rayaans

The problem with Waitrose is - every time I've been ive noticed no difference in quality of goods compared to Asda/Tesco or Lidl. My Mercedes regularly goes to the independent - Im not paying £500 a service for a car worth £3k! However, I have noticed that every time I get the Merc serviced, the seats are grubby, the carpets are grubby (they're grey!) and even if I put plastic on the floor and seats beforehand, they manage to get their fingers everywhere else! Not to mention the scratches on the wheels when changing tyres and inevitable corrosion on crap Merc wheels afterwards. Always manage to get scratches near the bonnet too! There are 3 recommended independents near me but Ive been to them all and can't see why people go there - you just get your "pristine" car dirty - the damn oil doesn't come out of the carpets now! On a side note - Lexus quoted me £750 for 2 majors and a minor on an IS300h and 2 MOT's included. That works out £250 each year including the hybrid healthcheck and wash and vac - no extra bits The cheapest ive got for 3 services around here by an independent is £500. Id rather just have the full Lexus services done for £250 extra (minus MOT cost)- works out only £100 more a year and it'll go in expenses anyway.

Yep thats spot on - actually the cruise range is calculated based on current MPG. Travelled 340 miles to Gloucester and back - cruise range was showing 349 miles at first - when I got to Gloucester it was showing 223 miles. When I got back home it was still showing 60 miles! lol

I'd make sure he will be using 0w-20 oil for that price, that grade is quite expensive. Yup I think 5l of castrol is £60

I wonder if roadside assistance is handled by the same company as I called 2 months ago as I haven't received the wife's card for the joint policy. Still nothing - reminds me, I should have a rant down the phone at them tomorrow

Its exactly 25 miles on my RX450h. Ive done 420 miles on a tank and the low fuel light came on so the RX can do 445 miles on one tank. BTW it doesn't take into account whats in the reserve - Lexus systems are super cautious!

Yeah urm I wouldn't do that - you'll have to pay for the Hybrid health check each year, otherwise the hybrid warranty is VOID. The reason I choose Lexus servicing is because they've taken good care of my car - no chips or scratches anywhere. I dont trust independents - Ive been to many and they touch everything with dirty fingers, oil all over the carpets etc etc - every single independent ive been to has done it!

I wouldn't assume a central sipe would make a huge difference to straight line stability in all honesty. You have to understand that some things are nothing but marketing gimmicks Id wait for the tyres to come - they should be fine I ordered 4 Michelin Latitude Tour HP's which I had fitted by Lexus Bradford for £50 total and there's no difference compared to other advertised ones. They came in 2 parcels btw.

Neither - go for the Dunlop sport blureponse - best tyres for the car...period

I ordered from Tyreleader - no issues whatsoever. Best method of contact is email - they respond quite quickly. Sometimes their pictures are a bit odd, if you know exactly which tyres you ordered and should be getting, youll probably get them!

Its worth telling the dealer that if the issue is not fixed - you will NOT be paying for the labour or any parts. They won't mess about then

Update - well it appears the log book hasn't arrived today. Chester say they need 24 working hours to prep the car after the log book has been received. Now I was supposed to collect on Friday 28th August. Due to Monday being a bank holiday and Tuesday being 65 plate day, I'm going to have to pick it up on Thursday now :(

Yeah I guess so. Depends on the total package of course! I think Im going for White too. So it appears that Mesa red makes a comeback on 4RX, Vanilla Mist and Velvet Black carry on, Mercury grey, Arctic Pearl, Burgundy red, Atlantic blue and the Brown colour have been removed. So all in all - colours are F-Sport white, Sonic White, Caviar (US name for the metallic black), Autumn Shimmer (US name for the new brown), Sonic Titanium, Mesa red, Nightfall (US name for blue), Sonic Silver and Vanilla Mist. BTW has anyone noticed the "CUSTOMIZE" option on the drive mode select? Looks like we can change the settings! Also, it looks like Active Stabilizer is only available on 450h F-Sport, not 200t Taken from clublexus:

Yeah I did. Im hoping the spec in Japan is different. Taking HUD off of a vehicle when it's standard fit on F Sport atm is risky business. It's something that people would miss the most too

Yeah it's a load of bs. Insurance companies can't say that you can't go to a Lexus Approved Bodyshop. You have to pay £250 or so on top of your excess but it's still the better option

Worth noting that every Lexus is tested in a wind tunnel to help with reducing wind noise. Lexus have their own facility which they showed off in an RCF video. Never had an issue in high wind with the IS. The IS has a brilliant chassis and is very stable at speed so frankly, I don't believe you. Sure you're alignment wasn't off?

