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I haven't been on here for a while, mainly cos my ISF search came to an end. I wasn't having any luck find one that ticked all the boxes [will I did, an ex-forum car, but unfortunately the owner had to sell before I could get sorted], when all of a sudden a different car become available that I have always been interested in. In my head, there wasn't a massive difference...fast, Japanese, more than 3-doors! So here's what I bought [if this pic works]!

Dare I say it but I’m in car sales 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️ We are not all that bad! honestly is the best policy!

Everyone on this forum goes on and on about how reliable the LS 400 is. I have just had to change a Brake Light bulb on my 20 Mk4. Only 18 years old, Shoddy, I call it!!

Just a bit of a giggle and an element of nostalgia for me but one did prove a cracking investment, quite some time ago I was messing about on the DVLA website when they first started them and found one that appealed it was on a 3000gt Capri I had G16 RAT, it was £99.00 +vat back then also on the bank of numbers was B16RAT it was £199.00 I bought that as well as a poss investment. Still got G16RAT but some years ago I was working in the West Mids the number B16 RAT was on my then Navara, I was approached by some guys who owned a Vermin control company, made me a large 4 figure number offer for it which I accepted, right place right time I guess.......... Rats are fairly wise you know..... 🐀

Yes, as Martin says, it's only 3 years standard warranty so the extension for a few years was a bit of added peace of mind. The biggest issue for me was not necessarily that it had been one of the main press cars at launch, but rather that the history was not disclosed at purchase such that I could decide for myself.

They're a sight! He had them shipped all the way from Mongolia 🇲🇳....

The time had arrived, at 205k miles and 11 years to the day almost since the last Lexus change at 104500 in May 2007 I have had this car since June 2011 and 123k miles and as you may remember I decided to just follow the USA recommendation of 100k miles and 10 years ( ok I'm a year late ! ) My indy used Blueprint supplied cambelt, pulleys and waterpump, together with serpentine belt too ..... none of this had been changed during my time of 7 years and 83k miles Result, all old belts quite intact with minimal apparent wear and only just starting to show a slight wear level at the cambelt join seam. No evident cracks at all in the belt and no leaks from the waterpump. The pulleys were however worn and one more so than the other.......... but all functioning ok Also it seems the old timing belt had been one tooth out in its installation, within a tolerance of perhaps two.............. he advised me that the ECU had clearly adjusted the engine running to cope with the " one tooth out " fact. ................. The car ran very well in all the time I have had it, very quick and powerful but suffering from the Mk3 syndrome of sometimes just cutting out when hot after a long run . BUT NOW with the new cambelt set with zero tooth tolerance, well, blimey, the acceleration is amazingly different. I thought my old car was " quick " but now it's feeling just supercharged. Like a new car tbh. ..... and at this time, on the hour long run back from my mechanic, there was zero indication of the age-old cutting out that we all Mk3 owners tend to live in anticipation with. It was a full 8 hour job however and I had expected that so no surprises there ................. many years ago on my Mk1 I had the cambelt changed and that too was an 8 hour job. it just takes a long diligent time to do. There was also a full annual service and MOT. ................ with one Advisory to replace the other side of the rear UCA for next year. Replacing the wiper rubbers ( from Lexus / Toyota but they last 3 years and 30/40 k miles in my experience ) oil and oil filter change and air filter too............... sorting out one flat tyre slow puncture and after 5 years and 62k miles another weld on the ever so slightly blowing exhaust ( same place I think ). The plugs won't need changing till 120k miles or so. ( or 160k miles if they are 100k mile plugs, I'm not sure ) Plenty of tread on all tyres at least to see me through till the winter. All in all 10 hours labour ... a brilliant result I'm HAPPY Malc

Very nice, have thought about one as a family wagon myself but I don't think you can get an auto on the top spec model 🤔

Rhys, glad you got fixed up.

My RX is on a 13 plate and I bought V5CWM for it. Mostly to disguise the age, but also CWM in Welsh means "valley", so it had local significance. Wish it was V6 though !! Cost me less than £200 and I will probably retain it for life.

Just put them in storage till they are 40 years old. John.

There was recall issued for premature failing bulbs - Lexus would replace them FOC - maybe you didnt know about it.

