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Hi everyone, After driving my GS450h for a near 4 years now, I felt ready to move on for a change. Lexus dealership at Edgware Road were kind enough to lend me a new 2022 ES300h Sport car to drive for 5 days 2 weeks ago. It certainly convinced me that the car is really, really amazing in many ways. I love the fact that the car will work its way to give you electric drive most of the time and it is so compose and stable on the road, this really is an amazing to car to drive, no need to speed or prove anything, cruising from A to B giving you the smoothest drive possible is addictive. I was impressed. The only thing that I thought was not my taste for this sport model are the sports seats. They look really good but they are too stiff to seat for long journeys - my GS luxury seats are way more comfortable, which is a shame because I love its exterior look. I am aware that if I opt for the Premium Pack or Takumi model with the ES would be equally as comfortable as the GS, as over a year ago, Lexus dealership in Edgware Road had lent me a Takumi ES to try for one day and I then was very surprised then how amazing the seats are. I am kind of sad to depart with my GS as it has been one of the, if not the best car I have driven to date and the longest one I kept against all my previous vehicles and the GS would have been my first experience with Lexus but I am also super excited to move on with another Lexus vehicle! So, I went on a quest to search for a used ES300h for either premium pack or Takumi but the latter was a little over my budget. Here is another reason, I decided to opt for a change is quite simple: I am turning 50 on the 18th Sept and thought I work hard enough and why not treat myself with a different Lexus car for a more comfortable car and smoother drive marking my 50th Birthday! So I went on a quest to search for one decent ES and found one from Lexus Dealership (ES built in July 2019 - with great specs for Premium Pack) and I have sealed a deal! They are trading my car against the ES and will settle the remaining difference. The ES I found is premium pack, triple LED light beam (that is a must to me), Grey metallic colour, with black smooth leather, with all options, pioneer sound system (10 speakers) - it is not Mark Levinson but the Pioneer sound system is actually quite good I thought. I am also getting the Apple Play and Android Auto retrofitted in this car and Dashcam front and back to be fitted too (like in my GS). Lexus could not get the car ready for my birthday but I will definitely pick it up on the 20th September (a few more days to bear).... I will happily share photos once I have driven it back home. Now, for anyone who owns a GS450h, you may be thinking, why am I trading such great car with its amazing 3.5 L, V6 engine (love this engine) and rear wheel drive to ES300h? I really have thought about this for nearly a year now and I feel ready to move on to something more economical and the experience smoother drive with ES. Its 4th generation Hybrid that makes the car drive 70% of your drive pure electric is simply amazing and it will be one of the best cars to be having right now. Lexus sales person has confirmed that the ES is now becoming the flagship car over the GS. The quietness and the way it drives, makes ES such a unique car. It will save me more money on fuel and I am also getting a newer car with more safety features. Yes, it does have less power than the GS, but not to a point where you will feel the car is lacking, far from it. I actually took the 2022 ES on the motorway and I can assure you that this car has plenty of power to overtake and they made it much quieter so you don't really notice it is a 4 cylinder that much. The car is impressive and stays quiet and and stable on high speed, you immediately feel it is a smoother car than the GS. It also encourages you to drive nicely without having to speed. It is difficult to explain as it is the way the car makes you feel when you drive it (I think anyone who owns ES300h will agree with me on this!) so, if you have not driven the ES before, I would urge you to try - it is that good! Don't be put off with the fact that it is front wheel drive and that it is a 4 cylinder with reduced power to 218PS, because honestly you will not notice this car is front wheel drive, that is how smooth it is and its power (218PS) is frankly more than enough. I do a lot of driving in London and I cannot use its full power with GS - simply impossible when most of the roads are 20mph. I am super excited to be part of the ES journey experience... Promised, I will share photos once I have it!

My experience of the NFU is that they are NFU.

That’s nonsense, Sumit! Who is this Company? In providing your Insurance they are entering into a Contract. They undertake to cover your loss in the event of a theft of the Insured property. In that event, to claim that they always treat a theft as the Owner’s fault in order to evade liability would be a breach of that Contract. Unless, of course, one of their Conditions is that they will never pay out in the event of a theft, despite taking a fee to cover against it! Such a condition would probably be illegal anyway. I suggest you name this Company and demand a detailed, written explanation for their refusal to fulfil their Contract with you. If you have a Solicitor, now may be a good time to involve them. Of course your Insurers do have the right to decline to re-insure you. And you will probably have to declare this Claim when applying for new insurance. But you may consider using declarable security devices in future - installing a Tracker, security lighting, wheel clamps and steering locks and such like!

