First Parade

[ambermarine]

A long time ago when I trained to become a driver Royal Signals I like my fellow signalmen (not called that now because of female recruitment) did a procedure before driving the vehicle anywhere called "First Parade".This entailed checking the fluids the tyres the wheel nuts the lights and all the things that were required for the safe operation of the vehicle because as they were vehicles that may have stood in a open to all elements MT pool without being used for weeks, parts deteriorated through lack of use..The reason for this forum topic is that recently we have been getting more and more malfunctions with door locks, lights etc that may not have been used for sometime and possibly are freezing through lack of use. What I am suggesting is that those of us that use our LS400s occasionly might try this First Parade procedure at least once a week and go round the car trying everything that should work, that way the parts that never get used like rear doors do get some use,and if something shows up we are more able to deal with it.

[Scribe]

Interesting point, Ambermarine - I'm one of those who has recently had electrical problems. My indie mechanic will be coming next week to look at the car - probably recharging the Battery and reconnecting so that something/everything re-sets? - and he's told me that I should use it more. Trouble is, I commute in a smart car and only really use the Lexus for long journeys - which I haven't done many of recently.

Because our cars are so well made and so reliable, we assume that we can just jump in them and drive away; but at the end of the day they're just machines - complex ones that were presumably designed to be driven over long distances, i.e. used all the time. Also, they're increasingly old machines, so likely to suffer glitches (I hate to say this). In future I'm going to at least start mine up once a week, if not drive it round the block a few times.

[ManicMark]

Interesting point, Ambermarine - I'm one of those who has recently had electrical problems. My indie mechanic will be coming next week to look at the car - probably recharging the battery and reconnecting so that something/everything re-sets? - and he's told me that I should use it more. Trouble is, I commute in a smart car and only really use the Lexus for long journeys - which I haven't done many of recently.

Because our cars are so well made and so reliable, we assume that we can just jump in them and drive away; but at the end of the day they're just machines - complex ones that were presumably designed to be driven over long distances, i.e. used all the time. Also, they're increasingly old machines, so likely to suffer glitches (I hate to say this). In future I'm going to at least start mine up once a week, if not drive it round the block a few times.

Better still convert it to lpg use it all the time , It still won't be as cheap on fuel as the smart but overall insurance tax mot depreciation ect you will save money & get to drive in luxury every day & I promise you will never get bored of it. These cars are built to be driven, If you use them on a regular basis they will run forever.

[Adam Evans]

Talking about cost and efficiency, you could buy a Prius

Now here is a bit of a scientific rant.

Prius-es and the people who drive them to "save the planet" are whoppers !!!

They take their ELECTRIC car and plug it in - are you with me so far ?

Where does the electricity come from ? ............. you guessed ........... the power station .......... powered by coal (more emissions than petrol) !!!!

Yes there are wind farms but the majority of our electricity supply comes from COAL !!!!

Next are the batteries that are warranted from Toyota for 100,000 miles but usually break after 120,000 miles at a cost of about £3000-£5000

After all of this how much did it cost and how much did it damage the environment to build the factory to build the Prius in and also the factory to build the batteries in.

After all of this I feel that I am damaging the planet FAR less that someone who has a Prius and they are a hypocrite by driving such a ridiculous car. Stick to your Lexus and don't look back !!!!

As for a smart car !!!!!!!! don't get me started. Aren't those the cars you have to open the boot and pull start every time you want to go anywhere :P they are AWFUL cars and I bet you spend more in repairs on it than you will putting fuel in your Lexus. I know this to be true as I know someone who bought one for good money between £2-£3k anyway next MOT came around and the repair bill was £1800 just to get it to scrape through !!!

Seriously Lexus is the way

[Scribe]

Actually my smart has been pretty good - it's still rattling along after 11 years - and it got through the last MOT with no bother (I was surprised, I have to say). But I'm not convinced new ones are worth buying.

But I agree with you about the environment - running an old Lexus is far greener than buying a new car that's twice as economical on fuel. It's about more than fuel costs. (Apart from the fact that we support small local independent garages rather than main dealers, we also enjoy low depreciation - I could probably get what I paid for my Lexus three and a half years ago. And since that time it's got through three MOTs without any work being necessary.)

