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Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/02/2021 in all areas

  1. Renato, We each recommend tyres etc, not because we are experts but because we are comfortable with them for one or a number of reasons ?
    4 points
  2. Toyota seem to be a pretty open company when it comes to production details and delays. If you are still waiting for your new car this may explain why, although production is now on the up again compared to earlier in the year. https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/36192173.html
    3 points
  3. As mentioned here, John's Sheepskin Jacket turns 50 today. Many happy returns! -
    3 points
  4. The obvious solution to all of this is to get the answer from an 18 year old Scandinavian, after all, teenagers always know everything. By that age they know the complete workings of industry, manufacturing, politics in every country, the difficulties of bringing up large families, earning enough money to eat and heat your home etc. I wonder if she would say to the Taliban "how dare you" some might say I wish she would!
    3 points
  5. I’m intrigued. My aged hearing is such that whether the system was ML or Pioneer would be irrelevant. In any case, I don’t think a car is the best environment for high fidelity music rendition in the first place. But clearly there are those, possibly more discerning folk like yourself, for whom this is a matter of concern. But is it really a deal breaker? I can see that it might be a more significant factor if choosing between different examples of the same model - especially in the used car market. But is it really a matter of, say, no ML then no Lexus?
    2 points
  6. I would never take that risk. Second hand tyres, you never know where they have been, Could well be from a totalled car with broken wheels thus damaged tyrewalls. Could be a nasty surpise when cruising on the highway!
    2 points
  7. No! Never saw this before. The white stuff that was falling from the sky when we were younger. Now it seems to be liquid and not really beautiful like the crystals. When taking the high road from Oslo to Trondheim there were tall sticks on the sides of the road and as long as you were between them there was a paved road below the snow.
    2 points
  8. What has a former England fast bowler got to do with tyres? Anyway, he retired years ago.
    2 points
  9. I generally stick with whatever the OEM is for the car. There is IMHO not a lot to choose between the major brands these days. Had quite a few different brands across different cars that were OEM fit and always been happy with them. Since my Lexus dealer is cheaper than any of the tyre centres around us I always go there now and get new OEM ones fitted. I do think that some of the improvement some people feel when they fit a different tyre is down to them being new tyres - they are always quieter and a more complaint ride than the same make of old worn tyres which have perhaps <3mm tread and have hardened somewhat with age. Very difficult to be subjective unless you are swapping like for like tyres based on tread depth and age. As always YMMV.
    2 points
  10. I used to have Bridgestones on my IS200's and IS250 as I was a massive Ferrari F1 fan and wanted to be on the same rubber as Michael Schumacher. After I grew up, I just had whatever my trusty local tyre shop had in stock in the right size or recommended. Quite what I'll opt for when Betsy needs some new 19" boots is open for debate at the moment. I always fancied some of these as they look cool: EDIT: I haven't even checked what make she's currently wearing.
    2 points
  11. Unless people claim to be an expert, then I presume they are giving their opinion from experience. Goodyear are a top brand but I would never buy one again. I had a bulge in a fairly new Goodyear tyre that could have cost me my life. It was probably a one-off but I will never buy another one. "You get what you pay for!" I am not sure this is always true. We make a decision based on safety and finances, in the end it is YOUR decision what tyres you buy. Provided they meet the car manufacturer's specification for that vehicle.
    2 points
  12. I contacted Michelin Customer services about which to fit - either Cross Climate 2 or Cross Climate SUV - to my 2013 Rx450h They advised the SUV tyre. I have ordered from Formula one auto who are doing special deals on Michelin at the moment. Also Michelin are giving £100 refund on 4 tyres up to end of November.
