gb1600e

As has been said you buy the right to use the registration and I found Plates4Less cheaper on plates offered by multiple dealers. You require your documents to buy the legal plates themselves to the correct legal spec at reputable outlets or Halfords if you have one nearer. If you want your plates that vary in any ie with spacing differences, logo's or other such styling you need to buy " Show Plates" available from anywhere on ebay which are not legal for road use and it will say that somewhere in the small print. I chose to risk a life of criminality and go with this. Of course for the MOT I changed them and if Mr Plod ever has the occasion to speak to me "I have the real ones here officer. I just forgot to swap them back when I left the show. I will swap them now" is my plan. To note registration recognition technology at car parks reads my plate V8 000 GB as V800 OGB anyway and prints V800 OGB on the ticket. I suspect I'm not fooling police ANPR either so why its still illegal who knows. 6 months on the car and Im still on the run from the law with no trouble from Mr Pod yet

Step away from the battery Wayne, Step away! No really, Step Away.

Well my plan is to keep my ISF for 18 months or so and then change it for an RCF and when I decide I'm too old to hoon around in 2 door coupe (or my lad is too big get in the back) I could get a GSF. So why not hatch a plan to have all 3

Nice one, Bet you have been pounding the roads of Yorkshire since then with a broader grin than usual. As for a second hand gearbox? I think the one from the ISF written off a couple months ago was being offered for £3K. but go find another second hand one somewhere if you needed one.

@Shahpor you are surprised I was gutted. The service team weren't confident from the off on a 10 year old brake pipe and I let them make the approach (I was in shock). So yes @giorgoXXI normal wear / corrosion, and yes the Lexus Extended Warranty but I'm considering another approach as of course there could be a conflict of interest? or at best they are not as interested as I am in £1300 10 hours labour according to the Lexus service bible (It took the technician about 30 mins to work it out) so £95 / hr then. It's what I was quoted at the start although I gather from the technician who did it that it actually took nearer 13 hrs !! Fair enough they didn't amend the bill. Good points @doog442 and @PRT68 I did ask the question if they could just piece out the first 6 inches" (which I might have done on a daily shopper car) and was politely told there were no straight bits long enough to do so rear of the diff so wouldn't be any saving. And they did ask if I wanted to trailer it somewhere else but in for a penny in for a pound. I bought the car with full Lexus service history and warranty in place and will sell it similar having wanted for nothing. I don't mind buying 50% off pads but wasn't compromising on this. Yep @lotusdave and @Texas I had both sides done. The nearside line is a little longer hence the slightly higher price. I disconnected the calliper / flexi at the calliper end so hadn't tinkered with the connection the other end. However I had dosed the union at the other end, as I had with all the other fixings with WD 40. If that's was dislodged any rusted steel to the point it blew out so be it. @Malc its the fun you have getting to 30mph that makes the difference. A visceral experience tingling all the senses. Hybrid / silent electric wizardry ? No Thanks !!

