H3XME

£800 budget is REALLY good. You can even get Tesla Model 3 wheels. They're very similar specs to OEM Lexus wheels at 18x8.5 ET40, they fit VERY nicely. Facebook Marketplace would be a good place to start looking for wheels. There is far more listings than on eBay. People are more likely to advertise on Marketplace as it's free unlike eBay. Here's a set of 4 wheels with Good Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/159898987157845 As for your damaged wheel. Is it not possible to just get it refurbed? Buckled or cracked wheels can be fixed. They will just weld the crack. Finding just one F-Sport wheel will be difficult. They do pop up sometimes. I saw a set of 4 for £300ish but they needed a refurb a few weeks back. Though judging from your air leak, time is not really on your side. Set of Lexus 2010+ wheels - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/252771514317570/

This is a common thing. Funnily enough, only ever heard it on automatic cars. I think it's suspension related (at least that's what it sounds like) but I don't think I've ever seen anyone figure this out. Never caused any issues (it never got worse) but yeah, having had 3 manuals, none of them did that, but close friends with auto 250s say their do it and so did my dad's facelift 250. The clunk sounds almost like as if a spring re-seated itself in the cup, but that doesn't make sense considering it only ever happens at specific moment = reverse and steer.

Sorry, don't have it anymore.

Here's what the guy in Sweden did. His car is Auto btw, so this swap is possible on both, manual and auto cars. I was speaking to him this morning about this swap. "Hey. Just put the 4GR lower and upper intake manifold on the 3GR and everything will be plug and play. I also took all the mounts for cables and coolant hoses from the 4GR and put on the 3GR.I left the AC pump in the car as I took the engine out but yes all the auxiliaries should fit both engines. I have had zero issues with this swap and can absolutely recommend it! I removed engine only and from the top. And as I wrote earlier I left the AC pump in the car. To clear the steering assembly I removed the drivers side exhaust manifold before taking the engine out. Behind the AC pump (you have to remove it) is a connector to the crank sensor. In general, the sensor and coil connectors are very brittle so be careful when removing them. That's all I can think of for now, it's tight around the engine but very straight forward. Must say the IS250 runs the 3GR very well actually. Same cams, same intake manifolds and same injectors. So I guess it just gulps a bit more air compared to the 4GR and the ECU seems to be able to correct it with ease." @Mike_Mac @AFlex @Linas.P @CiaranMcK

Just to put my 5p here, why not invest £250 into a good Apple/Android CarPlay head unit? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004171662274.html the one for £269 is a good spec. I got one myself. Very happy with it.

a couple of hours of work and oil, you're looking at sub £300

@GMB Why would you be buying a car from websites like that? I already said, most of those cars come from auctions, get bought by companies like BeForward, TCV etc. and sold onto to a person such as yourself who doesn't want / know how to buy off auctions.. you are getting the same car though, you're just paying more for it. "2021" IS-F.. typos happen. It's obviously not a 2021, but if you look at the car you can tell it's an IS-F. Look at the auction results I've attached. White 2008 IS-F: Sold in November. Grade 4, 68,000miles, sold for £7600. Price on the road in the UK> ~£14-15k (This includes all costs associated with the car) Blue 2008 IS-F: Sold end of October. Grade 3.5, 105,000miles, sold for £3900. Price on the road in the UK> ~£9-10k (This includes all costs associated with the car) Black 2008 IS-F: Sold in October. Grade 4.5 (pristine), 49,000miles, sold for £11,300. Price on the road in the UK> ~£19-20k. White 2010 Facelift: Sold last week: Grade 4, 37,000miles, sold for £11,300. Price on the road in the UK> ~£19-20k just like the black one above. It's this simple, there's no need to argue over this. Your car supermarket charges more because they want to make money. Auctions are cheaper because they're a free for all. It's exactly the same as in the UK. You can go to an auction and buy cars cheaper, or you go to a garage..

