Giblet's Lexus ISF

Author
Discussion

SlowMoped

184 posts

145 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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Looks great, I think I may have seen this outside a property along a "long road" on the way out of the city centre last week.

AM7

268 posts

128 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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Must have been out nearly 10 years now, yet they still look so refreshing in design!

I've always loved C63s and wanted one since I first saw/heard one, but as you said earlier they seem to have attracted the wrong sort of crowd and there are so many with questionable histories on the used market. I think the ISF was overshadowed by the German boys on release, but as times gone on I've grown to appreciate it, it holds a level a class that the others don't and as we all know the build quality/reliability is "Lexus standards" shall we say. Lovely car!

cosworth330

1,299 posts

236 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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Nice car.

My brother in law bought a new one back in 2008, same colour as yours on a 58 plate. Traded in his Audi RS4 avant V8 for it. He said it felt slightly quicker than the RS4 and I know he preferred the IS-F. I drove it in the cold winter months when it was wet on the roads and and it liked to light up the rears quite easily. At the time (2009) I had an E39 M5 but I will say the IS-F sounded better and throttle response was better, slightly quicker I would say.

Nice car and I like that they are quite a rare sight.


SuperVM

1,098 posts

160 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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A lovely car! I'm hoping to replace my E39 M5 with one, but I'll definitely be looking in the sub £20k range, where there appears to be a lot less choice.

giblet

Original Poster:

8,824 posts

176 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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SlowMoped said:
Looks great, I think I may have seen this outside a property along a "long road" on the way out of the city centre last week.
Cheers. My office is on that long road, well for the next few days at least until we move to lovely Beeston!

AM7 said:
Must have been out nearly 10 years now, yet they still look so refreshing in design!

I've always loved C63s and wanted one since I first saw/heard one, but as you said earlier they seem to have attracted the wrong sort of crowd and there are so many with questionable histories on the used market. I think the ISF was overshadowed by the German boys on release, but as times gone on I've grown to appreciate it, it holds a level a class that the others don't and as we all know the build quality/reliability is "Lexus standards" shall we say. Lovely car!
Thanks. I've seen a few C63s being driven in a idiotic manner recently, helped to reassure me that I had made the right choice with the ISF.

cosworth330 said:
Nice car.

My brother in law bought a new one back in 2008, same colour as yours on a 58 plate. Traded in his Audi RS4 avant V8 for it. He said it felt slightly quicker than the RS4 and I know he preferred the IS-F. I drove it in the cold winter months when it was wet on the roads and and it liked to light up the rears quite easily. At the time (2009) I had an E39 M5 but I will say the IS-F sounded better and throttle response was better, slightly quicker I would say.

Nice car and I like that they are quite a rare sight.
Thanks. I find that throttle can be a little lazy in regular mode but it is fine for daily driving. Sports mode sharpens it up for spirited driving. The GY F1s on the rear seem to behave a lot better in mild dry weather but I have had them light up in the wet a few times. I'm still waiting to spot another ISF in the wild.

SuperVM said:
A lovely car! I'm hoping to replace my E39 M5 with one, but I'll definitely be looking in the sub £20k range, where there appears to be a lot less choice.
The values seem to be all over the place at the moment. There are only ever a handful for sale at any one time. I got lucky with mine as I'm sure it's worth more than I paid for it. You should be able to find a well cared for example in that price bracket though. They wear the miles well as lomg they have been serviced regularly.

cosworth330

1,299 posts

236 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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My brother in law sold his IS-F to the trade when it was 3 years old and had about 35K miles on it, condition was average as he's not really an enthusiast, he got £26K. I think he paid £52K new.