@SMorris This is my whole point they really do need to be simply up front with this so the buyer can make an informed judgement on his purchase, it's simply dishonest if they don't. Not everyone has the time like me to fully look into there intended purchase but you hope a little bit more from main dealers, with some of them obviously not. Big Rat

I see putting a car specific plate on as a similar mod to changing the wheels, adding a lip spoiler etc is a little aesthetic mod for a bit of individualisation. It can also hide the age of a car, mine is 8 years old but looks half that so if it had a plate on no one would know. I dont mind either but would never spend lots of money on one. Its the ones that make no sense I dont get, even from 300 yards with a squint they look nothing like the word they are supposed to.

I inadvertently purchased an ex press RCF. Found out about it a few weeks later when I saw a repeat of Top Gear! Needless to say I wasn't best pleased given it had been described as a directors car by the Lexus dealer who sold it to me. Still, I negotiated 3 years extended warranty as a compromise. Had there have been more to choose from I would probably have given it back out of principle, but I didn't want to be without a car for a potentially extended period of time. That said, apart from some slightly excessive stone chips, the car has been faultless over the last year.

Not sure I want anymore power. If I could get some more low down torque, great.

Brake disc change on my 2010 is250 SEL Auto on 18” rims. I checked my caliper slide pins at the beginning of the month and found my brake pads were all a bit worn down so changed the pads to my new set of Pagid pads that I had bought in advance. Whilst doing this I couldn’t help but notice the actual discs were also really quite worn. The fronts (which do most of the work) were really quite badly worn with a very noticeable deep lip at the outer edge. So I made a few notes and checked a few diameters and thicknesses while it was all exposed and pressed on with the pin check and pad change. Pretty sure that would be a MOT fail come November, when it's due! Having established the sizes I ordered up a complete set of discs. Check your specific types as there are a few variations of disc … not just diameter, some are solid discs too. My model has vented discs front and back. The fronts are 296mm dia and 28mm thick. The rears are 310mm dia and 18mm thick. The set I purchased were Mintex at a very good price of £108 for the whole set delivered. Having seen how shoddy the old discs looked I thought I’d do a bit or prep work on them before fitting. I had some spray cans of silver and a black hammerite to hand so put them to good use. Probably turn out to be pointless but heck they'll look good for a while!!! All the pad contact areas and the shoe contact point on the rear discs were masked up…. but deliberately just a little under-sized. I figured the pads would cut back the very outer margins of the 'inner' and 'outer' to re-reveal the silver of the disc, thereby keeping a tidy looking disc. They can look quite shabby when the rusty surface gets a grip on everything outside the contact area. Having masked up the contact points I marked the relevant circles with a felt pen and the trimmed with a Stanley knife. This was made easy by using a 10” turntable with a piece of cardboard over to protect it. Then the inside faces were sprayed silver and the outside faces in black, again making using use of the improvised turntable. I should have left these for about 5 weeks to fully cure but other commitments and an imminent trip to the Picos de Europa and various Rioja valley bodegas' have put paid to that! They got 2 weeks. Then it was on to fitting …. I worked off the jack .... not for some I'll grant. The other three wheels were chocked for safety. All the slide pins have rubber boots fitted so be careful with easing them off when removing slide pins. Front Discs. Loosen the wheel nuts a tad before raising the wheel. Apply the parking brake. Raise the bonnet and remove the brake fluid reservoir lid and put an old towel or similar under the resvoir … just in case you get absent minded later!! I then removed a small amount of brake fluid, about two table spoons, with a syringe to another clean pot. Then remove the wheel and put to one side. I chose to gently squeeze the caliper just enough to slacken the pad grip. There are two caliper pin bolts to remove (14mm socket or spanner) and if you need to prevent the pin moving you’ll need a 17mm spanner. Then remove the caliper and rest it on an old towel on the suspension… just be wary of the hydraulic pipe. You don’t want to stretch or kink it. Some folk opt to hang it up with a bent wire or similar….up to you. I then use a G clamp and a piece of wood to squeeze, gently, the caliper piston back into its housing. The new disc and pads will be thicker than your original set so you need that piston pushed back or it will not fit over the pads at re-assembly. Pushing the piston back will raise the fluid level in the reservoir … that’s why you need to remove some. Keep an eye on the level each time you push a piston back. Remove the pads and put to one side. Then you’ll need a 17mm socket to remove the bolts that hold the caliper carrier