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The ups and downs of delivering a finished product, I well know. In the end, after my 2nd key and no nuts (!) I turned philosophical and refused to allow this to further mar the joy of a great car. That is, once I get my freezing door handles replaced!

mother-in-laws tongue comes to mind ........... Malc

Someone been taking lessons from Rishi, Priti and Cruella? The solution from the Israeli foreign minister. Forget Rwanda just build your own ghetto From the guardian just now -:- Israel's foreign minister suggests Palestinians could be housed on artificial island in the Mediterranean - sources The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, has suggested that Palestinians could be housed on an artificial island in the Mediterranean, according to sources at the meeting of EU ministers in Brussels. It is understood that Katz presented a video on the concept to the 27 EU foreign ministers as an alternative to the two-state solution. He told them the video referred to a plan made some years ago when he was a transport minister. The intervention has caused dismay in Brussels where the EU representatives were meeting as part of a mission to lay the ground for a “comprehensive peace plan”. They also heard from foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia

I think that is kind of the point as to why China sits on side-lines. It does hurt them in short term, but in long term their strategy is to destabilise "the west". So they are alright with Iran backing houtis and can accept little bit lower exports, also let's not forget - this creates shortage and it is buyer who bares the additional costs. I guess in long term it may reduce their export volumes, but short term it is just extra cost for Europe. Also Europe is likely able to pay that higher cost, so it is win-win strategy wise, they hurt their geopolitical rivals whilst not losing anything at all themselves. Also it is known that houtis generally allow ruzzian ships past and I assume same applies to China bound ships, obviously controlling terrorist organisation is hard, so eventually they will target some wrong ship, but 1 ship from 1000s isn't that big of a deal for china. Answer is simple - economist ties with dictatorships does not prevent wars, I would argue it makes them more likely. Same like spectacular failure of German policy towards the ruzzia, same here - china is totalitarian state, any trade with us they going to exploit and use it as leverage to undermine us. So we should stop looking into precedent of European integration, the only reason trade prevents wars in Europe is because Europe is democratic, no democratic government ever going to sacrifice economy over some stupid war, but dictatorships will. I guess point I am trying to make - we should start sanctioning china now, and cutting our economic ties now, not when they invade Taiwan or somebody else. Because all this globalisation and trade for them means - more money to arm and more opportunities to get necessary technology for war. Sure there was time when china was liberalising and becoming more democratic (if we can call it that), I think it was fair to give it a chance, same for ruzzia - in 90s they were becoming more democratic so they deserved the chance, the problem is that we are too slow to act when country turns totalitarian. That even applies to Europe itself, Poland just barely averted democratic collapse, Hungary is openly pro-ruzzian and EU/Europe/Combined West completely fails to act. Turkey is hardly an ally, yet they still in NATO playing both sides. That is why dictatorship looks at "us" and says "they are weak, we can manipulate them". Sadly, that is kind of true.

You Should Keep it on Robert..It helps to prevent Condensation Building up in the Car..Especially the front Windscreen First thing in the Morning..I Have found By keeping it Activated screen clears Much Much Quicker...!!!

UK insurance does not need to care - it is police job! Shipping companies do not care either - they rent you container, you fill the container, if you want to send it over to Africa empty - that is fine. It is border control problem and responsibility. That said - UK has no fffing border control, certainly not on the way out, it barely exists on the way in. So the way they see this - there is no harm if "illegal" stuff goes out, it is on the destination country to check. In theory that works, but when destination country is Nigeria or Angola we all know what happens. They are just corrupt and nothing get's checked, by the time car arrives there it already has all the forged documents or maybe not... maybe $100 is all the paperwork they need. UK is attractive country to steal from because we have loads of new premium cars in great condition, non-existent police response, non-existent boarder force. One can steal car from Germany, but apparently it is much harder to get German car out of EU, because Fontex apparently knows how to protect the borders and German Polizei takes no shaite for an answer. In EU there is no BS like in UK where they can catch person with tools, but without stolen car, or with stolen car and without tools and they can get away. No that doesn't work that way, if they get person with tools that is reasonable grounds for arrest, they will detain the suspect for say 72h and then comb thought his phones, chats, calls, locations etc. and track down what he was up-to. Also there are no excuse for driving stolen car like in UK, driving stolen car is in itself a crime. And I mean that is not only the case in German, most of Europe. Eastern Europe in particular, because they had a lot of issues with car theft, so by now they are very adept dealing with them. Also in most European countries there are not so much desirable cars - what are they going to steal? Dacia Sandero? Whereas UK is really heavy on particularly luxury SUVs. So yes - logic says LHD should be more desirable than RHD, but countries where the cars are going to have so little of traffic laws that it hardly matters, they are only technically driving on the right side of the road. Secondly LHD cars are much harder to steal and to export, as such I assume they are much more expensive to buy and therefore not as desirable, but UK is kind of soft spot really, with lenient laws, high burden to charge for car theft, police that isn't really interested in investigating car related crimes, people who happy just to claim on insurance etc. It is just many different issues in one.