    2 points
  13. I had an IS300h Advance in 2016. Coming from company car territory it beat the likes of Ford Vauxhall VW easily. When looking to get into a Lexus I considered the likes of the BMW 3 series and Audi A3, A4 and A5 - the IS was all round the best deal in terms of reliability, build quality, fir and finish and MPG considering I didn’t want a diesel at the time. I had the IS 3 years and in 2019 got into the next lease for an ES300h F Sport with Takumi pack. I test drove a standard ES F Sport without any extras. The standard stereo is not good at all - I am comparing it to the standard sounds I had in the IS. The small screen looked lost in the massive dash mounted bezel and I didn’t like the standard grille hence going F Sport. Having learned at the time the only way to get the Mark Levinson System and a big screen was to put the Takumi pack on the deal, I took the plunge. Back then the 2019 ES didn’t come with Apple Car Play etc. having gone for the upgraded sounds in particular, if you play from a crap source on a decent system you will only amplify crap sounds. I used Tidal and started using their master files - awesome - haven’t found a system better in this price range that matched the ML Sounds. Later in 2019, I got an Apple Car Play upgrade for £80.00 from the dealer - although I cannot speak for Android Auto, the ACP interface is a lot better to use than the standard Lexus interface. Fast forward to May 2021, I was looking to put the private plate on the car, and having ignored the dealer on a good number of occasions with regard to trading up to a newer model, ended up swapping the 2019 ES for a 2021 ES300h F Sport with Takumi pack in then same colours. Effectively I reset the lease and parted with a £500 refundable deposit. I inherited 360 pano cam and blind spot monitor in moving from the MY19 to MY21. My original plan was to do a 3.5 year lease and get a loan and pay the balance on completion of the lease. Obviously that didn’t happen with the IS or my first ES but that’s the current plan with the MY21. What a will point out that despite what your budget may or may not be, my 2019 ES was £43.8k list. Less than 18n months later the trade in value on paper was £28.8k with 9000 miles on the clock. The car spent a month on the dealer forecourt at £32.8k and sold for around £31k ish. With this and your budget in mind, whether buying or leasing and I am assuming you’re looking at new cars, it may be an idea to look at a 12-18 month old model and ensure you land an ES with the ML sounds with ACP/AA. I would not look back myself - this will be a hard car to let go of unless another exceptional deal comes up. In addition to Tidal, I use YouTube, Apple TV, Apple Music and Amazon Prime for music in the car which all now provide Hi Fi / Spacial Sound depending on the tracks content - the system does the rest. The ML give you sound you can feel as well as hear - live music is like being at the concert wether your taste is classical through Pop / Rock to Metal and Alternative. Before buying/leasing go and have a play with an ES with ML Sounds even if it’s not in your current budget, cue up You Tube, search for Queen Live Aid 1985 and make sure you have a USB lead with you. Start the car with all doors shut plug in and play the track at Volume 40 - I use this level on the motorways when in the car on my own - Awesome. The above also works well with an HD source such as Apple TV, Tidal or Amazon Music with Strong by London Grammer and any tracks by Hans Zimmer (Interstellar / Inception / Pirates of the Caribbean / Gladiator) - I can guarantee if you end up with ML sounds in an ES in the 1st month of having the car you will spend hours in the evening messing about with play lists. Happy hunting - it will be interesting to see what you end up going with.
    2 points
  14. As far as I know or can tell, any LOC member posting on the subject of tyres is an expert, so I hope they won't consider it tactless of me to suggest that the subject, like wine or craft-beers or cheeses etc., tempts people to pontificate with so little justification that they inevitably come across as bores. I, for example, have for many years favoured Michelin or Pirelli over other premium tyre brands without really knowing or recalling or being credibly able to explain why. Maybe I originally fell prey to an advertising campaign or admired a salesman's spiel, maybe they helped me to narrowly avoid a motorway pile-up or to stay straight after a high-speed blow-out, or perhaps I drove many happy km on one or another of them with my first girlfriend in the passenger seat. All I know is that if I were to blind-test alternative brands on my car every day for a week with, let's say, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Conti, Dunlop and Yokohama added to my first two preferences, I would almost certainly be unable to tell them apart. But, if pressed, I would probably be tempted to offer some sort of opinion anyway - and, although I'd never admit it, feel like a bit of a fraud doing so.
    1 point
  15. Has anybody any idea when Michelin CrossClimate tyres to fit RX450h F sport (235/55/R20) will be available in this country? They appear to be available in America but not here. JBP
    1 point
  16. yes sorry, when I was born in about 1758 I remembered it then .... forgotten it all since and not really sure dear old Thomas had thought it all through quite so well in the full knowledge that the motor car would come along, with the Lexus Ls to confound the pundits Malc
    1 point
  17. Everybody’s right. In something – maybe. Keeping your old car going is in the short run making sure you are not helping the industry to make a new. Driving something that pollute less is definitely better in densely populated areas. Riding a bicycle and walking pollute less than driving a supercharged polluting machine. Yes, we all have a point. We also all have a moral obligation to do our best to hand the world we got from our ancestors to our children in as good a condition as we can.
    1 point
  18. I have been driving many places in many cars. From Denmark to Turkey on the way to the far east, but returned due to car broke down and no place to repair. From Germany to Algiers touring Sahara and returning with tyres almost slicks to Trondheim up and down mountains and in snowstorm in an old VW Beetle bought cheap in Germany. Yes, have been lucky. Later been driving long distance – North Europe, Italy, Spain, Africa visiting family. Family spread to many countries. Do I consider myself an expert in tyres: No. Never bought low quality tyres, always quality Continental. May be more expensive, but mostly I consider that you get what you pay for. If something is too good (or cheap) to be true, then that is what it is. May be wrong. Have been that before. The CT is the first car I consider buying something else. Looking for the best summer tyre 215/45-17. Low noise is the one quality regarded highest for the first time. May end up buying Continental again, though I want low noise as first and durability second quality.
