gb1600e

Hi Benny, Did you ever find a sill to repair your IS200. If so how much and from where? As you found many are suffering from rust now days so I would expect repair panels to exist somewhere. I might need one to sort the dreaded rust.

Id normally be up for this as would be good to meet up with other F owners but its the last weekend of the football season (Championship anyway) so I will be at the match celebrating the mighty Rams promotion to the Premier League. On the other hand I could pop up if we don't even make the play offs but forever he optimist. Agree with @Toothy though all credit to you for calling it out.

Go on Rishi buy one, you know you want to. I should have bought mine sooner and on reflection it should be no more expensive to run than my 10 year old Mitsubishi L200. I have 2 years service and warranty with Lexus for £100 a month. My L200 cost more than that in service and MOT repairs over the last 2 years. I have seen 30mpg on a run, although 12mpg when Im having more fun but an average better than my pick up. (I'm happy with 12 as its more fun than Sky sports). Insurance just over £400 with a limited mileage. Very competitive. I bought well at a keen price and don't expect to loose big money on depreciation over a couple of years and certainly nothing compared to buying or leasing a new car. I flogged the L200 and bought an IS300 Sportcross as a runabout. Sorted. Therefore my man maths concludes running an ISF could actually be a saving. Well that's what I told the Mrs.

@wibzo I guess if / when you accept the valuation payment the vehicle becomes the property of the insurance company and that will be in the small print of your policy. They will sell the salvage at the highest price possible to offset "their" loss. That could be to you for the minor categories or an authorised salvage agent for vehicles that shouldn't be repaired, which they then make a profit on the parts that can be sold. Call me a cynic but the second opinion provided by and paid for by the insurance company is highly likely to arrive at the conclusion they want it to. I have always had the view that there is an unhealthy relationship between insurance companies, inspectors, approved repairers and the salvage industry as between them its potentially just a massive cash generating machine. If you truly believe it can be safely repaired I would think you need to get a private inspection if they would allow that and fight them if it goes in your favour but at what time and cost? On reflection and along with the other advice, why bother? Maybe channel your energies into justifying the highest value settlement you can with all the evidence possible that it was the best ISF in existence. As always, good luck.

? you mean they turned up at home having exchanged them for some hard earned ££ Or they have turned up for sale.

I bet if yours has fell off it wont be the first to go that way and therefore it will be readily available? Readily being a relative term particularly here in the UK. That said I needed some engine cover bolts for my Mitsubishi L200 recently and they came in 7 days from Japan via Germany. Its a global village. Im sure your local dealer will do the business but for how much I wonder?? £20 £40 more??

Im having my wheels refurbed with BCS in the next couple of weeks (taking advantage of their pay December and do in January 30% off) but hence their old name "Brake Calliper Specialist" they do more callipers I gather. Quality looks good and they paint callipers for McLaren so says their Website. Now BSC Automotive they do wheels too and I will be happy to post up later how I get on. I have no affiliation to these guys but just happen to be local. As for colour @Twellsie how about Aston Martin Acrid Lime. that would look good with black. Or Orange will be a nod to how Lexus see things. Am I right to think ISF had option orange callipers in US or Japan but not Europe / UK ?? look good all the same on a GSF. Have you decided yet ??

Well I though the concept looked great, the camo pictures looked good but I like the production version much less from the front or back. Although surely nobody can dislike a Zagato esk double bubble. And Smee ! I don't like him. Took one for the team though and listened all the way which qualifies me to suggest you give him a miss. That's 20 minutes of my life I wont get back but every day a school day as they say.

These look great Dan and have to be on my shopping list for the future. The fact that they can be just as easily swapped back for the originals appeals to me. Have you ruled out doing the fronts as well ? I can only hope the fronts look better in real life than in the you tube video's

Thanks for that @DAW it all adds to the conversation with the wheel specialists if I try and keep it standard. @paul99 I get your point about losing the definition of the wheels if black and that would be terrible with such sculptured work of art. I'm liking bronze though. Mind you I would need a couple of brave pills to have them done that colour. Im surprised its this hard to establish the actual colour to keep the stock colour though.

(Sorry I know this has been round before but don't think ever concluded) Im having my wheels refurbed as it’s the only thing that needed a freshen up since I bought my ISF a couple months ago. (apart from my driving that is) and I have 2 issues to solve in my head if anyone wants to help. 1. The colour Lexus intended or something else? My ISF is White and I like the Dark Silver Metallic they are now, but I’m tempted by Black. Anyone got a White ISF with Black Wheels or any other non original colour for that matter to share photo's ? 2. Dark Silver Metallic I have read all I can on here and elsewhere to find the code 11GY39 isn’t a paint code, BBS won’t divulge a paint code, the Toyota paint code mentioned at times (1E3) is a body colour not a wheel paint code, BMW ferric Grey is too light, and never seen anything that nails the colour to a code I can talk to the refurb company about. So is there anyone out there that feels they have found a good match. Im sure somebody out there has something. Ultimately they can match what I have but I like to be prepared.

I have owned mine for just a couple of months now and I love it. I was open mined to weather I bought an early or late one and I looked around for over 6 months before I finally bought. Its all about the condition and service history and for me the colour combo. Existing warranties are transferable so I picked up 14 months from the previous owner and as @FTBBCVoodoo says the warranty can be extended if the car is less than 10 years old or 140k miles (and either full Lexus service history or inspection) . So I bought 2 more years and now have a 2009 car with 40 months warranty. What's not to like. The point being how confident Lexus are about the reliability which gave me the confidence to spend a good chunk of money on an older car and buy privately. Good luck with the search. In fact I'm just off out for a drive now. I have nowhere to go but Im just going out to drive. I love it.