If its a Trump motorcade it will run on the best propulsion the world has ever seen unbelievably good, the best!

The latest demographics of Israel show that of its 9.8M population, 7.2M (73%) are Jews and 2.1M (21%) Arab - the majority of the latter apparently preferring to describe themselves as ‘Palestinians in Israel’ or ‘Israeli Palestinians’. They have full voting rights as Citizens of Israel - and I believe they are discriminated against in only one respect: they are not allowed to join the IDF. It was considered invidious to ask them to face possible military action against other Palestinians. So if the definition of ‘genocide’ is ‘the systematic and deliberate extermination of a national and racial group’ ( eg driving all Jews into the Sea) I don’t really see how giving full citizenship to another racial group achieves its extermination. In fact it’s further complicated by the fact that the birth rate for the Muslim population of Israel - although it has considerably reduced - is still greater than that of the Jewish population. Which suggests that there will be more Palestinian Arabs becoming Israeli citizens in years to come than fewer - the antithesis of genocide, I would have thought.

Sale price on the inside of the screen. Removed and replaced every time the car was moved in the dealership?

Having had the car since May23 and it being a launch model (reg 31/1/23), thought I'd driven enough now (all over UK and to Florence via Germany and back!) to give a review and my thoughts on good and bad. Good Styling is good, I much prefer it to the previous gen, except the front / front 3/4 view, the 'beak' on the bonnet/grille is jarring and a dark colour hides it more in my view. Comfortable, quiet, pretty powerful and quick when it needs to be. Adaptive shocks and rear steer means it pretty nimble too when needed, ride is very acceptable depsite not being air-springs. The Rear steer makes a difference in the car parks and manouvering too., visibility is great both with Mk1 eyeball and the cameras. Engine and 6spd auto are great, no hesitations ( I came from a Audi SQ5 with its 8spd, it was really bad for not making its mind up), and imperceptible changes too. Cabin is fine, screen is mostly good, fix and finish internally is good, nothing squeaks or rattles, nothing has failed, as you would expect of Lexus, really. The Bladescan headlights are pretty good too, if a little sensitive to reflective roadsigns. The adaptive cruise and lane keeping works well, though the msgs it shows up in HUD and dash are a pain sometimes. German Autobahn was an indicated 200kph/125mph and still pulling when I had to slow for other traffic, quick to get there too. Bad Software, again! I left Lexus partly because I was fed up of the poor software implementations in their cars and apps. Audi while not perfect, was pretty good. *****, even Alfa Romeo in car software did everything you wanted/needed. Lexus, updated to Carplay etc, but the mobile app is abysmal and the in car setup is still pretty poor. Options are buried away in menu's, some menu's can only be seen in other sections. Some options naming, make no sense (overtake prevent - you mean undertake prevent!). The app, the new Lexus Link + one, still can't send to car addresses, you have little info and what is there is frequently wrong or missing. Things don't work as expected - example - in Carplay, when playing audio, if a msg comes in the audio (radio, music) doesn't mute or go quiet whilst it is read out. But hang on, it does if its a podcast that plays. Why?!?! Again its like a committee implemented it and never discussed with anyone in the team. I've had the software updates to "bring the car up to the current new models , sir" whatever that did (note at the dealer not over the air as promised), nothing has changed that I can see. Map updates, display "error, contact dealer". Seats - can't get comfortable in the FSport RX seat, which is a surprise, the ones in the IS of a few years ago were superb. More than one person has commented that they are quite narrow in this RX. Fuel tank filler - between first click off and actually full is nearly another gallon of petrol. the air syphoning out as it fills comes out in great gurgles. Combined with a super pessemistic range guage, its easy to think the MPG is appalling, but its pretty true to the display averaging about 33-34mpg. Max in summer was 40mpg, lowest has been 12mpg (cold short journey) There is no EV button on the RX500h, so you can't force it to do EV only at all. Randomly , the intermittent front wiper setting, keeps going to sleep too. It wipes fine for a while, then it stops and nothing you can do, bar turning it off and on again will make it work again. I can't see a pattern (time, water on screen, number of wipes etc) it just goes to sleep and doesn't wake up. I think its a bug in SW, but who knows. Anyone else with a RX-Gen5 that does this? Finally after almost a year, got the second key and the locking wheel nuts, and I've yet to find out a way to stop it telling me every time I get in, that a new key has been registered. The number of pointless messages it comes up on the screen is rubbish too. It tells you on the dash the washer fluid is low, then logs it in the centre screen and pulls up a full page msg about it too. WHY!!! Lastly, Tyre size is really odd - 235/50R21 Michelin Pilot Sport4 SUV is what it has on it. If you can find them, they are currently nearly £400 each! (the Audi SQ5 I thought was bad for Pirelli special fit PZero 255/45/r21 at £250) There is minimal choice in that size too, so not looking forward to swapping them later this year, or if I get a puncture. They are lasting well though, about 50% worn at the 15k mile mark. Overall I'm still liking it, it makes a comfortable mile muncher on the motorway and yet still an entertaining A-Road overtaker too. I am hoping beyond hope there is further updates in SW coming to fix and deal with some of these gremlins and errors, otherwise I can see myself going back to the Germans again...