    1 point
  19. Surely it’s all about giving opinions, when asked for, based on personal experiences and then people making their own choices based on what they want and what they read.
    1 point
  20. I am not a professional racingdriver, not an automotive journalist like Chris Harris and i am not sliding around on the local roundabout. I do not drive a 600hp monster that loses traction with a tiny blip of the foot. I do not drive up and down a mountain during a snowstorm and dont take my car out on trackdays. I honestly could not tell you the difference between brand A or brand B when driving. I DO find tyres important though. A small piece of rubber is the only connection between the tarmac and 2000kg fast moving metal. Throughout the years i always read the tyretests, the summertests, wintertest and so on. What always came out was that the Chinese B/C brands had longer stopping distances and worse wet weather capabilities and were just not as good as the A brands. I always take Goodyear/Michelin/Bridgestone/Continental or Pirelli. Nothing else. To save money i buy the tyres on the internet and ask the local garage to install them.
    1 point
  21. ^^ Mine shows my current car and full history. On a second tab it shows my current RX order, although the tracking only shows that it has left the factory in Japan and is on a ship. As @NemesisUKsays, Lexus have let me know the vessel on which my car is currently onboard. I can then track it on one of the many shipping tracker sites. Mine is on the Cronus Leader and came through the Suez Canal last week and is currently in port in Italy waiting for the final leg to the UK. It looks like the picture below for me - then you simply click on ‘Track my order.’ I should have the car first week December as long as there aren’t any delays. Exciting times!
    1 point
  22. Doesn't it initially depend on one's definition of rational?
    1 point
  23. The car hugs the road and corners so beautifully with slalom, take yourself to a big open car park at night and asbo yourself. Stick it in sport S and slalom try some tight turns. Then stick it into s+ and feel the back end play around like mad with the looser settings. Tracks I rarely played with pretty sure that's for accerational responsiveness
    1 point
  24. You mean we can no longer see snow on TV? I was living in Trondheim in 1970 something. Bedroom in ground floor. One morning it was not morning - no light through the windows. We had to go upstairs to get out of the house, through the windows. No more snow?
    1 point
  25. 1 point
  26. Welcome! Sweet GS300 you got. With the mileage you do, you couldn't of chosen a better car to be honest. Lexus/Toyota will take care of you in terms of thousands of hassle free miles. They're not the best cars in terms of fuel economy, but it's a small price to pay for reliability if serviced as intended 🙂
    1 point
  27. I have used Continental many many years because they always lasted a lot longer than I kept a car and were good in rain and shine. The CT came with Pirelli, but do not know what will come on when they in a not distant future need to be replaced. Looking for quiet tyres that handles reasonably well (a CT is not a racing machine but has excellent steering, almost as good as a Smart Roadster Coupé, which is a go-kart). Summer tyres are most interesting as rain is as seldom as it is common in UK and snow is something we see on TV.
    1 point
  28. Welcome to the forum. Keep the beautiful car serviced and it will treat you nice many years.
    1 point
  29. The 2004 E55 AMG is about 550 HP. The earlier naturally aspirated ones around 1999 were about 350 HP.
    1 point
  30. +1 to this, we'll bring our RCF. This year's Japfest was probably the worst I've been to although this might be due to inability to bring my 86. My favourite part of the day was watching th F1 on a tablet whilst attempting to listen out for the very few nice sounding cars on track at inside of Copse. Grandstands at Brooklands were closed, UK Drift Championship decided to show up during Trax in October instead so no fun from those guys either. Although there was a red RCF in the facebook 's Lex Nation!
    1 point
  31. Youtuber Jayemm had a video about an RCF with quicksilver on, you might want to put a link to it as a sales tool…..
    1 point
  32. Has been replaced with: Still searching for quiet tyres. No matter if summer or all seasons. 4 seasons (Vivaldi) + + + +
    1 point
  33. Thanks for your reply tedd that's what lexus told me I haven't had the car long and it seems there's not much light on the offside when reversing
    1 point
  34. I bought her from a motor trader I know but as it happens I know the guy who used to own her. He is a mechanic and MOT inspector and had her from new. I am really into cars having ad 1986 Mercedes 560 SEL, a 1999 CLK. a 2002 C32 AMG (only about 300 left on the road), 2000 JAGUAR XJ8 (had to have 2 at the same time for when one broke down HAHAHA). Should have gone for the straight 6 cylinder Jag XJ6. I bought a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser 65th Anniversary edition in 2011 which I still have with 70,000 miles on the clock. This is the longest I have ever kept a car so I thought I would try a Lexus when I sold my 2018 Mercedes GLC a month or so ago. I looked for ages for the right Lexus and had to have this one.
