DarrenDriven

They just keep coming... posting here every time. Gmail won't spam it out, this is ridiculous.

Just got another one. Kenshin, I DID already turn it off, but the damn emails just keep coming. I try to get Gmail to file them as spam, but every new email gets through anyway. This is bull****. Thanks guys.

I keep getting this email news digest thing that I don't want to receive, and at the bottom of the email it says to unsubscribe I must go into my notification settings and uncheck 'Send me any updates sent by the community administrator'. Well, I did that several emails ago and I am still getting these. Over and over and over. Please STOP sending me these news digests. Thanks.

How do you know there were eight sold to Australia? Can you link the source?

Yes, haz u can. :)

Thanks! That is very helpful!

Dang, but my visa expires May 15th. :(

Does anyone know which dealership is the oldest in Australia? I want to do some research on Toyota in the country, and knowing a few of the earliest dealerships would help a lot.

Thanks guys. The two common things that people keep telling me about Australia is how beautiful it is and how friendly the people are. That will be a welcome change from this concrete jungle full of people who never smile!

It took me a while, but I finally did figure out how to get a little more fun out of the SC430. If you put the ECT setting into Winter then it will shift to the highest gear that you have selected. Select first gear and turn off Traction Control and the car will drive as if it were a manual transmission. Then when you shift up to second it will automatically perform the shift and stay in second, etc. I'm sure that you will rarely do this, as I rarely did, but still good to know. (from pixelcarart.com)

I wouldn't even spend the time or the money on the facelift. I'd hold on to the car for a few years and get less devaluation from modding it too much, then go for an LS460. Unless you get into a front-end collision, the facelift is just going to be a money pit. By the way, my SC430 was the same engine/tranny combo and I can vouch that it is pretty nice. The ony grip I had with the SC430 was that the ECU seemed to be tuned for luxury and when I put my foot down it would hesitate before it decided to give me some of the fun stuff. Have you noticed that with the LS?

Good point. Ship the container to my house along with the specialist! Send pizza, too. Hehe...

Yeah, but the car has to be prepped when it arrives in the States and there are only a handful of Lexus techs who are educated to do that. I don't think I would want the guys at my local dealership doing it. (No offense to them, one of my good friends works in the service department at Lexus of Portland)

Hey guys, some buddies of mine rolled out a blog and on it they go into detail on unpacking the first batch of Lexus LFAs that hit the USA. It is worth a read if you like super sexy exotics. http://kaizenfactor.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/exclusive-the-first-three-production-lfas-arrive-in-the-usa-part-1/

Watching this topic. When I get back home to the States I think that I am going with the same car, but probably a 2004-2006 to get the newer nose. I'm either gonna do silver, like yours, or go black. Definitely getting the Ultra Lux Edition with all the options, too. Very nice find you got there! I'll have fun watching yours develop.

Hey guys, I am a 34-year-old American that thought it would be fun to spend my Winter in Shanghai, China, with some friends, but it is not fun. It is crowded and smoggy and cold. What was I thinking? So now I have changed my plans and I am headed to Australia for three months, though May 2011. I don't know a single soul in Australia and so I figured that I would find some people who share similar interests and see what happens. My plan right now is to land in Sydney on February 15th and then I am taking a surf tour bus up to Byron Bay that will dump me there February 22nd. No plans after that except roaming about, meeting new people, and trying to surf and wakeboard as often as possible. I'm a somewhat serious Toyota enthusiast. I've owned a Lexus LS400 on Tein coilovers, a Lexus SC430 on 20s, three AE86s, a Tundra and T100 4x4, and a handful of lesser Toyotas. I was even close to owning the very first Toyopet Crown that was imported to America in 1957 (I was outbid on the eBay auction in the last hour). It is probably good because I don't know what I would have done with it, other than parking it in my garage. I also run a website that documents Toyota's history in the USA, with paint code information and archived brochures and commercials. Whew: http://www.toyotareference.com Anyway, just saying hi and hopefully I'll make it to a meet or event so I can get to know a few of you guys. Darren