dipstick

I couldn't believe at first either. Funnily enough, I don't believe it at last too.

See http://www.scamorama.com/ Where people who receive these well known scams try to sam the scammers, if you see what I mean. Entertaining stuff. I particularly like "Silver Dorks in the Sunset" featuring Sir Marmite Luny-Binns.

Chickenfeed. The variations can be WAY more than that! Believe me, I've been down that route. Just keep ringing around till you get the best combination of price and location for you - but be VERY careful they are quoting like for like. Some dealers do NOT seem to do all the items that are in the service book in their price, so it's wise to get a full list from each. The last time I went through this I got a WAY lower price from a remote dealer than my local one. When I got there they were not going to do one major part of the service - until I pointed out they should be doing it, as per the service book, and then they were very good about it and did it free. But if I'd not spotted it it wouldn't have been done.

Mine is Yahweh Smurf. Good Lord.

Three invites in three years - have you bought a new Lex in that time? Just wondered if I'll ever get invited again, as it's damn unlikely I'll be buying new in the next year or so, short of 6 numbers on Saturday night.

There's a whole raft of things you should carry depending on which country you are going to. There's a chart here if it helps, which includes France. Just out of interest, in Italy I believe they've just introduced a law where if you break down at night and get out you HAVE to wear a fluorescent jacket or stripe! Not that in Italy I suppose that much notice is taken. Last time I drove there we got in a motorway jam; stopped for an hour - and everyone just got out their cars and had picnics on the hard shoulder and the central reservation. Bit more relaxed there I think! Anyway, the chart is here: http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/overseas..._equipment.html

Well, went to the open road day in Norfolk yesterday. It was VERY well organised and a lot of fun. I was surprised at how many cars were availble - about 6 or 7 of each model, so plenty to choose from. We were the first there (don't ask), so went out in an SC, then an LS, an IS300 and then a GS430 sport. In between times we got fed toastie things with posh stuff on (dunno what it was) and ginger pop, which I did understand. We both liked the SC, I liked the LS best (bejeepers that thing can go, 120, me?), she liked the IS300 best, and we both didn't take so much to the GS, which is ironic as I drive a GS at the minute! But the opportunity to drive all this kit unaccompanied was great, and if anyone gets an invite to another one then move hell and high water to go. The only fly was the wait for the GS430 - each drive is 12 miles around a varied road circuit. Allegedly. Someone took the car for two hours! Dunno where he went but I had it next and he'd put 85 miles on the clock! That's either serious lostedness or he took it for a business meeting to impress someone. And all the Lexus guys had gone pale and shaky with words like "nicked" and "tracker" being whispered in dark corners. I have of course NO intention of buying an SC - but then Mrs Dipstick pulled her trademark "me want" smile out, as you may be able to see if I've done this right. And my heart is not made of stone...

Isn't ChipsAway part of the RAC now or somesuch? Not used them myself but they imply they will deal with non-members and they can deal with plastic bumpers, if that's any good. See http://www.rac.co.uk/carcare/vehicle_retouch/

Have I missed something? I can't play it all - tells me I'm not in the right group to access the arcade section, for some reason, although the rest of the Gold stuff works fine. Shame, I was brought up on the original Space Invaders (ah the excitement when they released version two that had coloured strips of plastic over the black and white screen to make it even more exciting).

In the usual spirit of making myself look like a buffoon on this board, I might add that ghastly key stuck in the barrel experience happened to me on day two of my Lexus ownership. There were some very tense minutes before I realised I'd left the car in drive when I turned off the engine.

Thanks Colin mate - yes I had that plan too.

Ooh ta for the link. Looks like it's gonna be a hoot then. As I try to get past the chappy in the flat cap.

For my sins I've been invited (and am going) to a Lexus Open Road day next Tuesday at Kimberley House in Norfolk. 1) Is anyone else going so we can say..well, dunno really. 2) Not having been on one of these before, what kind of thing can I expect? Do you get more than three minutes in the cars?

