New GS 300 owner saying hello!

[ColinBarber]

6 hours ago, rich1068 said:

Can anyone confirm the length of time required to wait before the car will start after disconnecting the battery? I've read 7 minutes on here but I'd like some confirmation. Unfortunately I don't have a manual.

It depends if your immobiliser light goes out or not. I never had to wait when I disconnected the Battery on my old GS430.

[rich1068]

I'll watch for the light. Mine never starts after a Battery disconnect.

[rich1068]

Paid attention to the light during normal starting and the light stops flashing as I put the key in. After a Battery disconnect it carries on flashing even with the key in and ignition on hence my query regarding time. Next time I disconnect the Battery or pull the fuses I'll try and time it.

Anyhoo, the sun came out yesterday. What do you think of the wheels?  Come on Ron, how am I doing?

[ronniemac]

Hello Richard

Yes the current pictures have restored my faith in you! Previous ones of a dirty looking vehicle and talk of Yorkshire ale were off-putting - you might say. Anyhoo - your adventures with the sound system have been very interesting. The wheels give a distinctive look and set the car up well. Good job.

I nearly got in touch with you regarding a 14y.o. IS with 50K on the clock for 1650 GBP (trade) locally. However as I don't have your wealth of lexus expertise and on-hand specialists, I decided I could easily find myself in the same position as with the GS if it didn't live up to expectations. So I am soldiering on with my 12y.o. Micra with 30k on the clock and 40+ to the gallon. Boring but sensible.

Regarding the immobiliser time-lag after re-connecting the Battery - I'm pretty sure I noted it / mentioned it in the "tips" page in the paper-file I gave you with the car.

Best regards 

Ron     

[rich1068]

Hey Ron! Good to hear from you.

Yes, apologies for the dirty car pics. It was only to show the new wheels. It won't happen again. And it's John who keeps banging on about the beer, he's a man obsessed.

Wealth of Lexus expertise? I make it up as I'm going along mostly. And the IS is a cracking car so long as the service history is good and the sills haven't started to go. I think you could do a lot worse. But I can't keep flying to Inverness and buying cars when you're bored of them. I'll attach a picture of the one my 82 year old father is currently driving around in.

I believe you did include the tip regarding the immobiliser, 15 minutes if I recall. But it's much shorter than that. I just wondered if anyone knew for certain mainly because I don't like leaving the ignition on for lengths of time. Probably makes no odds these days but a hangover from when I first started driving and being warned against it, all sorts of dire warnings about burned out ignition coils etc.

[rich1068]

Not known for my patience I swapped out the GROM aux unit for the GROM BT3. Got a bit bored with unplugging and plugging in wires every time. Only had to change the unit as the harness is the same. Then positioned and ran the microphone cable for calls. Top job even though I say so myself  

In other news, did 125 mile round trip to York yesterday. Steady motorway (M1) and dual carriageway (A64), sat nav indicating 70mph, 29mpg and no warning lights! I think my perseverance with V-Power is paying off. And I don't think 29mpg is bad for the old girl.

[rich1068]

I seem to have limited control of BT functions via the factory radio. Wasn't expecting that 

[rich1068]

On 2/28/2020 at 3:19 PM, rich1068 said:

Can anyone confirm the length of time required to wait before the car will start after disconnecting the battery? I've read 7 minutes on here but I'd like some confirmation. Unfortunately I don't have a manual.

I've got it down to six minutes so far. Next time I pull the fuses I'll try five.

#reallyinteresting 

[rich1068]

It's between 5 and 6 minutes [yawn]

So I got some tints applied on Friday. Here are some predictably poor photos.

I think it looks rather swish. Even Freda said the car looks better and she hates it.

 

[TigerFish]

looks decent. I'm a fan of the rear tint, I used to have it on my old gen 2 GS300 Sport.

[rich1068]

Unfortunately I couldn't take a photo to save my life. It looks better in the flesh.