I consider my 2009 ISF with 97k miles in very good condition (as do Lexus Derby) but here's a tale for all you early plate cars to be mindful of. Before the MOT I replaced my brake pads all round with Brembo pads from Euro Car Parts. Said to be not to be the same spec friction material as Brembo pads from Lexus ? but should be quite sufficient for me and Less than £80 all in which I was happy with. However one of the rear pad retaining pins was seized and no amount of penetrating oil (for nearly a week) and persuading would shift it so I had to take the calliper off to sort that out. On the bench it was much easier to safely knock the pin out although it was bent by the time it gave up the struggle. £46 for a new one pin (2 in fact and the spring clip which I didn't need). I took the opportunity to dose any nut and bolt within reach with WD40 as it seemed a good idea. Incidentally I measured the disks and the fronts were 28.6 mm and the rears 26.5mm, both still within the tolerance as specified by Brembo (28mm and 26mm respectively, I gather they start at 30mm and 28mm). Conclusion: A good job well done. Took longer than it should but would have cost a lot more if I had Lexus do it. Maybe do the disks next year. The MOT test A short 3 mile, 30mph drive (its the law) into town and the good news at Lexus Derby was the confirmation the test itself was free as part of the extended warranty. My frothy coffee and courtesy biscuit enjoyment was ruined however with the news the car failed. The look on Oliver's face told the storey, I think she had already worked out the bill). Complete brake failure, pedal to the floor during the brake test. My first though was "that could be expensive" but quickly turned to "Oh **** what if that happened while I was driving at speed" By the time I was in the workshop looking at the offending item I was grateful I was having the conversation there rather than being up against the back of a bus. On reflection I think I was lucky. The Details The off side steel brake line had burst just above the union where it joins the flexi, which connects to the calliper. The first 5cm are unprotected from the poly coating which covers the rest of the line. I did notice when I did the pads this was corroded but not massively so. Anyway the line disappears up behind the rear arch liner to who knows where ! Well I now know it goes all the way to the front of the car in one piece and needed them to have the car for a week. Yikes. Result was a total rear end dismantling. Both arch liners off, Cat back exhaust off, back axle off, prop shaft off, fuel tank out, numerous heat shields and covers off. Sadly I don't have a photo but I'm told it looked a picture. We all agreed this would write off a 10 year old bog standard model. Lucky for me its an ISF then. I was pleased to hear from the technician that everything came to bits very easily with nothing seized and the underside of the car is as solid as every. Well that's good news then. The Cost and by the way the warranty company said No. Doh. MOT Free OS Brake Pike £67.39 NS Brake Pipe £75.36 Brake Fluid £9.31 Labour £950 VAT £220 It not happening at high speed with me driving Priceless! A £1322.47 investment in my safety is the way to look at it. And of course good for another 10 years. The lesson and the point to take the time to tell the storey. Proactively check how rusty your rear brake pipes are if you have an older ISF, or any IS and put a few quid to one side if you ought to change them. But most importantly Stay Safe.

Just had my MOT at Lexus Derby and got an excellent customer service experience, no sweets on my passenger seat though, although they delivered her back home to me as I couldn't get back into town and I was impressed with that. Its good to see so many getting such great comments. The details of the MOT failure are another storey for another time mind you!

Thanks @Cezar B that's another reason to justify my future step up to an RCF. I have seen 30 mpg and 12 mpg on my ISF and stopped looking after that as 12 was closer to the norm. My man maths however equates this to a high 20's average which covers conversation within earshot of the wife.

Yep. I'm loving that. "why not" indeed.

No not the suspension but the brakes. Total brake failure, pedal to floor job. The good news is that it was on the rollers during the MOT and not with me in it rapidly approaching the back of bus! (or wheel spinning my way out of Sports Cars in the Park ). Having replaced all the pads last week while wheels off being refurbished the MOT man obviously achieved some super braking force on its first serious stop and split the rear pipe just past the flexi from the calliper. (I had just been braking steadily on the way from home to the garage to bed the pads in) For those technically interested the drivers side rear steel brake line burst just above the flexi from the calliper. I looked at this while doing the pads and thought it looked corroded but not terribly so. The first 50mm of the line is not poly protected and it burst there. There is even a cut out in the arch liner to give wet salt access.......... and spanners when the inevitable occurs. A design fault in my book as a simple flap / clip arrangement on the arch liner the size of a playing card would save it from being sprayed with water all the time. Ho hum. Big boy pants on and pay up for both rear brake lines to be replaced but as they go all the way to the front in one piece (and mostly not visible behind stuff) its a substantial amount of labour. I'm currently in counselling regarding the potential bill.

Well done guys, four fine looking cars there. Even more disappointed now as it looked a top day out from all the photo's and vids. That said my pride and joy spent the weekend on a ramp at Lexus Derby after a spectacular MOT fail on Friday lunchtime , so would have missed out anyway. I hope to be reunited with the old girl before the week is out.

