dutchie01

Great color! Makes and already rare car even more special.

Oh those Nokias, the 3110, 6110, communicator and so on, endless battery life and totally indestructable, the best of their days! But unfortunately overtaken by the competition that went for smartphones and internetconnectivity. I hope i am wrong but there could be a parallel here with Lexus and the competition. If they dont invest heavily in totally new IT platforms it could be an uphill battle. Most new cars end up with company car drivers and the digital cockpits of the competition are much sexier and will heavily influence the choice of a new car. Really do hope it will change soon.

Spot on Ed, the infotainment systems in the current Lexus line up do feel like a 2012 mobile phone.

Sorry Edwardo i was referring to the DS7 and not the DS5, mistake from my side. My point is that the latest generation cars that are just on the market or will be in some months time seem to have a very different approach than Lexus with regard to infotainment systems. I recently drove a Citroen C3 which basically is a cheap runabout and i was impressed by the It in that car. Apple carplay, cameras etc etc. and it worked fine without reading any manual, just fiddle about a bit and it just works. i am pleased to hear that you got your system working but i have stopped trying after several times as i find it incredibly user unfriendly. Just take a look at the latest Audi a4, volvo XC90, Tesla, BMW5 and Merc E and i hope this will make it a little clearer. ( it is not about the looks, is it nice or not, it is a bout the IT onboard.)

I could understand this thread better if it would have been 1997, but it is 2017... Seems that our Japanese friends still do not realize that the infotainment system nowadays is just as or maybe even more, important thatn a beautifully crafted interior in the right color and with the best soft touch materials. Seems the market is leaving lexus behind on this front. We all know the german 3 are way ahead but just look at Kia/Hyunday or just take a look at the French these days, the new DS5, seen the system/screens on that thing? It is such a shame that a truly fine car is let down by below par electronics

Unfortunately so. I am old enough to remember the time 15 years ago when you could fly through europe with 170km/h.. No radars, no police and much less traffic. Those were the days.

In holland only for the traject control but this is 1 sign some 400 mtrs before the start of it and very easy overlooked. If you overtake a truck you wont notice. Speedcameras no sign and then of course mobile policecameras only on highways and in cities. belgium no idea as it will be totally new. The amount of money this generates is obsceen and the debate is roadsafety or hidden tax income. another hot topic in FRANCE beware please as the police have stopped with mobile laser and radar this has been PRIVATISED to private companies! Bountyhunters in europe.

For those of you driving through BELGIUM, news hot from the press! All speed cameras on the highway will be REMOVED by the end of this year. Good news? well, not really as they will be replaced by so called traject controle covering ALL highways. all to be operational somewhere next year. this is a zone on the highway of for instance 5 miles. when you enter an infrared camera makes a pic of your licenceplate and measures your speed, same when you leave at the other end, when over the limit you will receive some fanmail in the post 24 hrs later, no escape. We have thesame in Holland but not on all highways ( yet) if you see traffic slowing down around you just copy, there is no escape possible!

Hi Linas, great argument you can use in court haha It might sound hilarious, but I am mostly speeding, because this way I can maintain constant speed and it is more fuel efficient The judge will propably agree and let you off the hook

Martin, yes you can buy for instance from germany and import, but to get the car registered you need to go to the tax office first where it will be taxed. This will be cheaper in the end but nowhere near the UK prices.

This happened over a week ago but i can t get it out of my mind so i thought i d share it with you. I was dring on the highway in my IS300h at around 145kph (90mph) leaving the town of The Hague in Holland during rush hour. At a certain moment the highway splits in two with 2 lanes continuing and another 2 bending off to the south. However these 4 lanes run parallel for at least 2 km with a barrier in the middle. And it was there when i was simply overtaken by a shining 2nd gen LS400 going at least 15 miles faster than me, and i was doing 90! The man driving it had a dark suit, tie, glasses and was truly in style with the car ( golden). What stood out was the size of the LS, surrounded by big German cars it just looks small and sleek. also the fact that it all seemed in full control, the car smooth, no drama, i could not help thinking - i wish i was in that one..- not bad for a 25 yr old machine!

Congrats Martin, wonderful machine! Prices falling, i know i do follow the UK pricing of ISF and RCF but it might be better for me to stop as bloodpressure keeps rising. As my name gives away i live in Holland and we have pretty spectacular car taxes overhere. All is related to C02 figures and they are so draconic that the majority of cars on Dutch roads are now downsized turbocharged sewingmachines or hybrids. We seem to have the cleanest fleet in Europe though.. Here we go, a new RCHybrid costs 47k euro ( 56 k sterling) and your pretty 8 cylinder a whopping 137k Euro (164.000). second hand starts at 122000 Euro but needless to say the choice is extremely limited. ISFś start at 35k ( 42k sterling) but also here limited choice. and when importing you first have to go past the tax man. I live in the wrong country. Happy motoring Martin, just a beautiful car.

Hey Russel how about cruising to work in this one? ( preferebly at night in total darkness..)

