Leaderboard

The rates are published here: NHS mileage allowance rates | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk) In summary for the NHS: The national guidance in England is 59 pence per mile for the first 3,500 miles and 24 pence per mile thereafter. This compares to HMRC published (tax free) rates of 45p per mile for first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. For the NHS rates there would be tax due on the excess payments over the HMRC published rates, but depending on mileage this would tend to zero for higher mileage drivers as more miles would then be done at the lower rate, and their overall compensation would fall within HMRC guidelines. The RCN are trying to get the rates raised, which I agree with as would any other person using their own car for business mileage since HMRC have hardly changed the rates for many years, but this should be the same for anyone that is using their own car for business mileage and not for any one particular profession.

AFAIK the NHS actually pays for private car use over the HMRC rate of 45p per mile first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter - I think something over 50p per mile now. It's the only organisation that I know of that actually pays more then the HMRC rates. I assume that the nurses getting paid that will pay tax on the excess over the HMRC rates... HMRC really need to review the figures for everyone with the significant increases in recent years running a car (not just fuel but everything else).

No they haven't. For older vehicles they are installing trackers and immobilisers and newer ones have updated firmware in the main body ECU to detect hacks - that isn't anything like implementing encryption across the entire CAN bus.

Found this on a local FB page 😀 “So my car needs to pass an MOT to make sure it’s safe to drive on roads that aren’t safe to drive on ?”

could be worse, apparently land rover & range rover owners cant even get insured because of all the theft.

I wanna think in this paragraph you're referring to the Royal family? They've been on benefits for a long time too, refusing to get real jobs. On publicly-owned utilities, I'll just say you should look up what happened with the privatised water supply in Paris for example. Also, it is not "the government", it is us (as a group of humans forming a society) who need to help those who aren't able to help themselves. A younger society (with children) ultimately benefits everyone.

Nurses are also punished when trying to park their cars at their workplace and charged and fined for the privilege. One friend has racked up over £500 in fines for parking at the hospital. They, and others are refusing to pay.

as above. It should only be used to avoid fumes in your garage or being quiet as you arrive/leave your house in the early hours. Forcing EV mode normally results in worse fuel consumption compared to just letting the vehicle do its thing. The cancelling of the mode depends on throttle, temperature, battery state of charge and speed.

I have the Levinson one in my Takumi and to be honest it is wasted on me. I have always wondered if a high spec sound system in a car is a waste of money anyway unless you are stationary, all the background noise even in a quiet car must drown out all the discrete tones and quality. Bill D.

So how did we go from Insurance companies to Banks? Look I expect this level of naivety and lack of understanding of commerce from some people. I just did not expect to find it here amongst people who are equipped to find themselves behind the wheel of a Lexus. I shall refrain from further participation .

Roll on 30th March I will take delivery of a new Lexus LC500 Convertible ULTIMATE EDITION at Lexus Swindon attended by Lexus CEO Chris Hayes. There are a total of 165 cars worldwide and only 4 Convertibles for the UK market. This will be my third LÇC My question for the forum is "Do you think this will prove to be a good Investment?" Similar to the LFA.

For those interested Car magazine has just started a long term test of the RX450h+ in Premium Plus trim.

I had a visit from the local PCSO a couple of nights ago, who was checking on a nearby car theft. Came inside and gave me an update on car security measures for our on the drive parked CT, of which to be fair I am pretty much up to speed on. The main points being the crook/disc lock being a worthwhile addition, Faraday pouch for the smart locking key fobs etc and the added deterrent of having my Catloc fitted. I said I had mixed feelings about the Faraday pouch, as I had to consider my preference to waking up in the morning after a sound nights sleep to find the car gone. Or waking up in the middle of the night to find someone breaking into the house to get the keys 😆. Even so he gifted me a Faraday pouch before leaving lol! The real bonus though, he also gifted me a Smart Water kit and window stickers and registered the Ct on the Smart Water traceable vehicle site. Apparently the Chop Shops have made it clear that Smart water treated cars will not be accepted from car thieves, as any treated parts found on premises are now resulting in an over 85% prosecution success rate. I already have put the smart water stickers on next to the Catloc stickers, and will start applying the smart water on various parts/places when the weather is a bit nicer. 😉

It's a problem with all modern cars, especially hybrids and EVs. Some EVs (Tesla and some Kia/Hyundai for example) will auto wake and charge the battery itself if it detects it going flat.

