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This is Sarah Williams, John’s daughter although I think you all knew him better as Roy of the Rovers. Thank you for allowing me into the group and for all your messages of condolence which are hugely comforting at this very sad time. This community was an enormous part of Dad’s life and was very very important to him. As his health deteriorated and he couldn’t do much physically he spent longer and longer with his online friends. Being able to contribute to the group and help people out with their cars brought him so much joy - not least because his own children would regularly disregard his advice and buy totally unsuitable cars which he would then have to chastise us about! My husband (his son in law) has a mini. You can just imagine what he thought of that 😂. my mum, sister Liz and brother Andy and I are all keen to hear any stories you might have about him and find out more about the time he spent in this community so please do share your memories. We would be eternally grateful for them and they will help us get to know a different side of the totally wonderful amazing once in a kind human being we called Dad. I thought you might all like to see a photo of him - will try and share some of him with his cars in later days. if anyone would like to know about the funeral let me know and I will share details in here once we know. The staff at his local Lexus dealership have all said they are coming so I think we might need to arrange a Lexus procession to the service!

That's a wonderful tribute to your father Sarah, well said you. He and I had many enjoyable exchanges especially as he knew my overriding affinity with Greece and the Greek people. They have a saying, (one of many) which roughly translated says, "don't walk behind me as I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me as I may not always follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend". This for me sums up your father exactly. Warmest of wishes Philip

Thank you David, for sharing this very sad news with us. Like many here, I feel I have lost a friend that I never had the pleasure of actually meeting. I joined in June 2020 and it soon became clear that John was one of the stalwarts of the LOC. I appreciated his wit and wisdom - and in exchanging PMs discovered that we were not dissimilar in backgrounds and age. He was what we used to describe affectionately as a ‘Gentleman and Scholar’. In the last PM we exchanged exactly one month ago, he shared with me the news of his deteriorating health. I too extend my sincere condolences to Margaret and his Family and very much hope that they see this Post and thus appreciate how much he was admired by strangers whose only connection was that they owned a Lexus! One thing that amused us both - and that John would gently point out - was that the answers to many of the questions raised could be found in the car’s Manual. But that didn’t stop him from helping a fellow owner. I - and the LOC - shall miss him greatly.

Like many, I am very sad, to hear of John’s death, I feel a great loss and a sense of shock. My heartfelt condolences to all John’s family. I am sure that here, John will be remembered ( and indeed WILL always be remembered ) for his advice, guidance, interest, kindness and way with words. There is a certainty, than when I’m faced with a car related question, John’s ‘voice’ will pop into my head, “Read the Owner Manual”. And he’ll be right! John, I salute you. Thank you for your help and support, by forum and personal message. Rest in Peace, my friend.

Apologies for my somewhat delayed response. So sorry to hear this news, my sincere condolences go out to his family. Life as we all know is finite, be grateful for every day and live it to the full. RIP John. Steve.

RIP John. I really enjoyed our messaging and our emails. All be it he knew all about Lexus's. He also had a very astute business brain... And helped me with some of business problems... My sincerest condolences to John's family

Sadly.. It Is At Times of Great Loss we Realize just how Much Our Lives Hang In The Balance And our Health can Change in A Heartbeat..I Only Knew John For about a Year But Found him Inspiring Very Knowledgeable And Quick Witted But Most of all A Kind and considerate fellow...You Will Be Sadly Missed my Friend..God bless you and Till We Meet again..Condolensces to his Wife Margaret and Indeed all The Family..R.I.P

Our deepest condolences to John's family at this time. He will most certainly be missed within the forums

I'm surprised by how shocked I am by this news.. Like many of you, I had come to know John as a very friendly, helpful character on here and it just won't be the same without him. A prolific contributor, always ready with a great reply, and a reassuring presence. RIP 😞

My sincere condolences to all the family, Sarah hoping you and your immediate family have the strength and fortitude to bear the loss in the knowledge that he was much loved and appreciated 👍

I am a fairly recent convert to Lexus and the joy of owning such a fantastic car . Very soon after I got the car I joined this forum which made me aware that Lexus is a very special brand with lovely owners who have all sorts of opinions on cars and everything else but one thing in common is a love and respect for the brand Condolences to you Sarah, Margaret and all the family.

RIP John, may you enjoy your Lexus and Rioja on the other side.

Sad news indeed. It won't be the same without him.

Very sad news of a Lexus devotee. Condolences to family and friends.

