hockeyedwards

If our mutual friend Covid wasn't such an pain in the butt, I would offer to do it for you. It is quite a straight forward job, where abouts in Surrey are you? 🙂

Limited experience with RCF other than a test drive, but I can't imagine it being enourmously different than the GSF as a long term car. You'll probably have more choice when it comes to RCF's as GSF's are rarer, having said that, there was a spree of them being up for sale recently. The GSF for me feels much smaller when on the road than I could ever imagine, but it is long when it comes to your average parking space. I would also agree they aren't 'true' sports cars, more crusiers with a bit of zip when you need it. Personally I don't need anymore power than it offers. I didn't like the look of the RCF compared to the GSF and 4 doors was more appealing to the Mrs regarding future kids. I find the GSF effortlessly comfortable and having lived in Scotland for 5ish years, we visit friends and the 580 mile trip goes past in no time. I did put an exhaust on mine as I felt you had to really thrash it to get some of the V8 noise. I daily drove mine for 2 years, before purchasing a run around to commute to work as the GSF is the best car I've owned, it ticks all the right boxes so it will hopefully be with me for its life time, so needed to cut the miles that were racking up. I am a Lexus enthusiast (3 on the drive at home) and had 6 or more in the family history, so purchasing either the RC or GS would be pleasing to hear 😛

So all the bulbs had been replaced with LED's and I did some bulb swaps to check if any had blown, all good. I ended up unplugging everything, cleaning connections, swapping out fuses and that seems to have sorted the problem, but the tail light failure dash light is still on 😞 Got a friend of a friend who's a auto-electrician coming to look at some other wiring that I couldn't work out wtf it did and check some other bits and pieces, so will pick his brains about that.

Correct, took it off this morning and it had a Lexus part number on the reverse, an alarm siren is what google tells me 😄

So boot lid lights do not work except for the reverse lights 😕 lent my tester to a friend but did a quick bulb swap and that wasn't the problem, but odd that the reverse lights work but the one sat across from it in the holder does not? The tail light failure seems to be on the dash too. Also are the lights above and below the central stip meant to work or just for show? I've attached a video of me cycling through the lights to hopefully aid what I mean 🙂

IMG_5362.MOV

Why are random pictures attaching themselves to the end of the post and I can't edit them off?

Prepare for a picture dump, was allowed to spend the day fiddling and the weather was in agreement. Fueled by music and tea, had a good root around! So the HID's are gone, they were cabled tied to within an inch of their life into random areas in the engine bay, got annoyed and just cut them out... All replaced with much brighter bulbs and all the tails light cluster are LED's £££ Played a game of follow the wire, someone has chonked a hole in the centre console 😞 and that lead me on a goose chase and to hilarious amounts of cut and tapped up unused wires which I presume someone used for previous mods. Didn't entirely work out what the switch did as it wasn't connected to anything... but did light up when pressed, exciting! ^The journey as it unfolded and a lot of splicing has been done at some point, I am not a vehicle sparky by any means, so decided not to cut anything that was attached to something, but and gonna need to try and sort out wtf went back on here, any hints are welcome, probs need to look up some wiring diagrams/ routing guides to sort it. ^On another wire journey found this chucked up behind the passenger footwell, a lot of cut wires that were just taped up again but one did lead across to a handfree mic on the drivers side! Now onto some of the uglier stuff. There has at some point been water leaking into the boot or still is and someone has previous decided to silicone everything, boot seal, tail light seals, the nuts that hold the tail lights in place... further investigation required but I presume age related seal problem? Found this which I dont know what it is, didnt have time to remove yet, but the top is broken and was taped up to weatherproof-ish it, was tucked in engine bay on passenger side and some of the chopped and taped wires did lead to it from passenger footwell, remains a mystery for now 😄 Have some white marks creeping onto the corners of the windreen (3 out of 4), presume water ingress or something growing? There is clearly some fluid leaking underneath/ behind the power steering resevoir? Hopefully the pic shows it, was tricky getting my phone in the space Think it is safe to say these are both shot... 😆 Front bumper has clearly had a tough life, corners are cracked and warped from lots of pulling and random fasteners have been used to hold it in place, including 2 screws ontop of each other. Need to find or maybe repair the silver trim that goes around the bumper as it keeps coming off. Any pointers or where to find replacements for ANY of the bits I've mentioned above? I am a serial eBayer but unsure how reliable/ easy it is to find parts. Already sourced rear discs and pads and brake sensor cable. Have my eye on some coilovers as lowering springs seem elusive and trying to find original mats appear impossible. Santa is gonna have a long list this year!

