flotsam

They also own Churchill. I made sure I avoided all of them when I renewed. If you think about it, they spend a LOT of money on advertising. A good product should sell itself.

My 2000 Astral Black, I thought, didn't have a lacquer. But a non-lexus body shop says it does. The tiny can of touch up paint that comes with the car doesn't come with a lacquer, but you wouldn't really expect it to.

To answer my own question, Alcoa offer aluminium wheels with NO PAINT ON THEM! They claim they don't need it. " Our revolutionary, patented surface treatment won’t peel, corrode or fade so they always look good." http://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/north_ame...camo/c_home.asp I also use autoglym on my wheels but they've still corroded again.

I'm assuming you've got a MkIV, in which case you've probably only got about 4mm between the standard 16" and the calipers. I'm thinking about buying the 17" DHP wheels which should clear the calipers with no problems and would be designed with the car in mind, though they would have stiffened and lowered springs etc. Some alloys are chrome or aluminium finished without paint and these may be more resistant to corrosion. Alcoa, for example, say theirs aren't painted: https://www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/europe/en...hnical_care.asp "Alcoa wheels are uncoated. The highly corrosion resistant alloy that is used for Alcoa wheels minimizes oxidation. Maintaining the original lustre of the wheels is easy with ALclean and ALpolish, which will keep your wheels bright and shiny for years. See maintenance section for more information on ALclean and ALpolish. Corrosion Due to aluminium's natural resistance to corrosion, Alcoa forged aluminium wheels do not need to be painted. Certain environments, such as livestock hauling, can lead to corrosion. Other potentially corrosive materials include salt, highly alkaline substances and chloride compounds."

WELL, if I were a motor insurance company, I'd bribe Glass's Guide to downvalue second hand cars rapidly. In fact, so much that they would lose money as soon as you drive them off the forecourt of the garage. If I were a car manufacturer, I'd bribe Glass's too. Then I'd pay three yobs led by a fat, juvenile, balding old fart from Doncaster to air a car show where they show morons how to treat their cars as though they were in a demolition derby.

So you get free tyres and then they fail and kill you then?

I had my Lexus LS400 MkIV alloys refurbished on the guarantee by Lexus Guildford. They now need doing again but you can only refurbish so many times. Does anyone know of a solution to corrosion? I notice the corrosion is worst in the recessess where brake dust might accumulate. Would the 17" alloys that are fitted with the Dynamic Handling Pack be better, as they are a slightly different shape and the dust might accumulate on the inside? I want to swap the a6" alloys anyhow as there's only about 4mm (not a typo) between the alloys and the brake callipers which means I have to cause a fuss everytime the wheels are balanced to make sure the lead weights aren't scraped off by the calipers. Are there any other finishes/paint types which are resistant to corrosion?

I got an El Cheapo cd. It had some Toyota diagrams etc. but not many. The instructions were of the form, remove trim a, remove trim b etc. In other words, it had no diagrams or photos and no instructions. As it happens the trim came off just by pulling off. But there was no way of knowing whether one piece of trim held down another, so you have no way of knowing whether you have to remove all the trim as suggested or can miss bits to get to the part of the car you wanted to access. But it was REALLY cheap.

And why don't we uise something like the Fischer Tropsch method for generating fuel AND carbon capture? I'm waiting for the electric cars where you plug into the mains for CHEAP, CHEAP driving.

I've been using autoglym. The wax is good, in that you leave it for 30~60mins before polishing off, so there's no rush. But I wash the car once a month and it seems to need re-applying the wax each time to get water beading.

2000 MkIV 37K

The point of leather is it's supposed to last. But the downside is you have to clean and moisturise it every six months. It is just animal skin after all. These days I would have thought that modern materials were just as durable.

The closest to my experience was a fuel filter which regularly clogged in my Vauxhall Sports Hatch. I then avoided petrol stations where there was a filler truck as they tend to stir up the scum on the bottom of the fuel vat at the petrol station. I had a fuel problem with a volkswagen Golf too. The crooks at volkswagen claimed the whole system needed replacing,

I would never use an automatic polisher anyhow. I have a black LS400 MkIV. I would say it doesn't have a clear lacquer coat but I've had it in for respray and the scumbags claim that it DOES have a lacquer coat.