Very sad. RIP John.

That's shocking news. I remember that he was the first to welcome me when I joined the forum and since then I quietly kept an interest in his posts. In my thoughts tonight.

My NX 450h+ Takumi which was ordered on 30 June '22 has just been built last week. It was initially scheduled as March '23 delivery but in line with all NX and particularly Takumi it was delayed until potentially June/July. I'm pleasantly surprised that it's now actually been built and has 'Left the factory' so it should give hope that things are starting to move quicker. I tried to get the vessel name but my dealer was not remotely interested in helping, however Lexus UK customer relations were more forthcoming, although still didn't have the shipping detail but will in a few days. The really good news is that the detail provided did contain one key nugget below.... note the MY24 designation! I know this is covered in another thread, but unless the system descriptions have been updated before the actual production, then MY24 is being produced with the additional security features and some minor interior changes. Likely delivery is May so 10.5/11 months from order. Line off date: 9/03/23 Specification: NX Plug-In Hybrid MY24 - Takumi grade

This is very sad news and sincere condolences to you Sarah and your family. I remember the kind and friendly messages that John sent after I'd joined the LOC. He gave helpful advice and guidance to so many and will be very much missed. RIP John.

My sincere condolences to his family.

Very sad news indeed. Sincere condolences to John’s family and friends.

Many years ago I had a convertible sports car ( I am too ashamed to say what it was ). It had such a fantastic anti theft device that even the police could not tow it away when once parked illegally in London. It was a key in the footwell immediately under the clutch master cylinder. When this was on it locked the flow of fluid and set the clutch absolutely solid. I have no idea what it was and have tried to research it without success. The second line of defence was a set of Maserati air horns linked to a selmar "motion" anti theft system. One evening some scallys in Liverpool tried to molest it and I heard the alarm going off from inside the Cinema. It was SO loud. They disappeared due to all the attention it was attracting.

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments Len. A real shocker and for me it follows on last weeks news of a similar fate for a fellow Jaguar XK owners club member, Keith Fox, who will be missed in equal measure. As my dear Mother would've said "whatever is the world coming to"?

I'm very saddened by this news, John was a great contributor to this forum. His posting dropped away quite a bit recently and I was becoming concerned... My sincerest condolences to John's family Sleep well John

Like many of us, I'd never met John, but always valued his experience and advice. I am sad to learn of his passing, and, of course, offer my condolences to his wife, family and friends.

This is very sad news. Condolences to all of John's friends and family, he will be a much missed member of this forum.

If you are questioning if you can afford the vehicle still, I think you've answered your own question.....

R.I.P John

Surely releasing the order with the dealer is the cheapest option to go for? with the demand for them at the moment I can’t see them keeping any deposits. if you take delivery and then sell it you’ll lose the VAT at the very least. it’s better to put that money into a different car rather than paying the tax which you won’t get back?

It is down to how deep your pockets are of course. In terms of economy most cars will see poor MPG in traffic conditions simply because of continuous stop & go. The key is maintenance. If your genuinley worried about long term reliability rest assured you have bought the right car. You Just need to look at Taxis in service Prius etc. Lexus/Toyota will do mega miles providing you maintain it. Without getting all scientific as long as your changing the engine oil & filter to the manufacturer recommendation under 'Severe' conditions If im not mistaken it is 5000 miles rather than 10,000 you will have no problem. Engine oil degrades with continuos warmup cycles. Keep the oil changed regularly if your doing strictly low miles or short runs you will not or should not have a problem I have stuck by this rule & havent had an engine cause me any issues yet. When I was in the trade I have seen examples where owners are more likely to corrode the brake discs, & exhaust systems because of extremly short runs because they dont get upto temperature regularly before the engine gives you trouble. Not to mention carbon build up but this engine is not known to suffer from these issues as yet. Get it upto temperature & give it a regular Italian tune up keeps it running beautifully.

Regards John “Instructed and inspired by Britprius” He always had this at the end of his many wonderful and thought provoking Posts RIP John Malc

Oh dear. Gone but not forgotten. RIP Roy of the Rovers.

Very sad, RIP John. Condolences to family and friends.

really sorry to hear about john. Massive part of the community and will be missed. RIP John

This thread has reminded me of an episode from my past. I was going to see a client with my boss. At the time, I had a humble 1.2 Vauxhall Nova (the "Antibes" edition - so it wasn't anything hum-drum) but he had an Alfa 164. He decided he would drive. His Alfa was a meagre 2 litre one, not an exciting 3 litre model, but having never been in an Alfa before, I was excited. On the way back, a fog started to come down. "Nobody is going to run into the back of me!" my boss said as a finger on his left hand hit the front fog light and another hit the rear fog light button. I had to stifle a chuckle when he simultaneously removed his fingers and the button for the rear fog light pinged off somewhere in the driver's footwell.

