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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/23/2023 in Posts

  1. I remember one occasion when I found the dress code at my place of work particularly vexing. The year was 1970 and I had just been posted to the London HQ of a major advertising agency. In preparation for the move I had renewed my wardrobe to accord with what I figured up-and-coming young West End executives (as distinct from the quainter rolled-up umbrella City type) were wearing. So, I showed up on my first day in a grey flannel suit whose elegant sobriety was nicely complemented, I thought, by a dark blue-and-white striped shirt purchased at not inconsiderable expense from Messrs Turnbull & Asser, outfitters to the gentry, in nearby Jermyn Street. By mid-morning I was beginning to feel at home in my new surroundings and confident enough, on attending my first meeting, to take off my jacket like everybody else. Just as I was doing so it dawned on me, alas too late, that mine was the only shirt in the room that was not white or pale blue and unpatterned. Pointing a bony finger at me from across the table the Head of Personnel enquired for all to hear if I was aware of the difference between an advertising agency and a butcher's shop. I was fortunately not slow to understand that the absence of laughter in the room meant that his words were not intended as the joke I might initially have thought them to be. I later learned that only a couple of years previously it had actually been the practice not to take your jacket off anywhere in the building except your own office (and presumably the toilets). Which meant, veterans informed me, that I was lucky to have joined at a much more relaxed time.
    3 points
  2. I have a Takumi NX 450h+ with Lexus towbar fitted. It's only used with a very small trailer to take stuff down to the tip. We also have a bike rack for x2 electric bikes and it's perfect. Lexus cars in general seem not to be viable tow cars and I wouldn't have bought one if I owned a caravan. The nose weight limit is tiny compared to my old Audi Q5.
    2 points
  3. I have been in hyper cars, IMHO I am not a fan of the noise when you really put the foot down. So no Ferrari for me and as i do not have a pooch, I have no use for the back seats. But I will say a lovely looking design, nicer than the SC430 (probably not as reliable though)
    2 points
  4. Valves becoming transistors - I was there. I can recall a couple of stories from the mid 70's when I was a mere 17 years old. First - my best mate his mother told me about watching Marconi flying his kites etc, and doing some weird stuff over Poole Harbour (turned out to be inventing radio) Second - At Uni a mate of mine his father worked on the first ever computers (based on valves) and to check that it was working before the got it do some serious work, they would get it to evaluate PI. if it gave a wrong answer they would wiggle the valves until it gave the right answer then once done get it to work on the real problem. As Monty Pythons would say in a Yorkshire accent, 'You try telling that to the youth of today no one would believe you'. I also assume in years to come no one will believe we used to put hoses in cars and squirt a flammable liquid into the darned thing.
    2 points
  5. Trust you to put a Twist on it...boom boom
    2 points
  6. That was the expectation, anyway 🙂
    2 points
  7. Ot they can do what the likes of BMW/Mercedes/Audi do, which is to offer lower spec cars within the range. The German manufacturers have long since learned that people willl buy a lower spec car with a luxury badge on it, over a better equipped one from the likes of Ford, Mazda, Toyota etc.
    2 points
  8. Looking at Stephen's short link to AI above I do wonder if we should be believing any, or none, of the people putting themselves forward knowing about AI and whatever it might be heading towards us like a stampeding herd of trucks ........ doubtless we'll all cope rather well with whatever it is that's seemingly heading our way It might be the best option is just not to take too much, or indeed any interest in the subjects proffered . after all, those poor souls that get terribly wound-up about Facebook and Instagram. Linked-in and all those other amazing modern links that seem to affect so many in so many ways , good and bad .......... maybe best to be like me ...... just ignore it all and let it waft over me ............. Aldi forever together with the NHS is just about all I want .... well apart from E5 petrol and a pair of Ls400s 🤣 Malc
    2 points
  9. Don't worry, I'm not offended at all. We're all petrol heads who own 'F's. If I was bothered by others opinions I wouldn't have posted it here. This is the opposite of the cares we own. I can however give an unvarnished unfiltered perspective of having one and using it in anger. I'm genuinely impressed by the performance of the thing. Performance brakes however are a lie. They would need upgrading if you wanted to do anything near a track. Also the seats despite being comfy offer nothing in the way of holding you in place. Being used to 250 miles out of a tank, the battery range is on a par, so I'm not hyper mileing it. The insurance premiums may turn out to be a blessing, because I can see a lot of these being picked up cheaply and punted into a hedge, due to the power on tap.
