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With the 2 year anniversary of this purchase rapidly approaching, the IS-F followed right behind my RL in getting ceramic coated I also decided to go with a satin black on the front grille. I'm pretty happy with the results! After picking it up today, it brought a whole new life to the car! I'm honestly a little mad at myself for not going with a better coating/better prep and polish right from the beginning... I'm still on the fence about doing the chrome around the windows. After seeing the results today, my gut is telling me to do gloss black as well. Any thoughts?
As much as I dislike chrome. I’d say leave them to have some contrast on the car. It’s classy, not trashy, you don’t want the “murdered out” look with it all black. Also need some spacers to flush out the wheels
So I've been looking at the car over and over, and here's what I've decided to do: I'm going to keep the window trim chromed out. Here's my logic: With the front and rear "L" logo, IS-F and "LEXUS" all being chrome, I want to keep a touch of chrome everywhere around the car. The idea is to maintain an OEM look. Even with the morimoto LED fogs, which will effectively black out the fog light area in the bumper, I'll still be keeping the headlights at OEM look when I do the retrofit over the summer. So just enough chrome tidbits to keep the car looking OEM, but sharper
As far as the retrofit, I've decided I'll be going quads again. With that being said, headlight technology has evolved significantly since I went quad on my RL. I'll be going full blown LED on this one: mini HB led and MLED You know, just trying to give people Xrays with my headlights
So I've been looking at the car over and over, and here's what I've decided to do: I'm going to keep the window trim chromed out. Here's my logic: With the front and rear "L" logo, IS-F and "LEXUS" all being chrome, I want to keep a touch of chrome everywhere around the car. The idea is to maintain an OEM look. Even with the morimoto LED fogs, which will effectively black out the fog light area in the bumper, I'll still be keeping the headlights at OEM look when I do the retrofit over the summer. So just enough chrome tidbits to keep the car looking OEM, but sharper
As far as the retrofit, I've decided I'll be going quads again. With that being said, headlight technology has evolved significantly since I went quad on my RL. I'll be going full blown LED on this one: mini HB led and MLED You know, just trying to give people Xrays with my headlights
I think the chrome here and there is classy.
On the Caddy everyone told me to black shit out...
loses contrast...and I'm not a rapper anymore so no more murdered out look.
I think that's a solid plan...
I don't know squat about headlights shy of opening to swap to zkw and blacking out
shit but at this point, I avoid opening them up like the plague coronavirus.
Bump! Got lucky and scored a set of OEM Lexus LED foglights for 200$ off a ClubLexus member. Not to rag on TRS quality since the make great stuff, but the OEM fogs are definitely a steal at that price considering the build quality. I'm also very surprised how easy it is to change the housings out on these cars... Almost earily easy.... So far so good and I'm very happy with them. On to headlights next!
Bump! So I didn't realize my last update was three years ago! Since then quite a bit has changed, my cars got a little sidelined as I was planning a wedding, but with that being over last year I've been able to get back on track with my projects! I did do headlight modification to the car courtesy of The Headlight Guy out of Indiana. He modified my RL headlights as well! Did an LED projector setup with LED Laser highbeams, I opted to keep an OEM look, I just wanted improved performance! Also decided to chrome out the window trim!
I also 3D printed a cell phone mount for the car, god bless friends with 3D printers LOL
Next up, I decided to tackle some of the largest jobs. I outsourced my valley plate, which is a known point of failure on every V8 that uses this architecture. I will say this is one job I'm glad I paid to have done!!
I also decided to address the next known platform problem before it becomes a problem for me: the headers. I opted to do PPE equal length cerakoted headers, and replaced the headers and motor mounts along the way. Installed a tune to address the lack of emissions hardware as well
And lastly, Im REALLY excited about this purchase! I normally like to stick to OEM design wheel on every vehicle I've owned. I decided to go out of the box and purchase some forged magnesium TRD Circuit Club Sport Parts wheels! These are getting mounted once I wear thru my current summer tires wear out by the end of this summer. The current stock wheels are 19X8 and 19x9, these widen by a half inch. Stock tires are 225/40/19 in the front and 255/35/19 rear. Based on the math with the offset, I wont go any wider with the rears but I will widen the front tires so I buy a square set of tires at 255/35/19 should get me the look I want without rubbing.