in place. It’s likely the front disc will now be loose and easy to remove …. mine were. If it is stuck fast you’ll need a couple of 8mm bolts to wind into the 2 threaded holes to push the disc off the hub. Here's an internet pic, credit to original uploader, to give an idea of using the 8mm bolts to crack off the disc from the hub. The arrows point to the threaded holes. Give the hub a bit of a clean up with a wire brush and apply a little anti-seize copper grease to the contact face of the hub…it will help with disc removal next time. Then fit the new disc onto the hub. I used the wheel nuts to pull the disc securely onto the hub and visually checked it was spinning without any wobble. Front disc, carrier and pads fitted Then refit the carrier and refit the pads being mindful of the shims. I use a little copper grease on the shims and have not had any squeal in 6 years. Some prefer to use Ceratec grease. The choice is yours. I checked the slide pins and then refitted the caliper and bolted down securely. Then refit the wheel, start the car and prime the brakes with a couple of presses on the brake pedal. On to the next! old front discs Rear Discs. Slightly different process here. Loosen the wheel nuts before raising the wheel. Do not apply the parking brake and put the shifter into Neutral (not P). If you don’t do this you won’t be able to turn the hub and the brake will hold the disc to the hub preventing removal. Remove the wheel and put to one side. Next remove the guide pin retainer spring…fitted vertically between the two pins and slide out the pins. A pair of long-nose pliers do this nicely. There is an anti-squeal spring associated with the lower pin… so note how it locates for reassembly. Gentle squeeze on the caliper may be necessary to free up the pads. Then remove the pads. Then undo the upper caliper pin, I think it was 17mm socket, and remove it completely. The caliper should now rotate towards the rear of the car…its pivot point is the lower slide pin. This lower pin is fixed. Wiggle the caliper backwards and put aside in a secure place on that old piece of towel. Again, careful with that hydraulic pipe! There is a rubber grommet fixed in the disc … this covers a hole for adjusting the parking brake. Remove it and keep it for placement into your new disc. Now remove the old disc. Mine were ‘frozen’ solid (both sides) and would not budge. So it’s time to use those 8mm bolts again! A snick and a snack and it’s loose enough to remove. Now clean the parking brake shoes and parts with brake cleaner. You will be able now to see the adjuster for the footbrake and how it works. These shoes are only used for parking so are highly unlikely to be worn. But you may need to adjust the shoe to the new hub. If you turn the cog wheel you’ll see the pads move in and out. When the disc is fitted that circular access hole allows for a screwdriver to enter and engage with that cogged adjuster. Once again, give the hub a bit of a clean up with a wire brush and apply a little anti-seize copper grease to the contact face of the hub…it will help with disc removal next time. Then fit the new disc onto the hub. Again I used the wheel nuts to pull the disc securely onto the hub and visually checked it was spinning without any wobble. So, back to that access hole again and screw up the adjuster until the disc is locked, then undo it about 6 teeth and check the parking brake operation - it should go down 7 clicks or so to engage securely. Again, you will need to push that caliper piston right back to get it to fit the width of disc and pads. Keep an eye on that fluid reservoir each time you push a piston back. You don’t want that brake oil oozing all over the place!! Grease (red rubber grease) the slide pins and refit the caliper securing the upper slide pin Refit the pads with a liitle copper grease on the shims and fit the upper guide pin to hold the pads in place. Position the anti-squeal spring and slide the guide pin through both pads and the coils of the anti-squeal spring and push the tags back into the centre holes of the pads. Then refit the retaining spring. Wipe off any mucky bits resulting from the refit and ensure the brake contact area is clean. Then refit the wheel, start the car and prime the brakes with a couple of presses on the brake pedal. I then took the car for a gentle low speed drive 20-40mph and gently bedded the brakes onto the discs for about 15 mins. I’m not sure if this is critical but it felt the right thing to do …. I recall my Dad used to do that! After a cuppa had a longer 30 minute drive at gently increasing speed with braking (when nowt was around...pretty easy in Dorset!!) and all feels good. Front and Back all refitted and bedding in nicely! It’s not a particularly challenging task, if you’re up to a bit of spannering. Just take your time and be methodical. Take pics of any unfamiliar parts and how they assemble to refer back to. In total, with a few cups of tea and the odd slice of cake and one ear on the football scores, it was nearly 4 hours start to finish. Total parts cost was around £150 ....better than the £700+ quoted by u know who!! Credit to Newbie and Johnatg for doing this in the past. Your guides gave me the encouragement to have a bash at something I knew couldn't be that difficult.