Finally had a dry-ish day to get the car up. Wheels arrived yesterday so great timing if you ask me. Seems that some components have been replaced for steering and suspension at some point but need a more indepth inspection to know exactly what. Rear looks untouched so that made need some TLC. Anyway... mock up pic followed by wheels fitted. She needs to get lowered now!

Oooft now that's a purchase, the father has a V8 Vantage S, if you haven't already join AMOC, lovely club and organise some crackin' events (when our mutual friend Covid allows). Simply Aston events are good turnouts too. If you want any naughty bits and pieces doing to it, I couldn't recommend Bamford and Rose more - driest of dry personalities but they know their Astons!

I've got an LS400 with 5 doors 😉 cut you good price my friend. LOC discount, very nice! 😂 Glad the finance came back favourable, now time to shop around! Be keen to know where your adventure takes you! 😄

Spend my life on autotrader (unsure if sad or what level of sad that is, haha). Haven't been interested in Honda, other than the classics for years unfortunately, but would get the Honda E as a run around! Wouldn't buy a Merc (personal preference) GT86, drove one on a track day, can't comment about refinement as it was never driven sensibly haha Very much looking forward to the next gen of Mazda from a 'something alternative' point of view, but haven't owned or driven any. Volvo S60's are lovely, can't stretch to the T8? 😉 Yeah, snore fest for me and everyones got one!

Sometimes they are unbeatable value for money! Would also partially agree on the % with used cars but sometimes manufacturers do have end of month/ year/ season sales with low APR's for used car to clear stock. I tend to stick with manufacturers that own their own finance departments, rather than being underwritten by somebody, not to toot Lexus' horn but they did modify the APR % on both my F and the Mrs NX to get it within our monthly payment goals, so always worth an ask! Also if you can buy something still in waranty for low money it can be worth checking out loans instead of dealer finances, %'s tend to be kinder and you pay it back like a finance package anyway 🙂 Dont let this stop you, 6 of 6 cars we've had on finance have had 0 of the Queens pounds put down as deposits - obviously it does bump up the monthly payments, but I'm a salesmans worst nightmare for negotiating 😛

Our good sister Toyota is offering some lovely 0% finance deals, I am trying to get a GR Yaris in the near future, just seeing what happens post lockdown 2.0 and currently shoving money down the throat of a newly acquired LS400... haha! You can get some cracking nearly new deals also! Be interested in the end result 🙂

Also as a bonus, the settlement quotes are usually valid for around a month, so you have a little while to negotiate/ shop around 🙂

I've just done something similar with my Abarth 695 Biposto Record (could say more of a niche car), had a browse on autotrader and realised the values hadn't budged from when I purchased the car. Asked for a settlement figure from finance company and it was about £3-6k less than asking prices on autotrader. Covid has reduced my income but could still manage to run all the cars, however, bit of a no brainer in these circumstances, stop paying £££ per month and possibly make money on the sale... I ended up speaking to a private local dealer, I was upfront and stated the settlement and what they went for on autotrader. We had some very friendly discussions and he bought it from me and I ended up 'breaking even' in terms of the finance. Had the car for one year and he bought it back from me at the price I originally purchased it at, so tax, insurance and fuel for the year only 💪 I guess it all depends on the dealer, he was open to discussion and was honest about what he needed to make on the car and receptive to the fact I wanted to at least break even on the car. I'd also say my situation is probably more favourable than yours in terms of I didn't need to get rid of the car, it was just a happy coincidence, but I went in with all the facts and ended up with a deal I was happy with. Ask around and discuss your situation and see what the results yield!