Milenco steering Wheel Lock..Its The Business However REMEMBER A Real professional Car Thief will Even overcome this Deterent..But for car security this is the best.. My opinion Only Of Course.. Oh I Also Have 24hr CCTV Focused on the Car only This can Help... Other Fantastic Advice IS Make a bed up in the back seat of the car for the Wife Nobody will come Near...GUARANTEED.!!!!

Well that's the back end done! The rear camera is above the number plate and wire up to the centre console but I need the wiring harness to plug it in and to make it work through the sat nav screen. The flush fitting parking sensors which work brilliantly but it was nerve wracking drilling the holes. Firstly, had I chosen the best location then measure it several times and drill it only once. Also the rear dash cam which I mounted on the rear parcel shelf and so works with roof up or roof down! Now it's learn how to use the dash cam and plan a date to do the front parking sensors. Ant

I can confirm they are indeed building a filling station next to the existing store in Reading - they’re using the front part of the car park. Went to the store this morning. Plenty of building work underway with a sign noting that they’re constructing said filling station. Good news!

Great idea, Ronnie. How far is your Wife prepared to travel? 🙂

So Maurice is certainly correct in that regard. Presumably they classify it as a ‘fault’ in order to justify an increase in premium on renewal - or a reason to decline insurance. But are you any more at fault then if, for example, you were mugged in the street and had your watch stolen? I’d certainly be interested to know in what way you were regarded as being ‘at fault’. I’ve never been in that situation, but I did have to claim when an HGV driver wrote off my car on the M25. I think his insurers were indeed trying to redistribute blame - until I supplied the videos from my dashcam! After which it was settled in full within days and my later renewal - with the AA - was unaffected.

Insurer hasn't declined to pay my claim, not yet anyway, but they are recording it as a fault claim on my file. I won't name and shame the insurer here, but suffice to say they are not alone in treating a theft crime victim as a party who's at fault. Thanks Maurice, Mike, Malcom, Len, Peter, Dave , Allen & William for your responses.

The very best of good fortune to you Piers. Such times are always a concern, of course, but keep at the forefront of your mind, that at least you and the medical profession are doing something about the issue, and whatever the result of the biopsy, you'll be in a much better position to know 'what's going on', and whether, if another step is necessary, what it should be. (Inaction never cured a problem)

Why is it your fault?

This is a great decision and a fantastic present for your birthday! Congratulations! I was thinking the same - ES compared to me GS will be slow and being a front wheel drive won't as much fun but, as you, I was surprised how comfortable the ES is, not in F-sport guise though, it is quite and has enough power for everyday use, plus you will get 50mpg easy! I almost signed for a new ES in February but Lexus Glasgow behaved not the way I expected from them - promising one thing during conversation and getting different info through email as a quote just ****** me off, especially that I knew what they can do and the money I was willing to put in it. I thing you will love it, my friend has an ES and says it is the best car he ever owned and he had Jaguars, Ferraris and all other cars, mostly Subaru. Please share photos when you get it.

Well ... you will definitely not like one with the Lexus approved Nextbase dashcam fitted then as it also gives off a "bing bong" when it first turns on and when it switches off again. 😅 For myself they are all reassuring indications that the systems are working as they should.. especially the lights if I have manually put them from Auto to manual dipped beam.

There is this big round button just below the steering wheel, it turns all the bongs off 😀

Isn't 2019 car covered under warranty still? It definitely sounds like you been fobbed of even if warranty does not apply for some reason. Besides this is first time I am hearing rear seats have a buzzer, front seats sure - it will ping until you go mad, but belts in the rear not mandatory so I am a little bit surprised there is buzzer for them.

I have been talking to a lot of suppliers about a range of brands and it seems that everyone is waiting until the end of October for supplies. Worst case I am going to have to go with the Bridgestones instead. Excellent in the wet, so so in the dry and average on snow and ice. I guess for that week of snow we get every year, they will do.

You can turn the Nextbase dashcam bong off with the phone app.

My understanding is that "fault" or "no fault" has nothing to do with blame or who's fault it is, and it's simply a matter of whether the insurance company can recover the costs from someone. If they can't it's classed as "fault", which doesn't mean they're saying it's your fault. I've just checked my insurance documents and, whilst it says nothing about "fault" or "non fault", it does say that any claims made for theft of the vehicle, or from the vehicle, won't affect any no claims discount. So, I think it's just how they classify things, but would ask them if it will affect your no claims discount.