Hi guys, I've just joined this forums as I think there's quite a wealth of knowledge about these cars here. I've recently bought a 1992 Toyota Celsior C-Spec from its original UK owner. Apparently the car only has 125k km (which is hard to confirm considering a lack of service history, MOTs say it legit) but it has been standing for the last 4 years so it needs some work now. The instrument cluster (digital odometer only) isn't turning on which I know is a common problem, the needles, speedo, tach and so on stay dark. The car used to have air suspension which the previous owner has replaced with conventional struts. These need replacing now, the complete strut assembly in the front, as well as the springs, if not the whole strut, in the back. I might go back to air suspension eventually (with all the troubles that might come with it), but for now I am looking for a set of good used struts I can install to get it through MOT. It would be interesting to know how much interchangeability there is between the 1st and second generation suspension setups (MK1-MK4). I also need a set of wheels. Right now the car has what looks to be MK3 alloys with tyres in the wrong size, the tyres are too old and have cracks, so this is another high priority item. The brake pedal also seems very touchy, its soft (as I would expect from a LS400) but grabs hard very suddenly. The car needs a good clean and complete service, so maybe this is an easy to solve problem. The interior needs a few bits and pieces replaced as well, Im wondering if there's still a clean blue steering wheel out there somewhere, or whether it would make sense to just get it retrimmed. I've basically saved this rare Celsior from the breakers yard/banger oval and would love to bring it back to its former glory. The owner got quite emotional when he unloaded the car from his truck, so thats another good motivation for me to have it back driving properly as soon as possible, with more ambitious plans for it in the future. If anyone would be able to assist me with one of the issues above, or has any leads on parts needed to fix them, it would be very much appreciated. :)

The 2.5 isn’t renowed for its reliability, which will be something always in the back of my mind...I’ve got a bit of a slush fund for repair work but rebuilds are quite common (at a cost of 4-5k)!! There a specialist in Warwick that I’ve read good things about - http://tdracing.co.uk/

Nope, just YouTube just now! Seems a great option though.

Just titanium tips but at the price available below for primary cat back seems very good value. Also, only 950 for the secondary cat back system. https://www.tarmacsportz.co.uk/exhaust/exhaust-systems/invidia-lexus-rc-f-14-cat-back-exhaust-with-midpipe-rolled-titanium-quad-tips.html

I don't think recommendations count for much as your price is unique to your specific details. You'll just have to hit the price comparison sites and then check with some of the companies who won't be on them like direct line and Adrian flux. Adding a low risk additional driver might help and be careful how you describe your occupation. Company director might not be the cheapest option. If you are company director for an IT firm for example, you could justifiably say you were an IT manager (or similar) and it might be cheaper. Obviously don't lie, it's more about describing what type of business you are in a bit better. You insurance company will never investigate it anyway! 🤣

Very nice, well done. What year / engine is it, I’ve had two impreza’s, the 2.0 & 2.5, both put down the power in different ways. although you can’t beat the noise of a v8 it has to be closely followed by a Subaru boxers unequal headers 👍🏻 Enjoy,

Very similar engine in my LC and... no oil used thus far. I am careful with new engines as sometimes they use a drop until the bores smooth off but not with this motor.

Yes, try an RX. Like driving an armchair ! You may have to settle for a slightly older one due to budget constraints.....that's what I did and couldn't be happier. Our new granddaughter arrived mid-January and everything works well.

Ran an ISF for 2.5yrs, didn't need a drop between services. 1yr into RCF ownership and same so far.....