SUPER happy how the car is coming along! Next update will have the wheels on, and I'll have the tune finalized for sound clip of the headers!
When I saw the update, I thought the 5 years were up… glad to see you still have it! Looks great!
Thanks! I came very close to trading in the car when the market was hot in late 2021 and early 2022. I was offered a TLX Type S in the spec I wanted at MSRP and was offered a good sum on this car and my RL. Essentially is would have come down to me paying the dealer doc fee and plate transfer fee, and an extended warranty. I drove the TLX type S and couldn’t bring myself to abandon the dying breed that is the ISF V8. To this day I think I would have lost in that trade.
I know I bought this car with the intention of trading up about this time (5 years into ownership). Nothing is really appealing to me out there right now in the price I want to pay. The only thing that really appeals to me right now is a 2020 plus 992 Porsche 911. And those are still beyond my price range.
My wife asked me a great question when I drove the TLX Type S: Does the car speak to you? And the reality is that one didn’t. My RL and the ISF still speak to me. After driving a comparable 992 911, that car felt the same way to me. If all goes right I may be in one in the next 5-10 years. That was my mindset in dumping a lot of money into the ISF over the last year, ideally I’d like to enjoy it another 5-10 years until I find the right car to move to.
Polar opposite, but a coworker just traded in her 2016 Mercedes C300 for a 22 ES350 Lux. Took it around the block & I was really impressed with it. The new IS is a looker too, especially with the red interior
Polar opposite, but a coworker just traded in her 2016 Mercedes C300 for a 22 ES350 Lux. Took it around the block & I was really impressed with it. The new IS is a looker too, especially with the red interior
I actually test drove the launch edition with the same thought! The transmission felt off and very clunky for some reason. And the steering and braking didn’t have the precision that my F have, even before the suspension work. It just felt like my F grew old and got arthritis. It also lost the “raw” feeling the ISF has.
Inflation adjusted, if they were to sell a new ISF it would land somewhere in the 80s MSRP. With the IS500 MSRP, they had to cut somewhere. That’s how I justified the “lost” performance.
I really wanted to love the IS500 but I felt I was loosing too much.
My wife asked me a great question when I drove the TLX Type S: Does the car speak to you? And the reality is that one didn’t. My RL and the ISF still speak to me. After driving a comparable 992 911, that car felt the same way to me. If all goes right I may be in one in the next 5-10 years. That was my mindset in dumping a lot of money into the ISF over the last year, ideally I’d like to enjoy it another 5-10 years until I find the right car to move to.
Love this thead and I'm with you on that...I only like old shit with manual gearboxes at this point (mainly)...OBD2 and UP but stop about 2013.
Haha love it. Glad someone else gets it Heart has to be in it!
After struggling and messing with drive cycles in the Factory Service Manual to get permanent cat codes to go away, and cat/evap system to show as ready, I’m drawing my cutoff at 2010 OBD2 LOL
Originally Posted by 00TL-P3.2
That's a bummer, but I guess to make a true modern ISF it would price out most potential buyers.
Indeed! I feel like at 80k, a lot of great options open up, and I think Lexus knew this?
It did. The looks, drive and built quality Porsche is known for really struck me. The LED tails in the ‘20 plus really did it for me.
gotcha! You should try to find where Chief keeps they keys for his, with SPA this weekend, he will be distracted, you can be a few miles down the road with it by the time he notices
also, for what it’s worth, my dad has a 2012 CarreraS, even now it’s still great. Im still impressed with how good the PDK is.
The interior in the 992 is a good step up though.
I test drove a 991.2 many years ago, this one was a manual, I thought the 7spd would be more awkward but it really wasn’t.