SuperVM

1,098 posts

160 months

Wednesday 23rd March 2016
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giblet said:
The values seem to be all over the place at the moment. There are only ever a handful for sale at any one time. I got lucky with mine as I'm sure it's worth more than I paid for it. You should be able to find a well cared for example in that price bracket though. They wear the miles well as lomg they have been serviced regularly.
Indeed, there is a privately held example on eBay with warranty for around £16k. It has done 100k though, but then I believe the ISF is meant to be bullet proof and it has got to be better than my 2002 E39 M5 that has done 127k. Not that there's a lot wrong with my M5, but I always feel it is a matter of when rather than if.

giblet

Original Poster:

8,824 posts

176 months

Saturday 30th April 2016
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Mini update. I'm now 3 months and 2000 miles into the ownership. I'm still enjoying it, it makes the daily commute more fun especially the rare moments where I can apply some throttle. Comfy place to be (despite the stock suspension) when sitting in traffic too which is handy as we had a move of offices recently which means I'm doing an extra 70 miles a week. Not really done much with it apart from drive it and clean it.

I bought a 3 year service pack from Lexus Leeds for £1296.45, this covers the major service this summer, intermediate next year and the major + (10 year) service in 2015 along with an MOT each year and an air con service. It's a saving of nearly £600 compared to the list price, allows me to keep up the existing FLSH and payment is split across 27 months which is handy.

A shot alongside another ISF at a local meet up organised via PH -



A quick snap outside the new office -



It's booked in for a full exhaust system with added cutout valves in mid June, can't wait to release some more of that V8 growl! After that I'll be looking into some slightly wider tyres as the stock ones seem far too small at 225/40/19 on the front and 255/35/19 on the rear. A common upgrade is 245/35/19 front and 275/30/19 on the rear with Pilot Supersports being the tyre of choice. I don't think I will bother with the Lexus warranty, this then opens up the possibility of a remap. Waiting to see some dyno results from a few stock and slightly modified cars across the pond first.

Oh and I'm averaging 19.07mpg since purchase which isn't bad for a 5.0 V8 that sees mainly urban driving.

Edited by giblet on Sunday 1st May 00:01

8bit

4,846 posts

154 months

Sunday 1st May 2016
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Nice update. Looking forward to the obligatory video clip when you get your new exhaust fitted!

giblet

Original Poster:

8,824 posts

176 months

Sunday 20th November 2016
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It's been almost 7 months since my last post, time for an update.

The car went in for a new exhaust system. I asked the fabricator to emulate the tried and tested Joe Z design from across the pond which consists of two straight pipes in place of the secondary cats and then an X pipe in the middle. Decided to stick with the stock tips and go with smaller back boxes to keep it looking subtle.

This is what it ended up looking like





The result is a much improved burble with a nice growl when you apply the throttle. It went back in a few weeks later to have a valve fitted which lets me keep it closed for those early starts and open it up when I'm out and about for an even nicer V8 rumble. I know this is all useless without a video clip, planning on taking some in the next few days.

It went into Lexus Leeds for a major service in August along with an MOT which it passed without any emissions issues despite the secondary cats no longer being present. The service highlighted that my front discs and pads were due a change. The dealers wanted a silly amount for this but I managed to source OEM Brembo discs and uprated Hawk ceramic pads but less than half that. The pads dust a lot less than the OEM ones which are awful.

I took it to the PHSS at Silverstone recently where I had a novice track taster session. After that it went in to my local detail for a full wheel refurb and a correction detail.






Despite being happy with the ISF I still found myself visiting the MLR forum and seeing what was for sale. I had purchased the ISF after viewing an Evo X but discovering that the boot was too small for my dads wheelchair. After spotting a well specced X up for sale I did some research and found a suitable compact wheelchair. I went to view the Evo, a deal was done and as a result the ISF is now for sale.

I'll miss the car a lot, especially the exhaust note and the reaction it gets from people when they ask what it is. Lost count of the amount of open jawed reactions when I told someone the engine size. Seems the ISF really is a discreet and unassuming super saloon. It's the polar opposite of the Evo which attracts the wrong kind of attention. Planning on getting into track days but two cars isn't an option for me so the Evo makes more sense.