Ouch. I'm devastated for you and hope you are OK. I guess it comes down to what the insurance company pay up. I think I would need to get another ISF and walking away doing that might be the easiest thing. How much is the salvage to buy back?There are a lot of expensive bits to sell which may recover some money for you. But have you got the space to sit with it? While the damage may result in a total loss financially how bad is it actually? And what would it take to repair? I wouldn't expect it to be sellable for much once repaired though. But you never know. If the salvage plus the repairs less selling some stuff costed in I would turn it into a track day toy. One for the road one for the track. What's not to like about that. To repeat though I'm gutted for you and hope you not hurt. Take some time to ponder your next move i guess is the best advice

That's a brilliant list @ColinBarber I had read lots about the changes before I bought mine but never seen a list. As a mid 2009 registered car I feel I need to check if I have variable speed on my power windows or not. But not now its raining out. I don't have DAB, USB or the Torsen LSD like @d3ron and quite happy with that but I do wonder if the Mark Levinson multi media can be upgraded ? I would expect if the answer is yes its likely prohibitively expense? So to all pre January 2010 owners has anyone engineered a DAB radio into the audio without using the worst of the rubbish aftermarket ones?

Well main dealers certainly know how to charge as that's a BIG bill. Only worth it IMO if you value a folder full of Lexus receipts to go with your full service history, (if you have that). I wonder if the main dealer will farm out the welding anyway? but how about asking the independent you went to as I bet they could recommend a body shop. That said I agree £462 doesn't sound that bad (depending on what they actually are doing). Good luck.

Agree with that Mark as so far I found the same. 11GY39 isn't actually a paint code, BBS don't / wont declare what the paint code is, its said by some to be close to a Toyota body colour Code 1E3 (Phantom Grey), and some people use BMW Ferric Grey (really? not for me). While I want my wheels in the stock colour I guess pointing to my rims and calling it "dark silver metallic" is as good as it going to get. Or does anyone have any actual paint code suggestions for dark metallic silver?

Ummm, I like those. Very nice. Are they the original stock colour? Which takes me to a another question on wheels. What is the actual colour of stock UK rims. For another thread maybe?

@liambart where are you in Derbyshire. I'm in Derby so you cant be far away but never seen you on the road. I wonder if there are any other local East Midlands owners out there as I've never seen another ISF on the road at all!! Which is one reason I wanted one.

Maybe time for a few updates on this thread maybe?? After a rear puncture on the M1 last week today I got my rear tyres replaced. I went for Avon ZV7's as they seem to be a good all rounder. Only time will tell. I should of asked for recommendations here I guess. I replaced the 215's I bought the car with at the rear with 225's they should be and it got complicated with the tyre fitters moving one good 215 from the rear to replace the worst one on the front. I wasn't sure but know now the rear rims don't fit on the front because of the different offset but bless them they sorted it out in the end. Happy to recommend National Tyres in Derby for their attention to detail. I plan to match to fronts up in the ne year.

After a number of IS 200 Sports I now have an IS 300 Sportcross and am after a tow bar, however they seem to be a bit elusive! There are a few very old threads on here, and they appear to be available from the US but anyone got any recent experience of getting hold of one in the UK. (particularly the detachable type) Anyone with one to sell would be great. So I would be interested in in anyone's experience of sportcross towbars. Thanks.

Kindred Spirits............that's cars perhaps as well as owners. I took the ISF to a work meeting this week (any excuse) and found myself parking next to this. Look Familiar ?? I then bumped into the owner as I was about to leave to find its a Toyota Aristo V300 Vertex Edition. A personal import from Japan which has the 2JZ engine, same as my IS300, although with twin turbo' s for him. Its very quick apparently. It was certainly very nice. Other similarities to my IS300 include the steering wheel auto box shift buttons and nearly all the other switch gear. I bet there are more. The line of evolution to Lexus and later models too was clear. Small world

So are you saying his key AND the spare!! were in Faraday bags and it still got hacked and stolen ?? I got 2 faraday bags the week I bought my ISF and the spare sits in one, in a special secret place in the house all the time. The one I use daily stays in the bag, (not by the front door), even when I'm out. I hope I remain this disciplined although given I lack discipline in many other things potentially not. I wonder how many folk keep the daily key in a bag by the front door but leave the spare unprotected somewhere else ?

I bet many of you guys surfing Auto Trader may spot this car as familiar, and you would be right. It was on sale for a while a couple months ago at a Vauxhall dealer in Stoke. I viewed it closely but walked away as it wasn't right for me and wasn't the excellent condition I hoped it would be. It disappeared off sale but appears again now from a dealer in Newport Pagnell. (possibly looking more excellent than it was). So to be clear I'm not in the trade nor qualified to give advice but if anyone is interested to know what it did look like 2 months ago then PM me. (not sure of the protocol of going through the details publicly on here?) Before I found the right one I appreciated the same heads on the cars I went to see from anyone who knew anything so only fair I put what I found out there if anyone interested. No doubt it will be a great car for someone though.

Its interesting the possible different conversations with dealers we seem to have, the consistent I guess is whether they know the car or not. My conversation with them last week as a new owner was an easy one. Its still under warranty, now transferred to me, and the car had it big service the week before by the old owner which means they know the car better than I do. I got my quote to extend the warranty on email so popping it when I can to do the deal. So far Lexus Derby

Not a Facebook fan myself but great work Dan all the same.