    2 points
  10. I don't have much of an issue with dress codes, although identifying who's who takes some getting used to, as often I find that the most senior/successful guy in the room is the one in jeans and t shirt. Workwise, I think the biggest change I've seen is that when I left school, the route to success was generally considered to be the professions, such as medicine, law and accounting. Whllst still true to some extent today, at least for now, the tech industry has appeared and grown from being the geeks who were hidden away, to the ones who call the shots. I think we're lucky though, not only in seeing such a substantial amount of change and progress in our lifetimes, but in being too old to be negatively affected by the even bigger changes on the horizon. There's no doubt that the growth in AI and quantum computing has the potential to change the world for good in the longer term, but the speed at which it's moving is likely to cause a significant amount of social upheaval in the short term.
    2 points
  11. I think that summarises the outcome... the second mechanic addressed large part of the issue and now you likely have burned off whatever remains... if it would have got worse then I would be concerned! But as yo said, it got better, so I think it would be safe to assume the smell will be gone soon.
    2 points
  12. Not wishing to rain on your parade but I believe that it's more appropriate for an earlier generation to be labelled with this banner, those born in the 10-20-30's for they've seen much more so can add ... Many lived through 11 different decades! Two World Wars! A separate telephone and handset, to a party line! BBC not yet on radio! What is this word "video"? The horse drawn milk cart! Gas street lighting! They were the ones who "saw it all". RIP Mum 1916-2019. ❤️
    2 points
  13. Thanks all for the replies. I had a long conversation with the dealer and the usual same narration that the website is not accurate etc. In future, for me the lesson learnt is that I need to take the specs printed out when I order the car and then compare it with what I receive. But for now all good. Can't complain with what I have and its all good.
    2 points
  14. Overnight charge showing a predicted 54.6/50.7. Temperatures here hovering just above 0 degrees. A short largely motorway dash yesterday resulted in a poor 33.1 against a predicted 51.8. Temperatures certainly impacting!
    2 points
  15. Well, from your account it does appear that it is going away. I would hope that the second mechanic would have removed as much of the melted deposit as possible before applying the heat resistant paint. But as your third photo shows, there doesn’t appear to be any exposed material left that might pose a fire risk. At the car’s next MOT, you could ask the mechanic to check the entire exhaust system for any remaining material while it’s up on a hoist. But if you can’t smell it in the engine bay then it was obviously confined to the area under the car. In any case, after four hours of driving, exhaust systems generally get hot enough to emit distinctive smells any way. Which is possibly what you can now detect when you open the door!
    2 points
  16. Metoo. i was sent home for not wearing a tie, The Nerve!! By the way yes we have seen all the new technologies as stated in this thread but what about my grandparents. Born in 1890, seen the first plane, car, telephone. Lived through two ( 2 ) worldwars and died in the eighties. Born in 1961 i think what makes my generation special is that we never experienced a war. Sounds stupid but you only have to look into history to see that is really special.