There is a guy in Sweden who did the swap a year or two ago. There's people in the US that have done it too. 3GR swap is a straight swap, it's like taking 4GR out and putting it back. It runs of IS250 ecu, so there is literally no messing about. It couldn't be easier. I don't know how this would affect the auto box, but all the swaps I know of were done on manual cars. The gearbox is more than strong enough for this. Guys are running 2GR with this manual box too, so there is no worries. This is honestly the only financially feasible swap / power upgrade on these. Engine will cost you ~£500-700, and after that you pay around a grand for labour. The next best thing is a supercharger which will cost £5,5k + fitting.

it goes like the below snippet of an email I got from a company in the uk. so if they win an ISF on the auctions for ¥1mil for you, it’ll cost you about £11k by the time you put plates on it.

Quoted prices above include insurance and shipping. Therefore $11,000 = £8750 + ~35% on top. = ~£12k landed. Dock release fee is less than £100, MOT £50. It only costs a bit more if you need IVA for cars newer than 10 years.

Something to ask when equiring. They have a good reputation to be honest. And most if not all cars listed are ex auction vehicles so should come with auction grade sheets too. Generally speaking cars in Japan are kept in better condition than here

I’m looking at auction prices. Beforward is inflated as they want to make some profit on them too but here’s two. https://sp.beforward.jp/lexus/is-f/bp288479/id/5718371/ https://sp.beforward.jp/lexus/is-f/br020058/id/6418516/ add 35% on top of the figure to get uk registered price

Not a chance. You can import them from Japan for a lot less. 110,000 miles 2008 ISF sold the other week for 700,000Yen which equals to about £9k with registration & import charges to the UK. 2012 Facelift with 40,000 miles sold for 2mil yen = ~£19k on the road.. If anyone is looking for an ISF,I'd recommend getting in touch with some reputable companies that import cars in the UK. Harlow Jap Autos, Torque GT, Just-Jap Imports etc.

Yeah but Linas, you drive a lot for work. That's slightly different.. We were all talking about leisure. If I go on a work trip, I don't really care how much it costs as long as it's within the allowance, and I too would go out of my way to find hotels with parking, but If I'm going away somewhere in my personal time it's completely different. I couldn't care less if they had a car park as long as location is convenient.

I know the one! I don't think that you can drive to it anymore unless you're in a taxi or delivery van.

What's this issue about parking fees at hotels? Yes, some are paid, and some (rarely) are free but at the of the day, I am looking for a hotel that is convenient. If I'm going to Edinburgh for a weekend away, I look for a hotel in the City Centre so everything is walking distance away for us. If you go to large busy cities like that, there is no way you should expect free parking. If they have it, it's a nice surprise, if not, understandable. It's been the case for many years, leaving the car at the NCP down the road for something like £16/day. Small price to pay for the overall convenience, no? Why go out of your way to find a hotel, not just with parking, but one with a FREE parking out of principle? If you find something like that it certainly won't be in the City Centre or it won't be cheaper overall because you'll have to either get a Taxi or Public Transport to get where you want to go from your hotel.. I can't imagine anything worse than going for a weekend away and getting on a bus or calling a cab after a little pub crawl just because the hotel I chose had free parking but is in the middle of bumf*ck nowhere 2+ miles away from the City Centre. 🤣 Same thing goes for towns like Shrewsbury, which is actually quite local to me. It's not a huge town, it's all very "traditional" and old, space is an issue (look at the property prices in the UK!) so it's completely NORMAL that the majority of hotels, especially the little ones, won't have parking at all.. and that they're quite pricey. We drive everywhere we go, and this never once bothered me to be honest. It's a NORMAL thing that 1) Hotels don't always have parking 2) Hotels charge for parking if they have it..(If they don't have it, you go elsewhere and Pay, so might as well pay the Hotel for a parking right there) It's capitalism, get over it. You pay for convenience. Just because a hotel has a car park doesn't mean it should be free. If it is, bonus, but if not, what's the problem? It's like going to a restaurant and asking for FREE food at the end of the day just because they didn't sell out and you know they'll throw it away when they close. We're going to Penrith in the North Lakes this weekend. Found a lovely hotel with good reviews on booking.com for £95/night. Have I even considered looking for one with parking? No.. Why would I? It's a small town, I know I'll have to park somewhere on the road or on a public car park. Do I check if they have air con? Mini bar? Certainly not. I don't need it nor care about it.