Without test gear you'll have to come up with your own diagnostic routine haha, but you can buy super cheap testers from plenty of DIY places and always good to have. Above was my first thought as well to rule in or out the alternator, max load it and if it starts to die, rev engine and it would give an indication of its function, or lack of! Noted your PAS comment, might just be a bad coincidence!

I struck a deal with the old owner, his part of the deal was returning the wheels so new ones had to be 'sorted' asap, also my mind was going numb from looking at wheel pictures for the past week haha!

So i've taken a punt on these bad boys, Japan Racing JR32. Couldn't find any LS pics, so apologies for the S2000 (still a nice motor). Went for 18's to not go mental and hopefully make a modest stance with lowering the car a smidge.

My only comment to that is, be careful about it blending in with the black diffuser/ lower bumper as you may 'lose' the exhaust all together! Unless that is your goal, in which case crack on 😄

What would you charge for said OEM exhaust, not sure if I should go aftermarket to release some of the V8 without being antisocial? I am going to strip the dash out at some point and will double check what the issue is, if I can't resolve myself I would appreciate the offer of fixing 🙂

Had an Abarth 695 Biposto Record that made way for a project and I was after a 'classic', I think the LS is currently in the 'future classic' and quite happy to keep the GSF on the road whilst I tinker with the LS. I will check out that eBay page thank you! I would agree Leeds is a smidge far 😛 I am focussing on getting her a little more road worthy, rear discs, pads and sensor have been ordered as they are shottttt. Will potentially get the car up on quikjacks over the coming weeks to have a good nosey around and ordered what is required. Still waiting for a pack of history from previous owner that I have a small suspicion is imaginary! I guess tasteful is subjective, trying NOT to turn it into a chav-mobile. One idea I have was to convert the interior dated wood effects to grey to update and match interior colour, also need a new displays for climate control as it is very blank, not sure whether to take it out, keep it and put in a modern headunit...

I hesitate to call it a build as it will be slow and I am annoyingly picky when it comes to mods and may end up not doing things listed below but I do want to update the car tastefully, just thought I would stick my ideas down below and all comments critical or constructive are welcome😛 Currently looking for aftermarket wheels, not looking for anything 'lexus' want to branch out and get something a bit mega, seena few mild dished wheels and nice chunky 5 spokes, but if the wheel looks right I would consider anything, suggestions/ pics welcome! Want to lower the ride height, but short of coilovers (£££), can't find any reasonable alternatives, links again welcome if I've missed something! Someone took the time to convert the headlights to HIDs which now look hilariously different from the dingey side lights, wonder whether I should convert them back and upgrade both bulbs, just upgrade the side lights or get a new kit and start from scratch, any thoughts on this? I think the tailights have to be brand new as they are mint from what I can see, but thinking to 'update' the look slightly, links welcome for ideas and I'd likely sell the ones on it to someone who may need them. Also would like to update the front and side indicators to clear housing, but can't find any (or not looking in the correct place) Need some OEM bits to convert the bad boy pink air filter/ intake back to stock or at least something less ugly, and want to go back to twin exhausts as this has been converted to a single with silly droning muffler on but again I would imagine an eBay game or get a custom one made? Any other tasteful mods anyone recommends with pics/ details also welcome, sometimes you don't know you want it until you see it! I promise it isn't going to turn into a full on gangsta mobile 🙂

Oval oval and oval, looks more OEM and much less encrouching on the rear end. Got titanium rear boxes with blue tips, goes well with the blue F badges 😉

'Technically' MOT failure would likely fall under modifying OEM emission equipment (or worded something similar) if you got the mid pipe as its 2nd cat delete. However, the primary cats are all that are required for F cars to pass UK emission laws, but obvs with homolgation 2nd cats must be needed to comply elsewhere in the world. I tend to get mine MOT'd at a local garage rather than Lexus dealership for this reason. Lexus video the interactions so I would imagine it be tricky to get round 2 cats missing... haha. I also leave valves open, had my system on for 2 MOT's without issue now 🙂. in terms of resale, yes value could be lower, but I've kept all the original stuff (on display in the garage).