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Almost two weeks into ownership, so far I’ve done…
All weather OEM floor liner to replace mats
Hardwire dashcam
illuminated door sills - IMO, parts are fairly expensive and install was a giant pain. No plug-play. Had to slice wire and bunch of panels to remove. Not sure I’d recommend to anyone.
plastidip L and GS logos on the trunk. Great match to carbon fiber spoiler and rear diffuser.
Future mods:
Front windows tint
bumper/hood PPF (not sure if i want to do fenders too. $$$)
Apple CarPlay via Beatsonic
Also averaged 19.2 MPG on my first full tank which was better than expected.
Purchased carbon fiber key cover on Amazon (pretty good quality).
logos came out decent but likely need to touch up soon.
made appointment for PPF/tint next week. For now doing hood/bumper only but will see how much more $$ for fenders. Unfortunately got some rock chips this morning on my way to work (super pissed….)
Having hard to find a good phone mount. Using vent clip but doesn’t seem to hold phone well over bumps. Any suggestions?
I have a 10th. For the PPF, you might see the diff if you do partial, but it is pricey. I did the entire car . You can def feel the diff with the OEM paint vs the entire car PPF. Will also make it easier to clean and detail .
MPH. Didn’t expect heated steering wheel option. Considering i live in Atlanta, GA not sure I’d use much but glad to have it just in case.
nice car! I saw it for sale I’m pretty sure as I’m also looking.
heated steering wheel in the US only comes on this edition. No other ones have it.
how have you been taking care of the paint? That’s the only thing that’s keeping me from fully deciding on it. I live in the Midwest and would daily it and wouldn’t have the option to hand wash it in the winter.
Hahaha so it was you who ended up with it. Well, congrats! But......
Did they disclose to you about the cigar smoke??? What did you do to get rid of the smell? The last owner smoked cigars in it like crazy and that's why they couldn't sell it for the longest time, despite dropping the price from $82k to $64k or somewhere around there. I visited Lexus Escondido 1st week of July when they had it. By that time it had been in their showroom for a month. I hope you got a great price.
I was thinking about buying it. It was beautiful, perfect paint condition as far as I could tell, but as soon as I opened the door it was a big fat no. That cigar smell was truly awful.
Matte paint is great to look at but high maintenance. I knew that going in but it’s all about managing your expectation. They say if car gets wet, you need to wipe it down right away or it’ll leave watermark. Almost 2 months into ownership, i’m averaging 1/week hand car wash which is more than expected but i can tolerate so far. Who knows.. i’m still in newlywed phase so i may get tired of it but again, little watermark isn’t going to hurt anyone.
For me, knowing how rare this edition is (1 of 100), that alone was enough to buy this car. i think there are 2 currently on sale (at least on autotrader). Not sure of their o condition but if price is right and condition checks out, I’d definitely consider it. For the longest item, i was looking for white/red color combo GS F but very glad i went with this edition.
Yeah, that’s the car. Guess you saw it in person? How was your experience with this dealership?
Yes, they disclosed the smell prior to sale. I was skeptical but i pulled a trigger anyway hoping it’s something i can address after ownership. I’m not a smoker so it was a concern. I’ve done some detailing and have used ozone generator to minimize the smell. It’s still there after 2 months but i suspect it’s getting better. Frankly, it’s my daily driver so now i’m used to it. I may decide to do full professional interior detail at some point. Cigar smell isn’t permanent and will eventually get better. I don’t expect to be gone 100% but I’m ok with that.
They did drop the price but not sure whether that’s because of cigar smell. Frankly at $82k original asking, they were asking too much. Without disclosing too much, i paid what their revised price was but it was more than $64k. Given the user car market, i think it was ok deal. I’m sure i could have done better but also worse pending the location. This was the only 10th anniversary version that was certified with 1-ownership which was most important to me.
Thanks for sharing your photos from the dealship. I’ll have to save these.
Yeah, that’s the car. Guess you saw it in person? How was your experience with this dealership?
Yes, they disclosed the smell prior to sale. I was skeptical but i pulled a trigger anyway hoping it’s something i can address after ownership. I’m not a smoker so it was a concern. I’ve done some detailing and have used ozone generator to minimize the smell. It’s still there after 2 months but i suspect it’s getting better. Frankly, it’s my daily driver so now i’m used to it. I may decide to do full professional interior detail at some point. Cigar smell isn’t permanent and will eventually get better. I don’t expect to be gone 100% but I’m ok with that.
