Scribe

These are becoming rarer and rarer, so we can't be as picky as we used to be. I'd definitely consider this one.

Well, it was definitely a puncture on the smart - repaired today. The tyre fitter also couldn't get the Michelin foot pump to connect to the tyres via the screw fitting, so it's not just me and I can take it back and ask to change it without appearing a plonker.

Interesting. One of my smart car tyres was also nearly flat the other day, and I swear I hadn't noticed it before. It was as if it and the Lexus one suddenly went down within about 24 hours.

Malc, they're not old or secondhand tyres, and after pumping up seem to be fine. (Touch wood veneer around the gear lever.)

I bought a Michelin double-barrelled footpump today, just to be on the safe side, but am having trouble connecting it any tyre valves (Lexus, Smart or Kia Picanto). The pressure doesn't register and air doesn't seem to go in when I pump. But I don't want to force the connector on to the valve. Anyone else had this problem?

As it's confession time:

I recently did a 500-mile round trip to Suffolk and noticed on the motorway that the steering was wobbling a bit. I thought maybe the front wheels needed balancing. On arrival, I discovered that instead of being 35 psi the front tyres were 23 and (cringe) 17. And the backs were 25. Needless to say, all was well after a pump-up. (And, despite going nowhere in traffic jams for an hour and a half, I still averaged 31 mpg).

This was the first long trip I've done in months. Is it normal for tyres to deflate after a long run, perhaps because of heat?

Thanks for all that, Chris.

I think I might need a new Battery in my remote key fob, and I've never had to replace one before. Is it a simple matter of popping it open, replacing the Battery and popping it closed again - in other words, no reprogramming necessary? And anyone know what sort of Battery it takes?

That's the limited edition Lexus Ka, I believe.

My valet key starts the car but won't lock/unlock remotely.

No.4 could be worn front suspension arms. Mine clonk a bit when cold but, strangely, are quieter when the car's warmed up. When I bought the car four years ago my mechanic found some play in the arms but the car's gone through three MOTs since then without advisories about the suspension.

George, you're talking about a Mk.2 and a Mk.3. Although it looks similar, the Mk.3 was a totally new car, and as far as I'm aware it didn't carry over any body or trim panels. It's different with the Mk.3 and Mk.4, which are essentially the same car.

That makes a total cost (including VAT) of £5,000. I'm shocked. Many of us would spend several thousand on a much older Lexus than yours and expect years of reliable motoring. I'd like to buy your wife a drink!

That's true. Most cars cost a lot to fix, period. And it's often because of the cost of parts, not the labour involved.

Nach, when I was looking for a 400 (four years ago) I could have spent more on one than I did. I looked at a 99 T-reg that had done about 120,000 but I wasn't that impressed - the paint wasn't brilliant, the bonnet struts needed replacing, there was no satnav disc and no recent service history. Then I saw mine, which was eighteen months older and had done 132,000 and was £500 cheaper, and it was obvious which was a better buy. At the time I thought I could always change it for a newer one at some point, but as time has gone on I've realised that a more recent, lower mileage one wouldn't actually offer me much for the extra money it would cost. Plus there are very few decent ones still left anyway. So I'm hanging on to mine because there's simply no alternative!

Maybe there's still a hangover from the early days of Japanese car imports to the UK (which I can nearly remember). At that time they were all small cars, competing on price against poorly-built British cars. They were very well-equipped and mechanically reliable but tended to rust and had no 'image'. In fact some of them were rather 'bling'. They were bought by sensible motorists, not enthusiasts, and there was no way that a big, expensive Japanese car could compete against a Merc or BMW in those days. I guess this is why Toyota wanted to invent a luxury brand to challenge the best of the Europeans - and, of course, to crack the American market for big limos. Wasn't the LS really designed for the US market? However, the original LS still looked like a Toyota, which may have affected people's perception of it. (Is this why Lexus made the 430 look like a Mercedes?)

Must be one of the last Mk.IIIs, then. I think the early Mk.IVs were late 1997 R-regs.

(Now you change your car details from (R.I.P. 1995)!

Nice to see you back. I'll keep an eye out for a silver/grey P-reg in Sussex. (East Sussex or West Sussex?)

Yes, it's weird. Car fired up as normal, then the electrics went berserk. Charged up Battery, all was fine again.

A silenced back end is always to be preferred (as Maggie Smith might say in Downton Abbey).

Pete, when I disconnected my Battery, charged it and reconnected at the beginning of this year, everything came on and worked fine again except that once or twice the revs dipped right down while the transmission was in Drive, and the car almost stalled. After several miles and a bit of foot-down on the gas, it stopped and has been fine since.

Is the film on the headlight glass external? My old Kia Picanto has the same problem and T-cut doesn't clear it. I've been advised to try wet & dry (???) paper with lots of water first. Anyone got any other suggestions?

As we've said before on here, the effortlessness of all that power means that you don't want to use it very often., It's just nice to know that it's there when you fancy the occasional blast (there's nothing like feeling that slight push in the back as the transmission kicks down and the revs increase).

I'm quite happy for Clarkson to run down LSs on Top Gear because the k**bs who hang on his every word will buy BMWs and leave all the Lexuses for us.

Malc, what speed does 6,000 rpm get you up to? I've never taken mine to more than about 3,500 - there hasn't been enough road.

Malc has a point. Last year my Lexus MOT had a few advisories including 'general corrosion to rear suspension components' and 'corrosion forming to offside and nearside rear sill areas.' I was disappointed but my mechanic (who doesn't do MOTs) said not to worry because the car was absolutely fine. He thought there was a new tester at the MOT station who was trying to prove himself. And sure enough, this year the car was tested at the same place but by someone different, and it passed without a single advisory.

But it sounds as if marvs's was much worse. Sad to see an old car going on its final journey - I had the same experience with a 19-year-old Volvo 121. Everything went wrong at the same time and it just wasn't worth repairing.

Ambermarine, it's a bit like 'one owner' cars that turn out to have been owned by Hertz or Budget Rent-a-Car, isn't it?

Once while I was driving through town there was a bang from behind and power dropped by about half. That's it, I thought. Big end gone, or engine generally knackered. Turned out it was a broken engine mount, replaced by my local garage for about £50. A problem I don't anticipate on the Lexus...