Just switched FROM Privilege. I paid the premium for legal cover. A scumbag crashed into the back of my car. Unfortunately didn't get any witnesses. Privilege didn't even bother sending a claim form, claimed they hadn't got the scumbag's insurance company when they'd already got back to me telling me who they were, tried to blame me with daft excuses. The assessor they sent tried to persuade me not to claim!!! Then a year later. the scumbag's insurance company SUED ME! Privilege claimed they couldn't find a lawyer, then turned up with one of their own anyway. The lawyer admitted that Privilege didn't want to take it to court (the costs were only a couple of thousand). The scumbag lawyer couldn't even spell. He said I had the right to choose the court location. Then he claimed the judiciary refused to allow me a court close to me and that I had to drive 300 miles to be close to where the scumbag lived. I can understand they don't want to spend thousands upon thousands for a court case, just to retrieve about a thousand for them, but I paid my legal cover premiums and they should have taken the loss on the chin. Switched to Groupama via Adrian Flux brokerage: 0800 505 3000 THEY WERE CHEAPER ANYWAY.

There is a way to "reduce the sensitivity". It doesn't appear in the manual but when I had an IS200 as a replacement vehicle whilst mine was being serviced, I found the manual had something about the locking of the car. I tried it and it was the same on my LS400. I'm not going to mention it as it may be a security secret. Try experimenting with the remote locking.

Sounds seriously dodgy. 56K is, as Kroebje says, nothing. Quentin Wilson was driving a MkIII with 100k and said it was still like new. If you've just bought it, I'd take it back. Mine's a 2000 with 37k, it's as new.

Yep! RBS are bankrupt and have to make an emergency rights issue to generate £10bn. "Royal Bank of Scotland may auction Direct Line and Churchill to raise cash", reports the Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle3776051.ece Perhaphs it's all those adverts. A good product sells itself, but "Challenge Churchill", "You don't have to be posh to be Prvilieged" and my favourite, "It pays to have the right insurance", is where RBS has been spending its money.

I don't believe you understand how insurance works. In the event of some chqv chav scumbag crashing into the back of your car. You have to claim of[f] your insurance and they sue the other driver. Except in this case Prvilige ***** me over because I've had such a large NCB and it wasn't worth their while for the cost of a court case. THAT'S HOW YOU CLAIM OFF THE INSURANCE OF THE CHAV THAT CRASHED INTO YOU!

Oh and the lying lawyer said in the letter, that it was advantageous to me that there were no witnesses, implying I was lying or in the wrong. Believe me, I'm not delusional. I've thought it through over and over and over. I'm being ripped off. There was another poster on this forum who also said, "yeah, I'm just changing from Privilege". Basically, Privilege is part of DirectLine which is part of Royal Bank of Scotland and their in their in trouble, having bought ABN Amro just before the credit crunch hit. RBS has the lowest Tier 1 Capital Adequacy Rartio in Europe of 4.5% which means they're the next Bear Stearns. Like Northern Rock, RBS has seen vast profits recently. In 2001 it reported a record for any UK company in profits. However, that's all been achieved by leverage. They're screwed! Don't insure with them, they're bankrupt.

Steve: Yes, I did have legal cover. The scumbag hit the rear quarter panel of my car. The lawyer has admitted that Privilege want to avoid the costs of going to court. Giblet: I meant that because I hadn't claimed in so long a time, I thought a high excess would be a good idea to lower my premiums. Mike B: It wasn't me saying what I was doing was against the highway code. It was the lying insurance company being biased. Ullevi: No. I was merely changing lanes. The scumbag chased after me and turned into me to insist that he owns the road for the next 4 million miles ahead of him. I even completed my maneouvre so the scumbag was just one of those nutters that suffer road rage against perfectly innocent drivers. Look, I've got 15 years (UNTIL THIS) with no accidents. It's obvious the lawyer and Privilege are completely biased and are lying. UPDATE: the scumbag lawyer has now set a court location 300 miles away from where I live. As I've got protected no-claims, there's no chance that it's financially worth it even with the high excess. Because Privilege were tardy and th other insurance company sued first, I should have had the right to choose the location. The scumbags have stitched me up. The lying lawyer even tried to sell this rip-off to me in the letter pointing out that my insurance premiums hadn't increased.

On my LS400, the sunroof is SUPPOSED TO LEAK. The "seal" around the sunroof is soft and allows water to drip. It's probably soft because it's a power sunroof and you don't want the motor to jam if it's a tight fit. But it's then supposed to drain away down drainage hoses from the recess that holds the sunroof.

