DAW

Just to clarify my car is the final model variant with the DRL's, single large rev counter, blue panel and the sport button on the steering wheel and was registered at the end of August on a early 2011 plate (being only a week off the late 2011 September plate). I was surprised about this as I had thought the same as Andy; probably from the magazine reviews I had read. But as I said I have also seen one other for sale with Lexus this year (while I was keeping an eye on values) which was registered in March or April 2011. The pictures showed it had DRL's/large rev counter etc - although its always possible the year was a typo on the Lexus website. Andy if you don't mind me asking did you buy your car from Hedge End in Jan/Feb 2014?. My original preference was for a ISF in blue with black leather and I had my eye on one at Hedge end, which had literally just been sold when I called to organise a test drive.

I originally thought the final model variant with the DRL's and large central rev counter was from 2012 onwards. But my car is this model, bought from Lexus and was registered at the end of August 2011. I thought it may have been one of the earliest of this model to be registered, but I saw an early 2011 for sale at a Lexus dealer over the summer so clearly not. I was originally looking for the updated model with the mechanical slip diff/blue panel in the steering wheel etc which I understood came in after April 2010. But having watched the ISF market for a while later registered cars were coming up without this so I can only presume that it depends on when the cars are imported and then registered!!

I would seriously consider letting Lexus UK know about this debacle and perhaps their customer service department could get things moving. When I have had issues with Dealerships in the past, I found that involving the manufacturer's UK Headquarters has ensured things were dealt with seriously from the outset. I'm not sure you have anything to loose and I would be very surprised if they didn't get involved given your experience to date!! You must be questioning whether this dealer can be trusted to ever complete this or any other work!!

Hi Mark, welcome and I'm sure the grins will keep coming!!.

Wow what a farce!! If they don't deliver on the 11th I think I would consider finding out the dealer principals name and dropping him a line to explain what's been happening and copying it to Lexus UK. Fingers crossed its all sorted on the 11th.

The similarities with the recalls/parts issue is strange or a hell of a coincidence. Its almost like they are deliberately not telling the customers. Do they have some underlying issue with the supply chain?

Have to say, as a relatively new Lexus owner, that the recent complaints about the dealers are starting to sound a little concerning. There seem to be similarities to some aspects of them which coincide with an experience I had earlier in the year at Woodford (funnily enough). The two annual services I have had done there at weekends had gone well and their customer service was what I had expected from Lexus. However when I had the recent fan recall work done the experience was far from perfect. I had organised to get the job done a long time in advance and was told it couldn't be completed over a weekend because of the time required. This was understandable, but a bit of a pain as its not the most convenient place for me get too anyway and it meant I would be travelling on the M25 etc in rush hour. That said the journey wasn't too bad, I was there before the garage opened, dropped the car off and went to work on the tube. Got a call later in the day to tell me the car could be picked up, but I would have to bring it back because they didn't have the parts/tools and these would take about a day to arrive. I expressed my disappointment that there had been no mention of the need for more than one visit when I had originally organised it; their response was not particularly apologetic. It seemed daft to collect the car to have to return it a couple of days later so I arranged to leave the car with them and then finally picked it up when the work was completed a couple of days later. I was surprised, being a recall, that they had not been able to order the parts/tools for the job in advance or at the very least been proactive in explaining how long the work would require. Obviously thinking the job would be done in a day I hadn't organised a courtesy car either. This is just not the level of customer service I would expect. An unrelated issue, but which occurred on this same visit finished off my less than perfect impression of the garage. Being pretty unfamiliar with this dealership I asked where the car would be stored / will it have to be driven etc while waiting for the parts to arrive. I was told that once it was in the workshop / inspected it would remain their until the recall work was completed and only be driven between the workshop / forecourt. I always make a note of my mileage when leaving the car with a garage because I have had issues in the past with unexplained increases in mileage. It was of particular relevance on this visit because the RCF had arrived just days before and I was concerned that there might be a natural temptation to want compare it to the ISF. On arriving to pick up my car, sure enough, I found that their was some 20+ miles increase in the mileage. I quizzed the service department who seemed genuinely concerned and went so far as to send me pictures of their job sheet record showing the mileage. Perhaps I had made a mistake - although why the last digit of the job sheet mileage had been over written and was 2 miles higher than was showing on the odometer when I picked the car up is clearly a complete mystery!!. Let's hope that poor customer service is not becoming a trend for the Lexus Garages because I had hoped to have escaped this sort of thing!! As far as the unexplained increase in my mileage goes there was no apparent harm done to the car, so I suppose I should be grateful that I am not like the unfortunate M3 owner whose tracking device company called to ask him if his car had been stolen - apparently it was showing up as being motionless in a field when it should have been in the care of the garage being serviced!!

I really liked the Evora's interior when I sat in it and a its big step up from the Elise/Exige being aimed at the 911 market. I know what you mean about the build quality but as you say that's more than offset by the driving experience & rarity. Exciting times ahead!!

My eldest is 16 & she was desperate for me to get the 911, but being quite tall she was wedged up against the back window - still worth a try!! I had a good laugh watching my wife & her friend trying to get out of an Exige on all fours at Goodwood a few years ago and I didn't do much better myself. I recall EVO voting the Evora their best car for a couple of years running, so I'm not surprised.

Funny I looked at a 997 Carrera S just prior to buying the ISF, but unfortunately having tried to wedge my family into one decided its not quite the right time. Did a track day up at Lotus and the Elise's we drove were the most dynamic cars I have ever driven. I would imagine the Evora is a brilliant drive and its certainly a lot easier to get into!!

