CPO Pre-Delivery Checklist Review

So even though I had, in a previous post, listed the items a CPO car undergoes before delivery, I had forgotten to check exactly what those items are.  I knew a few items had been changed, of course, like the windshield wiper blades, but was curious to understand what else had been done.

When I took my car into my local Lexus dealer to get the new remote for the engine starter, the bumper cover fitment checked and the Navi/TV "jumper" kit installed, I asked Ishikawa-san where I could find "the list."

It turns out this checklist was in my glove box the entire time, in this neat booklet.

And the "CPO Inspection Maintenance Record" shows that the mechanics at the Tokorozawa Lexus dealership dutifully checked all of the items listed - the engine bay, the interior, the undercarriage, and the suspension, brakes and wheels.

That's great, but what was truly interesting to me what was replaced:

Pre-printed items (so would be the minimum replaced)
1) 9.3 liters of engine oil
2) Oil filter (1)
3) Wiper blades (2)
4) "Clear air element" (1) (for the interior, I think)

Handwritten items (those replaced for each car, in this case my car):
1) Door gasket (1) - I'm guessing the driver's door?
2) Air cleaner element (1) (engine)
3) Rear brake pads - (1 set) I knew this as I was told, when I visited the Tokorozawa dealership, that the pads had less than 5mm of material left - new is 10mm apparently)
4) Spark plugs (8)
5) Batteries for all 3 smart keys (including the card key)
6) Battery for the remote control engine starter (which ended up replaced with a new unit)
7) Glove box (1)

So I'm pleasantly surprised by the door gasket and the glove box. If I recall correctly, I had noticed that the INSIDE of the glovebox door had some scratches which really wasn't going to bother me, being out of sight, out of mind! Now, no scratches of course...

At the same time, it appears that I have 9mm of front brake pad and 10mm of rear, so almost a brand new set. I hope that replacement doesn't reflect too aggressive driving by the prior owner.  On the other hand, not sure why an engine would need new spark plugs at only 50,000 kms, but I am hoping it's just Lexus being ultraconservative. Further checking of other maintenance records shows that the prior owners of this car replaced the tires basically every two years. So either the car was driven hard, or this car just eats up consumables (more likely from what I've read).

Because I was concerned enough about how the prior owners may have driven the car, my local dealership went ahead and did a complete diagnostic as well for me, after I mentioned to Ishikawa-san that I was concerned about the previous history of the car.  I actually had mentioned that I felt that the automatic transmission might be shifting a bit strangely, in that there was too much lag in first gear but then, as we all know, 2-8 gears locks up very quickly and is fine! But he had a technician take the car for a test drive, as well as run all the computer diagnostics on the engine and transmission and everything apparently is fine.

Which is a relief! Because all that means now is to worry about cosmetic items....

OEM Navigation and TV Bypass Kit

When the car was delivered to me, the salesman, Aoki-san, mentioned in a soft voice to me that "for a small fee we can do the Navi/TV workaround..."  He explained of course that, as the OEM Navigation and digital TV do not allow for inputs/TV viewing while the car is in motion, that there are aftermarket kits available to handle this.  The installation of this kit, however, falls into a "grey zone"- that is, a Lexus dealership shouldn't really be advocating such a work around for obvious reasons.

Of course, the solution is to say that, this aftermarket convenience feature was being added in order to allow the front seat PASSENGER to make such adjustments while the driver remains focused on driving.  Of course.

In any case, I did some Internet research and found that there are several kits available, with various pricing, all purporting to do the same thing.  However, some kits apparently worked better than others, based on reviews by users and purchasers.  Beat-Sonic sells than, and even Toyota tuner TOM's has a product.  To be honest, it rapidly became too confusing to determine which brand would work without any problems. 

So, at this point I gave up and decided to go the dealership route, as presumably they had installed a bunch and would know which ones work best with the IS F.

By sheer coincidence, when closely inspecting my car a few days before visiting the dealership, I found this on the plastic next to the driver's left knee:

My first clue that the previous owners had aftermarket items on the car!
Remember the shape of the curved portion next to the white tape residue...

Given its location, my guess was that there was something, likely a switch, attached by double sided tape to this area.  It would likely be a switch because it is too low for anything visual to be mounted, and so far in my research on popular add-ons to this car in Japan, I've only seen the electronic throttle controller, radar detectors, and yes the OEM navigation/TV "jumper" kits. 