Yes they do, but the OP has an IS250 (non-hybrid).

My spin on this…… Having had people break into my house looking for keys (years ago) whilst I was in the house, I’d rather just wake up and the car be gone. End of. I don’t want some determined bar steward standing over my bed with a baseball bat asking for a ghost code. Visual deterrents are surely the best. Even better friend, the law of averages. There surely can’t be much demand for an LC, and most LCs seem to be that yucky red colour - nobody would want one of those, surely 😜

It was a short chime and a message on the dash appeared saying "key battery low".

I doubt there’ll ever be any intention to cancel the NHS it’s enshrined in the UKs DNA 👍 Malc

Exactly this plus the NHS isnt just one organisation from what I understand. While there are some guidelines that are applicable to all each trust is run as its own separate entity with its own rules and schemes / benefits for employees. Given the way things are I reckon eventually the big insurance companies will have their way and all of us will be having the same discussion about how our health insurance has reached crazy heights with them being hand in glove with big pharma.

There are some truly shocking roads out and around my neck of the woods at the moment. Two examples spring to mind immediately: Firstly, the street next to the one I live on. It's a side-street but is on a bus route. This has been poorly maintained for not far off a decade, now. It's surface-dressed (yuck) but all that done was turn a very lumpy and uneven surface into a coarse, lumpy and uneven surface. Naturally, most of that surface dressing has either broken apart or worn completely away. It was never replaced. Since then, it's had literally dozens of small potholes open up on it. One by one, the worst ones are filled in by the council - so the surface now has a rough 'patchwork quit' effect for much of it's length. It's still lumpy and uneven. Over time, some of those potholes have opened back up and new ones have appeared. The whole lot has needed ripping up and resurfacing properly for the last couple of years, now. Secondly, there's a semi-rural lane about a mile from where I live and forms part of my route home from work (well, the route that avoids the worst of the traffic). Until recent months, there was a 50yd or so stretch which genuinely resembled what I can only describe as a ploughed field and was often swerved around by driving on the opposite side of the lane when possible. I first complained to the council about it's deteriorating condition at least four years ago but was told "it's up to standard". 🤷‍♂️ For a tractor or monster truck maybe, but not a road car. Fortunately that's now been resurfaced properly. However, there's a good quarter of a mile stretch shortly before this which now has now become a slalom-course for motorists. Random holes have been opening up in places. So, the only real way to navigate it in relative 'smoothness' is to drive with a combination of your passenger wheels literally on the white line before the soft verge, and sometimes with your offside wheels just over the centre line markings.

Just a quick update my little indie has checked all discs,drums and pads nothing wrong with them , did say there was a lot of dust/debris which he has cleared out and also put lubricant on so to run and test for now , best part was he noticed one of my AFS sensors had snapped although the sensor was fine so he popped some weld on and reset the code now got working AFS and no error , he did say one of the TPMS sensors was not registering so looking at getting them replaced again something they are happy to do. So going from needing front pads or as I suspected, a clean,some repair work and a general check underneath for suspension etc was all that was required. Total charged £35 , and nothing else to report they said . Well happy with that and with a local indie I can trust. Did ask if he could replace the TMPS sensors and reprogram he said that should be ok so probably get all four changed. Will be going to local Lexus for a battery check and possible an alignment on the steering , car pulling on slightly to the left which just needs a little correction, read on the forums that owner took their car to Lexus and was only charged £80 to calibrate and reprogram the rear steering... oh still love driving the car every day glad I bit the bullet and went for it