They did drop the price but not sure whether that’s because of cigar smell. Frankly at $82k original asking, they were asking too much. Without disclosing too much, i paid what their revised price was but it was more than $64k. Given the user car market, i think it was ok deal. I’m sure i could have done better but also worse pending the location. This was the only 10th anniversary version that was certified with 1-ownership which was most important to me.
Thanks for sharing your photos from the dealship. I’ll have to save these.
Thanks so much for sharing. I love Lexus Escondido. I’ve been there several times but never bought a car there and only once for service for my IS500. They didn’t have the IS500 color I wanted so I had to fly to New Mexico to buy it. They were also requiring add-ons so it worked out that I didn’t get the car there. But they do a lot of community engagement and Lexus Racing events and whatnot, so they know how to have fun. They also have a very fancy restaurant on the top of their dealership which I’ve eaten at for free before because they simply appraised my old car.
You’re right that the cigar smell will get better, and thanks for being honest about it. I stopped by before I knew about the smell. I was mildly interested in trading in my IS500 for it and was in the neighborhood. I thought their revised price was excellent, which is what brought me in. But upon sitting inside the car I knew right away the smell was something my wife would never approve of (lol). She loves the GSF but she hates smoke smell. But yeah I didn’t test drive it since it was in the showroom and I knew I wouldn’t be buying it at that point.
There was another young fella there who was getting his ISF serviced and we were just chatting about your car and gawking at it. It’s beautiful.
Im so glad it found a good home. I’ll be interested to see your build going forward!
Yeah, that’s the car. Guess you saw it in person? How was your experience with this dealership?
Yes, they disclosed the smell prior to sale. I was skeptical but i pulled a trigger anyway hoping it’s something i can address after ownership. I’m not a smoker so it was a concern. I’ve done some detailing and have used ozone generator to minimize the smell. It’s still there after 2 months but i suspect it’s getting better. Frankly, it’s my daily driver so now i’m used to it. I may decide to do full professional interior detail at some point. Cigar smell isn’t permanent and will eventually get better. I don’t expect to be gone 100% but I’m ok with that.
They did drop the price but not sure whether that’s because of cigar smell. Frankly at $82k original asking, they were asking too much. Without disclosing too much, i paid what their revised price was but it was more than $64k. Given the user car market, i think it was ok deal. I’m sure i could have done better but also worse pending the location. This was the only 10th anniversary version that was certified with 1-ownership which was most important to me.
Thanks for sharing your photos from the dealship. I’ll have to save these.
Throw about 10 Bounce dryer sheets in the car and get it nice and hot in there. They work great! Put a couple down by the vents also so the hot air blows on them. You can also leave a couple under the front seats and change them out every so often.
Unfortunately my buying experience with this dealership was not a good one. Between having inexperienced sales rep (likely newbie dealership puts on online inquiries) and vehicle having some minor issues they didn’t disclose, I ended up reaching out to Lexus Corporate for some assistance. All in all, things worked out but honestly i can’t say I would recommend them for any future buyers.
Regarding the smell, ozone generator is making a huge difference (at least to me who’s riding daily). Every once in a while wife will get in and still complains but i tend to ignore that noise!
Got PPF done on hood/bumper only. Wish i did it weeks ago to avoid a few scratches but glad how it came out. You can barely see the lines around the headlights. Shop ended up wrapping the carbon fiber lip portion as well.
Weather in GA dropped to 50’s this past weekend so heated steering wheel option came in nicely. Haven’t had it before but i think I’ll enjoy this feature more.
Ended up going with a vent mount wireless charging phone mount. Tucked away usb-c cable under the blue trim piece (hate seeing wiring). It works nicely.
not sure of next ‘mod’. Car is sitting exactly how i want it but we’ll see.
Pick up some Ozium. That should eliminate the cigar smoke smell. May take a couple of treatments. Need to spray in the trunk as well after you spray in the car. Best to do it overnight and let the car sit. Count to five while you spray. and then shut the door, same in trunk. You will want the 8 oz.
08-16-22 | 06:22 PM