I bought a car once and there was a little green light symbol on the dashboard when I switched on the headlights, I assumed this was an indication for the headlights being on, took a few months to find out it was actually for the front fog lights 🙂

I don't know if the 13CY 2022-2023 files can be downloaded, but the 2021-2022 files can be found e.g. HERE. But, as I told you, these are only the files of the maps. You need a license code to update your navi with them.

I would wait. Why pay more for a lower spec car?

Lexus dealer up to ten years old to keep the Relax warranty in place.

Its The Destruction Manual Dave Thats The Problem LOL ...Must check mine !!!!

You mean revving it up to the red zone for a few seconds? I try to do it every now and then but the car stubbornly goes back to low revs quickly by itself. 😅

https://hifglobal.com

RIP John mate. You will be missed.

Do you really need front fog lights? My IS300h had the 3 LED option. I can't remember driving it in fog, but Betsy has a similar setup with no fog lights and we've never had any issues. IS300h: Betsy:

Austerity didn't "end". Services never recovered... the budgets of the pre-cameron years never returned back to where they were. All things public are cut down to the bone and beyond already. From infrastructure investment to public libraries or schools... The austerity model became a new standard, a new "common sense". But infrastructure does age..... the so-called austerity and public disinvestment is the hallmark of a lazy and incompetent government that can't be bothered doing much for the people who foot their bill. Voting tactically can make a difference. Thinking "they're all the same" plays into the hands of those who don't care and it is fundamentally an anti-democratic way of thinking. And yes, ghost roadworks everywhere. Try driving from Maidstone to Ashford: it's like 25 miles of highway "roadworks" where nothing ever happens with a strictly enforced 50 mph limit.

I generally hate when drivers don't follow basics like having right lights on or off at the right times. So I would not say specifically fog lights that bothers me, but any wrong lights - running without lights in dark, not indicating, bulbs that are blown and doesn't work etc. I guess I am just passionate about driving and if somebody can't make sure they have basics right, then I do not trust them to know more complex things like signs, or who have what priority where and having wrong lights on is just exposes people who probably shouldn't have license and be on the road. Sorry if I misunderstood, but are you saying you driving with DLR at 1AM? So it is 40MPH... and despite seeing some logic in this I still not convinced this is good solution or at least right cut-off speed e.g. I can see myself driving at speeds above 40MPH in fog on motorway. So basically I do not see direct link between the speed I am traveling at and fog lights being on. The fog lights being on or off depends on the visibility and speed depends on what I consider to be safe speed to drive... which could easily be 60MPH (I don't consider that as very high speed). Let's say circumstances are - I am driving at 70MPH in light fog, I enter heavier fog and turn on fog-lights, maybe slow down to 60MPH... the car behind me does the same thing and follows me at 60MPH... then suddenly I catch-up car doing 45MPH and slow down, but because my car decided that I don't need fog lights at above 40MPH the car behind me cannot see me in the fog and rear-ends me... I am not very sure I am very happy that car decides to turn off fog lights despite I decided that circumstances requires for them to be on. Seems like usual case that manufacturer by trying to help stupid hurts the rest... instead of trusting the driver to know what lights they need when we are now babysitting people from themselves and then everyone loses. I guess if cut-off would be 60MPH, then it would be hard to argue with it... I cannot see myself (or any reasonable driver) driving at 60MPH+ with visibility of less than 50m. Although I guess, those speeds are debatable... as I am somebody could argue that 40MPH is too much as well in that sort of visibility as they simply not comfortable with themselves driving. 2s rule would suggest one should not exceed 56MPH, so 40MPH switch off feels a bit low.

New ones fitted and the old ones removed - just noticed the old ones were the same make struts. Cheers Neil.