I reckon the government should do more in regulating and keeping insurance companies in line - since it's a mandatory requirement for motoring. Not that it should be 'free' or anything - it absolutely should not be. Motoring isn't mandatory, but as a first world free country, the right to travel freely is important and as some have mentioned, let's face it, most people on the road aren't 'car people' or enthusiasts, but simply have no better or more economical way of transporting their families or self across long, tedious routes and distances. So owning a car isn't always a nice to have luxury although it is for some of us. As for the NHS charging its staff.. that is awful, but I have to wonder how useful the unions are [ever] [in general] that despite making a lot of noise and money from membership, haven't achieved much in that very real, everyday issue that costs a lot of hard working key workers a tonne of money and frustration in simply trying to come to work everyday. But if you are publicly funded and have no obligation/motivation to make a profit, or be accountable for poor management decisions (such as outsourcing everything for sheer convenience) then what do you expect? Their biggest problem is putting healthcare people in charge - who are experts in health care and high in empathy, but not experts in balancing books, strategy or a business mentality. They shouldn't mix the two, or you get people over spending in the wrong areas out of 'empathy' with no real concept of the impact down the line and that's what we see all the time. No amount of government throwing money at the NHS will make a difference (before someone inevitably blames the tories). It's a structural problem and until they can straighten it out, I hate to say it, but it's only continuing to make a case for privatisation. And I don't say that as some stuck up rich guy, I'm definitely a beneficiary of the NHS and would probably be screwed without it. But service user or not, my need and want for 'free healthcare' is no reason for highly skilled key workers, in stressful jobs, to have to keep turning up to be treated like crap, paid too little or laid off..

Had a free-ish weekend so spent a few hours fitting some new rear discs/pads and wheels to the Lexus. I picked up some Tesla Model 3 wheels with 4 almost new Michelin Pilot sport 5's on for a steal, I quite like the design of them without the standard wheel covers, fitted the style I was after on this car. The tyres are 235/45/18's slightly bigger than I'd have wanted, but couldn't pass up on the deal. The ET on the wheels are slightly better than standard, the rear may benefit from 20mm spacer to get them perfectly in the arch, but for now I feel they look far better! Reason for doing the rear discs was after a trip up to my brothers I noticed the rear left was very hot, thought it must be the slider pins. Turns out the slider pin that usually causes issues was perfectly fine, fortunately someone has definitely looked after the car in the past. I left the bottom pin in place, cleaned and applied plenty of new grease, the top slider on both sides I replaced with a new pin and boot. The left caliper piston had been pretty tough to push back in, I attempted to free it up as much as possible without actually taking it out, after a short trip with the new set up I noticed the disc still get very hot, so the piston's definitely sticking. New rear caliper is on its way, gives me a reason to change out to rear lines for a braided set I got with the car and to get some new fluid in the lines, hoping to have that sorted this weekend. Fair to say the old discs had served their time 😄 The next issue to sort with be a CEL I've sporadically had since owning the car. Of recent its been a P0420, but has also been a P0137 both for Bank 1, sensor 2. After doing a bit of research it could well be a leak prior to or around the downstream sensor and my mid pipe to cat exhaust flange isn't looking great at all, for how well preserved the underside of the car is, the exhaust flanges have taken a beating haha. Thinking it may need to go to an exhaust shop to get them to cut and weld on 2 new flanges and the cheaper option, or I get a custom mid pipe made at the same time. That being said the cars driving well with the new alloys/tyres on, it's already eliminated a pulling to the right I had with the old alloys. Still going strong at 157,000 miles!

