Hando

If there's no visible warp-age (or fractures) then you'll have no probs getting them fixed. parthiban's rims are technically flat-spotted (same as mine were) - buckled rims are worse (as I understand it).

There's a difference between buckled a flatspotted. I had some badly flatspotted 18" wheels hotrolled and refurbed at wim for £50 a piece. If you can get to wim take them in and they'll give you an honest opinion on whether they can be fixed. Don't get them refurbed before they're fixed though - get it done at the same time.

There is only one person who could buy that car....

What he said :) Manual mode with 5 is not "in 5th gear" it is exactly the same as normal auto == 5 gears are available.

Detailing World is indeed awesome. I'd also recommend the autopia guides (here) for good guides for the beginner. The advantages of doing it yourself:- 1) for about the same outlay you get all the kit so you can detail your car whenever you please and maintain your work for months 2) you get a real sense of satisfaction from doing it yourself Some good places online for ordering stuff:- Elite Car Care Clean Your Car UK Hope that helps.

+1 Tango My 1st gen IS had been suffering from vague steering and terrible tram lining. Took it to the Dr @ WIM last weekend and camber was way out. All is now sorted. get thee to wim.

Lovely looking motor mate - well done. You're going to be very happy. nice to have another 300 here. You're going to have a lot of fun with her and on here. Welcome to LOC

Apparently stateside it's quite easy to get a doctor's note to say you have sun-sensitive eyes and with one of those in your glove compartment you can get away with crazy tints even on the front.

Gawd I feel old.....

Jason, Just some more opinion for you to weigh up.... I went from an IS200 S to an IS300 two years ago (after my 200 was written off) and I couldn't be happier. Running costs/MPG/insurance are the same but you get that all important extra litre in the engine (I never ever get that "NEED MORE POWER!" feeling I used to have in the 200 when overtaking etc). Plus all those little niggles you're feeling about your S go away - sun roof/ amped stock H-U/full leather/alloy pedals+kickplates - all standard. They're getting cheap right now (isn't everything) and they're actually quite rare. The other bonus is that you could simply swap your favourite mods from your current car to the new one. And then later down the road if you want to get some more HP out of the engine you can (see B15RUP's car) and take it further than you could with a 200 without engine-swap. Food for thought.

I always seemed to support the underdog. Had Intellivision when everyone else had Atari. Had BBC B when everyone else had ZX81 Had Amstrad 464 when everyone else had spectrum/C64's. Had a creaky ibm 286 when everyone else had amigas. Didn't seem to hurt me though got my first job designing levels in 1995 and have been a game designer ever since. (reckon I've done games on every major platform since then).

At the top right of this thread - click on "options" then under display modes click on "switch to standard". ta-da. Your pc is fine. :winky:

You are quite right - I missed that - it was Kin's posting on the Morgan forum that Tango linked too. Apologies to Kin - it's a great find.

It's a bit different to the Langka system since the Langka works with standard paint from the dealer whereas I think there's something special about the colour coded paint supplied with this kit which makes the Sealact work with it - making it even more idiot proof. I certainly wouldn't be happy smearing normal OEM paint across my bumper with a rag - langka or not. Had a look again at the car this morning and I am very chuffed indeed - the bumper work looks like factory finish and all road rash is gone. With no laquer it may not last too long but the whole process is so quick and easy that I'm happy to reapply. This is no replacement for a proper repsray but as a touch up system I don't think it can be beaten for ease and results.

Import cost's a non-issue - package marked as "sample". I got the "Road rash" kit. Can't recall exact cost but you can see/calculate on the colorchip www. *edit* - shipping was $47 (!!!!!!)

