Lard

Sorry dunc, I just re-read that and it looks like I'm digging at you. Not the case. Just well p'd off with the law and the nanny state. :D

I've never heard such b*ll**ks. Why does it matter if a hands free is professionally fitted or not? How is looking over at a phone in a cradle and pressing buttons safer than voice activation via a headset? If this is true then it's just yet more proof that laws are made by ars*h*l*s with no inkling of what goes on in the real world.

I had I puncture on the offside rear this morning and took the IS200 to the tyre shop to get it fixed. When they got the tyre off, it was completely bald on the inside, right down to the ply. A quick look at the other side revealed that it was almost as bad and I needed two new tyres. Could this be a problem with the camber, and as I only bought the car in February and the tyres were fine then, could this be something I could get fixed for nothing? It's a '99 BTW, so probably out of warranty?

I've just thought why this (especially the scratched console) p*s me off so much: It's 'cos I need my car to be pristine for me to treat it right. As soon as little things start getting broken/messed up, I start thinking 'well, s*d it, it's only a banger.' I had this with my Mazda Xedos. They are a lovely car (not quite Lex standard), but as soon as some git put a dent in the back quarter with a shopping trolley, some other git knocked off the passenger side mirror etc. I started neglecting the old moo. In the end I had an 8-year-old 25,000 quid car that was worth 'nothing'. Screwed to buggery and neglected. I don't even allow anyone to leave junkin the door pockets now in the Lex 'cos I know that's the start of the slippery road. When the bl**dy dealer can't even respect my car,then I start getting uppity.

I rang them back and got the old 'warm and fuzzy' platitudes, an apology and a promise to fix everything. If they deliver what they say I will be a happy bunny, if not I'll be sharpening my most venomous quill and writing a review.

The CD in my IS200 got the ERR3 problem so I rang the dealers, explained the problem and was told that it was covered under warranty and I should bring the car in so they could take out the old unit, send it off for refurbishment and when the new unit had arrived they would fit it. I told them this was not good enough as I was not going to drive around with a big hold in the middle of my dash and they would have to order one first and then do the remove/refit all at once. They said they would arrange delivery of a new unit and let me know when it was in. Two weeks later I range them and they said "Oh, sorry it's been here ages, we forgot to ring you, bring it in." So I arranged to swap cars with t g/f so she could take it in to the dealers. They said it would take 1/2 an hour. An *hour and a half* (causing the g/f no end of problems with getting to a meeting) later they had 'finished'. By finished I mean they had fitted a 'new' unit, left filthy fingerprints all over the dash, inside of windscreen, Sat Nav etc. AND, and here's the icing on the cake, AND they had scratched the centre console in they ham-fisted momkey-boy mechanic efforts to get it out (I assume) and IT STILL DIDN'T WORK! 'New' unit gives an ERR3. I am absolutely fuming about this. I have spoken to them and they promised to ring me back. That was this morning. Nothing since then. And this isn't the first time they've cocked up. I'm seriously thinking of naming and shaming this bunch of incompetent a-holes who have completely ruined the image of Lexus customer care for me.

That'll be 'petrol'. Short for Petroleum. A 'gas' is not a liquid. Petroleum is.

The one in the missus's Z3 ( :o tsk tsk tsk) just goes off revs - as the revs go up the radio gets louder.

BTW if you remove the 'Radio 1' fuse you WILL lose your presets. And you might need to take it out more than once before the unit spews the discs.

Thx Gord. Got mine at the weekend and fitted 'em straight away. Very white.

It'll do what I've never done that in mine... Did you know the top speed of a lotus Elise was 129mph. Just a rhetorical question...

IF Big IF.

Surely we should be able to get them on 'fitness for purpose', especially if they know it's a common fault.

Mine (no spoiler) opens fully. And so does my mate's. I think the dealer's trying to pull a fast one.

ERR3 is the normal operating mode of the CD player in my car. This means that everything is working as usual and all 6 discs are being held for safekeeping within the unit. To further ensure that the discs are not harmed in any way, they cannot be played or ejected. :D