again just being picky.

One thing i thought about whilst reading this thread and sure im going to sound again like an old git, again. Sometimes folk have no choice but to hang on to cars. At 50 and looking to retire at 60, i dont want to go out spending loads of money on cars. I could but just see them as a complete waste of money, they just get me from home to work and back again. Think how many holidays £30,000 gets you in retirement When i was younger wasted loads of money on motors, wished id invested it in property. Anyways, il stop now haha

Seen replacements on Ebay, Cheers

Hello, I might sound thick here but not in the car. I use the screen to control radio and temp etc, if this goes then can i still get by without it ?

Hoping is250 stays reliable as the old accord but not as optimistic as its somewhat more tech. Not expecting that centre console screen or its software to go the distance, thats the feeling i get anyway. Hoping fuel prices dont get much more crazy than they are now, but as mentioned dont expect them to come way down again, not when we are being pushed towards electric etc. Road tax not too bad. A guy at work was moaning about his tax on a new electric, from memory think he said that was around £500 as it was over a certain price, no surprise the government moved the goal post. Will ride it out and see how it goes.

Len, sounds like a bad one! Had that happen to me once, luckily heard the horn though.

Funny you mention Accord, thats what my father drives now. Its like it wont die or something. From memory, 2001 Vtec 2.2 auto. He has owned it the last 14 years, all he does is top up with oil now and again, its never been serviced whilst he has owned it and still going strong, he does 16 mile a day every day. Only ever had one issue, that was £260 to fix, everything else wear and tear. He saw another for £600 and bought that, dunno why. Anyways, thats a 3litre auto and that looks mint, its like his weekender or sumert haha

Hello, no, the GT86. Looking around before i got the IS250, the GT86 was kind of appealing as i wanted to stick with Japanese, the misses accused me of having a mid life crisis though and said i couldnt have one haha I like the way they look, read a mixed bag about living with one on a daily basis. A good drive, some say under powered but look ok to me. The MR2 has always been a great little car, still see some of the early ones on the road. Remember my father nearly buying one but think he got the old mid life crisis line too.

Agree Linas, Reminded of a guy i was talking to at work a few weeks ago, he turned up in a maroon MX5 with all the bells and whistles. Said he paid £15k, think it was 4 or 5 years old. Never realy been a fan but he talked me round a bit, nice motor for the money. There's that little similar Toyota too, forgot the name but supposed be a good drive, think they are bringing out a faster version. Suppose now and again something sparks an interest. Think they are reliable.

How much does it cost to get something newer and better, £18000 ?, £23000 ?, £30000 +++++++++++++++ Il stick with this one, No matter what car you get, the novelty wears off, especially when signed up to a BIG loan. I actually think mine drives like a new car. As for speed, its fast enough, suppose im an old get now though that has no interest in acceleration, so long as its not annoyingly slow. Dont wanna be taking out warranty on BMWs, Audi or Merc that are out of their manufacturers warranty. Been burned by a 7 year old Merc once, never again. Engine out and £3000 less in bank. Money pit.

With all this talk of regular maintenance to keep things happy and not go off on too much of a tangent If your car is 12 years old and only ever been serviced at Lexus, would you carry on taking it to Lexus for services, a dilemma i have been thinking about. I could do oil changes and plugs myself but be nice to keep the book stamped

I dont mind the engine, nippy enough for me thesedays.

No expert but would only change like for like.

Good stuff ACF 50. used use it on the motorbike. I use a jet washer a few days before, bought an attachment with a 90 degree bend, great for getting in hard to reach places. Saying that though, you will find places it missed and will have to go over again with a brush and degreaser. Thinking about it, there were areas where the original rust proofing had come off and was showing signs of surface rust, behind the front wheel on the driver side, one side of the car was a bit worse than the other. Loads of contradictory advice online about what to use and how to use it. One good tip for the brakes just to get it done fast, get a plastic bag and cut a slit in it and stretch it over the calliper, worked well, better than masking it all off. Read to do it properly you cant just spray over old factory failing rust proofing, it has to be removed first. The reality is that would be a huge headache. If these firms that charge £500 or so to do it properly, i kind of get why they would charge these prices. Taking off trim and removing old protection etc. The question is whether or not they just take your money and skip over stuff I came to the conclusion that doing a bit at home is better than nothing, its good to take a look under the car and find out what needs doing and being able to sort out any obvious issues before they get worse. Helps get through the old MOT.