    1 point
  35. Don't forget global heating. You are soon going to wear shorts all year long. Summer tyres it is.
    1 point
  36. Getting a test drive tomorrow in a Dynamic version in Sonic Platinum - a new colour for the facelift. It only had the Pioneer stereo so I’ll be sure to give it a good checking over and report back!
    1 point
  37. i think the cost of the update , someone mentioned 200£, upgrading to something like the Grom Vline 2 that has a better overall map system would be best
    1 point
  38. Good plan, please update us with any progress reports.
    1 point
  39. No, you might have had a chance to get a good ex-demo version maybe? Anyway, the standard system is still good enough, in my opinion although it took a while to come to appreciate it. I wouldn't be too worried about it but we all like different things when it comes to audio so it is difficult to be too general about it.
    1 point
  40. Talk with your dealership, they should be able to tell you which ship the car is being loaded on and then use this link to follow the ship to the UK? I tracked both my orders this way. Once in the UK port it usually takes 7-10days to reach the dealership. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:79.2/centery:7.2/zoom:7
    1 point
  41. I do like the centre console treatment. Real buttons for the HVAC controls rather than touch-screen buttons. The only downside is the gloss black fingerprint fest. They need a special cubby for the polishing cloth... The exterior is typical Japanese styling at the moment. Too many angles and way too fussy. But you can't see it while you're driving...
    1 point
  42. now now one and all ...... we all seem to have drifted a little from the purpose of the original POST Does anyone think any of us can beneficially add to the required actual , what should be a relatively simple answer ....... but clearly an impossible answer to discover I'm of the uninformed opinion that there is no body of any Authority ( or otherwise ) that can, or is simply prepared to, put the energies required to investigate any of this to a ( simple ? ) conclusion NO worldwide Govt Body nor Energy Authority nor Car Manufacturers Body would ever be able to nor prepared to do so .......... methinks there's far too many vested interests NOT to do so Unlikely I know, BUT if Sir David A was to read this post, or indeed to even ask the Q, maybe in general terms about total car newbuild and car scrappage carbon values ....... then, and only then, might some Govt body take up the mantle and search for the truth, or even some sort of sensible answer Malc
    1 point
  43. Thank you for that most comprehensive reply. Unfortunately the only way to get the ML here in Ireland is by buying the Premium spec version which is €13k more than the Dynamic. I want the MK for sure, but not that badly!
    1 point
  44. Has anyone put Cross Climates on a gen 3 RX. I have a 2014 with 235/55R19. Cross Climate 2 are available and is the specced tyre on the Michelin website but it is a Volvo OM tyre. Has anyone tried it?? Or fitted a different OEM but correct size to they car?? Thanks
    1 point
  45. Not sure what you're getting at there, John. Last dates are always difficult to ascertain because there are usually remaining stocks of an outgoing model when a new one comes in, at least in markets other than Japan. I suspect that there were few Mk 3 GS300 models made after 2007 but they continued on sale in UK for quite some time after that. It didn't 'become a hybrid model'. There was no Mk 3 GS250 - the GS250 came in as the first Mk 4 model in 2012 preceding the GS450h by a few months - again perhaps to clear stocks of the Mk 3 GS450h. The GS300h (Mk 4) was introduced in late 2014 and ran alongside for GS250 at least sales-wise, although again I suspect that few, if any, 250s were imported after the 300h came in. The market was a bit crowded with GS450h, GS300h and GS250 - so the GS250 was dropped once stocks had run out in 2015. There was a GS200t in the US - I don't think they made it to UK? Anyone? (It didn't last long even in US) GS models were impoted to UK until 2019 - production for all markets ceased in late 2020. Those with greater knowledge might shoot nme down on some points here but that is what I understand.
    1 point
  46. Well my fronts were knocking at circa 40K miles on a 2015 car and one boot had slipped down. It had been previously held up by a zip tie. The car had been bought new from Lexus Cheltenham and all services done by them. I was the second owner and the car has not been thrashed. These two struts cost about 2K and that was after Cheltenham and I secured about £200 off in goodwill but even then it was conditional that the £200 was put towards an extended warranty (which was available at the time). £2,000 is more than I have spent on the the necessary parts on my E39 BMW in the 14 or so years I have had it!
    1 point
  47. The F is certainly no grandad car !!!
    1 point
  48. Many thanks for mentioning this. I'd never heard of M+S or the 3 Peak Snowflake symbol. (See below). For anyone else who hasn't heard of this, M+S means Mud and Snow. And the 3 Peak Snowflake symbol means the tyre meets the requirements for driving in snow (but not for driving on ice, which Nordic countries need.) Cross Climate tyres have both the symbol and the letters M+S on the sidewall, which is useful to know if I need to drive in France in the winter.
    1 point
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