Reply from Lexus Customer Relations received states:- We have requested information from an internal department who have advised that the LBX has been counter measured against CanBus theft. Most Lexus vehicles have the latest electrical platform that prevents CanBus theft. Other security measures that the LBX features includes: Alarm/anti-theft (with siren and two sensors) Engine immobiliser Two motion door lock VIN Etching Locking wheel nuts (Thatcham approved)

Try using this. It's for use on acrylic windows so doesn't scratch glass. It brings windscreens inside and out up as if there is no glass there at all. I use on the outside of my front windscreen every 3 months or so it removes every trace of oily deposits.

Sadly, there are no simple solutions for that, no "silver bullet" - practice and experienced is the only answer... but in UK there is nowhere to get that. So option 1 - get some winter driving experience, there is training for that abroad, also one can go for winter holidays more often, there advanced courses (although they may be focused on wet driving/aquaplaning in UK, but still useful). Option 2 - not to drive. That is genuinely workable option with UK having maybe 2 days per year of winter it is doable (I know I deliberately taking pssss here, but winter days are few enough to be able not to drive, it is genuine option). 3rd is not really an option in my view - but if one has to drive, like they went to meet family up north, it was 9C, then suddenly out of nowhere there is blizzard and it is -5C at night when they have to go back... and they have to do it because tomorrow they are going for long planned holidays. Then keeping distance, driving slow and taking extra care is the only way. It is not an option, because it is no point of being "mindful" or being "careful" if one fundamentally does not know what to look for. Sorry to say, but most British drivers do not know what they looking for in slippery conditions, that is not criticism it is just a fact and result of generally mild weather in UK. To be mindful of danger you need to know exactly how to deal with it. It is like saying to person "go pick-up that snake", we all know that snakes are poisonous, quick and can bite - still that does not help at all in picking-up the snake. So same with driving on slippery roads - one needs to know how to drive in those conditions and practice it, it is not enough to know it is dangerous. One thing NOT to do - get winter tyres and act like it is summer. Sadly, this is in my experience most common thing people do, not because they are stupid, not because they are not careful, but because with lack of real-life experience people just don't know what they looking for, they think they have prepared they don't all the steps on "top 10 tips winter driving list from Sunday Times", but they don't understand they simply don't have skills and experience to deal with situations they will encounter. Tyres gives you nothing if you don't know how to use them, may even give false sense of safety until it is too late. I am not saying don't get winter tyres, or not put -40C screen wash (by the way the thing is horrible if you driving on motorway at -10C), or not keep extra distance, but with all that preparation one still have to always default to option 3, unless they have completed option 1. How to prepare car for winter, that is separate topic - I like to use some lubricant on the rubbers just not to get them frozen overnight. Other useful thing - if google says it will take 15 min to drive somewhere, just double that and add 30 minutes on top. First of all you need to prepare car after the night (if it was outside), warm it-up first, properly for like 10 minutes, clean it properly, not just little slot on windscreen. Obviously, having right tools helps, keeping car indoors or under the cover even better. Driving Lexus I found that lifting wipers is pointless as all of my cars had heated windscreen, but if you don't have it, then lift the wipers when you park. All this prep takes time, hence just blanket extra 30 min for any trip, because last thing you want to do in winter is rushing. General mechanical prep - noting special, tyres should be good, should be same, should be at the right pressure (in winter pressure could be lower, but must be even), all the fluids should be right and to the right level. Small note on winter screenwash, -10C, -15C, maybe even -25C are alright, but when you get into real winter screenwash with -40C it is alcohol based and alcohol tends to evaporate, so if you driving in real winter (-20C or such) and you try to use it at speed it will internally freeze out of the nozzle and makes amazing icicles, so you need to slow down, ideally nearly stop before using it, but if you doing 70 on motorway, it will freeze. Also remember -10C, - 50C whatever, that is not a problem. Worst temperature is -0C, or let's say between ~ +1C and -1C. That is when you get black ice and that is when no tyres helps. Above that is just wet, any tyres will handle that reasonably well, once everything freezes everything is evenly slippery and below -5C actually dry, but that temperature around 0C is most dangerous. Aslo you can definitely see black ice if you know what you looking for, if not sure then slow down to relatively slow speed, make sure you have plenty space in front and behind you and start braking increasingly suddenly and you will figure out right away how slippery it is and at what point your car loses grip, it is good test to do if you not sure how slippery it is or hoe well your tyres can cope with it. 2 weeks ago I was driving for a week in ~ -10C-26C for a week with RAV4 hybrid (fake-AWD) and brand new, but crappy winter tyres. It was rather scary how bad were those winter tyres, they looked good, but they were unpredictable, obviously being new car with all safety systems it was alright. Today I just got back from snowboarding where rental company failed me in providing "winterised" car, paid extra 90 euro for winter tyres and found Michelin PS4* on the car, then they gave me snow socks as "solution", which is not exactly the same. However, I must say PS4* were amazing, despite -10C and very dodgy mountain roads. I don't know if it was the * (star - BMW special fitment) that made a difference or it was something to do with BMW 4GC which despite being RWD only handled slippery mountains roads like a champ, but I had great time. Did car lost grip - yes of course it did, it was performance summer tyres on icy mountain roads, but it was always predictable and controllable ride. It is true that getting up the mountain is always safer than getting down the mountain (which you can as well consider tip), but I didn't have issues either direction.

