Claire G

Name (first name & last initial): Claire G Region: Berkshire, UK Age: 30 s*x: Female Car Make Owned: Lexus GS300 Sport (MkII) 1. Are you single or married? Married 2. If yes to number 1 do you have kids? If so how many? 2 kids under 5 3. What type of activities do you do for fun in your leisure time? Drive, family stuff, socialising 4. Do you consider your self liberal or conservative? Liberal 5. Describe you feelings towards the importance of money v. family? Family first, but money's a necessary evil to maintain a good stamdard of living 6. Do you feel that luxurious possessions improve your social status? No, only other people's perceptions of your social status 7. Please rate the following on a scale of 1-10, 1 being very low, 10 being very high and 5 being average: Mercedes-Benz: Quality 7 Value 6 Fit/Finish 7 Performance 8 Lexus: Quality 7 Value 8 Fit/Finish 9 Performance 7 Toyota: Quality 7 Value 8 Fit/Finish 7 Performance 7 Acura: Basically a Honda, right? Quality 7 Value 7 Fit/Finish 7 Performance 8 Audi Quality 6 Value 6 Fit/Finish 6 Performance 7 BMW Quality 6 Value 4 Fit/Finish 5 Performance 8 8. What do you feel the most important feature in a car is (Price, Safety, and Style etc.) and why? Styling is what first attracts me to a car, followed by price - if I can afford it, I'll look into safety levels etc and make sure I'm happy with them 9. Describe your general feelings toward the Lexus brand? I'm quite loyal to the brand and would consider a Lexus first before other brands. This is due to the fact I'm only likely to buy a Japanese car and I've been impressed with what you get as standard versus other manufacturers 10. What words come to mind when you think about Lexus and their brand image? Quality, Style, Unique 11. How do you view Lexus v. their main competition (BMW, Mercedes, etc.) in quality, value, fit/finish and brand image? Although a lot of people rate mercs and beemers above Lexus, I've always been disappointed by their overall quality, the attitude of the dealerships and the fact you have to pay so much more to get a decent spec (cost of additional extras) 12. What is the main purpose you use your luxury vehicle for? (i.e. work, travel joyriding etc.) Work and family life 13. If you do not own a Lexus would you consider purchasing one? Why or why not? 14. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being very low/no commitment, 10 being very high and 5 being neutral, please rate your commitment to the Lexus brand. 9 15. What factors/incidents would cause you to switch brands of cars? If the dealers/manufacturer get too complacent or quality standards fall

You do get P&C badges in some supermarkets. I'm with Lexi1 on this. When I don't have the kids, I park as far away from the entrance as possible to minimise chances of car being whacked etc. When I have the kids I try and park in the P&C bays as it's loads easier. Personally, think that people should be fined for parking in disabled and P&C bays when not entitled to do so. As for chilling, guess Adie you don't have kids or disabilities?! . . . . . . Can you tell I had a ***** time trying to get parked up at nightmare Asda today?!!!

Welcome to the Club! Perhaps if the garage have bashed your wheels (as the scratches may indicate), they might have knocked off a wheel weight? Best to go back and get it sorted!

Blimey!!!! Glad you and your good lady aren't worse injured and hope the insurance sorts eerything else out quickly.

Got my invite to go to the launch day in Herts - can't wait!

Pleeeeeaaaaassse don't park in disabled or parent and child spaces unless you qualify. It really :tsktsk: me off if I'm with my dad and we can't get a disabled space (he's a badge holder) and he has to struggle to get in and out of the car as there's not much space. As for parking in the parent and child spaces, grrrr. It's probably because people park there when they shouldn't, that cars get scraped!!! Have you tried getting a toddler and a baby in a car seat out of the car in a normal sized spot?!?!?! Please be more considerate

Would like to see the Chinese State Circus. If you liked that you'd probably like Cirque du Soleil too -- saw their tour 3 years ago and it was amazing!

It still irritates me that someone with a MkI 1.0 Ford Fiesta pays less car tax than me, when my cars emissions are likely to be lower!!!

Not had a problem with my MkII GS300 Sport <touches wood, crosses fingers very quickly> and haven't heard of any reliability issues regarding the engine

Yep, I agree. I'm sat on the sofa, laptop balanced on one leg, baby balanced on the other!

The job centres won't let you place ads stating 'hard working' or the like, as it's discriminatory

I've owned: An old MkI Ford Fiesta An old MkII Ford Escort K-reg Seat Ibiza GLX (sold to get money towards a deposit on a flat) Shared an M-reg Vauxhall Cavalier with then boyfriend now hubby Shared a K-reg Honda Prelude VTech Got a new job and my own Y-reg IS200 Sport Latest motor is a '99 Lexus GS300 Sport . . . Hubby's got an Accord Aerodeck and wants a Mazda Bongo Friendee!!!

Best of luck. I keep thinking about being my own boss, but am not brave enough!

I work in IT (don't laugh, I know it's not a good industry for tecchie duffers like me :mat: ) as a marketing manager. I've been a CIM Affiliated Professional for the past 2/3 years, but even my certificate is dated April 1st (April Fools Day)

Get some advice from an IFA who can advise on the differing mortgages available (capital repayment, interest-only etc). When we bought our first place, we had to overstretch ourselves to get a foot on the ladder. To ensure we had some respite if interest rose, we got a fixed rate mortgage for 3 years. We then knew exactly where we stood and knew we would (hopefully) have annual pay rises to help costs. We did struggle at first and I wouldn't necessary say that was the best way of doing things, but it was the only way we could do it at the time, and we were both fed-up living at home!

No, not going through the night yet Still, she'll grow out of that....won't she?!

Do any of you make use of www.linkedin.com? It's a 'networking' site which I've recently started using it and am finding it really good - thought it may be of benefit to other LOCers for business contacts etc.

Happy Birthday petal!

Only just had the chance to do this as have been up to my armpits in bottles and dirty nappies. Still, never too late to be a baby bore :D ... Here's a couple of snaps of our new(ish!) arrival, Katie: http://tinyurl.com/3ve9m Thanks Matt McNally for sorting this for me, my technical capabilities only stretch as far as me being able to switch on my laptop :mat:

Invisibilty cloak - very convenient for going past speed cameras!!

The aftershaves hubby has that I really like are the Hugo Boss dark blue one and Clinique Happy. He doesn't wear them often though, so bottle last a bloomin' long time!

1999 T-reg and got just over 73,000 miles on the clock.

For as long as I can remember my dad would only have Fords (apart from one Citroen Diane). Have been trying to persuade him to buy Japanese for years and he bought a Mitsubushi SpaceWagon which he loves. . . . . No accounting for taste really!

You must own the insurance company...right?!?!?! £300 is brilliant

Am not doing the lottery this week with my luck - would you believe someone's now dinged my car in Sainsbury's car park :tsktsk: :yack: Some nice person has used their car/trolley or whatever to leave a small dent ands scrape on my drivers door. I am NOT best pleased