Looks like I should have taken you up on the offer of the drive sooner rather than later Stu ;-)). Glad the sale of the car was successful. I've rarely got all the money I was hoping for on a private sale, but it still seems to be the most cost effective way even though its a pain. Sounds like you were pretty close to what you wanted considering the other items you had coming up. I'm sure it will be a sad day when the ISF goes but hopefully the excitement of something new will offset that. Good luck with the search, keep us posted on what you decide to buy and I'm really glad you are sticking with the club. David

Thanks Stu that's handy to know for future reference. Be interested to know what peoples experiences have been regarding insurance companies views on this enhancement even though its not for performance?

All sounds very positive. The interior does make them feel very special together with that sound track. I particularly liked the red leather as it really showed the detailing in the seats. Had organised a test drive for when my car was in for its service at Woodford last August, but unfortunately it had been sold shortly before. Shame as it was a bells & whistles carbon edition according to the service department. Will have to try again next time.

Love the colour. Not seen a red RCF in the metal to date. Have so far only seen them in grey, orange and a white carbon. Thought they all looked great to be honest. Be good to hear how you think this car compares to your ISF when you've lived with it for a while.

I've only done 3500 miles to date all on high octane, but my tank average is usually around 26. The best was 33.7 which was on my journey home from Leeds after picking the car up.

You could try Lexus Insurance who seem to provide a good level of cover. They were not the cheapest insurer, although not massively different from other quotes I got at the time and they also didn't require a tracker to be fitted. Every other insurer I tried did, which adds a significant chunk of money to the yearly cost of the insurance. Not being a fan of trackers anyway it was a no brainer for me.

I went up the Goodwood hill in the RCF this summer, with a pro driver at the wheel and it certainly felt every bit as quick as the ISF and sounded brilliant. There seemed to be a bit more body roll than the ISF, but that may just be due to how hard it was being driven and I've never been in an ISF being driven that hard to compare. I have been in a couple of RCF's now and the interiors make them feel like a special place to be!!

Thanks Paul and will keep my eye out as often passing through Wickford to see family in Hockley and Rochford. The Lexus brands reputation for quality and reliability is well documented and its refreshing to see that their performance models appear to be no different. I am hoping my experience with this car is as trouble free as my Supra was all those years ago and I'm sure it will be in comparison with my recent experiences. Sounds like a very handy chap to know. Will be interesting to see/hear what bespoke exhaust setup he produces.

Many thanks for the warm welcome chaps. Having followed the club for a little while I have seen how friendly and helpful you all are. I hope I haven't broken any protocols already as I had some issues trying to post my introduction last night before my first post and ran out of time. Thanks for the offer Stu that's very kind of you & that would be great if we don't manage to do that at a meet. I am based near Brentwood so it's possible we may pass each other at some point. I would seriously consider the H&S exhaust given the cost of the replacement fake exhaust tip panels, particularly with H&S on the doorstep. Like a lot of the owners on the forum I love the sound of the engine at full chat but would like a bit more at lower revs. As I said earlier its a pity I missed the opportunity to hear all the exhaust setups together at Bluewater. Hopefully I can make the next one.

That does seem the most sensible approach and the result is clearly worth it. I look forward to hearing how the coating lasts, although I suspect I will be trying it out myself in the near future given how it looks. Hopefully my attempt will replicate a similar result!

Hi Everyone, Just thought I would say hello as yet another newish ISF owner from Essex who has joined the club. It would appear that Essex is becoming a bit of an ISF hot spot given how rare these cars are!!. I have been enjoying following the ISF Club Forum since I bought the car in mid 2014. But since I have not previously been a member of any owners clubs/forums it seemed sensible to get a feel for how it all worked before posting anything. So please forgive any inadvertent slips in protocol. For a bit of background I nearly bought an ISF back in 2010, but needed 5 seats at that point so purchased a V8 Audi S4 instead. However my desire to own an ISF remained and I kept an eye on the market for them, waiting for the right time and the right car. My preference was for a low mileage car in blue with a black interior. This as it turned out was a rare combination as most seem to have white leather, which looks brilliant, but is not the most practical option with a family. I started looking with a view to buying in January 2014 and had been keeping an eye on a blue car for sale at Hedge End Lexus Southampton, but it had just been sold when I enquired; I think to a current member of the club. Still every cloud has a silver lining as they say and a very low mileage final model white car came up a few months later at Lexus Leeds. I had some reservations about owning a white car, but I have to say it looks brilliant and I have loved the 3k miles I have done in it so far. This is my first Lexus, having owned German cars for the last 20 odd years, but I did own a Supra Turbo back in the 1990's. I had that car for 6 years and it stayed in the family for a further 6 years without a single issue, just needing standard maintenance. I can't say the same for the various German cars I have owned to date!! From the lengthy research I did prior to buying the car it's clear that the ISF has a reputation for being pretty bomb proof like most Lexus cars. I am hoping that my Lexus ownership experience continues without a hitch, as it has to date, in contrast to my past experiences with the various German manufacturers. As I said earlier I have been enjoying following the posts regularly and hopefully I will be able to come along to a meet at some point. It was a shame I was unable to attend the recent Bluewater meet as it would have been great to have a chat with members in person and to hear the various exhaust setups in the flesh; they sounded brilliant. There have been some really useful and informative posts and hopefully I will be able to contribute something useful at some point soon.

Thanks for posting the info about this product the result looks really smart. I had never heard of this product before and having done some research it seams to get good reviews. Did you achieve that result cleaning the wheels on the car or did you have to take them off like one of the reviews I saw on you tube?