So if anyone wants a low mileage Lexus ISF that's had all the required work done including a recent water pump (and radiator) from Lexus Leeds then check out my ad on the classifieds here - http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/l...

gretsch-drummer

622 posts

156 months

Sunday 20th November 2016
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You'll be a lot easier to spot if you boot it past again in the Evo.

giblet

Original Poster:

8,824 posts

176 months

Sunday 1st January 2017
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Now up for sale on eBay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272506372305

Took it for a spin recently and I know I'll regret it. It's such a brilliant car but the X is way sillier.

richatnort

3,018 posts

130 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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giblet said:
Now up for sale on eBay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272506372305

Took it for a spin recently and I know I'll regret it. It's such a brilliant car but the X is way sillier.
Giblet, who did you use to do the detailing in Leeds if you don't mind me asking?

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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Excellent value at that mileage. Good luck with the sale chap.

killysprint

193 posts

165 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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Giblet - who did the exhaust for you, looks like a cracking job!

Any droning at motorway speeds?

giblet

Original Poster:

8,824 posts

176 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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richatnort said:
Giblet, who did you use to do the detailing in Leeds if you don't mind me asking?

The detailer I used is slightly further afield in Saddleworth. Obsidian Detailing, bloke is called Matt and does by the username Stangalang over on Detailing World.

stuno1 said:
Excellent value at that mileage. Good luck with the sale chap.
Cheers. I'm hoping it goes to a good home, I'm going to miss it! Had a lot of timewasters so far, starting to get annoying.

killysprint said:
Giblet - who did the exhaust for you, looks like a cracking job!

Any droning at motorway speeds?
STG Performance in Wakefield. There is a slight bit of droning if you are sat at 2,000 rpm but it's fine on motorways.

f1nn

2,692 posts

191 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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This makes me sad, as the sale is about 6 months too early.

If it was June i'd be forcing 20 pound notes into Giblets mits...

Good luck with the sale, it's exactly the car I will be looking for, just 6 months too soon for me!

stuno1

1,296 posts

194 months

Monday 2nd January 2017
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Giblet - I had a lot of that as well, just hang on there matey.

giblet

Original Poster:

8,824 posts

176 months

Sunday 20th May 2018
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Back in an ISF!

Bit of a journey since my last one, thought I’d carry on with this thread instead of starting a new one.

The Evo was fun and rather antisocial. I took it to the Nurburgring in April last year as part of a European roadtrip with some mates



Sadly I managed to cooked the head gasket whilst I was away, ended up costing £3.5k to rebuild the head with new valves etc.

I moved it one once repaired as I’d found a reasonably priced lease deal on a 4C Spider. I used that as a daily for 6 months which was fun


It had a real sense of occasion, despite having half the power of the Evo it was way more fun to drive. Sadly it was proving to be too impractical and I was racking the miles up quickly so moved it on. I then lost the plot and replaced with a Renault Zoe.



At sub £5k it was a cheap introduction to EV motoring and served me well over winter. I’d planned to get an E46 M3 and spent ages researching them but the market seems to be overhyped at the moment. Every other ad mentions investment opportunity. Whilst perusing the classifieds I spotted an ISF for sale, a week later I went down to Gloucester and bought it.

It’s essentially the same spec as my last one but with more miles. At 91k it’s still low mileage for a Lexus (I had an LS400 earlier this year with 180 odd thousand miles). This one has a H&S exhaust fitted (with real tips) and sounds a tad louder than the custom one on my last one.

Cosmetically it’s a little rougher around the edges with a few marks here and there but those can be sorted with a detail. It’s got a year or so worth of Lexus warranty but hopefully I won’t need it.

The real question now is how long will I keep this one for?

Percy.

741 posts

73 months

Sunday 20th May 2018
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Very nice Giblet.

I rather quite like the aesthetics of the ISF