My renewal is due in early March and I'm already dreading what the price will be... When I got it in September I think I was charged something along the lines of £20 more than the UX on my existing cover... If I can 'get away' with a smallish increase I'll just take it. Obviously if it's a double-digit percentage increase, I will certainly be shopping around. I think we've all been reading some of the horror stories out there. From my experience, Direct Line isn't the company they used to be. They used to be my 'go to' insurer some 10-15 years ago, but despite no changes in my circumstances and full no claims, they started quoting silly money when it come to renewal time. It always used to involve a phone call to bring it back down again. One year they tried to almost double my premium (it was about £8 short of actually being double) and that's when I decided enough was enough. I've actively avoided them for several years now. In more recent years, they've been pulling the same stint with my father who's now also moved elsewhere. He'd been with them for many years.

Runs on hotair malc the highest pollutant of all.

She'll be about as old as that Katana blade won't she?

Depends on which fiesta... They are fairly quick off the line because they don't weigh much, but they soon run out of puff.

That's true Bernard, but Israel, by their actions, and now their words too, have made it clear that they want to have a Jewish state, that includes driving the Palestinians from their lands so that they can expand into them. That's what drives the historic resistance to two states. Sure, Hamas are a destructive terrorist organisation, but it's abundantly clear that neither they, nor the Arab states, have any chance of destroying Israel as a country. Bottom line is that Israel has a fundamental right to exist as a nation, in whatever form it chooses. Equally though, the Palestinians have a right to autonomy and sellf governance in their own lands, without foreign occupation or expansion into them. Why that apparently reasonable solution has been impossible is because the likes of Hamas provides cover for Israel to deny two states, and Israel's continued occupation and settlement building provides Hamas with reasons for its actions. The extremists on either side feed each other's desires for total ownership/control, at the expense of the ordinary people on both sides, who just want to get on with their lives in peace.