Isn't it the same with solar panels? They reduce your energy consumption but take masses of energy to be manufactured.

[mr2lad]

Blimey not heard that phrase for a number of years 1st and last parades.... Ex REME ....as a lorry driver these days we do a similar but called vehicle check basically a 1st parade

[Clunkfish]

Talking about cost and efficiency, you could buy a Prius

Now here is a bit of a scientific rant.

Prius-es and the people who drive them to "save the planet" are whoppers !!!

They take their ELECTRIC car and plug it in - are you with me so far ?

Where does the electricity come from ? ............. you guessed ........... the power station .......... powered by coal (more emissions than petrol) !!!!

Yes there are wind farms but the majority of our electricity supply comes from COAL !!!!

Next are the batteries that are warranted from Toyota for 100,000 miles but usually break after 120,000 miles at a cost of about £3000-£5000

After all of this how much did it cost and how much did it damage the environment to build the factory to build the Prius in and also the factory to build the batteries in.

After all of this I feel that I am damaging the planet FAR less that someone who has a Prius and they are a hypocrite by driving such a ridiculous car. Stick to your Lexus and don't look back !!!!

As for a smart car !!!!!!!! don't get me started. Aren't those the cars you have to open the boot and pull start every time you want to go anywhere :P they are AWFUL cars and I bet you spend more in repairs on it than you will putting fuel in your Lexus. I know this to be true as I know someone who bought one for good money between £2-£3k anyway next MOT came around and the repair bill was £1800 just to get it to scrape through !!!

Seriously Lexus is the way

Probably not true, I'm afraid: http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/does-hybrid-car-production-waste-offset-hybrid-benefits.htm. An LS400 has many benefits but saving the planet may not be amongst them :winky:

[Adam Evans]

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[SHELLDRAKE]

I can remember doing "First Parade" on a Centurion,and in later years a 432, how I miss thoes days Ex R.A. never done one for a long time now.

[Titch LS]

When I was driving ambulances years ago, we had to make preliminary checks at the start of our shift. Made sense too, as while I was checking the front tyre pressures I found that the wheel nuts were loose on a vehicle I was about to use. The mobile mechanic had been working on it the day before. Think about that if you ever need an ambulance!

As to "saving the planet" I would say that an LS on LPG is as green as any small car running on petrol or diseasel.

[harrylime]

yep, fire service do the same. A Routine start of each shift, so twice daily, B Routine with additional checks weekly

[Maduggo]

Blimey not heard that phrase for a number of years 1st and last parades.... Ex REME ....as a lorry driver these days we do a similar but called vehicle check basically a 1st parade

I'm a HGV driver and do a walk around check at the start of my shift, I have to by law and it has to be documented by law, after each break I also do another walk around check and lastly when I park up for the night I check again.

Some may say that's too many, but have you ever seen the carnage caused by a defective vehicle, I have and 3 cars and a truck + 3 dead is not pretty.

So do your checks before you move off even on a car, better to be safer than another statistic.

As for saving the planet, I do that each time I start my Ls430, it may not be this planet I'm saving, but I know I'm saving one somewhere in the universe.

[cruisermark]

Blimey not heard that phrase for a number of years 1st and last parades.... Ex REME ....as a lorry driver these days we do a similar but called vehicle check basically a 1st parade

I'm a HGV driver and do a walk around check at the start of my shift, I have to by law and it has to be documented by law, after each break I also do another walk around check and lastly when I park up for the night I check again.

Some may say that's too many, but have you ever seen the carnage caused by a defective vehicle, I have and 3 cars and a truck + 3 dead is not pretty.

So do your checks before you move off even on a car, better to be safer than another statistic.

As for saving the planet, I do that each time I start my Ls430, it may not be this planet I'm saving, but I know I'm saving one somewhere in the universe.

suppose it makes sense to check - if people out there can scratch the wings then they could just as easily let the air out of the tyre or even slash it!