    2 points
  17. Live every day as if it is your last… …one day, you will be right.
    2 points
  18. My guess after little bit of experience - they will be very rusty, but on the positive note they are MASSIVE bolts, so they are unlikely to brake and it becomes just a matter of getting long enough cheater bar. As well they are cheap - last time I check it was like £11-18 per bolt from Japan. So I would say just order new bolts, it can't hurt to replace them: https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/5228530021 https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/5228630010
    2 points
  19. I’d been debating getting an EV for the last few months ironically off the back of getting a UX ev the last few times I’ve had visits to Lexus. I have a free charger at work, so the financial benefits were obvious. Only issue I had was it was a bit small and the range was pretty bad when I used them. I did start looking at what I could jump out of my ISF into and not lose the will to live. I liked the Jag iPace, Polestar 2 dual motor and the Tesla model 3 performance. After a bit of shopping around I picked up a 3 yr old model 3 performance with only 9.5k miles on it. The jump from analogue to digital is eye opening to say the least. With no theatre, gates of hell opening or wheel slip the acceleration is the most savage I’ve experienced. The instant response and rapid acceleration will take some getting use to. Things I didn’t expect, the Tesla is actually lower stanced than the ISF. It’s very planted with virtually no body roll although I’ve not really took it on many twisties yet. But the extra weight has not been noticeable at all. Oh and the stereo is hands down the best factory car stereo I’ve ever heard. I thought the Mark Levinson we had was good, but this is amazing. The ISF is up for sale, but I suspect I’ll have it for a few weeks yet so will be able to compare the two more thoroughly. I’ll take some pics when the weather is better and they’re both clean.
    1 point
  20. A clean bill of health from the yearly MOT test on my 2007 350 SE-L here in the UK, I bought this in January to use as one of my dailys and have put nearly 10k miles on it and it now has 73400 miles on it. When I bought it I had a full service to include plugs, all filters, rear brake discs (rotors) and pads plus the slider pin kits and since then it's been a joy to drive, this week I had front discs (rotors), pads with slider pin kit and both front suspension drop links replaced and next week 2 rear tyres go on. I also went through all of the known water leak areas and sorted all of those plus cleaned the headlights with one of those kits from an automotive store. It's been a total joy to own and even though it's 16 years old, it's well spec'd and very confortable and i intend to keep it for a while now, it shares the drive with 2 other far more expensive cars but I always choose this to jump into as it's just so easy in every way... Cheers Greg
    1 point
  21. Yes, here you go:https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-4th-gen-2007-2017/457586-diy-info-thread-for-ls460-ls460l-ls600hl-2.html#post7657067
    1 point
  22. I wasn't so much referring to the practical use for consumers, or the tech in things like cars, Malc. More so to how it will be applied in business, and what impact that will have on society. Particularly as the low hanging fruit, when it comes to job replacement, won't be those who handle machinery, but those who handle information. How long before a corporate finance department, with an annual salary cost of say £1m, is replaced by a single manager and a bunch of machines, that can process the data and spit out a spreadsheet thousands of times faster than a human can? It won't be too far away before better paid execs will be worrying about job security long before the tea lady (do they still exist?) or office cleaners have to concern themselves. I'm sure such technology will bring us a lot of benefits too, but dealing with the implications quite possibly extends into the realms of morality and philosophy as much as it does politics and economics. Oh, with books to read, fish to catch, and a host of fascinating places to visit and explore, I can keep the old brain cells clanking away without the need for work. I'm lucky enough to enjoy my work, but it's still just a means to far more enjoyable ends.
    1 point
  23. It's not looking good for the Scheissewagens: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=2052539&i=0
    1 point
  24. "keep those otherwise vestigial brain cells clanking away till the end of one’s time ". I know I wanted to say something about that ,but I can't remember what it was.😉 Oh yes now I remember in the words of Carol King "It's too Late"
    1 point
  25. Fair comments Linas. I think Lexus were also somewhat hindered by being a spin off luxury brand, and having Toyota as the mainstream range. I imagine that makes it a harder decision to offer entry level models to the luxury range, for a variety of reasons. You're also right about people changing their cars frequently, and so longevity has less value to many buyers. Even so, it does seem like longer warranties, even though of limited benefit to new car buyers, have some influence on buying decisions. I think some buyers though (Range Rover ones for example), would settlle for an effective shorter term warranty.