To wrap up this thread I have just fitted the rubber cushions to my armrest - I've arrowed the images to show what was done as follows (top row left to right followed by bottom row left to right): - The parts from Lexus - note that you need to ask for TWO of 58959-60060 (one for each side of the armrest) - I ordered these from Lexus Parts Direct - the shipping cost more than the parts... - On opening the armrest, arrowed are my old rubber cushions - the left one with no rubber (just the stem in the hole) and the right one had a bit of rubber left on it - After extracting the old stems I am left with two holes - The new cushions just push fit into the holes - also Lexus had put some felt as shown at each corner and I think in the middle - I had replaced the felt previously with self adhesive anti-rattle tape as it was coming off but didn't know about the rubber cushions (this image shows one side)- you can feel the outline for the tape if its missing at each corner - this is where the plastic will touch the plastic at the edges and under the latch on closing - Same on the other side - In the centre console, this is where the rubber cushions in the armrest lid sit when the lid is closed Having added the new cushions and renewed the felt (with little bits of self adhesive anti-rattle tape) the armrest lid now closes with nice click and there is absolutely no movement in the lid once it's closed. I hadn't appreciated how "loose" it had become with the rubber cushions deteriorating and now I've done it feels like it did when I got the car.

Car thieves obviously get ‘Which Car Reports’. I note that in the Feb 24 edition the Lexus brand yet again tops the Reliability Table of 29 brands in all three car age groups. In two car age groups (0-4, 10-15) it gets four stars, and in the 5-9 it gets five. In fact Lexus is the only brand awarded five stars for its reliability in any category. I suspect it’s partly due to Which that car thieves are now increasingly attracted to Lexus. After all, if you’ve sold a stolen car to someone, you don’t want them to come looking for you when it keeps breaking down!

Sorry to hear this. I'm surprised that the door handles on the new RX are freezing in the same way as gen 2 NX. There have been replacements for the NX that solve this issue so I'm surprised the new design is not fitted on the newest builds (NX and RX) from factory. The range estimate on Lexus is very very conservative. You will probably have tens of miles of range left even when the predicted range shows zero. Try to have realistic expectations about software updates. Sounds like the fuel door needs an adjustment.

It is always old men that are thinking long term... just the way it is. Not necessarily that I disagree with you, but for each of your point I can play devils advocate... Why do you think Iran's secular democracy would be pro western? Or why do you think it would be democracy, it may as well just be another form of dictatorship? In short - fall of current dictatorship is most likely to be replaced with another dictatorship, not democracy and there is very little reason for any form of government to be pro-western there. I just can't see the reasoning behind this claim. Secondly - I hope you not using China's own stats for their adoption or readiness for anything? Because if you do, then I sadly need to inform you they are ahead of nothing, all their stats are made-up, they don't make as many EVs as they claim and those that they make are rotting in the massive fields because they either do not work, or nobody wants them, or they fail as soon as somebody tries to use them. All this green revolution in China are totally made-up story. And whatever little they have is all stolen technology, they haven't invented anything meaningful since probably year 900, when they figured out how to make gun-powder. Also I will believe that batteries can be made with 70% less lithium when I see them. I may be old fashion, but I am not into religion and EVangelism is a religion, sadly scientific journals seems to be penetrated with that nowadays. To be clear here - I am not saying it didn't happen, they may have found a way to make battery with 70% less lithium by using AI, however that is not the same as saying "they are ready to make that battery using mass production methods at anytime soon". Now I am sure such article as always says "we have working prototype and in 12 month we will start pilot of the technology, INVEST HERE!", but so far I keep seeing these claims times and times again for decades and billions invested and lost, but no working product. So needless to say I am sceptical.

One thing I've learned from having an LS400, LS430, and now an LS460 is that they won't go up even the slightest incline if there's snow or ice on the road. Now I always carry a pair of snow socks in the winter, they've got me out of many a tricky situation where otherwise I would have had to leave the car and walk home. https://autosockdirect.co.uk/

No doubt it was just a reset issue but just as a double check the oil would look very pale yellow if just changed. I doubt a main dealer would try a scam, but it's just possible there was a mix up in who was assigned to which jobs on the day etc.

👆+1. Had a bloody nightmare with the dancing tyre fitter lot when they tried to fit and recode a new TPMS. Clowns. Blamed the car. Went to Lexus - done in 10 mins.

I don't think so. Lancashire birds tend to like crapping on Range Rovers so that's what you get by having a better class of bird. 🤨

The car doesn't know its had an oil change, my guess is you took car in before the notification flagged up as it would against time/mileage parameters. The car now thinks it is time for oil change ....take it into dealer its a quick fix to reset, possibly has to be done by the OBD port.

