lotusdave

can you imagine the state of it? Lexus Twickenham have a 08 for 27k or something, which seems very high. They have a 10 too, goes to show there is turnover in stock if not much quantity. One with accident damage i walked away from price dropped over weekend too. Its quite fun watching them come and go!

Is that a rear CF roof, M3 CSL style, or a wrap to make it look like a CF roof? Real I suspect but I'm new to how Lexus do things so I thought I would ask.

quick update. The search continues as the one i saw yesterday was, imo, over priced for age and condition. had Lexus warranty though which was a positive but the bonnet was in a bit of a mess with dozens of stone chips. I was a bit suspicious that the alloys were perfect which was too good to be true after 43000miles. After advice from stevet via twitter maybe that's not so unusual as refurbs are common due to brake dust sticking to the alloy. I'm in no rush. And had a ball on the drive down to the south coast in the Elise!

out of interest how much would a main stealer want for front pads and discs? As with tyres id be loathe to skimp on quality as if you stop 1m quicker you may not hit whatever you were stopping for. But I've got aftermarket set up on my Elise which stop much more effectively then oem. Bigger discs so not fair comparison and with track day tyres on a hot day the Elise stop pretty quickly. Never activated abs on an isf yet. Must try harder on next test drive!

if you wrap it round a tree be sure to swap it back before the insurance inspection as modifications, no matter how minor, give them an excuse to void your policy. Daft but true

glad you're having fun. I'm off to look at another one on Saturday, private dealer this time and in silver which i like look of. The blue one Lexus edgware have is lovely but white leather puts me off. You can always wrap it and have whatever colour you like. A good firm will avoid the horror stories of cut paint etc. An isf appeals to me as it isn't an m3 or amg. Something unusual, stealthy and very quick. 100% agree re cheap tyres, on any car let alone one of these.

radar cruise (sounds like a band!). Early ones, Lexus or not, have reputation for being binary. Latest ones take into account people slotting into the gap in front and don't jam on the anchors etc. 5years is a long time for technology to improve.

rac man was pretty certain it had been and I'm not taking the chance as i don't NEED to buy another car, just quite fancy doing it. Ill call owner later (he me have read this of course) and see what he knows. My local main dealer knows what i am looking for and as they say, patience is a virtue. There's a white one in a private dealer near Goodwood i may see over the weekend. i know a few things to look for now too.

Bad news, darn it. Front end accident damage leading to a 'blend' respray covering a lot of body panels. Repaired to 'a high quality' but that's not the point. I don't need to buy a crash repaired high performance car so I wont. Also uneven tyre wear (on what I was told are new tyres) could be the geo is out. I shall move on and carry on looking. Even more annoyed I didn't see the one in Bristol now!

Now back on topic please: rac inspection tomorrow but in meantime if i update the dvd sat nav via Lexus, ie a new disc, will i get postcode search? Does the radar cruise work ok, or waste of time? Does an isf have a speed limiter, ie set 80mph and itll stop at 80? Most Mercedes do that, very handy for keeping the licence on long motorways or average cameras. Once more soz for format, blame Microsoft and Nokia. does

i am a little biased, but go drive an evora. The ride and steering are fabulous. Boot and rest seat not so great. i very nearly got one to compliment my Elise but wanted an automatic for my m25 traffic jam journeys, and ips (ie automatic) evora's are even rarer than ifs'! 30k will get you a dealer used non supercharged. try one, trust me you'll love the ride and steering.

My limited knowledge of these things says a lower ride height means less wheel travel means harder ride else car will hit bump stops. drive a standard car back to back. Also check tyre pressure as some compliance comes from the tyre. Lastly if its lower how is it with traffic calming?

zafira vxr is an interesting historic car to have had. Pointless given the family nature or underrated?

its not a press car thankfully and i did check the evo reg too. Bd08 reg from memory.

doh re the colour... Maybe see you on the road one day!

way to make me feel like i failed only finding a private one... Good stuff though. What colour? Whats your plan with it, daily driver?

Assuming it passes a full RAC inspection (£275 for a member) on Tuesday I shall shortly be the owner of a v8 400BHP saloon car. I may well get it wrapped at some stage as my lotus is also black and it's a bugger to keep clean. I'm happy with the deal I've done as it reflects the fact the car has been looked after and the new brakes and tyres, but is also a private sale and as such I dont have any comeback. I may get a warranty, I'll see how I feel as I get closer to actually paying for it, but as the main fault seems to be the MM and generally it seems they aren't covered by the lexus warranty let alone a private one, I may self insure. I'm way under budget on what I expected to pay as I was initially looking at a much younger car. Exciting times! Follow me on @lotusdave for updates and I'll post some pictures in due course, assuming it all goes ahead.

really interesting thread, thanks. Agree though that having a performance car and not exceeding 4500revs seems, well, daft frankly. Each to their own, enjoy.

sounds lovely in sport mode. Since i don't even have an isf (yet) i cant help though!

sorry about the bold. Having real trouble on my Nokia windows 8 mobile... Bloody technology

ouch. If you haven't done driver training, give it a go. Www.carlimits.co.uk (or maybe .com) is excellent. Rubbish website but if you want to know what its like to spin on a road but not hit anything, its great. Big airfield, drive at 80 then turn 90' left. You'll spin. By end of day you wont. Its all about feeling the car so you may just may avoid the inevitable panic that happens in real life. great fun too. All in your own car. Andy Walsh races elises and was, many moonw ago, a test driver for benetton when Schumacher was there.

Mr W, that's bad luck but it's only a car and as long as you're ok that is all that matters. Expensive bottle of milk. Will you get another one? As a matter of interest, how much tread was on the tyres and have you done any driver training courses so that you have at least experienced what it's like when it all goes wrong?

I'm pretty sure the dealers have a decent margin on the cars on offer. And anyone selling privately expects less than they advert says. Imo anyway. Going to be a fun few weeks ahead. Mind you, had a lovely drive home in my lotus with the roof off and had some fun with a Aston martin over some roundabouts.

thanks folks, naturally the price is open for negotiations. its tax and mot run out this month but FLSH is up to date with a recent 'more expensive' service just done. Tax is £440 as you well know. Here's what available on autotrader at the moment:- year reg colour miles £ seller 2011 11 slate 3660 35000 lexus twickwnham 2011 11 slate 8243 33975 lexus derby 2011 11 white 11425 32995 lexus glasgow 2011 60 blue 8736 30995 lexus edgware 2011 11 black 27000 30000 wokingham car centre 2008 58 silver 43500 21995 targa florida cars 2008 58 white 50000 20995 parkway birmingham 2008 58 grey 51000 20995 shamrock motors 2008 58 black 39000 20995 private The one I saw today, which I only saw as it was the closest isf to me, being the last one. There's a huge gap between 2008 and 2011 cars and the chap above with the 59 main stealer did well. Im in no rush to buy so we shall see. Oh, four new tyres and new front discs and pads on the private one. Parkers says £16,735 for a 50,000 mileage good one. This is lower mileage and id say excellent. So it's overpriced, but you'd expect that. Oh, what to do! Dave

update (again from phone so sorry for poor layout). Saw a private 2008 with 40k today, uograded stereo but no sunroof. 21k wanted. Very tidy motor, spotless inside and out. Few stone chips but otherwise good. I good too. No curbing. Owner also had 13plate c63amg on drive which is new company car, hence selling isf. Its one hell of a car for the money. Id been expecting to buy something newer, but am tempted by the good reputation for reliability....