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Just been out to the shops and on the way back saw a familiar figure waiting at the bus stop. I thought it was my loyal duty to stop and offer a lift. Her Majesty also allowed me to take a photograph

The set speed is what the speedometer reads. :)

This is my Queen on Coronation Day June 1953 and that's me to her right as the real Duke of Edinburgh

When considering a Giula QF last year I heard some horror stories about the after-sales and service department's attitude at various Alfa dealers in the North and Midlands. These stories were from owners of 146 and 156 GTAs and 3.2V6 159s, so they were decent petrolheads. It is a key reason why I'm not going down the Alfa route, despite the car itself being fantastic. In other news; I finally got to drive another short list option last week; a BMW M2 manual. It was great fun, compact and comfortable. But when I got back in the RC-F it reminded me how special it feels to be in the Lexus. I also have reliability fears with BMW

So a few of you may remember me asking questions a few weeks back about mk4 400's. I'm now pleased to say I've officially joined the club ^.^ Over the past few days I've been in a position to buy one and had planned to do a 3 hour trip to visit one to hopefully bring home. Whilst checking the route with the father he noticed that another one had just been listed (turns out it had been listed late the previous evening) it was on the way and we decided to give them a ring on the way down. Once we were there the current owner explained that his brother in law had brought it new back in late 97 and took delivery jan 98. He bought it off his brother in law a few years later and has had it since. Was selling due to getting a new car and no longer using it as much. Stacks of paperwork, two new keys made at Lexus for over 400, timing belt done june 2016 also. Bonnet struts replaced all sorts of good upkeep history I have attached a few pictures for you guys to look at. It needs some tlc round the edges but overall is a solid car. Glad to officially have joined :) Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Hmmph, don't talk to me about being high ranking royalty...........I remember that day well, why? because they made me Simple Blody Simon for heavens sake, some godam ego trip that was....

We've had this father and car discussion many times. I've told her that I need to be able to trust her completely. For that reason, I may park her round the corner rather than on the drive for the night, but I won't give her a second chance if she messes it up!

So, oil changed, but tool wasn't a good fit. It has the 3 (on either side) notches to locate on the extra tangs (although my housing only has 1 on either side, not 3), but it wasn't wide enough at that outer part (ie needs to be wider diameter). The flutes fitted though, a touch loose, but perhaps that's because it couldn't seat all the way home, and it did come off without need for breaker bar etc. Regards oil housing drain, good job I didn't get one, as it's not got one. Wonder if I have an early version housing, that's not quiet normal. Might look at replacing it so tool fits properly and I have the drain, although didn't get a drop on my from the housing, so not really needed I'd say.

I don't know how many cars of this age would look as good as a Lexus. Mine is coming up to 17 and still looks amazing with a bit of effort. This is the result of yesterdays clean up.

Love the fact that the IS-F wasn’t made an anniversary model, means the IS-F WILL remain the original “F” car, keeps it rarity and increasing values to follow, Ryo has both and always says IS-F build quality is the number 1.

@Womble72 Paul who knows give it a try you may have a 'Red' letter day the process isn't to 'taxing' 🙄 🐀

These cars are undervalued and if you want to run very cheaply you would just service using cheaper non Lexus parts. The 400 is an incredibly low £ maintenance compared with any other vehicle. Yes any. If you fit Lexus parts you fit and forget for a long term. Barge in looks maybe but not in nature. Put in sport mode and bury that peddle. Now see. For less the cost of a Ford or Fiat cam belt change, all my pulleys, pumps, belts, tensioner are ok for 90k miles. Genuine brakes will be same £ as a modern saloon but will last longer and perform in s different league. Please don’t believe a word of this so Lexus owners and enthusiasts can enjoy silly prices and a range of great cars. 😉 .

which one would you buy?

Interesting point. I'd often wondered if the car journalists who criticise the transmission were usually drivers of manual gearbox cars and weren't very familiar with driving automatics. I've had automatics for decades and didn't find much difference in the IS300h, except that the CVT is smoother. I've always found that driving an automatic needs a slightly different approach compared with manual gearboxes. With a manual, you're constantly doing a dance between the clutch and the accelerator, a lot of the time pressing one while releasing the other and vice versa. Double declutching requires even more pressing and releasing of both pedals. But my approach to driving automatics, including the IS300h, (and maybe I'm not typical) is first to press the accelerator to a point that gives me the acceleration I want. And then I keep the accelerator still as the gearbox shifts through the gears until I've reached the speed I want. Then I ease off on the accelerator to a point that will maintain the speed I want and then I keep it still again until I need to speed up or slow down. If you expect a lot of pressing and releasing of the accelerator like on a manual box, the results may be less than ideal. With years of operating with this habit, driving the IS300h was no different. The only difference was that there was no sound of gearchanges and no lurching as the car shifted through the gears. ( I noticed earlier in the year how odd it looked as I was pulling away from lights alongside cars in the adjacent lane. Whereas the IS300h maintained a steady rate of acceleration, the cars alongside would edge ahead and then drop back as they changed gear; then edge ahead and then drop back; and so on. I decided I preferred the smooth approach without the gearchange jolting.)

I have one "just in case" Apart from that, some friends of ours were staying at a remote cottage in Cornwall where we go, and it's hard to find. So I recorded the route there and put it on an SD card for them! A great little bit of technology.

This... Why do I need a dashcam? As it happens, I also have a dashcam fitted in my motorhome and now have something like a terabyte of video data which should keep me occupied in my dotage as I try to edit it into something memorable and/or entertaining

For people with a GS450H that would like to protect there boot carpet Aldi are selling a black washable carpet runner that is edged, and 24 inches wide "the depth of the boot". This rolls out very nicely in the GS boot, and runs up, and over the battery cover. At a little over £6 is good value. John.

your correct infinity are part of nissan who in turn are owned by renault so thats 2 reasons why not to buy one and the 3rd reason would you spend £40k+ on a renault

I thought on a BMW the dipstick was behind the wheel. [emoji1]