Lexus Hull (Hessle) is your nearest. They seem OK. Another poster on this forum recommended them because they "only" charged £787 on a 126,000m service with cambelt change. However, I've been less than happy. They failed to fix leakage problems but (as with all Lexus) tried to sell me bits. That is, I asked them to fix it and they merely reported where the fault was which was impossible. In other words, they were basically saying it's not worth their bother. So now I'm trying to find a maintenance manual to fix the fault myself. I've previously had Lexus sell me windscreen wipers, pollen filters etc. that I never asked for. Make sure you get the best quality synthetic engine oil too.

Some scumbag crashed into the back of my car. Privilege said there was a "new procedure" which didn't require me to submit a claim form. They then claimed it was my fault. The incident clearly wasn't because I had completed my manouevre before the scumbag, driving at excessive speed crashed into me a good ten seconds later. After much arguing with Privilege, one girl finally offered to send me a claim form. During the arguments, the scumbag I was arguing with suggested that the road markings were merely a guide when I pointed them out, yet suggested the Highway Code was rock solid rules against me. He even realised he was being biased and said it's not as though he was favouring the other party, which he was! The assessor from Privilege arrived to OK repairs and suggested I shouldn't make a claim. But I did and got the car repaired, whereupon my full excess was demanded of over £1,000. I had a high excess because I hadn't claimed in over 15 years. Privilege made no attempt to sue the other party but instead offered them 50:50. I now find that I'm the one being sued. Furthermore, the cost of repairs charged to Privilege was less than the excess I paid. If I'd accepted the advice of the Privilege assessor and not made a claim, I would have paid for the repairs myself and my full excess would have gone to the legal expenses. The scum are clearly ripping me off because my insurance premiums are so low. Privilege are thieves and liars. The last thing you need is to pay these minimum-wage scum to rip you off and then insult you with their lame BS.

Insurance is a scam. If you make a claim for, say, £500, the insurance company will pay for repairs but will charge you more in insurance premiums for years to come, EVEN IF YOU'VE GOT PROTECTED NO CLAIMS. The protection means you get the same discount but on a higher premium anyway. In other words, the insurance company has given you a loan for the repairs which you have to pay back in years to come. The only way you can gain from insurance is if you write-off your car. But the crooks have got that covered too. They bribe the car price guide publishers to devalue cars rapidly and will only pay the book price for your car. Thirdly, you are forced by law to take insurance out. Just look at how Nu Labour have attacked small businesses with indemnity insurance where premiums have rocketed. Is it any wonder that Warren Buffet, the world's third richest man, still gets over half his profits from insurance. However, I've encountered a new twist with my insurance company, Privilege. Some scumbag crashed into the back of my car and Privilege did their best to claim it was my fault even though the scumbag was very obviously lying. They even claimed that as I was in the right hand lane of a roundabout, it was the "aggressive" lane. The assessor sent by Privilege suggested that I shouldn't claim on my policy. I did claim, however, and now it's going to court. But there's a suprise. I'M THE DEFENDANT!!!! The other insurance company are accusing me of colliding into the scumbag that collided into the back of me! The scumbag that crashed into the back of my car is claiming damages even though there was virtually nothing wrong with his bumper. Privilege also made me pay the full excess which I now find is more than the cost of the repairs to my car. Why didn't my insurance company sue them first? The answer is because I've got protected no claims and haven't claimed on my insurance in 14 years. The crooks aren't making enough money out of me! At the moment I pay only £286 for a fully comprehensive, protected policy on my LS400. I talked to the solicitors they've appointed and they're only going to make a 50-50 claim. The insurance company, as I said, kept on claiming it was my fault until I took more photos of the road etc. showing there was no fault on my part and I know I'm not delusional about who's fault it is. So instead of going for 100% liability on the part of the scumbag that deliberately crashed into me, the best I can hope for is 50-50 because my insurance company won't even attempt to claim 100% liability. I found this out from talking to the solicitors who said that they were representing the insurance company and not me; in other words, Privilege are determined to make me lose my 14 year claim free driving record! I've tried phoning up Privilege and it's impossible to get through on the usual automated telephone answering crap. The crooks repeatedly referred me to other phone numbers where there's no answer. Avoid Privilege like the plague. A good product sells itself, but they need to pay Joanna Lumley to sell their rip-off insurance.