[TigerFish]

Pics look fine to me. Like I say, I thought the rear tint looked great on my old gs300 (mine were limo black which looks like it was darker than what you went for, but still looks great)


Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk Pro

[rich1068]

I'll try and get a shot outside.

Pretty much the last job to do is now booked for April 1st. I'm having the bumpers blown over to remove the scuffs and scratches. After that everything's gravy.

It's usually at that point I move a car on and start on something else. Let's see what happens this time 

[rich1068]

Officially the start of Summer. I've put the original carpets back in.

 

[rich1068]

And the very nice Russell at Lexus Sheffield was have none of that BMW travel mug so he gave me one of these 

 

[johnatg]

Bit premature - March 19th is first day of Astronomical Spring.

Meteorological Spring starts March 1st

Meteorological Summer starts June 1st, Astronomical Summer starts June 20th.

https://www.almanac.com/content/first-day-seasons

Nice carpets though! 😊

[rich1068]

Nope. Beige carpets = Summer.

[rich1068]

Finally got round to ordering a 3P2 Bordeaux touch up kit too. Unavailable/discontinued from Lexus but a bit of internet research brings up Toyota Black Cherry. Same code so I've ordered some from my local Toyota dealer.

Also placed my first order with Amayama. Anyone who's familiar with the GS will know that the trim on the bottom of the driver and passenger door starts to come away after years of being caught with your foot or a kerb etc. The trim is easily replaceable and comes colour coded. Again my colour is unavailable but I could have had silver for 40 something quid a side from Lexus. Not ideal. From Amayama I can get both sides in my colour for £49.65 including delivery from Japan. 

[rich1068]

Boo!

 

For Out of Stock read not shipping from Japan anymore I guess.

[rich1068]

Gave it a wash to make myself feel better 

To be honest I always find cleaning the car to be quite therapeutic. Especially important at times like this. And quite a solitary pursuit so can be enjoyed without worry.

 

[TigerFish]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2020 at 12:12 PM, rich1068 said:

Gave it a wash to make myself feel better 

To be honest I always find cleaning the car to be quite therapeutic. Especially important at times like this. And quite a solitary pursuit so can be enjoyed without worry.

 

Yeah, agree, I find it therapeutic too. Did the wash and wax of the Merc and Mini yesterday, and the same treatment for the Corrado today. Also did an engine bay detail on the Merc, and all the black trim on the Mini got blackened back up again.

[rich1068]

Must get round to doing the engine bay on the GS. It's not too bad, I keep it tidy. But whenever I think about giving it a good go over I have trouble finding the enthusiasm!

[rich1068]

Must keep this updated. I know you all wait with bated breath to see what I've been up to.

Never got the bumpers done because of you-know-what.

Never got the touch up stick from Toyota and had to order non-OEM from amazon because of you-know-what. I'm trying that today to see if it's any good.

Even though I'm using it every day the car is staying spotless because of the glorious weather. A quick vac of the driver's footwell and job done. You may have seen I did get round to doing the engine bay which took all of 10 minutes 

More importantly I did the first partial (2.25 litres) drain of the ATF after waiting a fortnight for the delivery from ECP. I know I said I probably never would but the boredom gets to you in the end. And like most jobs on this car an absolute doddle. While I was under there I investigated draining the coolant and spotted the little valve/tap, hose and cut out in the undertray. Could they make working on this car any easier?

Note: I had a little nosy at a CT200h and noticed that even though the cars are ten years apart and the hybrids are like spaceships next to my old GS, it still had the same coolant drain set up. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[rich1068]

I was talking to a furloughed employee the other day. He's a bit of a motoring enthusiast as we all are but currently bored out of his mind. The conversation turned to machine polishing, I haven't got the patience but he's and avid detailer. He offered to do the GS and after a bit of arm twisting on me came up to work yesterday.

I left him to it for about 4 hours and I have to say the finish is absolutely outstanding. The metallic flake is a revelation. Unfortunately I don't think the pictures do it justice but the car looks superb!

 

[rich1068]

Drained the coolant.

Nothing to see here...