Mine’s coming into the dealers on the 23rd Sept and picking it up Saturday 1st. Could have been a couple of days earlier but the Saturday works best for me. My LS is now on 199,000 miles so will just miss out on taking it to 200k!

Control arms should be the same, I am not aware of any suspension differences between IS250 and 220d. Headlights can be easily polished, you can use some epoxy to seal the leaking one if needed just for mot, but obviously replacement would be ideal.

Make sure they do the third year service and MOT. You will enjoy the low VED. Happy birthday for the 18th. 50! I wish. All the best now.

do please keep us updated with this saga . not Saga is it ? .... or is it NFU who are tripppple 5 star rated ...... or those Adendum Flooks guys and their own insurer covering you ? ( YUK ) Best wishes whatever Malc

Well my 350h Premium/Link Pro ordered on 14th Feb is being delivered next Friday - cannot wait!

just that the price of the new new iphone ( 14 Max at @£1200 ) might actually exceed the value of my beloved limo at 240k miles ................ let alone any cost of real physical protection ..... ..... indeed at the last insce write-off to Cat N ............. they paid me out £850 and I kept the car with minimal rear door squash damage........... a couple of years back tho' and of course we know cars such as ours will always appreciate in value but your Sc430s are of immeasurable value ......... OK . ( at this time ) Malc

My ES300 has now arrived at my dealers, just awaiting the call for the handover time.

Hello Nick. I am sure you will appreciate and enjoy the ES with the premium pack. A great choice between the Sport and Takumi. I am on my third now, it is such an amazing pleasure to drive.

Oh dear that's a #ummer. Genuine shocks are pricey but if you look here in the gen 2 section someone asked about rear shocks and excellent alternatives came up. Look at that. Headlights well there are those who love vland and those that don't. That's a choice only you can make but on ebay there's always used Headlights for sale.

Thanks Vlady, I am sorry to hear about your negative experience with Lexus Glasgow. I hope things will work out for the best so that you can get the ES you want. I am glad you also feel the same way about this car. It is not a sports car and was not designed to be one. So having the sports model to me is a bit of gimmick but having driven one, I can see that there is extra features with suspensions stiffing up and with the mode of Sports+. But to me the car is at its best when it drives nice and relax. It is that good that I heard some customers who had the LS500 prefer the ES. It drives really quietly and so balance. I knew that I had to get it as driving one for 5 days 2 weeks ago sold me completely!!

Did they say that, or is this just the OP interpretation of what they think they said? Or did they state this will be considered a fault claim as mentioned above! The OP is not that clear about anything so far.

I think that’s one of the points that the OP could clarify. Have his insurers refused to pay out on the basis that he was responsible in some way for the theft eg placing the vehicle at risk - or are they paying out but treating it a ‘fault claim’. Clearly, in this case, they can’t claim against another Insurer. PS: I don’t see how the OP’s Insurers can justify their position by stating, apparently, that they ALWAYS treat such thefts as the Owner’s fault!

Has the OP said they are not being paid? I thought he said they treated this as a fault claim rather than a no fault claim which they would claim against another insurance policy.

Ooh ouch! That's a real b*gger Sumit! Is there any 'local' cctv (either commercial or domestic), that may give you a clue?

is this way-off and leaving you in suspense somewhat ............or maybe you're being fast tracked ( whtever that means these days ) Whatever, get out and about in your limo and enjoy this weather ...... fine dry hot and blo-dy wet too maybe Malc

Finally got round to fitting my Thinkware F800 with OBD power connector and it works fine. Front cable is easy to hide, haven't got round to fitting the rear camera yet. The camera is hidden (from drivers view) behind the rear view mirror.

ok, found it, a rather long thread. Start by reading comments by 'deleted member 159235', starting on 16th Dec 2020, somebody who obviously has some considerable knowledge of the subject if self opinionated. https://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/eurobrake-brake-pads.235389/