2016 Lexus RX will make its European debut in the Frankfurt Motor Show along with the refreshed Lexus GS. Other SUV's to watch out for include the Jaguar F-Pace, Bentley Bentagya and Maserati Levante

Using Rain X gives you a false sense of security as it makes the glass seem clear whereas the conditions are totally opposite. The thunderstorm last Saturday on the M1 was atrocious, I had my window sealant on and could see everything yet, I still slowed down. Visibility may not be an issue but tyres can't see, they can only adhere to the surface and rely on the driver to adapt to the conditions. Now if you removed that sealant and drove in the same conditions, you'd understand exactly how heavy the rain was. 70mph in a modern car is safe in the dry - heck I go at 100mph in my RX with one hand on the steering wheel. But if its wet, you aren't going to stop anywhere near as quick as you would in the dry and that makes all the difference so you need to reduce your speed. It doesn't matter if you're David Cameron or John Smith, heavy rain means reduce your speed. If you're having traction issues, it definitely means you need to slow down.

I should mention that my wife's Merc had the DPF issue too. When they say its completely blocked - its basically a load of bull - ie they're trying to get you to fork out a lot of money. Merc tried it on me for £995, I said no and went to an independent who stuck some sort of additive in the fuel. The Mercedes manual strictly says - "don't use any additive". Now I know why - it makes the car do a forced regen - tonnes of smoke coming out the exhaust etc etc. Loads of heat too. After it was done, the mechanic just reset the light and it hasnt come back. Now, if you're DPF is clogged with Ash which can't be burnt off, thats a different story!

So the Saturday gone, I went to Gloucester for a family wedding with the family of course, so 5 people in the car once again. Whole trip was done in Sport mode. The computer was showing a range of 349 miles on a full tank. Now Gloucester is 169 miles from where I live so did 338 miles altogether on Saturday. Well, when I got home, I still had a cruising range of 60 miles showing on the computer. All in all, I ended up doing 420 miles on one tank before the low fuel light came on yesterday at which point I filled up. MPG was showing as 32 mpg on the motorway which is great tbh for a car of this size

But the wider tyres get the power down in dry weather and is essential for ultimate grip.

In a torrential downpour, yes it is. It doesn't matter how much experience you have. I'm sure Niki Lauda didn't crash in Germany and say "I didn't have enough experience" Tyre sizes are fine. BMWs and Mercedes use similiar tyre sizes. Something like the X5 has massive 295 tyres

honestly depends on what tyres you have - some have extra wide sipes to clear the water - eg bridgestone potenza whereas the factory fit bridgestones have 4 very small sipes which obviously wont clear as much water. But yeah 70mph in very heavy rain is a bit stupid - I wouldn't try that in any car. In fact - I went to gloucester on Saturday. Came back at 7pm and the traffic was flowing at 50mph even after the 50mph average speed check had passed Didnt you hear the traffic news yesterday? White BMW X6 crashed - ended up facing the wrong way during heavy downpour on the M62. I would bet a rabbit the driver was going 70mph or faster!

Really? Must have been loaded to the gills with options then. The XE I had had literally no padding in the armrests - felt like leather had just been put straight on top of plastic. It doesnt sound like a big issue until you drive the car for more than half an hour at which point it becomes frustrating. I also found the A-pillar very restrictive and the back seat were useless, not in space but the amount of foot space you get. My kids were complaining in the back (my kid has size 11 feet and is 6 ft 1) and thats not a good sign. He fits fine in the IS though. Ill be honest, I wasn't that astounded by the handling - OK its good but then so is everything else in the segment. Not a fan of the rear either - been designed by another person from the one that did the front.

M135i or perhaps M235i would be the only option being RWD. A45 is OK but benz customer service is absolutely shocking! They just dont care after the sales are complete.