So when I visited the dealership on Saturday, they showed me which kit they use for the navi/TV jumper kit: 

Interestingly, this is not a brand that I found during my searches, so I'm hoping this works better than the others out there which had mediocre reviews.  Ishikawa-san explained to me that essentially all these kits work the same (which results in the GPS signal being temporarily lost while the Navi is used), however what is good about this kit is that it has two buttons (versus the one button for the TOM's kit) which allows separate overriding of the Navi and TV, versus having to scroll through options that a single button setup requires).

Here is the button for this kit:

The one on the left (right one does Navi only) - from: http://www.datasystem.co.jp/products/tvnavi/01.html

Now when, after the fact, I researched this product, I found that they actually had a model which used an OEM type switch, which eliminates the need for this kind of button switch, and of course looks OEM.

Initially I was annoyed, but then when I viewed the videos on its use, I realized that the two type, red and green button was much easier to use, even though yes the OEM type switch looks better. 

So, I guess I'll have to figure out another use for this blanked off switch (and yes, the "blankness" really bothers me, especially given that this car had all the JDM options):

Center switch is to heat the windshield to melt any snow on the wipers (Part of the cold climate region package)

Any ideas? Something that looks OEM...Actually I don't really need that coin tray either, huh.

And by the way here is where I ended up having them install the two button switch.

Surprise surprise almost in the same identical spot...

So given its location, and the shape of the switch (as extrapolated from the first photo)  I'm guessing the prior owner also had the same kit installed...(and this means that Lexus just made a few more bucks off me...lol)

Incidentally as I said my good-byes after having ordered a few optional extras, Ishikawa-san slipped me the TRD ISF parts catalog....

oh.... this is SO tempting...

Impressed with Lexus Customer Service!!

I am too particular? In a word, yes. When I had taken my car to RAPT the day after delivery, we noticed that the front bumper cover seemed to flex more than it should. So of course I immediately drove to the dealership and - uh- ok - complained.

When I dropped the car off on Saturday so they could program the new remote engine starter remote, I left it with them overnight so they could look into this bumper cover issue.  And boy did they actually go to the trouble of checking to make sure there was absolutely nothing wrong with the car (i.e. some prior damage that might explain why the bumper cover seemed loose.)!!

Ok, it might be a bit dirty there but hopefully they at least wiped it clean. But it was nice gesture to not only take photos to show me what they did and the lack of damage, but also to do this all for NO CHARGE! Of course I'm VERY happy with this level of attention!

You can see the millimeter wave radar unit there between the horns...

Nothing a nice steam clean couldn't fix I think...

Interesting how thick that bumper beam is.

All put back together nicely...

There were some other photos that showed the integrity of the bumper support (a photo taken from the side) but as these photos were emailed to me by Ishikawa-san, I can't complain.

Oh, and after this they washed the car as well, was nice as it had picked up some dust.  Although another benefit to this was, even though I told them not to worry about it, they cleaned up that excess wax that I had found in the crevices...

In any case, I'm relieved and very happy. However there was ONE MORE item I was having done to the car, as I'll explain in my next post.

New Remote Engine Starter Remote! (and vanilla ice cream...)

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, this car came with all of the possible options, and most of the dealer installed options.

One option it came with was the remote engine starter.  The technicians at the Tokorozawa dealership, which did the CPO inspection, decided that the remote was acting up but simply needed a new battery.  My local dealership, however, thought otherwise and went ahead and ordered me a brand new remote!

So I dropped off the car on a Saturday morning, and as it was a typical humid and hot August day, was treated to an iced latte and some ice cream:

I then proceeded to briefly discuss the rest of the work order, as well as discuss future plans for the car, with Ishikawa-san, the dealership's  head of service.  I then arranged to pick up the car the next day around noon.  True, for just the remote it might have taken just a few minutes but I was having some other work done as well.

So on Sunday, I walked the twenty minutes to the dealership, was welcomed by the pretty ladies at the front desk, ushered to a booth and chair and then - yes, more ice cream!

On Saturday I enjoyed a iced latte and vanilla ice cream,
today it was ice oolong tea and ice cream. 

After a few minutes, after I had cooled down (the drink and the ice cream, people!), Ishikawa-san came over and presented me with this:

I'm tempted to leave the plastic on, and never use it
 - or else find a nice leather case...