If you wait long enough it can be in your budget, that’s my plan
I thought exactly that several years ago when I really wanted a late NSX with pop up headlights. Then the values started climbing faster than my savings… and then it became hard to justify the price for a car so many years old
I thought exactly that several years ago when I really wanted a late NSX with pop up headlights. Then the values started climbing faster than my savings… and then it became hard to justify the price for a car so many years old
I had a friend suffer the same fate, I get the pain sadly
Nice update, I am glad you adressing the issue that all 2UR-GSE eventually face. On the good side none of these issues will cause the motor to blow up, bad side are the labor and part isn't cheap on these, at around what mileage you starting to notice the leak?
Coworker nearly bought a RC350 FSport & it seemed nice from the passenger seat.
The RC just seems overweight/bloated to be a real sports car. But I've never driven one.
Bump! So I didn't realize my last update was three years ago! Since then quite a bit has changed, my cars got a little sidelined as I was planning a wedding, but with that being over last year I've been able to get back on track with my projects! I did do headlight modification to the car courtesy of The Headlight Guy out of Indiana. He modified my RL headlights as well! Did an LED projector setup with LED Laser highbeams, I opted to keep an OEM look, I just wanted improved performance! Also decided to chrome out the window trim!
I also 3D printed a cell phone mount for the car, god bless friends with 3D printers LOL
Next up, I decided to tackle some of the largest jobs. I outsourced my valley plate, which is a known point of failure on every V8 that uses this architecture. I will say this is one job I'm glad I paid to have done!!
I also decided to address the next known platform problem before it becomes a problem for me: the headers. I opted to do PPE equal length cerakoted headers, and replaced the headers and motor mounts along the way. Installed a tune to address the lack of emissions hardware as well
And lastly, Im REALLY excited about this purchase! I normally like to stick to OEM design wheel on every vehicle I've owned. I decided to go out of the box and purchase some forged magnesium TRD Circuit Club Sport Parts wheels! These are getting mounted once I wear thru my current summer tires wear out by the end of this summer. The current stock wheels are 19X8 and 19x9, these widen by a half inch. Stock tires are 225/40/19 in the front and 255/35/19 rear. Based on the math with the offset, I wont go any wider with the rears but I will widen the front tires so I buy a square set of tires at 255/35/19 should get me the look I want without rubbing.
SUPER happy how the car is coming along! Next update will have the wheels on, and I'll have the tune finalized for sound clip of the headers!
Congrats on the wedding and the upgrades. Glad to see you still have the car. Funny you just posted this update as it couldn't be more than a week or so ago I looked to see if you had made any updates about the car and saw you hadn't in three years and figured you might have gotten rid of it. I missed mine so much last March I bought it back from my buddy that I had sold it too.
Curious to hear what your thoughts are on the PPE Equal length headers. I have a set of them along with the rest of the full bolt-on kit from RR sitting waiting till I find some find for it. I have been stocking piling those and a ton of other parts for a pretty big refresh of the car since it has 159k miles on it now.
Those wheels will look fantastic on the car. Can't wait to see them when they go on.
Haha love it. Glad someone else gets it Heart has to be in it!
After struggling and messing with drive cycles in the Factory Service Manual to get permanent cat codes to go away, and cat/evap system to show as ready, I’m drawing my cutoff at 2010 OBD2 LOL
Indeed! I feel like at 80k, a lot of great options open up, and I think Lexus knew this?
I'm only including 2013 for a B8.5 Audi, that's as new as I want.
Haha love it. Glad someone else gets it Heart has to be in it!
After struggling and messing with drive cycles in the Factory Service Manual to get permanent cat codes to go away, and cat/evap system to show as ready, I’m drawing my cutoff at 2010 OBD2 LOL
I have never got them to stay fully away but my headers have failed so I have an exhaust leak. However, it is really weird that if you stay with manual shift mode it never runs the sensor tests and my codes don't come back.
03-23-2020, 09:48 AM
I also decided to go with a satin black on the front grille. I'm pretty happy with the results! After picking it up today, it brought a whole new life to the car! I'm honestly a little mad at myself for not going with a better coating/better prep and polish right from the beginning... I'm still on the fence about doing the chrome around the windows. After seeing the results today, my gut is telling me to do gloss black as well. Any thoughts?
fuck yessssss
and 