As regards brake pads, there is a lot of confusion because several brands can be owned by one Company/Group. One of the biggest is TMD Friction whose brands include Textar, Nisshinko, Mintex, Don, Pagid and Cobreq. Then within the brands there are different qualities. Sometimes the backing plates from one brand can include friction material from another and there is a measure of rebranding. As it happens, I am about to fit new front discs and pads to my RX 450h. The pads 04465-48190 Toyota/Lexus.. The backplates has TEXTAR T4146FF 477-XUL1 TOYOTA stamped into it. The box says made in Japan whereas Textar website says 'MANUFACTURED IN-HOUSE We don’t go shopping for our brake pads; as a global manufacturer of friction products, you can rest assured that Textar has been manufactured to the highest standards at our in-house facilities. All Textar pads are manufactured in Europe.' Incidentally, the pads have fine metal inclusions, whereas for a near identical car in the USA, the discs and pads are different and interestingly, Akosombo, a leading pad brand and said to be OEM, are ceramic and without the metal inclusions. The RX450h is also made in Canada so may have a bearing. Textar are one of the OEM pad brands used by BMW and when a forum member complained about his Textar pads bought from ECP squealing, he was refunded by them having then bought Textar direct from BMW. Regardless of other considerations, there was an obvious difference in as much as in one case there was a gap down the centre of the pad and none from the other. This supports the allegation found on several forums that ECP have an arrangement for a cheaper range of Textar and Pagid pads from those fitted by car manufacturers on their cars as OEM and sold as official replacements. There are very interesting contributions on Mercedes forum from a person who was highly involved professionally with discs and pads. I will try to find and post it.

I would have been tempted to ask if they also stocked any snake oil ?

Just picking up a 2008 RX400h, my first foray into the world of Lexus, father in law has had a RX300 for years which he refused to part with so here goes ...... I hope I enjoy it as much as he has enjoyed his. Thank you all for having me, Jim

So finally motorway did the trick! Best price by far ( 15% more than Cazoo and WBAC - no discount in price after they checked the vehicle, money in the bank within minutes) So yeah, I am happy

1st Start after a long build, 3 months of Sundays only. Took all of 15 seconds waiting for the fuel to get back into the injectors after changing the fuel filter Sunday past. Gurgled and spat for a moment, took a deep breath and wammo. Life. Quick fluid top up after a five minute warm up, skating around under the car looking for any type of leak, all going well he is good to go. Will let him settle overnight and have a goosey gander in the morning light. Good thing sunrise here is 5:45am :) Have taken this week off work to savoir the fruits of my labour. Now to get on with the stuff that everyone else looks at, the bodywork. 1910413271_Lexus1stStart.mp4

It's quite usual for some some blood to be in your urine for a couple of weeks and sometimes a few weeks more after a biopsy, particularly a Transperineal one which you appear to be having where more cores can be taken than the TRUS one. The amount of blood will in part depend on the number of cores taken. It is also quite usual for blood and sometimes even small clots to be in semen. This should gradually clear as the Prostate heals. I mention it as not every man who has a biopsy is told about it and it can cause concern. I have had two of these, and my tip would be to rather slouch back rather than lean forward when sitting as doing the latter puts extra pressure on the Transperineal area. You may also find the couple or so days after the day of the biopsy you are somewhat more uncomfortable due to bruising being more evident. Generally, it's a pretty easy procedure.

What a thing of beauty that Supra was.

I will just add a couple of comments on aspects that have been raised. From those posting on this forum, it would seem likely that very few are female and of those that have posted most come because they look for help with a problem and don't participate in general discussion on a wide basis. I trust those who may just look in from time to time will either ignore this thread or note the essential points if they do follow it. Actually, PCa is also known as the 'Couples Disease' as it can heavily impact the partner of the affected man. It is interesting that on the main UK Prostate Cancer support group we have many ladies who are researching on behalf of partners, family and friends and giving feedback and helping others. Women are in general much more proactive in this respect and it is often they who push men to make an initial appointment with a partner's GP. (Unfortunately, by the time symptoms are experienced the disease has sometimes been given much of a head start). Another question which was touched on in this thread is "would it benefit me to have a particular treatment?' One of the reasons why this is asked is because the person asking the question knows somebody who did well on a treatment thinking that he will work equally well for them. This may well not be the case so should not be assumed. After diagnosis, a man is normally told the treatment options that are open to him. This will mean those for which he is suitable (but may exclude certain treatments that a particular hospital cannot offer), so always worth asking consultant if you are suitable for other options that may be available at another facility. Low or high dose Brachytherapy may be an example. The individual should then carefully consider the pros and cons of various treatments which they all have including potential side effects before making a treatment decision. Sometimes the option of Active Surveillance may be suggested for at least a time. Sometimes a patient may be steered towards one form of treatment but often it is left to the patient to decide. In more advanced situation the more radical options may be ruled out and more direction offered which will involve more systemic options. In short, there are many aspects to PCa and it helps to know some of the basics, remembering your options and outcomes benefit from early diagnosis of this very complex disease. However, as has been said, some men have treatment and suffer consequences of treatment that don't really need it, so is something that needs very careful consideration and hopefully the medical profession will be able to provide better guidance. The foregoing is just a basic summarised start to a subject that has concerns so many men and their families.