(thanks to Kin and Tango for pointing this product out). Dr. Colorchip [You will find a much better review of this Here ] So my IS has picked up the usual number of stone chips on the bonnet (soft Jap paint versus UK roads == chips) plus a really bad case of road rash on the bottom bumper (looks like someone shot it with a shotgun). Credit crunch ruled that a respray was out of the question. So I ordered this kit from the US and spent this afternoon applying/removing. Ordering is simple - you enter your car and the paint code (search the forum or check your vin plate) and choose your size of kit. The bad news is that there is only one shipping option to the UK and it's pricey. The good news is that my kit was with me in 3 days!!!! Anyway in the kit is: one bottle of paint matched to your code, one bottle of Sealact, one buffing cloth, one rather Dexter-looking rubber glove, and three small brushes. The process for stone chips:- -- DAB the paint in little dollops on the chips -- immediately smear that dollop with your gloved hand (start before the chip and smear lightly down the body over the chip) - the idea here is to make the paint blob roughly flush with the rest of the paint and then spread the remainder of the paint as thinly as possible (to make it easy to remove later) -- leave the paint to dry for around ten mins (cig break) -- now squirt the sealact over a lint-free rag (old T-shirt or similar) and run it over the area with the smeared paint (the sealact removes the Colorchip paint - NOT your oem paint.) -- once the smeared paint is gone buff with the cloth. Now the only paint left is the bit in the stone chip hopefully flush with the rest of your paint. The process for road rash (by now I'd done some chips so was feeling confident) -- dollop some paint on a rag and smear it over the whole area. -- have another cig -- remove paint with sealact as before. The results:- -- With chips, well, visually it's MUCH better, however it's not a miracle and you can still feel the chips and see it in certain light. -- With Road rash - I was VERY VERY impressed, indeed. PROS -- it is idiot proof -- it is easy and quick -- it is MUCH better than traditional touch up paint. -- it arrives three days after ordering CONS -- shipping form US costs a ton -- it is not a miracle - chips are not gone, they are just much less visible. I know - this thread is worthless without pics - but to get pics of paint defects you need good light and good camera - and I have neither so here's some rubbish pics from my phone with shaky hands in poor light. BEFORE Bad case of road rash:- Some nasty chippage:- General Chippage:- AFTER Road rash gone (take my word for it) Big chips much better Overall I would and will definitely be buying this product again once my current lot runs out. h

Same here - I've had mine for about 6 months. Having a flip key is nice but the thing is BIG (way bigger than say a vw flip key), chunky and tbh feels quite cheap. The gold around the plastic where the key ring goes has all flaked off too. Overall - it's definitely a cheaper alternative if you need a spare/replacement key but do not expect an OEM-Lexus feel to it. YMMV

You won't get perfect results from touch up paint but you can get pretty good results. Best thing to do is NOT use the brush that comes in the lid of the pot. Instead use a plastic toothpick and place a drop of the paint on the chip (so that it sticks up a bit above the rest of the paint). Let it dry then wet sand/polish the paint bump down to the level of the rest of the paint.

+1 for Curb Your Enthusiasm. One of the best things on television. It's on its six series now but still brilliant. It's probably quite a marmite show as it's filmed without real scripts and takes a while to "get". Closest parallel would probably be "The Office" - but IMO it's much funnier. But if you identify at all with Larry (most men probably will) then once you "get" it - it's genuinely brilliant.

Xbox Next will be out a looong time before PS4

Really sorry to hear this. Horrible thing to happen - happened to me a couple of years back. But it sounds like your doing the right thing about it. Take stock of things, work out what you'd really like to do and give it a go. It's funny how having a regular job can stop you from doing that. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

Cheers Keith, Sounds like they didn't bother with the tape which means they didn't fit it correctly. I'll sort it out with them.

Yeah exactly that - pushing it back up isn't helping though as there doesn't seem to be adhesive. I think I'll take it back to Lex Guildford and get them to sort it out - they fitted it last year. Just wanted to check if it's bonded or not - so thank you both for the info.

On my last IS, my TTE rear lip was fitted with bolts + some form of adhesive all along. On my current IS it appears the TTE lip was fitted with just bolts no adhesive - however after just over a year it's visibly coming away from the bumper and is no longer sitting flush. For those who have the TTE rear: what is the fitting kit supplied? And what are the manufacturer's instructions? Much appreciated.

Damn! I'm liking that all over. More pics please!