Congratulations, the wife has a Subaru Outback, although a nice car it definitely isn’t an F experience, having had both heads done I’ve been assured it’ll outlive me, so fingers crossed yours has been done 🤞🏻......any oil smell is the start, not visible as it drops on the exhaust, but this is the cheap time to rectify, although anything but cheap.......five garages and no agreeable diagnostic, so make sure u trust the garage that’ll be looking after it. 👍

38 yrs old, 9+ yrs no claims, £400 ish with direct line inc. protected NCD.

Strange that. Not just with Lexus but also BMW . My last BMW was apparently the dealer principals car before it went to Mr and Mrs Miggins down the road for 12 months. I think its code for "its a fast car that's been ragged within an inch of its life by everyone at the dealership but scrubs up well".

Excellent stuff And very practical too. In case you need to justify purchases to anyone in particular.

Yeah, I know what you mean. On the other hand, most steering wheels from the first gen LS400 seem to be wearing extremely fast, it wouldnt take much more to rip it to pieces like mine. The engine sounds excellent though, and the pedals didnt have any wear that would indicate the astronomical mileage most other cars would need to get a steering wheel into this state. Then again, an LS400 probably is one of those cars where mileage matters less than in any comparable vehicle haha. Suspension is never a deal breaker for me. These are wear items, so they will need replacing eventually on most of the cars you'd find for sale today, unless that has happened already. The most important areas that the car needs to convince me in are bodywork and drivetrain, and those seem to be good. Until these become problems, a car like this Celsior is always worth saving to me.

Fading in and out was half the fun, I also used to listen to Radio Caroline. 'Radio caroline the pirate years: Oakwood Press', is well worth a read to bring back all that nostalgia. I think Ride A White Swan by T. Rex is my first memory of pirate radio.

I drove it very like Miss Daisy to get over 40MPG I can assure you. Not slating the car it is obviously just not for me. Ehmm well Nissan 370z, already have a 350z so maybe hybrids aint for me lol.

I keep seeing a Corsa on my commute with "N5" reg. Must be worth more than the car, multiple times over.

Actually, I did ask. Not explicitly if it was a press car, but I asked about the previous keeper and was told it was a directors car. In fairness to my local dealer, they sourced it from another Lexus branch for me, so it may have been simply a case of it was known by the original dealer (Lexus UK tell me they would know) but not by my local one.

We are all different but I like the idea of the plate that looks like your name and you can keep it for all your cars. I do ‘waste money on cars’ according to my wife with exhausts that I sell after I sell a car and ppf etc so I am no saint but could not see myself paying for a plate I would sell with the car and get no value for it. As I say, we are all different. If you can snag ‘f1 rcf’ for a low price of below £500 all in that’s not too shabby.

Well I can get plate L1NAS... but I just though it would be plainly childish to have the name as your number plate... funny fact the plate is actually fitted on Black 2008 IS250 SE-i, the only difference is that mine is SE-L, but otherwise identical car. You are right - RCF plates are plentiful and cheap, but my opinion is anyway that you match the plate for the car and just keep-it/sell it with the car - never transfer.. Equally, I would never pay more then £500 for plate anyway.. so it is not like I would care selling car with the plate... My current car as well came with the "private" XXX LEX I would have never cared to put it there, nor I care to sell it with it.

The market for a model specific plate, especially on a car like the rcf is limited to say the least. If you like it then go for it but having a plate you can move between cars makes more sense to me. If you spend money on the plate I would be amazed if a dealer or private buyer saw any value in it so it would be a sunk cost.

Cleaning them up does work. My car was looked after by a Lexus dealer prior to me buying it. <crap> The sliders were seized on the rear callipers, they don’t check to see if they slide, just check the pads. I had to really clout mine with a rubber hammer and crowbar to release them. They were cleaned up and haven’t been an issue since. Checked every year.

I have a 'hold' function on mine which means I can take my foot off the foot brake whilst leaving it in D. I guess that must be an automatic foot brake rather than applying the hand brake. Will have to look at the energy meter next time I use it.