Coming back to this post, I think it is all irrelevant because the state of the roads is really getting to be like your average banana republic that we will all either need Land Rovers or Walking boots to get about. It does make me mad that 15 years of UK government austerity has made all of the roads I use to get work so naff, that cars dodge and dive like mad, and any poor cyclist is taking their life in their hands, so what the heck have the people in power been wasting VED on. Maybe that is the master plan, let the roads fall apart then we will all be wearing clogs to trudge 'off tut mill' (that was closed down many decades ago)

Ooh, now you've done it! Get yourself a nice glass of wine and settle into your favourite armchair First of all, hybrids don't have a traditional starter motor or alternator, or anything that would normally be driven by a belt from the engine because the engine doesn't run all the time - imagine being halfway through a turn and you lose power steering because the engine shuts down! Instead, it's all driven electrically. The 12V battery boots up the computers and gets the car into READY mode, equivalent to switching on the ignition in a conventional car. At this point you can drive off on battery power alone if you so wish, but these aren't electric cars and you'd only get a couple of miles (if that) before the traction (hybrid) battery was effectively flat. When the hybrid system wants the petrol engine (ICE - Internal Combustion Engine) to run, it energises Motor/Generator 1 (MG1) and uses that to spin the ICE up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. In a standard car the 12V battery is charged up by the alternator but we don't have one. Instead, a device called a DC/DC converter steps down the 288V from the traction battery to about 14.5V to charge it. Other converter/inverters use the same process for other systems like the power steering which, if I remember correctly, uses 48V. The aircon compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the two hybrid transaxle motors MG1 and MG2 are both 650V permanent magnet motors. Talking of the aircon compressor, if the system ever needs to be regassed, make sure that you take it to an aircon specialist (or, of course, a Lexus dealer) who knows and can deal with hybrids. The reason for this is that, although the refrigerant gas is the same as any other car, the lubricating oil isn't. As I said above, the aircon compressor is driven by an electric motor and the motor windings are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. Standard compressor oil is called PAG oil but it's a low dielectric oil which means that it conducts electricity and it will damage the motor windings. We need to use ND11 oil which is a high dielectric and won't damage the windings. It's been shown that as little as 1% contamination by PAG oil can, and will, cause problems. Maybe not immediately but it will. Ideally, a specialist should have a dedicated ND11 machine so that cross-contamination with PAG can't happen. Still with me? You deserve more wine Although it's perfectly alright to jump start a hybrid with a standard car, NEVER, EVER, do it the other way round - you may get away with it but it's not worth the risk. The 12V battery in any car is only used for starting and then the alternator or equivalent takes over the running of the 12V systems such as lights, radio etc., etc. When jump starting, the 'donor' car should have its engine running before the 'recipient' car attempts to start. This is so that the recipient will draw on the donor alternator, not its battery. This is all fine and dandy for a standard alternator because it can output anywhere upwards of 300A and a conventional starter motor will need every Amp of that, but our DC/DC converter can't supply anywhere near that amount and if it was asked to do so it may well expire with a very loud bang and lead to a very expensive repair. Hope that helps a bit.

I was going to say being a Lexus it was probably still going strong, but last MOT was in Sep '17 at 72k.

What bother me the most is that in UK they not even pretending to do anything, in other countries they at least come to the crime scene, check the evidence and is there are some obvious leads they do absolute minimum to investigate it, but at least they do that... and surprise surprise 50% of the cases only needs absolute minimum. But in UK they are so blatantly not even pretending, I had several cases of burglary, one arson etc. they don't even come to look at CCTV... and sure CCTV may not show anything, but it may show something, it may show registration number of the car... pay them a visit and it turns out even thought you didn't find the biky stolen on this case, you find another 28 bikes reported on other cases... but in UK they absolutely do nothing. Make report online, they send you crime reference number and 2 hours later you get another e-mail - your case closed "no leads to investigate" or "not in public interest to investigate". This last one is so funny for me... how the hell they know what is in "public interest"? We are the public - NOT them? It is clearly in public interest for all cases to be investigated... sometimes I understand that it is not in public interest to prosecute all the cases, but I can't see any reason why it would not be in public interest to at least investigate. For police most of the time even that doesn't work, because they have unique ability to be useless. But I have used it for insurance several times with great results. Without dash cam it would have been 50/50%, not only that I wouldn't get anything out of it, but my insurance would have gone-up... with Dashcam I was able to prove in minutes that it was 100% non-fault accident and I had my case "pre-approved", meaning I get pay-out even before other party insurance agrees with it. Without dashcam it may take literal months of backwards and forwards to get even straight forward cases dealt with, talking with witnesses, waiting for other party to respond, negotiating the price and all that non-sense. With Dashcam - video sent, money in the bank account within 2 weeks. So definitely good investment and not even that expensive anyway!