    1 point
  26. And THEN wait till you get your next years Premium...Its essential You have a Bottle of Brandy at Hand....
    1 point
  27. Blimey, got my brick of a first mobile phone about 30+ years ago ……. Essential necessity for my business life in those days ESPECIALLY now too with global communications at just about zero cost ……. my business needs twixt Kent and India 😄 BUT being in 24/7 contact with my business ( on a needs must basis ) doesn’t mean that I personally have to get involved with any of this probably intrusive social media stuff …… BUT my business does and the staff just have to keep on top of it all ……. the main thrust right now seems to be Facebook and Google ……. god ‘elp ‘em all I say …… it pays the bills 👍 Where AI takes us heaven alone knows ……. My having a simple basic business feeding peoples “ needs “ is all I ( and the staff ) want …… it’s fun, it’s interesting and provides “welfare” for a dozen or so families ……. and me and my Ls400s 😂 Long live Social Media the font of all income for my business ……. even tho’ I personally don’t understand, don’t want to understand the social digressions and complexities, upsets and all it brings to global societies Malc
    1 point
  28. I also remember the gas man arriving to light the street gas lamp with a “evening gas” from a passer by. Bob the greengrocer with his horse & cart doing his rounds. The pea soupers where it was hard to see where you were going walking home. All in London BTW
    1 point
  29. 'cos I am a nitpicker "Many lived through 11 different decades!" longevity of someone born in 1910 - Search (bing.com) longevity of someone born in 1920 - Search (bing.com) "Two World Wars!" If you were born in 1920 or later you saw one world war (which was more than enough) If you were born as early as 1910 you were probably blissfully unaware of the world war and what it meant , simply because you were too young albeit odds were you or someone close to you mysteriously no longer had a dad. Was not meant to be a competition between generations. I just came across something and thought how interesting. if I had to try and condense my life into something that fits a A4 sheet of paper then this would be it. Above that I thought it was a decent tribute to people in general, how adaptive we are as a species. Malc, Completely get where you are coming from. I only got my 1st mobile phone couple of months ago care of my daughter upgrading hers. Only took it because I got fed up of the ladies in my life nagging me 'what if you fall down on your walk, how do we find you' etc. I have of course known about Facebook for years ,but I only joined it after I got my SC 430, because I wanted to know how many groups were out there etc. Have to say it's the weirdest 'thing' I have seen for awhile. I really really don't want to know most of the stuff I have seen on there. As for news channels I would rather play solo chess !
    1 point
  30. I often pass a Costco with a fuel station. I always buy their Premium fuel - pricing is often cheaper than my local station’s normal unleaded! Wouldn’t pay the (often) 20p premium for premium fuel anywhere else, as definitely not worth it.
    1 point
  31. I find the lights too low on my car (not Fsport).
    1 point
  32. Hey David I went with the goodyear eagle F1 in the end a bit on the pricier end but seem to be a good tyre. Road noise is more acceptable as well. Apprecate your information hopeuflly it helps someone else on the forum looking for tyres . Mike.
    1 point
  33. Sorry to hear about your experience. I would walk away, there maybe more issues. Also I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but most people think service history shows how well maintained the car, but I think all the bills and invoices are equally as important, when was the battery replaced? the brakes, any sensors etc. I live in Oldham so if you want to have an experience in my car, 2010 model, send me a pm. My car so far has three issues, passenger side sidelight bulb out, drivers wing mirror works but does not fold and tpms light on. I think these can be sorted without too much time and money
    1 point
  34. My Lexus Navigation does seem to like taking me off main roads and onto narrow roads… with width restrictions. Haven’t found a way to stop that yet. Early days, so hopefully over time it’ll learn to stay on main roads if I start scrutinising more the proposed routes. Otherwise, seems fairly accurate in terms of advising where traffic and delays are.