I'm still coming across useful shortcuts I didn't know about and maybe aren't in the manual. Today I noticed this: I never knew that. Many thanks to "route66" for the info. Double-press brings up the Sat Nav warning message (it says "Don't rely on the Sat Nav" or something like that). I went a step further and found that triple-press skips the warning message and goes straight to the map. Very useful. I tried this on the Audio button, too. I found double-press goes straight to the choice of AM, FM or DAB when the radio is selected. That might be useful too. I didn't test it with another audio input. Here's an obscure setting that took me a while to discover. There's an aircon setting for use when there's a lot of pollen about. Go to the main screen display for the air con and choose the three dots at the bottom right for the Option screen. There are three options: A/C, Dual and a third option with a picture of a seated person and an arrow pointing at the person's face - the arrow seems to be passing through what I assume is a picture of the pollen filter. I only discovered this because I noticed that older Lexuses have a dedicated button for this function. The button has disappeared in the later cars but the function is still there. Are there any other useful tips or shortcuts that are not obvious at first glance?

There is possibly nothing worse that holding a hybrid in D on the parking brake. The system uses the main brake pedal as a signal to provide hybrid power or not. Take your foot off the brake and it uses the electric motor to provide forward creep, simulating a standard automatic transmission. Holding it in that mode on a handbrake is depleting the batteries and heating up the electric motor. Either hold the vehicle in D using the main brake, or place it in Park.

Thinking about the press car thing, my biggest concern would be the warming of the engine. I’m sure we all religiously allow the engine to warm up before giving it any beans. I doubt press drivers have time to even worry about allowing the engine to be sufficiently warmed.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the V8 in the original C63s were detuned to stop it (power wise) stepping on the toes of other, more expensive ‘63s. I think Mercedes essentially limited the throttle opening to about 90%, which was undone if you bought the Black series version. I suppose this might be the reason why a simple ECU flash would liberate another 55-60bhp? Googling reveals many, similar theories, but I have no idea if they’re true...

I've got one of them, 2008 isf with 114850 miles on It. I looked into the history of the car and could not find any proof of track use in the first year of it's life when it was owned by the car magazine company. There review focused more on family use, day to day stuff versus there own Ford focus lol It's had 6 owners since then and that was more worrying for me, but the car had never missed a service, mot history doesn't show any abuse. I will have owned it for 2 years come August, never had a issue apart from replacing brakes, battery, oil, coolant all by myself as this car will be a keeper. Paul "Big Rat" you have my permission to share openly on this forum any info or videos of my car you have, you probably know more than myself. It has had various registered number plates to it also over its life.

I will add that when I bought my RC-F, I wasn't actively looking to replace the IS-F. Having been up close to a standard RC-F, I wasn't blown away. When I came across my carbon, it truly was a jaw dropping moment. I enjoy looking at the car so much that sometimes I'll just sit in the garage with a cup of coffee and admire the carbon fibre. It's beautiful. If you are the type to enjoy detailing cars, there's a good chance you'll be fixated with carbon. Of course, these things are always subjective, but I don't foresee any problems selling mine when the time comes. With only single figure white RC-F carbons out there, it shouldn't be too hard to trade it / find a buyer. In the meantime, I'll enjoy the exclusivity. I've seen getting on for 10 RC-Fs on the road - none of them were carbon editions.

@Tfp All the ‘F’ cars are hard to sell quickly....... it seems almost irrespective of mileage and condition. For people who know the Lexus Marque and have had a V8 ‘F’ car before the decision is again it seems relatively easy. Newcomers from say BMW or Audi probably need more convincing and the rubbish motoring journalists out there of whom there are many don’t help, depending which German manufacturers pocket they get paid from strong words but frequently true. As regards the Carbon being more difficult to sell I’m not so sure but I guess they add another complexity to the buyers decision to purchase. Big Rat

@Warrington guy Dave and me well black anyway........... 🐀

In actual fact I used 0W20 oil in my GS450H for the past 3 years with the engine now approaching 135,000 miles. I find the car requires 1/2 Ltr of oil top up between the 10,000 mile oil change interval. In real terms a top up is not necessary because the level does not get near the low level mark, but since I use the car for towing a 20ft caravan keeping the level at or near the full dipstick mark seems sensible. Virtualy all the Toyota engines can use 0W20 oil as shown in the list below. Toyota Oil Applications.pdf