Sorry to hear that mate. That sucks. Not sure what to suggest. There’s Chris Knott too

I don’t use AF anymore, but I’m with BRENTACRE. Modified & import specialists. IS350 insurance with them was only £120/year more than on my is250 which was only £420 with all mods declared and protected NCB. I’m 28

Yet again I'm here telling you guys that my IS250 is up for sale. I've got someone coming down on Saturday to pick it up, if all goes well. Here's a last few photos of the car before I get another one. The next few days will be difficult as I need to make a decision on what's next. It will either be IS350 or another Toyota Mark II with 1JZ engine. I will be getting either of those two on Sunday if the sale goes through on Saturday.. I know that the IS350 is a much better car in every way, but I've been stuck with IS250s the past 4 years and it's really boring, but at the same time it's extremely difficult to ignore the reliability and how much you get for the money. The JZX / Toyota Mark II is somewhat of a flirty affair to me. I really want it, I like it, but as my only car it may not be the best car to live with. It is good, but it's also 24 years old.. Any input is welcome. What would you guys do in my position? Even though I think i already know the answer 😄 Just for a comparison. My IS250 tax is £395/ year. Both IS350 and Mark II are £325/year. Checked insurance on both, no difference at all. Fuel consumption of 250 / 350 & Mark II is very similar around town, IS250 obviously wins on the run, but that doesn't matter as if we ever travel somewhere far we go in my other half's Civic that does over 50mpg on the motorway. IMG_1748.mov

If you use the RX regularly, it makes sense to keep it on the road and SORN the Jag.. £695/year tax is a lot just to keep it taxed as a driveway ornament. Especially if you intend to sell it.

+1, no reported Carbon build up issues in the UK.. Just make sure to use super unleaded fuel, it's better for the car.

I fixed it. Thanks bilal for sharing the video. Mine isn’t the same but followed the same logic. I made a mistake of not being connected to the WIFI so the head unit couldn’t display and download correct presets for my car.

It triggers a heated seat (rear) animation so I think it’ll be a matter of selecting my car in the canbus settings like @McShmoopy says. there was no real instructions for after it’s fitted. Only password for factory settings so I’ll try that. Thanks!

Hi guys, Need some help locating the climate settings on the head unit I bought. everything works as it should for me, CarPlay, radio, steering wheel controls & the buttons under the display (Fan speed, hazards, auto climate etc.) however I cannot adjust the temperature or the direction. I tried to google / YouTube solutions but I haven’t come across anyone with the same issue. It’s gotta be hidden somewhere in the settings. Hopefully someone here can help? thanks in advance! IMG_1419.mov video_1_95f30b4772ef41db9ac723fd255b2635.mov

I would really need to see it. It's likely they just wanted to get more money out of you and said the whole thing needs replacing. It's extremely unlikely that the whole thing would rust at the same rate. That's why I said 90% of the time it's the rear section first, specifically the pipe that goes into the backbox that rots first. My father's '09 rear right backbox just collapsed because the pipe rotted around the weld, but after taking it to an exhaust shop near me, we had a look at the whole thing on the lift and everything else looked fine (not perfect, but fine). You will get an exhaust blow and an MOT advisory before the whole thing falls off.. This is the middle section. Resonator pipe with the Y pipe that goes into your catalytic converters. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144955219203 so after buying that and the rear section, you should have no issues. Say even with fitting, you're looking at less than £800 all in.