    1 point
  35. hahahahaha I still have a few ( neck ) ties from that esteemed establishment .... rarely worn apart from maybe the odd wedding .... and believe it or not I'm no " gentry " 😂 Malc
    1 point
  36. We have a 2010 IS250 as well which was in for its service a few weeks ago, the AC bacteria levels were measured and were very high, they recommended the AC service thing and I said I would think about it. I can’t remember the figures but it was way into the ‘red’ zone. It’s back in for its MOT in a couple of weeks so will have it done. No smells or anything in the car, if the Lexus dealer tells me the bacteria levels are very high and above the acceptable levels then I have to believe them and do something about it.
    1 point
  37. Hello Sir Just after I replied to Newbie777 yesterday I made an appointment to go see the car. I was told over the phone that this was a part-ex taken in against a newer LS500h the customer had bought. Also, the Cat S damage was done in March of this year to the rear quarter, about the size of a tennis ball. The insurance company wanted a new rear quarter panel and given the price for the repair against the value of the car it was written off. I wasn't told which rear panel was damaged but the repair was so good that you'd struggle to tell. The rest of the car had a few minor scuffs and chips to the front end. The drive is brilliant and has a full Lexus service history, having just had a few thousand pounds spent at Lexus recently on repairs to the climate control system. Brilliant I thought, I'm expecting a bit of minor damage given the age and mileage of the car but definitely one i could live with. I told him I'm not one to waste someone's time so if its as described and we settle on a price I'll take it away today. When I arrived i was parked about 7-8 metres away from it and it looked quite nice parked there in the sunshine. I'm having this i thought. But just so I don't get too giddy about it I took 2 friends down for a second opinion. The first thing they noticed was the damage repair on the driver's side rear. Its right on the wheel arch, the repair is not only swelling/blistering up but its also dull around there, stands out a mile compared to the surrounding paint work. The drivers rear door has a few dents in it, a kid on a bike I was told. The front bumper on the passenger side has been hit or driven into something at low speed. The paint is cracked there and the bumper bracket is broken on the corner so its all out of place. The entire passenger side of the car has been repainted at some point, you can tell by the orange peel effect which isn't present on the surrounding panels/areas. All 4 wheels need a refurb, and at a good guess I'd say the TPMS valves will break upon removal, so another set required there. On the drive the very first thing I noticed was a rattle on the driver's side rear upon acceleration, like an exhaust heat shield or the exhaust back box rattling on the bodywork. Very annoying to say the least. The drivers door armrest and for some strange reason the b pillar where the seat belt is (just next go your right shoulder) were badly worn. Along with that, and I'm guessing this is true for all LS600's and not just this one. The guy asked me to check the power by accelerating hard on the dual carriageway. For the claimed BHP it felt quite slow, I understand its a heavy car, but I wouldn't use the word Performance anywhere near it. The revs were going up a lot faster than the pace of the car. What can only be described as a slipping clutch in a normal petrol manual car. Very weird feeling. I did mention this elsewhere, wether the Hybrid system was worth having on this car, and the answer is No. It doesn't work above 25 mph, and cuts to petrol at the gentlest touch of the accelerator. Just like I've always thought, its more of a Gimmick. So unfortunately, unless its about 70% off the price, its not worth the hassle for me. Thats not to say its a total scrap, just needs time and money spending on it which i don't have.
    1 point
  38. Barry, guess it would read like War and Peace if we included even a fraction of the change we have seen over the last 70 ish years. I confess to sometimes just feeling like I might have outlived my time. So much is strange to me these days.
    1 point
  39. In truth it's a bit of a minefield out there. I guess all we can do is approach expenditure with a questioning mind asking for evidence of work done where possible, and indeed looking at the work done for others again if possible. Using each other within that context for further proof of credibility. Never going to totally negate risk of course, but we owe it to ourselves to try and reduce it. No idea why I decided to call my car Lexigirl. It isn't as though I have an habit of naming inanimate objects. I may just be getting sentimental in my young age.
    1 point
  40. No issue other than quite low maximum nose and overall towing weights. You typically see a higher mpg hit on hybrids compared to a conventional petrol engined vehicle when towing as the benefits of the hybrid system are diminished with the extra weight.