I agree with you Bernard. The contributions from Barry 14UK and Peniole have been particularly interesting and informative. And without the bravery of Piers, non of this would have evolved.

For what it's worth (and I appreciate it may not be worth much having read the comments in this thread) I've just got the email with my PSA results. Previous tests have been 0.75, 0.75, 0.75, 0.52, and today's 0.55ng/ml.

See explanation above Barry. You'll notice I talked about the zones, and specifically mentioned the symptoms of cancer arising in those zones not detected by a DRE. The urethral symptoms will give warning. Your link says the same thing but with less of medical explanation. Also, those cases of GP vs urologist, again see above when I said with proper training. I've had the misfortune of dealing with GPs who were as thick as a plank. A urologist would have proper training, one would hope. Just an FYI there is no such thing as a 100% accurate test. You take the best combination of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values that you can get. For example, a PSA test was thought to be good enough until it turned out to be not sensitive enough (missing too many cases, i.e. false negatives), not specific enough (ejaculating, riding a bicycle, having a DRE or an infection are all things amongst a host of other non-cancer related things that can elevate your PSA, so massive over-diagnosis i.e. false positives), but good enough to follow a case post diagnosis/treatment after you have established a personalized baseline. You see a screening test needs to be sensitive enough to catch most cases (notice I said most, not all), without over-diagnosing cases that don't need to be treated or non-cancer cases. The PSA failed on both accounts. Currently, the DRE is the only thing that even comes close to fitting that description until studies on the newer diagnostic modalities provide statistical evidence. What you're quoting in that link sadly is medical legalese. They are covering their collective behinds as well as informing you, that a negative test does not mean you are cancer free, and if you read the whole thing, a positive test means we need to investigate further. It's the same warning on every single test. So if you do end up having cancer, "but the test was negative doc" "yeah, but we told you...". See where I'm going with this? This is my bread and butter specialty. I'm an MD/PhD in oncological sciences, researching and teaching this stuff for a couple of decades plus. If you're wondering my subspeciality is actually colon cancer, it's what I researched/wrote my thesis and published quite a bit on. Feel free to ask questions.

I was due for a Colonoscopy yesterday but it was cancelled due to staff shortage, fortunately before I started the MoviPrep so now fixed for 3rd Sep. Hoping no cancer is found - have previously had 3 procedures for Prostate Cancer (PCa). It's unfortunate that many men don't know much about PCa, thinking it only affects old men or is always found early due to exhibiting symptoms, neither of which is correct. Consequently, there are many men in UK who are not diagnosed early and too late for radical primary treatment, so are only treated systemically. Having said that, more men die with PCa than of it. Many men are not motivated to sufficiently consider their health and it is often their partners who push then to be checked. If this prompts anybody to look into this further, Prostate Cancer UK do a 'Tool Kit' which details basic information about the disease and various treatments, as here https://shop.prostatecanceruk.org//our-publications/all-publications/tool-kit?limit=100

Thank you all for plenty of ideas and good advice. I was intrigued by the idea of leaving the car unlocked, but I don't think I'm brave enough! I used to have one of the Stoplock devices, which are probably the most practical solution, but I'm not sure which one to buy that's known to fit this car—any advice on that would be welcome. (I've noted Herbie's and Lexiguy's items.) I tend to agree about CCTV being of doubtful value, but I do have a Ring doorbell that can see the drive. The window stickers sound like a good idea. Again, many thanks to all of you. The pics I have at the moment are those from the Lexus showroom's site because it's still there having a full service before delivery. I think it's stunning, and I look forward to taking lots more photos when it's in my hands, sometime on 25th July!

Hi I got my Lexus R 450 h L stolen from my driveway this morning. Its really scary, as no alarms were triggered when it happened. Insult to injury, insurance says its OUR fault since it got stolen. Met police called and said they don't have the bandwidth to investigate, advised to wait for insurance payout and move on. We had our smart key disabled. How can I prevent it in the future?