Sounds like they just forgot to reset it. There's lots of methods on t'internet to do it yourself. Give it a shot.

I warned you they were coming last year and now look what's happened! Even Linas agreed with me, and that's saying something. Apparently the Chinese gov't is blocking exports in order to prevent a glut in the international markets and keep prices higher ( relatively ). BYD's all-electric sales results were especially crucial because it may mark a turning point when the Chinese company sells more EVs than Tesla in a quarter. We will know once Tesla releases its own numbers later this week. Update 8:55 a.m.: By "this week," we mean "right now." Tesla reports that it delivered over 484,000 vehicles in Q4, so it appears BYD did it fact pass the American company as the world's top EV seller. In 2023, BYD sold over 3.0 million passenger plug-in electric cars (in line with the target), which is 62% more than a year ago. BYD Group passenger plug-in car sales year-to-date (YOY change): BEVs: 1,574,822 (up 73%) PHEVs: 1,438,084 (up 52%) Total: 3,012,906 (up 62%) For reference, in 2022, BYD sold more than 1.85 million plug-in electric cars. The cumulative number of BYD plug-in electric cars is now more than 6 million units. BYD has become the largest Chinese carmaker, the largest car brand in China, the world's largest PHEV and plug-in electric car manufacturer, and probably also the largest all-electric car manufacturer in Q4.

Nice one, thanks for sharing it. You learn something new everyday, so the compressor is 'turning' constantly and I suppose the solenoid controls whether it's 'engaged' or 'conditioning'. Lots of info on his channel, i.e. a link to a workshop manual site which will be useful to a lot of people without one - https://charm.li/

The Chinese state does provide a backstop to disruptive financial meltdowns. The outcome of that is though felt in different ways depending upon where you are in financial structure. Shareholders take hit on the shareprice, lenders secured and unsecured follow thereafter. As a separate issue if state intervention becomes significant enough you will also see it in the value of your currency as measured against other currencies that are more stable. The latter though as not tended to hurt the Chinese Rembini too much to date as most other major trading currencies have been involved in much the same kind of interventionism. I don't think there is any virtue in expecting that the Chinese won't pursue their expansion via Taiwan etc , because they can't afford to do so. Their central system of control if anything gives them certain advantages in that respect. It will be interesting actually if the USA elect Trump again though, because last time around he took aim at the Chinese on trade and the expectation is second time around he probably would go that route again. In fact import of Chinese cars might be a very easy and publicly popular target for him to shootdown.

The entire middle east situation is so complicated that it will be extremely difficult, if at all possible, to find a solution. What is fact for one is an opinion for the other. Place 4 people around the table and you will have 4 opinions. As always it are the poor that will suffer. Better to return to the original topic and give it a little twist? What is China doing to the international Car Market? Will they cause massive bankrupcys? will European and American manufacturers close production in Europe and the States and move to China for production?

It sounds like my rear wheel bearings need replacing. The fronts were both done last year so I guess it is to be expected. I'm not really getting the "woooom-woooom" sound but there is a constant drone at anything over 15Mph (not tyre noise) and the tone does change when I corner. The drone frequency rises with road speed so it's either the rear wheel bearings, the differential or possibly the prop-shaft bearing(s). Am taking it to Westfield on Weds and they will tell me what it is.

i used to manufactuer ring marks from where they drop the front and rear windows in with robotic suction cups. edit, looking at yours thats too small for that

As I sit near the fake cherry blossom tree in the Lexus showroom I am told that the locking wheel bolts that have come in are for the RX and not for the little NX. So a 6 month wait to get my once new car finished will be a little longer. At least I now have two keys.

The brace runs across the car from B pillar to B pillar. The connection to the B pillar(s) is by a "floating" attachment that tightens the two elements as the brace bolts are nipped up. However, sometimes (albeit it very rarely) no amount of tightening is sufficient and there is very slight movement in the attachment technique which in turn allows flex in the body resulting in a click or knock noise under certain loading circumstances.