    1 point
  41. The bad reviews are down to the fact it is a bad car. You need to own one to understand the many problems and with no assistance from the dealer as they haven't a clue on how to fix basic problems. And as a long term Lexus buyer and fan, i'm not happy saying that but it's true. If Lexus UK would acknowledge there is a problem that would be a start. But they won't
    1 point
  42. When I do need SatNav I use the inbuilt system on my NX450h and find it to be excellent! Hasn't let me down yet.
    1 point
  43. I’d be asking Lexus why their £100,000 sports car needs an oil flush that’d potentially disturb bits of crap and block things up, or fuel injector cleaner that should be part of the service schedule if it’s genuinely needed, or an aircon regas on a car that’s under warranty. Meh.
    1 point
  44. As NX owners you *really* need to hassle Lexus Customer Services, your local dealer and Lexus via any social media means possible - you need a metal plate solution just as much as me (LC) and the remaining RX owners. I have a Tracker, Immobiliser, Smart water and other entertaining things on my car but the problem is the bumper would be ripped off before the thieves realised. Annoying!!
    1 point
  45. No, my car battery was dead as I have battery cutoff in place.
    1 point
  46. I would put it into UX forum, I found it strange that 12" was not available on F-Sport, but I assume what you got is called "F-Sport Design" pack, which seems to be very cut down version... Lexus are honestly weird with locking people into trims like that. So F-Sport can get Takumi-Tech pack, but F-Sport Design can't? Why would the prevent people from spending extra money on the car?! Although that said Takumi-Tech is £4500, so not exactly great value anyway. To be fair I doubt you find option here. For older Lexus there are aftermarket retro-fits, but for your car which is so new it will be near impossible to find the bigger screen infotainment system. Your only option is to find somebody who is parting out crashed UX which would have the system you want, but as you can imagine there isn't many around. Sure - you have an option to order it brand new from Lexus, but it will literally going to cost thousands... like £3000-4000 for whole system. I don't believe you can just get bigger screen and call it a day, usually the whole unit is made by different company. I am not certain about UX, but for example in IS the standard system was made by Panasonic, the premium was made by Pioneer and ML had mixture of Pioneer and ML components. So if UX is similar then you can't just get screen made by Pioneer and connect it to Panasonic head-unit - hope that makes sense. All in all, Lexus are really difficult when it comes to OE retrofits. I was about to say you may have to wait until Lexus US aftermarket re-retrofit comes out, but it seems you are in the luck, they already exists https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/blog/2019-2020-lexus-ux-200-250h-300e-android-head-unit-10-25-hd-screen-replacement/, you just need to make sure they have it for 2021 model year. However, just to be clear - this is not Lexus system, it is chinese made generic Android system. Now being generic Android that is not really a problem, actually it is million times better than what Lexus has made in terms of functionality, but don't expect same quality and warranty conditions. Who can do it for you I don't know... usually these are sold as "plug&play" DIY kits, there are probably some AV companies in UK which specialises in car AV which could do it.
    1 point
  47. Dirt doesn't harm the car. Cleaning it can ..
    1 point
  48. I had never heard of such product. Sounds interesting. 🙂 My car is black and if I just wash it and go for a drive to dry it, I always get water spots. Sure drying it with a microfiber towe helps. But if it's possible to get spot free without ever touching the paint physically it's probably better and also easier. I'm not sure if I fully understand the point of this product. But I'm guessing you add it to the water so it won't cause water spots after dry and you can let it just air dry, even without driving around to dry it? The ony down side is you would of course have to wash at home, to add it to the water. I normally go to the carwash. Not the automated one. Just the one with the spraying water hose.
    1 point
  49. Yes forums at there best 👏👏👏
    1 point
  50. I bought this one a few months ago. It was recommended by the guy that did my Ceramic coating. It is very powerful but quite loud and has a dirt filter to stop you sand blasting the car (quite easily done with garden blowers). Once you get the nack of how to use it, it's very quick and efficient.
    1 point
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