I'd reply to that but I'm breathing at the same time. "Centre Host"! Wow! Almost as good as "Dealer Principal". I particularly like the added gravitas given by the unnecessary inversion of the word order in that one.

There's lots of posts in here where female receptionists at dealers are mentioned in passing - that's probably because we are predominantly blokes! Now, I understand that one cannot in this country discriminate against someone because of their s*x when applying for a job. So does anyone know of ANY Lexus dealership where they have a male receptionist? Be interesting to know the ratio - I'm guessing it's going to be 95-100% female on reception across the country and the other way round on sales. I wonder why that should be? Having said that, Cambridge has a lady service manager.

Seems to me that you get three tiers of pricing; private, dealer and Lexus dealer, the latter being the most expensive. When I bought mine from a non-Lexus dealer the screen prices were perhaps £1500 higher at the Lexus dealerships. For that money you get a Lexus dealer warranty which would probably have been better than the standard 6 month dealer "warranty" I got, some assurance that the car will have been prepped well, and with some added support from Lexus GB if there is a subsequent problem with the car or the dealer. In my case, I took the view that £1500 was not worth it for those perceived advantages, and mentally put it aside for exogenous shocks should they arise. Which they have not (yet). Parkers is likely to be pricing at standard dealer, rather than main dealer levels I would think, although it's irrelevant anyway. A car is worth what someone will pay for it, so Autotrader or similar is in my mind a better guide to starting points for real world pricing.

Spooky. My mate has just bought a TVR Chimaera and is indeed getting that kind of figure, whilst my Jag 5.3 V12 returned more like 10-12. I don't think that model is capable of returning more than 16.

Ah, thanks dobedo. Might not be the product for someone who worries if the engine goes over 2500 revs then? After all, much more than that and you can start to hear it!

Yes, as Rodders says, the central display shows everything. Faintly amusing to put the climate control on full auto and watch the icons shift about as it does its stuff. Very faintly. Not sure what you mean by "unlocking" the satnav though - try to make sure you get the latest CD (3.7) in the deal, as they're about £150plus otherwise.

Maybe that's because at least this GS owner's reaction is "what's a roll bar?"...sorry!

Welcome mate. You have the same as me - 98 R satnav GS. I've had mine a year and love it to bits. Talking of bits - you probably are on the 9k service interval? That means a new cam belt at 63k, imminent for you. For goodness sake ring around as many dealers as poss when that comes up, it's a big expensive one I'm afraid. Quotes when I did it ranged from over 900 quid (ridiculous) down to £350 odd, which is what I paid. Also don't be TOO surprised if the upper ball joints wear out around 65-70k. They might not, but it's reasonably common, happened to me. Again, ring around. Got mine for about £300 I think. Other than that, nowt should go wrong,and once those two things are done there'll be nothing other than standard servicing all being well.

Depends on what you mean by realistic speed. I reckon I probably get as good mpg as anyone here on my GS, but then I drive it like an old bloke 90% of the time, at least compared to some, I think! (I am not an old bloke, despite implications). So, to be more concrete - I tend to stick the cruise on at an indicated 56 on an A road and an indicated 70 on the motorway, thus doing a bit less than those speeds. And I get at best about 33-34 mpg doing that. Add in the 24-25 I get around town and the average comes out nearer 28-30, usually. I'm not above gunning it every so often for the heck of it. Optimax DOES make a difference for my car.

the poor man crawls on through the desert, still no water. Getting desperate. Comes to another shop. "Sorry sir, we only sell ties." Goes to next shop. "Sorry sir, we only sell ties." Gets to a third shop. "Sorry sir, we only sell ties." Now desperate, he crawls the last ten miles he has in him before the end. At last he sees a huge hotel at an oasis, with fountains, swimming pools, and a bar selling finest bottled water. He gets to the door and the doorman steps forward and says, "I'm sorry sir, you can't come in here without a tie."

Yes, we had this; our XP boxes didn't have the Microsoft Java Machine installed after they withdrew it. The Sun java implementation simply failed to work with lots of sites so we just got a copy of the MS one from somewhere and chucked it back, and now all is well.

I answered this the minute I realised what it said.