Hey there, Short version - No, I'd say if you get the MK4 GS300h, it might be cheaper to run, but with the MK3 450h it will be difficult. I did something similar to that: Started with UCF20 '95 LS400 with LPG no vvti and 4 speed tranny. I got much worse fuel economy out of it but I guess the extra gear and vvti help drastically. Got it for 3 years and then went and bought a Honda Legend '06, which also had an LPG system, but is an AWD car and I think is heavier than the Ls. Sold that after 2 years of ownership and am now with a '13 F Sport MK4 Gs450h. Comparing the Ls and Gs - I'd say the Ls had a superior build quality in terms of interior and a much softer ride. The Gs feels a bit quieter though. Still in terms of gas costs my graph would be going downwards as out of the three cars the Ls cost the least and the Gs the most in terms of gas. Disclaimer - this is in my country and here LPG is more than 2x cheaper - 55p per litre LPG vs 114p for petrol I got a 450h knowing it will be more expensive to run, but I wanted the extra power to be there in case I need to use it. The 300h is much more fuel efficient but is slow and is only available for the Mk4. Below are my fuel consumption numbers. Small disclaimer - I am from Bulgaria, so I am not used to the Imperial system but will give both numbers for reference. Another note highway speed limit is 87 Mph / 140 Kmh, while extra urban is 56 mph / 90 kmh here. LS400: City - 14- 18 mpg (16-20 l/100) LPG Highway - about 20 mpg (14 l/100) LPG Extra Urban - 28-29 mpg (9.7-10 l/100) LPG Honda Legend City - 12-14 mpg (19-23+ l/100) Highway and Extra Urban about the same as the Ls GS450h (4 months of owning it so far so my numbers might be inconsistent) City - 27-31 mpg (approx 9-11 l/100) Highway - about 28 mpg (10 l/100) Extra Urban - estimated 33-35 mpg (8-8.5 l/100) - this might be lower, I've mostly driven city and highway. Please note that the mk4 450h is more efficient than the mk3 despite having the same drivetrain as it supports the Atkinson cycle

Tom. Do take heed of the advice from Lucas. He's done many mods to his is250's and he knows his stuff.

Full tank of fuel in mine (without asking) and insurance. Purchased October from Lexus Edinburgh.

It’s not just about rerouted wiring but use of the “Toyota Security Key” (encryption/authentication on canbus) in newer models. Manufacturers rarely comment on these things as it somewhat creates a menu for thieves to know what they can easily take…

I heard all that too, haven’t yet been in a dealer with an RCF on the forecourt to be honest…. Every time I’m in I’ll look at an LC500 but never get a drive….. can’t quite bring myself to waste a salesman’s time when I’ve got no intention of buying.

Welcome. Nice plan. A friendly advice.. I strongly advise against BC Racing coils on this car. I had both TEIN Flex Z and BCs and the TEINs were a lot better to live with as it's quite a heavy car. Again, BOLA wheels and other replica wheels like JR or ROTA.. They are cheaper versions of genuine wheels from brands such as RAYS, BBS, WORK etc. While this may not make that much of a difference on stock cars, the poor quality of those wheels shows when you're on a lower, stiffer suspension that has less suspension travel and puts more stress on the wheels on 💩roads. They are basically easy to crack when you hit a sneaky pot hole. (Ask me how I found out. Lol) but it's up to you whether you wanna risk it. They'll be OK otherwise.. Never had a problem on genuine wheels after years of use. Bushes on sway bars don't do much of a difference at all. Coils will reduce the body roll a lot, but you ideally need uprated thicker sway bars to help with body roll.

300 year old Katana - still sharp!

Thanks. May take awhile. Bit like the adage you have got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a Prince, or in this case parse through a lot of rust, and poor maintenance to find the right car. In fairness I am a picky beggar so it's just that bit harder for me.

I'm pretty sure I can help you with this. I can tell you straight away, this is almost certainly to do with the body brace that runs across the car and situated under the rear seats. Essentially, it might need tightening or just possibly, shall we say, a little more intervention. Take it back to the dealer and advise that Lexus HQ are aware of this problem and assuming you have the benefit of the "Relax" warranty, they will fix this foc. Do not be fobbed off by your dealer because this is known about and will be covered by Lexus. The following photographs hopefully gives some insight as to where this brace is situated and as mentioned it runs across the car. If you can sense the noise is coming from the rear passenger seat on the offside, then it is that side that needs investigating. Obviously if the nearside then that's where the problem is. Conceivably it could be both sides but it is usually offside. More than happy to provide further details if you pm me.

