This is my dad's new car. He sold his "old 335xi" And got this bad boy, a Lexus IS-F. He got the revised 2011 version. I've never had so much fun driving a car around, pulls like hell, handling is crisp and light and the NOISE! He got the dealer to install a clear bra on the front. I told my dad to wait for me to polish/correct it and he didn't want to wait... I know... Anyhow, the sub-contractor did a nasty job and has to redo it. Since the car is like 2 weeks old, it didn't take that much cleaning and correcting. I did the whole car except the front (hood, bumper and fenders) since the clear bra will probably will be taken off and redone. I had until 4:00 to finish the car since I had previous engagements for supper. Me and my brother started at 9:00 am and finished at 4:15 pm. Sorry for the pics, my dad took his D300S en vacation and left me with a point and shoot digital camera. Products used: Wash and clay: - 2 bucket method - MF wash mitt - WG Autobathe - Dehydrator MF dyring towel - Ricardo yellow clay + lube Polishing: - Zep Citrus 3:1 pre soak - Optimum Hyper Polish with LC 6" white pad - PC 7474 DA Interior: - Shopvac 6.5hp vaccum - DP Total Interior Cleaner - 303 protectant - Poorboys Trim Restorer on all rubber seals - Cheap MFs Wheels & tires: - Zep Purple 3:1 on tires - CG Diablo 3:1 on wheels - Various brushes - DP Wheel Glaze - WG tire shine - Cheap MFs Windows: - DP Krystal Vision cleaner - DP Glass enhancer - Aquapel - Cheap MFs LSP: - Collinite 476s (2 coats) - Ioncoat Naviwax (2 coats) (Thanks Joey ) - Cobra junior 400 MFs Here are some pics of the process: My brother washing the car. Yes those are sweat pants with pockets. It's the next step in comfort Wheel cleaning. The dealer put on some Armor All tire shine not too long ago, now it was all brown. Zep Purple and CG diablo + brushes. Next up is me using Zep Citrus to strip off anything left that came from the dealer, even though my dad asked them to NOT put anything on it. Paint quality after washing, claying and stripping: Optimum Hyper Polish is GREAT! Practically no dust, very easy to work with and does a really nice job. My brother using Poorboys trim restorer to hydrate the rubber seals: First coat of Collinite 476s drying: LSP used: Final shots: Thanks for looking! :thumb:
I agree, my wife wants one of these come September, who am I to say no.......... just has to be in blue.
Good luck with the maintenance cost... my brother works for Lexus and says it's easily the costliest Lexus to maintain at the moment...
As of 2011, Lexus is using the Supersonic blue on some other models. It's now "non IS-F" only. Sucks Hope your wife dosent have a led foot, it has pretty good response on all gears. Also, it's kinda of a gas guzzler in town.
The other option was white...... which looks clean, one of the Doctors who works with her has a white one. As for gas, it cannot be any worse then one of our suburbans. LOL I know the IS-F can be pricey to repair, there is a difference between repair costs and maintenance costs, as for maintenance it cannot be worse then my STi. Unless it is running some super expensive oil, or it chews threw rotors and pads, there is not much "maintenance" on them until the factory service, which I would not take the car to Lexus anyway unless it is a warranty issue. The IS350 my wife had for a little longer then a year was not bad, a few oil changes etc. She gets a new car almost every two years so we don't really keep them long enough for "maintenance costs" other then maybe some tires. As for tires......... I usually replace the factory tires day one...... I prefer certain brands and tread comps. back on topic......... nice ISF. Perfect color if you ask me My only gripe about the IS series is for being staggered they should have gone wider, and a more aggressive offset in the rear. How did you like the Opt polish? what would you compare it too?
That IS-F is beast, but in all honesty I would rather have the 3.35xi your dad use to have, I like it so much more but I hear BM's spend 2 months out of the year at the mechanics
Some exceptions. There's just so many out there that are trashed. Plus there's nothing that beats a brand new car! lol
Nice job. I have an 08 ultrasonic blue with white interior. It's an awesome car. I have 30k miles on it and just had to replace the rotors and breaks and it cost a fortune. Be prepared to clean the wheels every week. It break dusts like crazy. I believe it takes 8 quartz of oil and I run synthetic so it gets expensive. I do take by car to the dealership for all maintenance because if I don't then my tires for life gets voided.