Thanks all, here's my findings, some of which coincide with what Linas said. Dont ask me why but i bought 2 tins (2.5l) of waxoyl at £22 each from Halfords. I gets home with the 2 tins and finds a big full tin in the shed lol, along with 3 tins of the spray (what an ***** i am) I hardly used any of the brush on stuff, mainly spray and not much of that either. Suppose if a garage had charged me £500, now dont feel too bad about the £44 , it will get used eventually. Anyways the car. 12 years old. All track rods (bits and bobs) etc needed doing, corrosion getting a bit worse than i want it to be. At the end of the plastic trim under the car, rust, needed doing. Jacking points and surrounding area, rust, needed doing, not bad though. Plenty of points under the car that needed doing, the ones not covered by any plastic and showing rust. Took trim off under engine to take a look, what a pain those plastic clips are!, all bolt/screws that hold it on severely corroded, need replacing really. As mentioned, anti roll bar under engine needed doing, bad rust at the ends. Wire brushed, rust converter and paint. Aint pretty but will do. Nothing serious besides that, glad i did it though, took from 7.30am to 4pm. Mainly because front callipers were becoming pitted, so did a rapid respray of those. Rear brakes and discs need doing, how much will a garage charge? Bottom of engine shiny, added a few pics, anti roll bar i was talking about. Should make it last a bit longer. Cheers.

Anyone else bother at all with undersealing ?, one of those jobs i hate to do but just cant help but do it, hate to see surface rust building up. Done it on a few cars but never had any of them long enough to balance out the hassle of doing it!. Looks ok underneath, bit of surface rust, wheel arms and suspension components mainly. Not sure how long i might own this one, as it may be a good while may as well do it.. Suppose it does help with a resale after all. Anyone know if these cars have any issues behind any of the plastic?, not wanting to go crazy though. Been quoted some daft prices in the past for undersealing, around £550, thats a no go.

A bit of a divvy question whilst on the subject, actually been on my mind recently. If changing the 17" wheels for Lexus 18" wheels, would i need to buy a new space saver or would the one in the boot be ok to get me to a garage ?

Nice motor. Ive just had a similar done, mine was £220 Make sure they do it properly, ive had to have these small rust jobs done twice in the past because the first spray shop did not prep it properly and the paint bubbled again. Go to someone reputable

Hi John, Reckon im ok with it as it is now, maybe just the wheels for some 18 inch F sport one day. If anyone selling any let me know

I will tell you what they are. All vids on youtube i saw were pre-facelift, looked a straight forward job. Take off weather strip, undo bolt at the top of the grille in the middle, take out 2 plastic push fittings either side at the top of the grille and pull it out. Then undo bolt/screws (cant remember what they were) holding chrome surround to original grille. I got a surprise when i did all the above and it wouldnt come out 🤣. After a bit of messing noticed there was 4 nuts holding the grille in, good job i didnt get all frustrated and yank it even harder, would have broke it. Then when i got it out there was no screws/nuts holding the chrome surround to the grille, it just clipped together. Biggest worry was the final pull of the grille out the car, couldnt see any more bolts at the bottom but was not sure and didnt want to snap something. Anyways, it came out with a gentle tug. Learning curve, no vids for this one. Pic of bolt/nut on each side of grille x4 to assist anyone else with an 09/10

PS, info from another thread that someone may find useful, saved me buying the wrong one!! 2006-08, 2009-10, and 2011+ all have different grilles and surrounds. None of them are interchangeable 2009-10 insert: Part Number: 53112-53140 With out Pre-Crash Part Number: 53112-53160 W/Pre-Crash 2011-13 insert: Part Number: 53112-53220 (old but still available some places) Part Number: 53112-53902 (new)