Late to the party only saw the thread now. Interesting topic and some polarising opinions to keep it going. the other muslim countries do not take refugiees because muslims dont care about other muslims.Thats a complete misunderstanding. Jordan and egypt keep the borders closed Egypt building a fence and the pm of Jordon publicly stated there will not be one palestinian allowed. They dont want to import Hamas as they know what will happen. iran will not escalate the situation as it will cost them deerly. More interesting will be the role of Saudi and Qatar. They could play a role after the current war in rebuilding palestine one way or the other. China always is patient. They tend to fight with money instead of bullets and take the long view. Shipping prices will come down one day and if they take a side now they will immediately create enemies. Not China style. They wait and try to get the most out if the situation. They have taken over the Russian car market and are now the number one importer of russian oil. Their influence in russia has increased enormously. Its all about the economy as someone once said?

Morning All, well my 2022 RX now has the canbus plates fitted as of this morning. Re insurance quotes, whilst I was sitting in the showroom a chap picked up a 73 plate RX for a 48 hour test drive. I noted the reg and have just compared quotes . My lowest quote on a £42k 2022 RX is about £950. The quote for the brand new £70k model he took out was £536. Until Lexus encrypt the can bus and publicise that, every one affected will be faced with ever increasing insurance costs. Oh and For ES owners, my dealer mentioned they had / can adapt the plates for the ES from the RX ones. Maybe if you are an ES owner you should be enquiring.

I think CANBUS issue only exist for specific models with headlights ECU, at least that is my understanding of the issue, so later IS may be similar, but if they don't have that particular type of ECU which has undecrypted CANBUS going to the lights they are fine. IS/RC/GS being older platform I would assume they don't have this issue, even in facelift. Only later (~2018+) ES/NX/RX have it, also perhaps UX and LBX, but being lower end models maybe they didn't get such "advanced" features, also I am not sure if LC is affected by same or similar issue. Maybe being flagship LC got more advanced headlight features ahead of other models (~2016?). But again that is the issue with ES - thieves do not care how easy the car is to steal, if nobody needs it they don't need it, so there must be something in ES that interests them, or maybe there is true unknown demand for ES? Maybe middle east? who knows... As for insurers, I think they will always overprotect themselves, they do not care which particular model is vulnerable, remember they do not care about consumers, they care about making as much profit as possible. So in their mind perhaps - any Lexus 2018+ is high risk, any BEV regardless of the model is fire risk, any BMW 3 or 1 series is risk of idiot owner... so they just group those cars in these blanket black and white categories and they really don't care to find out what exactly is the issue. Insurance being mandatory it means they just found and excuse to increase their profit by 50%, why waste the opportunity? Now naive between us would think insurers are really advanced and they get expert opinions etc. because overpricing insurance would mean losing to competitor who done more research and can insure the model that doesn't have particular issue for more, thus louring the client away. That is just not the case - demand for insurance is inelastic, one is legally forced to have it no matter the cost, there isn't real competition between insurers either, they are all just in for bloodbath. So it is kind of simple - as soon as statistically significant number of claims happens on some vehicle for them to notice, they just blanked that model or brand with higher insurance, I really doubt there is much of sophistication or that they actually care what and why.

I guess it's possible, but I'd be surprised. I think the last thing the US wants is outright war in the Mid East. I say this for two reasons. Firstly, political and economic priorities are changing, notably with regards to oil. In a couple of decades or so it will have far less strategic importance, with the US being a net exporter over those decades, so will no longer have a burning need to get involved in the region. Secondly, that impacts the importance of Israel, and there are signs of that in the Abraham accords, where the US brokered deal all but hands the peace process over to Israel and the Arab signatories to sort out between themselves. I might be wrong, but to me that looks like a sign that the US wants to take steps to disentangle itself. I'd also be surprised if relations between the US and Iran are as frosty as they appear from the outside. Sure, it benefits both parties leaders to paint the other as the baddie, but underneath the religious leadership there's an ever younger, educated and increasingly secular population, that in many ways are amongst the most pro western in the region. All things considered, the further we move from reliance on fossil fuels, speciifically oil, the greater the chance of a dramatic shift in the political dynamic in the region. As for China, the above article seems to spell out why it suits them best to sit back for now. Just my opinion though.

So to get this right. You would say that if an independent country like the Ukraine does not follow Mr Putins preferences on something like Nato then the next step of invasion is perfectly fine? Well, that is certainly a new take on preserving the peace. Ditto for Taiwan I guess. They should not expect to have the right to decide theirown future? I have in the main thought that reasonable people don't have to resolve their issues by 'thumping' each other into submission and that when that is the outcome then reason has left the room and the 'madmen' are in charge.