I can double check. But as far as I am aware when you work in the community, the role requires you to have a car as you do around 4 - 5 visits a day. The only thing you can claim back from the NHS is the money you spend on fuel. I don't know what the exact rate is but they pay this out based on the no of miles done. Unless this is what you are talking about too and you're saying the fixed rate they pay is not for fuel only but for personal car usage? Even so the rate per mile has stayed the same for several years. I remember them complaining about how bad they were hit at the peak of the energy crisis. The NHS do not cover any additional costs like insurance (they have to buy business insurace which costs more) or maintenance. So they would often end up being out of pocket on an already not very high salary.

The Lexus dealership I use replaces the batteries in both keys on every service. And as these batteries only cost pence, then one can always replace them oneself every six months (if one wishes) just for peace of mind. Think of it as 'preventive maintenance!'

You need a physical deterrent - none of the immobilisers etc will prevent them damaging the car before they realise it's a non-starter. Make sure your vehicle is too much risk to touch vs others in the area. Locked garage with something else in front, bollards, etc etc.

Just because your vehicle wasn't part of the recall it doesn't mean you couldn't have an unrelated one off fuel pump failure. If it got to the point where warning lights were displayed, and errors codes generated, then your dealer will hopefully have an idea on the cause and look to fix it - if you have had a Lexus dealer service in the last 12 months then you Relax warranty should be covering any issue related to the engine or fuel system.

Just to add a few variables: Throttle position, road gradient/rolling resistance, wind direction, temperature/weather conditions fuel tank full or not, passengers in car, etc, etc… As @rayaans said, just let the car do its thing, but if you really want to ‘overthink’ it https://mag.toyota.co.uk/hybrid-driving-tips-for-best-fuel-economy/

Depends on a multitude of factors. Let the car do it's thing. No real benefit to using EV mode apart from if you want to travel in stealth

I just found this on the US forum which sounds exactly like what happened to our car last week. https://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/94700-my-fuel-pump-issue-~-rx-450h/ Have sent a copy to Lexus MK for their information. JBP

I feel the insurance companies ( and finance institutions often ) hold general public over their barrel and there’s no Ombudsman or Govt Control that’s effective to protect us all against the potential greed of some ……. sure some insurers are having a bad time financially probably but others are probably doing very well indeed, too well maybe ……. that’s their Management and Board for the Shareholders ……. poor judgements often too in risk assessment …….. and it might be that some Lexus drivers are indeed poor risks …… their driving skills, easy theft cars, anti-social areas by where they live …… and more ……BUT the oft feeling by very many is that we are simply being ripped off …… and that’s a bad feeling to have and some Ombudsman / Authority whatever should be taking due notice to investigate why and suggest remedy ……. Sitting on their backsides just won’t cut it I’m afraid …… a revolutions a’coming 🥵 Malc

Thanks. It's very frustrating. Be careful of sending messages blind though. My recipients get "what do you want" at the other end lol. Might investigate the beta version.

They say things come in threes. I hope the third is of the Good Luck variety!

Itll be the injector or fuel pump. Had the injector on mine but was sorted under warranty

Hi all This has now been claimed Thanks

According to the online brochure the NX 350h has a 10 speaker Pioneer Audio System.

That was for the series I NX which had three audio grades. The current NX only has two grades, both good quality with separate amps and a sub.

That part is not allowed on this forum, please remove 😀

Well….I do Stephen! I never let my tyres get below 3mm. Apparently that’s the point at which performance deteriorates rapidly. On the other hand, my annual mileage is so low that the problem of new tyres may not be my problem!

Aircon drainage blocked?

Are the drains at the bottom of the door blocked?

Cannot see anything wrong with engine bay... not that engine bay would be telling anything about the maintenance of the car anyway...

I don't think there's anything missing. Mine looks exactly the same.