Interesting discussion. Like MarkG sais some people buy with their heart, a logical decision it is not. I think the vast majority of performance or sports cars are purchased that way as it is almost never a logical decision. Loosing a heap of money in a short time never is. Buying a brandnew AMG or RS6, Bentley or M5 and trading it in after 3 years is the fastest way of loosing a lot of money, nevertheless people do buy them. On topic, the RCF is a bit off beat car, a niche within a niche and i guess it will appeal only to a very select group. Supply and demand.. will not be easy to sell new or used so normally prices should fall faster than the reast of the range.

Bristol Blenheim, or a 2nd gen Range Rover for 30k and save the rest for repairs..

And how is the deer? Dead or alive? I read somewhere that in some countries if you kill an animal its yours, So in the trunk it goes and some fresh meat for the barby at night?

shame they did not give the NX thesame power as the IS. Some 27 horses less from thesame powersource, guess the marketingdepartment did not allow it. i Drove an NX for a day recently and it is a very relaxed drive indeed but feels weak compared to my current IS, it does not give thesame push.

I find this unbelievable. Sounds more like Uncle Henrys workshop than a Lexus Dealership. If this would have been my car i would go ballistic as this sounds so wrong on all fronts. First it is the dealers problem and NOT yours Marc. I would not give a toss if the dealer will have to spend 8, 8000 or 80.000 to set the matter right. The car is under full Lexus warranty and they simply have make it work. Never let the dealers problem become your problem. Second, ripping parts from another car to install in yours instead of going through the official Lexus channels sounds like fraud to me. Might be interesting to politely inform them you dont know what to do and send their proposals to Lexus headquarters for advice..

interesting car. not sure if i like it though, need to see it in traffic amongst other cars. It does stand out with the long bonnet and wide low stance it reminds me of an aston taraf.. As it looks sooo much different then the german competitors i think it will remain a niche model. ( again..) the vast majority of potential buyers will flock to the german 3 or jag. Might sell well in the States though.

My IS300H is a companycar and every 3 years i have to change cars. End of this year she will have to go. And then what... I find this very difficult i just dont know at the moment. I still have plenty of time and there will be some new cars coming out in the next months but nevertheless.. I just dont like ordering thesame car again doesnt appeal to me. so Stay with Lexus and go for the NX? I also like the Disco Sport and the new Q5. Maybe the new Stelvio? I prefer an SUV type of car this time but also for that i am not sure. Boy oh boy this is going to be difficult. Normally i used to have a clear picture of what i wanted, Saab or Lexus but now i just dont know. The new Volvo XC60/40? Nissan? Honda? or go for a non mainstream but sensible choice, Subaru, Skoda ? I dont like Bmw or Merc so that is a no go. What would you do?

Not repairable but engine, drivetrain, interior wheels (3) should be worth a few quid?

Yes it is Bahrain, the pinnacle of motorsports

more power than brains happens a lot these days with supercar owners in their twenties... wreckedexotics.com by the way never understood the attraction of dragracing..

Lucky you got away Carl , could have ended badly. ( and lucky you were alone in the car no wife or kids). Unfortunately it seems we have to accept that these low life criminals exist, better to stand above them and completely ignore. Never react to their primal behavior and utterly useless as sooner or later they will end up in jail anyhow. Same happened to me some years ago when a brandnew black S-class with 4 "gentlemen " inside cutting me off as if i wasn't there. My wife wanted to hit the horn and tell them off not really reading the situation as they had mafia written all over them. Could barely hold my wife back but turned into an argument lasting days..... Best to turn up the ML system and play some classical music i guess.

I have been thinking about this for a long time and have come to the conclusion that fun in driving does not have to be related to high speeds. Let me try to explain; Many years ago i had a motorcycle, a 550cc 52 hp machine i could drive absolute full throttle almost everywhere, into the limiter in most gears, flat through corners and just act like a complete hooligan. A friend of mine bought a 900 cc bike and after driving i just didn like it, too much power could not use more than 60% on normal roads. Another friend of mine drives a 911 carrera 4 and sometimes goes for a spin on the countryroads around our village. Of course he likes it but told me repeatedly he had so much fun 30 years ago on the same roads in his then 911 with skinny tyres and way less power, pushing that car to the limit on every corner and just using 99% of its power. He can forget that with his current 911. A true eye opener was when i bought my daughterś first car when she turned 18, a Suzuki Swift with a tiny 850cc 3 cylinder motorcycle engine, skinny tyres, weak brakes and a roadholding that can best be described as interesting. Oh Boy.. that car was fun to drive! Picking up and loosing revs like a bike engine, from 1st to 2nd to 3rd through the gears the engine screaming until that moment the roundabout comes up, trying to loose speed braking braking, shifting to second car leaning on its tyres then full throttle again out of the roundabaout into third into fourth and only later realising all this was well below 50mph..... Of course a powerful car like the ISF will give thesame thrills but at 3 times the speed. Somebody once gave me the advice on how to improve the fun of driving out of your car by telling me ++ just get narrower tyres++