New GS 300 owner saying hello!

[rich1068]

Amazing job. He certainly knows his stuff and as these things tend to be, it was a bigger job than originally thought. But he moved work round so I wouldn't have to make the trip again.

The car is so much better.

Very much recommended.

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Amazing job. He certainly knows his stuff and as these things tend to be, it was a bigger job than originally thought. But he moved work round so I wouldn't have to make the trip again.

The car is so much better.

Very much recommended.

So, Rich what exactly was done at what cost by TB ?

[rich1068]

19 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

So, Rich what exactly was done at what cost by TB ?

Originally the job was to fit two large silencers to the rear. The ones that were on were very small and while the car sounded nice and fruity around town it was just too loud on the motorway. This was due to be £250 and was carried out within two hours. Excellent I thought. When I picked it up the difference when I started the car was immediately noticeable. However, once I got back on the motorway the drone was still there and after turning round and returning for Tony to take it on an extremely rapid test drive the decision was made to replace everything from the cat back including fitting a large centre silencer. This was a further £350.

So £600 was certainly more than I wanted to spend but I have got a full stainless steel exhaust that sounds lovely (mainly because it doesn't sound of anything!) and will probably outlast all of us.

[kayble]

Mine was 650 for stainless the way back from the down pipe - I wanted some more noise!

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

[rich1068]

You pay more for noise  

Plate on today too. Much better.

 

[rich1068]

There was a discussion on Twitter a week or two ago about the daftest mistakes you've made while doing something to a car. There were some absolute pearlers*, mainly stuff people had never admitted to before. Some serious, some not so much. So I did one this morning that I'm still thinking "**** idiot" every time I'm reminded. Took the front number plate plinth off to clean it and attach the sticky pads for the plate. Then I thought "Got to get this plate perfectly positioned" and I did. Went to attach the plinth and of course I've covered the mounting bolt holes with the plate. Speechless with my own numptiness I had to pull the plate off, ruining the sticky pads, put the plate in the window and drive to Halfords for some new pads. Idiot.

*Mine was not tightening the wheel bolts after adjusting the drums on my '65 Beetle. Obviously the ns rear wheel fell off 200 yards up the road. Or forgetting I'd chocked the rear wheels on one of the Saabs when I'd got it up on ramps. Couldn't understand why the car wouldn't reverse off, gave it some beans and the ramps literally flew across the garage 

[Farqui]

Hehe, I reckon we ought to have a 'gaffs' thread on here!

[rich1068]

I could write a book.

[royoftherovers]

5 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Originally the job was to fit two large silencers to the rear. The ones that were on were very small and while the car sounded nice and fruity around town it was just too loud on the motorway. This was due to be £250 and was carried out within two hours. Excellent I thought. When I picked it up the difference when I started the car was immediately noticeable. However, once I got back on the motorway the drone was still there and after turning round and returning for Tony to take it on an extremely rapid test drive the decision was made to replace everything from the cat back including fitting a large centre silencer. This was a further £350.

So £600 was certainly more than I wanted to spend but I have got a full stainless steel exhaust that sounds lovely (mainly because it doesn't sound of anything!) and will probably outlast all of us.

Many thanks for the update Rich. £600 does not seem a lot for the satisfying finished product.. 

[rich1068]

Certainly takes me over my self imposed spend limit with this car but the end result is so good.

[rich1068]

Another progress report. And further evidence of my sheer jamminess.

I think I mentioned early on that I'd got the satnav working. Ron had mentioned it was temperamental but I thought I'd solved it just by cleaning the disc. Unfortunately it continued to play up and an up to date disc was no better. This LED me to believe it could be the boot mounted unit itself. On to eBay!

But a working unit was £165 and I wasn't paying that. Then I spotted one listed Spares or Repair for £22.50 Worth a punt I thought. So I fitted it this afternoon, put in the new disc in, it did some sort of firmware update and Bob's your uncle! Working satnav!

[Farqui]

Wow, lucky indeed. I wonder why the unit was advertised as spares/repair?

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Another progress report. And further evidence of my sheer jamminess.

I think I mentioned early on that I'd got the satnav working. Ron had mentioned it was temperamental but I thought I'd solved it just by cleaning the disc. Unfortunately it continued to play up and an up to date disc was no better. This led me to believe it could be the boot mounted unit itself. On to eBay!

But a working unit was £165 and I wasn't paying that. Then I spotted one listed Spares or Repair for £22.50 Worth a punt I thought. So I fitted it this afternoon, put in the new disc in, it did some sort of firmware update and Bob's your uncle! Working satnav!