Truly unique as it says and I imagine will be a very sought after car for anybody who knows what must have gone into getting it to where it is now. But maybe hard to realistically value so the auction route will find its true level. Correction, the auction route will find the most somebody will pay which maybe a different thing. I don't know Peter but good luck to him though to get the best price he can.

Very nice @Twellsie. Dare I ask how much? particularly the disks as I need new disks sometime soon. Mine are currently just a little over the min width specified (by coincidence I was checking them last night) but sometime in the next 6 - 12 months I will need to replace.

I so knew this would be a Marmite thing But how boring life (and this forum) would be if everyone liked the exact same thing. For me Orange just looks wrong on an RCF but so right on an Escort Mk1 Mexico (or RS Focus) with the best RCF colour combo being Azure Blue with Grey leather, but that doesn't suit the carbon edition IMHO. However White and Carbon, now that's spot on. As for Yellow? Anyone ever seen one in Naples Yellow? Wont even start on caliper paint / wheel / body combo's that do / don't go.

For sale on Auto Trader at £42.5k https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904257310191?model=RC F&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&make=LEXUS&sort=sponsored&radius=1500&postcode=de735ws&advertising-location=at_cars&page=2 Well I think I would if I was in the market to buy. What's the verdict from the rest of you guys.

No surprise to me that the ISF comes into Autocar magazine's list of depreciation busting performance cars. But Shhhh just don't tell everyone !! "There are certain performance cars on the second-hand market that are so well-regarded – and that are in sufficient demand – that their values are set in stone. Pick the right one and it’ll probably owe you nothing two or three years down the road. You could get back every penny you paid for it". "post-2011 IS Fs still command £25,000, while the earliest cars are trading hands for around £18,000. It’s unlikely they’ll slip much further" "IS F is exceptionally rare, which is exactly what will keep values strong in years to come." Well we knew that I guess but it's what Autocar think too, and its certainly more fun than keeping the keeping the money in the bank! I just need to wait until the RC F reaches a similar status before I raid the bank again https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/beating-depreciation-performance-cars-cost-nothing-own

Glad you got sorted at a price you were OK with. But what was the delay? did they struggle to sort it out or just struggle to fit it in/

They have 2 LC500 for sale at Lexus Derby. What chance do you think they will let me have one as a courtesy car when my ISF gets serviced. If I was in the market to buy (which by miles I'm not) there are a fair few on the market at present so should mean a good deal could be had ?

No, Shamefully still not sorted my scabby rims yet. Nor taken to plan B with the other particularly beautiful set either They are almost too good to put on the car, but as window dressing? Nothing wrong with that.

Paintwork looking great in the sun Dan. and the increasing number of black accents adding to look. How are you getting on with those Bridgestone tyres by the way?

Great Car, Great buy for someone. Anyone on here ? it would be interesting to know what's replacing it. Or do you have a big reveal planned some time soon.?

Interesting point @ColinBarber So are you suggesting Brembo make one standard for Lexus to sell over the counter and another standard for the after market ? I didn't realise that. And how bad can the after market Brembo ones be?

as @PhoeNicks suggests the sensor is in its own cradle mounted under the bonnet slam panel and a good few inches back from the badge. I was interested to check this out on the ISF that was at the breakers near me a couple weeks ago. Having just looked at my badge it might benefit from a bit of a polish up too.

A GS F is definitely a car I see myself having one day, but not for a few years yet. Is this you. My favourite colour. Its beautiful.

Euro Car Parts stock Brembo disks and pads for my ISF and IS 300 (not sure about RCF but why not if Brembo do them?) and regularly email me with 50% off deals. Just done the IS 300 and plan to buy some for the ISF ready for when they do need doing. It might need a conversation with an interested guy in one of their trade counters if RCF not listed online but worth a go for 50% off. Even heard of Lexus dealers fitting customer bought parts during a service visit ( for labour ££ only). What's not to like?