This nifty Lexus logo engraved device allows you to remotely start your car's engine. It also allows you to lock and unlock your doors, find your car in a crowded parking lot (as if this blue wasn't obvious enough) and in a very Lexus way, the LCD readout also tells you the interior temperature of your car.  I note that on the current Lexus cars, these features are now available on one's smartphone. Nice, as I really don't want to carry this thing around with me in addition to the key...

Since the prior owners didn't live in a super cold place where it snows all the time, like up north in Hokkaido (and further I can't imagine driving this car in the snow...), I can only surmise that maybe they used this feature to get the engine running in the morning to cool off the interior? Especially as I had surmised that, given some faded plastic in front of the windshield, the car was probably kept outside? 

In any case, I immediately had to try it out. I learned the hard way to read the instructions first, but after I did that, it was indeed fun to start the car without being inside it! I was able to hear how the car sounds when it starts up, from the OUTSIDE where, I think most will agree, it sounds very different...

Anyway, this was just ONE item I was at the dealership for.  My next two posts will go into detail about my other reasons for dropping the car off over the weekend...

Let the Mods Begin!

Unlike most of my mods for my GT-R, for the ISF, so far most of the mods I have planned are with the intent of slowing down, eliminating or reversing the aging/wear and tear on the car.  Given that the car will be pressed into family transportation duties, and knowing that my kids are likely not to care too much about how much dirt they track into the car (and because, even though my rule is no food or drink other than water in the car - this is bound to be broken...), I decided that the best defense would be a good offense.

So, even before I had finished paying for the car, I went ahead and ordered these 3D Maxpider Kagu (their rubber model) designed and manufactured for the 2006-2012 Lexus IS250/350/ISF by U-ace.  I have some other anti-kid/anti-dirt items for the interior still on the way, but luckily these arrived the day before I took delivery of the car.

Here is the advert for the product:

Unfortunately, because this company does NOT provide a full 4 piece set for right hand drive (i.e. JDM or UK spec) cars, I ordered the rears only. I figured that, more than likely the rear patterns would fit (why would there be a difference in the REAR for LHD and RHD cars?), even if the fronts did not. And because the price was fair I wasn't going to feel too bad if they did not fit.

Here is a closeup of the "carbon fiber" texture

The back side is this dry but sticky rubber

And here is how the mat looks, installed! They both fit perfectly. Not an earth shattering beginning to modifications I have planned for this car, but perhaps a simple and practical one.

Note the footprints... from the wife

Incidentally, for the fronts I plan to get the JDM Lexus dealer option, rubberized winter set, which curiously only come for the front, like these:

From the 2015 IS online accessories catalog.

So, even though it won't match the rears, come the rainy season this fall/winter I'll be happy knowing that the carpet of the ISF at least is well protected.

Going soon - some more anti-kid protection....

Post Delivery Professional Analysis: Paint and Cosmetic Repair

So the day after I took delivery (Sunday),  I took a short drive to visit my local car detailer/jack of all trades, Kabe-san at RAPT (who luckily is literally 5 minutes from the Lexus dealer too!), from whom I got my R33 GT-R's interior cleaned, windows tinted, my 18 inch TE37 wheels painted and some body work added.



I pointed out the scratches I knew about, and asked him for an assessment. As well as for an estimate to properly clean the interior, do any necessary paint work, and apply a protective "glass" coating to the outside paint areas.

He actually thought the interior was in good shape - I was concerned with what I thought to be a weird smell but he reassured me that this is from the Lexus leather smell - or rather, the IS leather smell.  He told me other customers with ISFs have the same smell in the interior.  It should be noted that, leather cars in Japan do NOT smell like leather - apparently most Japanese don't like that smell, so I will have to rectify this - and I already know what to do and the wheels are in motion for that task.

For the outside, no real surprises as I had been apprised earlier, so we went through the list of scratches provided by the dealer and there were some which probably aren't worth having re-painted, and some which are.  Kabe-san was impressed by how thorough the Lexus dealer was in listing the tiniest of scratches, but did also mention that this is not unexpected of Lexus.  Since I always seek the 100% solution, and I'm dealing with a used car, I basically have no choice but to either live with the scratches that I see (and of course are magnified 20X vs what they really are, to most everyone else), or get it repaired.  The fact that most of the rock chips are in the front means that there was likely some high speed expressway trips?  After doing a few quick blasts today (and hearing that secondary valve open above 3600 rpm) I'm not surprised in the least.

