DAW

When I test drive my 2015 RCF as a straight comparisons to my 2011 ISF I found it more responsive & an improvement - funny how these things go. I suspect, like all F’s, the more time you spend with them the better they get. I wondered whether the drive back in my ISF would change my mind about buying the RCF, but I was surprised to find that it made the ISF feel a little dated in comparison. For me the RCF is a special place to be & I still look forward to driving it even after 4yrs of ownership. I don’t think I have ever owned a car which gets more positive comments. Still we all want different things from our cars so good luck with whatever you decide on. Oh & definitely agree on exhaust as all F’s are too quiet from the factory. I put a QuickSilver exhaust on the RCF not long after I bought it which adds so much character to the car.

I don’t use my belt retainer as have heard that this can cause the seat leather to wear prematurely.

I use the downshift paddle in any mode for overtaking and hold the up shift paddle for a few seconds if I want to return it to auto. I change the drive modes to suit the driving style I want depending on the circumstances & how aggressive I want the car to react.

Glad to hear you are still enjoying your AMG. I remember discussing our thoughts on them in the run up to you purchasing yours & the C63S I drove around that time is still one of the most impressive cars I have driven, so it’s good to hear that you have had no issues to spoil the ownership experience.

I don’t think there is another performance car out there from other marques that I would consider keeping long term other than an F. On my eighth year of F ownership (ISF then RCF) & only ever had servicing costs to deal with, which is a complete contrast to the previous 20 years of owning various German performance cars!!

I always put the car in N at the lights in case someone hits me from behind. Possibility of transmission damage if in D or P I was told.

Wow what a finish - very impressive 👍🏻

Looks factory fitted - very nice work👍🏻

Apologies only just realised I hadn’t replied. I had the Turbo predecessor to the 2JZ. It was a great cruiser & a very nice place to be, but didn’t handle quite as well as it’s replacement. I had it for 6 yrs then my brother-in-law had it for a further 6 yrs & in that time it didn’t miss a beat requiring nothing but standard servicing. Had Toyota continued producing the Supra beyond the 2JZ version or other performance cars to rival the German stuff I’m sure I would have returned sooner than I did. Its a shame they didn’t make better use of the 2JZ - although if I remember correctly it was used in the earlier Sportier Lexus GS’s. When I read about the ISF in 2008 it was a no brainier for me, I bought one as soon I no longer had a requirement for 5 seats. I loved it & wouldn’t have replaced it with anything other than another F - absolutely brilliant cars 👍🏻

I’m not certain because of the private plate, but MOT mileages match my 2011 ISF until I sold it in 2018 with 13.6k on the clock. If it is then the colour is F sport white, which is just a metallic white, not the arctic pearlescent. The mileage on my ISF was one of the lowest on this forum at the time, so it’s interesting to see how a low mileage one is holding its value. Certainly bodes well for future residuals - perhaps I should have held on to it 🙄😂

I was 24 when I bought my Supra back in the 90’s 😆😉 Took me a while to come back to the fold, so I was 48 when I bought the ISF a few years back.

Hi Paul, I think that’s pretty reasonable considering what’s been done & glad it’s sorted. I would be interested to hear if you think there is any difference in how it drives now?

Very nice car & welcome to the club. I’ve got the Quicksilver fitted which is a bargain relative to the valved systems but is worth every penny. Hardly use the sound system as too busy finding an excuse to listen to the exhaust note.😆

Hi Dan, Great venue & hopefully the dates will be ok for me to join. Hopefully you will get to enjoy this meet after all your hard work for the Derby meet you missed. 🤞🏻 I can make it & I might even try not to get lost this time😉😂

Nice review & the car does look stunning👍🏻

The HDD sat nav in my 2011 ISF had full post codes. Unfortunately can’t help re whether you can update earlier sat nav though.

My dealer said the same as have a few others that members have asked, but my dealer also said that I would need to check with TWG to be sure. The dealers put the claims through & will certainly fight their customers corner, but ultimately it’s TWGs decision, particularly if a claim is not straightforward. I’m sure for most claims it probably wouldn’t be an issue given the general views of the dealers. Personally, having spent the money on the warranty I would be pretty miffed if the first time I needed to claim they refused to pay because I was deemed to have invalidated my warranty. Ultimately it’s a personal choice about the risk - I just want to pass on the info for people to make an informed decision.👍🏻

Does look superb - I suspect it would look like it was original to most people. Great job 👍🏻

I spoke to TWG originally because I was interested in an after market exhaust system for more sound, but didn’t want to invalidate my warranty. There was also the confusing issue of Lexus dealerships selling F’s with aftermarket exhausts which were covered by a retail warranty that were being extended on the 2:4:1 deal. When I spoke to my dealer they thought that a back box system wouldn’t be an issue because it’s not covered by the warranty being a perishable item. However they couldn’t rule out whether or not It would invalidate the warranty & suggested I speak to an area manager who they would have to contact for decisions on difficult claims. TWG were very helpful & explained that because Lexus want a very comprehensive warranty that covers such items as the sensors in the exhaust - they therefore want to preclude possible damage caused to them during reinstallation into a more extensive after market system. They also told me they would not cover systems with valves because of possible issues which may arise from variations in back pressures etc the car was not designed to accommodate. TWG did confirm that the Quicksilver rear axle back system (commissioned by Lexus for the Goodwood FoS) would not affect any of the warrantied items so would not invalidate the warranty.

There are previous posts on this if it helps. I spoke to TWG who confirmed that the Quicksilver exhaust wouldn’t invalidate the warranty because it’s only from the rear axle back. A more extensive exhaust system which affects the sensors etc or which has valves would invalidate the warranty.

Hi Paul, Can see why you prefer using Westfield‘s & the fact that the dealers don’t always do all the service work they should doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. 🙄😡 Keep me posted re the meets 👍🏻

Hi Paul hope life is treating you well. I see where you are coming from & I agree that a specialist Indy garage will more likely do a much better job. But I can see that from an insurance perspective (I’m not in insurance by the way) that they want to limit risk. We care about our cars & want to look after them properly, but some people don’t & may cut corners. So from a practical perspective the easiest way to avoid that is to limit the warranty to the dealerships who should be at least servicing the cars correctly🤞🏻. I presume the only other way would be to have an approval process for other garages & of course it’s not in their interest to do that as Lexus need the servicing. As you said earlier you can save a lot of money by not being tied into all this. However for my part I had 10k worth of major component failures on 2 cars over a 2 year period before buying my ISF. When I did my research one of the few issues I came across was head light failures, which were very expensive units to replace when compared to the warranty cost. So on that basis, & also wanting to keep a FLSH for re sale, I decided to get the warranty for peace of mind. The 2 year deal meant I didn’t need to worry for £450/year, a big chunk of which was for breakdown cover (inc Europe); to me that seemed good value. Lexus cars are incredibly reliable, but failures occur & it’s just down to personal preference as to how comfortable you are with that risk. I’m sure your pocket is happier😉😂

Actually TWG are responsible for the dealer retail warranties as well as the extended warranties & the level of cover was apparently specified by Lexus. TWG explained that to me when I was talking to them about after market exhausts. One of the reasons they will only sanction an axle back exhaust is that Lexus require them provide a high level of cover to even include the sensors attached to the exhaust.

Have to agree with the views above. Re sale would be the major reason for me with these rare cars. Also agree re warranty - it’s very good value when u consider it cover you for two years on the 2 for 1 deal & includes breakdown cover.

Seats look brilliant👍