Climate control doesn't sound quite right to me. I have always just leave mine on Auto (with A/C on) and all vents open. I point the side vents to the side windows and the centre vents towards each other in the centre of the car and slightly up (unless I went it to my body). Never felt anything blowing unintended on my body that way but the Auto does what it needs to in order to maintain the set temperature. I generally set it to around 20C in warm weather and 18C if it gets very hot outside. In cooler weather around 22C and if it's really cold might up it to 24C for a while. There are some settings for climate control to do with how strong the fan works at (mines left on default) which if someone has altered it may play a part. Also when the car is in Eco mode that puts the climate control in an Eco mode too (automatically). It's more powerful in Normal and Sport modes. There is also the S-flow button that controls whether the rear of the car gets air through to it or not - worth reading the manual for all of that. The mpg sounds spot on and so everything with the engine / hybrid sounds like it's working as it should. There are a few averages you can look at for consumption. Each time you restart the car, per fill up and over all time (since a reset). These can be displayed on the instrument display by scrolling down the different windows but not all at once. Also the display can be customised to show the different averages (they are not all there by default)). You'd need to read the manual to decide which averages you want to display. I set mine up when I first got the car - did an overall reset - and haven't touched them since, just scroll up and down to see what I want to. DAB takes a bit of working out - again best to read the manual (a couple of times) to work out how to get the channels you want programmed in. It works in Ensembles (collection of stations) so you select an ensemble and then a station from the ensemble. The BBC national radio stations are all on one ensemble. Once you put one of those on your favourites it will find it anywhere in the country. Also there is a useful FM link function too (I think that needs switching on in the audio setup somewhere) which for the BBC national stations means that if the radio loses the DAB signal as you drive around it will switch to the FM signal for the station and back to DAB when the DAB signal comes back - all seamlessly. That way you don't get DAB drop outs (which are common otherwise, particularly in hilly areas did to DAB not having the same coverage as FM.

They are correct - It either has a fault and throws up an error on the dashboard or it is fine - there isn't any health status like a smart phone unfortunately. As part of a dealer service there is a hybrid health check which will warrant the battery for 12 months / 10k miles (whichever happens first). Even if you don't purchase from the Lexus dealer, or doesn't have full Lexus history, get a HHC done as part of the sale and your battery will be covered, which you can renew yearly until the vehicle is 15 years old. https://mag.lexus.co.uk/lexus-hybrid-health-check-2/ Not much else to look out for - if it's been sitting on a forecourt for a while the 12v battery may need replacing. High oil consumption due to cylinder wear - difficult to check for when just viewing a vehicle. If you purchase one then consider getting the EGR valve cleaned to avoid any future head gasket issues.

Excellent, thanks for that I've been levering the dam fob the wrong way, mines type A yes it slides forward, great stuff.

UK government “You must buy an electric car!” UK Insurers “We don’t provide cover for electric cars” What time is the number 15 bus due?

As long as the car is covered under relax, you will pay the service cost regardless, plus any not covered items eg wear and tear. Any additional work covered under Relax warranty will be parts and Labour FOC. Of course any pre existing failed items before the Lexus service started, may not be covered. Think of it as getting your car up to scratch, then getting a year on year warranty with every service. To be fair not many cars stack up to CT's reliability in the yearly ratings. It's always been there or thereabouts. Perhaps why Lexus are prepared to stand by them for 10yrs, while benefitting from the service income.

Only if wear and tear items need replacing - e.g. wiper blades/rubbers, bulbs, brake pad/discs, tyres etc. Anything that is covered by Relax and found during a service would be covered (provided you have Relax coverage to start with - i.e. you cannot have no warranty, take it for service and expect existing faults to be fixed, only once you have a clean bill of health would the 12 month warranty be issued).

I'm in a very similar position to OP (also with a 2017 F Sport). This will be my first Lexus service, although last year the car was serviced with Lexus, so it has the 12 month Relax warranty. Let's say the service itself uncovers that additional parts and thus labour are needed - stuff that is covered by the Relax warranty. Would these parts and labour be covered under the warranty itself, or are any problems that are detected during service not covered under the warranty? In other words, are out of pocket expenses beyond the service cost itself possible? Thanks!