As for the wheels - as we know they have bad curb rash - it won't be a simple matter of simply fixing and repainting, the rash is on the sections of the wheel which are hand polished...so I will have to find a specialist to fix them (or end up buying some really good condition used ones on Yahoo Auction I guess...)

Kabe-san also pointed out to me where, whoever had "detailed" the car before had left some compounding material in the crevices.

Amateur effort here

Sloppy - looks like they didn't tape off the rubber either

Like I said, yes I probably have OCD

Kabe-san also showed me how there are swirls in the clear coat. Not unexpected but fixable and this is something I will have him take care of. He reassured me that once he takes care of these swirl marks, the blue color of the car will look darker and have lots of depth. Nice.

The coating he is proposing to use is called "G'zox" - this English language manufacturer's website I've linked to explains what it is, but basically, a "glass" (SiO2?) based coating which, after proper paint prep, is applied to the car.  While he does list another more expensive product this is the one he likes best, uses on his own cars, and would recommend for some as OCD as me. So cool, it's nice to have someone who understands and appreciates my OCD. Anyone who's been to Japan and seen the black taxis and hire cars in perfect condition - well this is what they use, these glass coatings.

We also noticed that the front bumper cover seemed to be flexing more than it should - I wasn't sure if it was the heat or maybe something loose. So, after saying goodbye I immediately drove to the Lexus dealer to, uh, let them know I wasn't happy, not just with the bumper cover but with some other very very minor issues we spotted.

I forgot to mention that, when I picked up the car, there was one accessory - the remote engine starter - which apparently wasn't working to their satisfaction so they are ordering me a new one, free of charge.  I also need them to remove the function which prevents adjustment of the Navi/ viewing of the TV/DVD once the car is in motion.  So, while complaining (nicely) to the dealership GM, we agreed that when I came by for the new remote, they would take a look at the bumper, and also give me estimates for any paint work I need.

In any case, I'm not surprised at all with the work that needs to be done, although I am now really glad I have that 2 year comprehensive warranty.  Driving the car I think it drives fine but then again I have no baseline for comparison. Hopefully there is nothing amiss, but if there is I'll be sure to mention it on my upcoming visits to the dealership.  Good thing they are just 5 minutes away.... lol. I intend to fully use every possible benefit of CPO ownership - and at the same time hold Lexus to the highest standard.  Hopefully they won't regret having sold me the car, lol... Stay tuned...

Finally - Delivery!

So today, I finally went down to the dealership and got my car.  After all the paperwork, it seemed almost anti-climatic, although the Lexus "Delivery Ceremony" did spice things up a bit:

The ceremony is usually more ostentatious - usually, the car in its own glassed off room (as my car was here), and then all the salespeople line up, the lucky buyer is escorted in, everyone starts clapping, a flower bouquet is presented, some non-alcoholic bubbly is opened, photos taken, etc.... I kid you not!  I had asked them not to make a big deal, which meant no staff lined up and clapping, but the rest of it was pretty much as usual. Even got a gigantic flower bouquet (for the wife) and some tasty sparkling cider (and juice for the kids).

Anyway, right after this show the family waited in the Lexus Owner's Lounge where they offered free drinks and dessert, and a chance to buy some Lexus themed goodies:

Meanwhile of course I was finishing up some paperwork, getting debriefed about all the features and enjoying simply looking at the car:

Not only was the outside clean, but of course every nook and cranny:

Even the interior:

Of course, me being me (i.e. OCD perfectionist), I spotted some scratches here and there both inside and out which I will have to have taken care of very soon.

Finally, it was time to go home. Driving home, after so many years of GT-R only ownership, was surreal. I certainly thought the ride was smooth and quiet (compared to the GTR) and the steering felt mushy, luxury car.  On the other hand, I found to my glee that the car was in no danger of bottoming out when driving up into a multi-story parking lot, and that the Mark Levinson stereo wasn't bad at all for an OEM unit. Oh, and I love the way the car starts up and the initial exhaust growl.

And even though I said "no mods" - well truth be told I've already picked up a few items.  Check back soon and you'll see what they are.  First however I am having a professional detailer evaluate the car...