You have worked wonders RICHIE, but I think that Ron deserves a couple of pints for supplying you at a knockdown price, with the necessary hardware !!

[rich1068]

1 hour ago, Farqui said:

Wow, lucky indeed. I wonder why the unit was advertised as spares/repair?

As far as I could tell the seller had it lying around and didn't know whether it worked or not.

18 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

You have worked wonders RICHIE, but I think that Ron deserves a couple of pints for supplying you at a knockdown price, with the necessary hardware !!

If he was just round the corner I'd certainly do just that. We have kept in touch but haven't heard from him in the last week or two. I think I'll give him a call.

[rich1068]

Just spoke to him and he's well. Happy that the car is getting looked after 

[rich1068]

So some proper jobs this weekend. Picked up a box full of genuine service items from Lexus Sheffield a couple of weeks ago. Air and pollen filters went in straight away because they're easy but just hadn't got around to anything else. Brake fluid and coolant are both OK, I'm not entirely convinced of the fashion of gearbox oil changes/flushes so today was oil, oil filter and plugs. 

I also put the @gdh300winter 16s on which I have to say don't look too bad and fitted some custom black mats because I'm sick of cleaning the beige/cream ones. The fronts fit perfectly but the rears definitely do not so I'll try and get that resolved this week. 

The car continues to run like one half its age and mileage. I would love love love to get some snow this winter and be able to get around in this. First sign and I'll nip up to see Ron. See if he needs anything from the shop 

Something that has jumped a few positions up the list of jobs is quite why the music system sounds so bad. I thought the cheapy Pioneers had improved things but I think I was kidding myself. 

[The-Acre]

You should be very proud of a steed like that!

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, The-Acre said:

You should be very proud of a steed like that!

Indeed, she`s a fine looking lass.Just don`t forget Ron`s real Yorkshire Ale Richie and please pass on our good wishes.

[gdh300]

Hoping for a snowy winter for you now mate! 

[rich1068]

All I want for Christmas are impassable roads. 

[rich1068]

Further messing with the so called Lexus Premium Sound System. And believe me this is just about the only thing that annoys me about this car.

I really can't believe the stock system (with nav) is as bad as it is. 2002 wasn't that long ago and decent systems were being fitted by manufacturers. So unless there is some age related issue (surely if an amp or head unit is faulty it would either work or not rather than deteriorate?) I can only conclude that it's generally crappy and they just wanted you to tick the Mark Levinson option. Out of the box it sounded muddy and unclear, lacking highs and at the same time overly boomy from the sub on the parcel shelf. The output also varies greatly depending on the source chosen necessitating much fiddling with bass, mid and treble. Turn up the bass and treble for a cassette and CD becomes unlistenable. Turn them back down but switch to FM/BT streaming and it sounds like you're listening with a bag over your head. Bizarre.

So I tried disconnecting the tweeters and replacing the front and rear door speakers with some cheap Pioneer two ways. Yes they're cheap but better than stock. Still sounded like it was underwater and still much fiddling with settings depending on source. So then I reconnected the tweeters and now CD is so bright it gives you a nosebleed, cassette is OK but I need to experiment with one of my better recordings and with settings flat FM/BT is just about acceptable.

I think that's about as far as I can go unless anyone has any comments? Were these MKII GS known for crappy sound? Is it because it's got the nav system and they skimped? A good job they didn't skimp on build quality for the door cards, I think I could get one off with my eyes shut now.

[rich1068]

I took the GS down to the NEC classic show on Friday. Loaded the boot up with "just in case" stuff because apart from the drive back from Inverness I haven't really ventured very far in it. Needn't have worried because the car performed perfectly. Never missed a beat even when taking lengthy detours due to road closures and driving through a foot or more of water on one or two occasions. Have to say the air intake is very sensibly positioned! 

The car was absolutely filthy after all that so I took advantage of a break in the weather Sunday to give it a bit of a scrub up. Pretty much the usual pics again... 

 

[gdh300]

Lovely old bus, matey. Not sure I could live with the palette of the interior, but definitely of its period!

 

[rich1068]

It's an acquired taste. But I feel beige interiors, smaller wheels and a softer ride become more appealing the older I get.

*The Lexus GS 300. Avoiding the Nurburgring since 1993*

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, rich1068 said:

It's an acquired taste. But I feel beige interiors, smaller wheels and a softer ride become more appealing the older I get.

*The Lexus GS 300. Avoiding the Nurburgring since 1993*

All a matter of taste but I like the interior colour.