Parrot of Doom

Don't connect directly to the battery, always connect via a fuse.

Remove it and take it to a french polisher. The colour will be identical, they spend their lives doing this kind of work.

It might be worth visiting an electrician anyway, just to check your alternator is behaving correctly.

Have you replaced the ARB links? I have a rattling sound on the offside when I go full lock left at low speed, I'm presuming it's those but as they're difficult to remove I haven't done so yet.

The headlamp link will cost you the thick end of £70 from a dealer. Or you can just do as I did, get a cheap metal skewer, bend it into shape, does the same job.

I read it all. Regardless of anyone's attitude, the only person who drove your car into a fixed post was you. I'm not surprised the manager was rude, I'd be rude to anyone who thought they were entitled to blame others for their own forgetfulness.

I don't understand your attitude. You drove your car into a post, on private property. And you don't think you're to blame? You want to watch you don't get hit with a bill for repainting the post. I know if anyone tried what you're doing on me, I'd sue them in response.

I'd do the shock absorbers at the same time. At 15 years old, the originals will be well past their best.

It's all very well having traction control to get you going, but what's more important is being able to stop. And for that, you need the right tyres (or the right aids on those tyres).

Remove metal components from the centre armrest, that should sort it. If it doesn't, I recommend getting an auto electrician to diagnose and repair.

Mine broke too, I removed it and put a Tesco Value meat skewer in its place, bent at the eyelets. Does the same job, skewer = £1, Lexus replacement = £70, easy decision.

Perhaps it's thinking that the car is moving - mine won't let you set anything other than "home" when moving.

No more than a second here, although it does crank a little slowly after a few days of doing nothing, which makes me suspect the battery might be on its way out.

Yes but we all know how engine oil can look reasonably clean after 15,000 miles, but chemically it's lost much of its lubricant properties.

I'm not sure how a dealer could "check" the condition of the car's ATF. Oil degrades with time and use but if it remains roughly the same colour as new oil, the only way to check its condition would be to send it away to be analysed. Mine is on about 150,000 now and I would put money on the ATF never having been changed, so it's another job on the list. I think I'll drain the system by disconnecting one of the cooler hoses and pumping the fluid into a bucket. Then drop the pan and change the filter.

WD40 is not a lubricant, I do wish people would stop recommending its use for anything other than water dispersal.

Worsley Autogas, just inside the M60, near the East Lancs road. They did mine, it's been perfect.

Can I just say, I wouldn't touch that with a barge pole. It just sounds wrong.

That is completely unacceptable. You are driving a premium, luxury car. Not a Ford Ka. Excepting accidental damage, there should be no rust for at least 10 years, and only then in exceptional circumstances.

I haven't tried to take mine off, but on my last car it simply required a gentle push sideways, and out they came. Other cars have them held in by plastic clips, removed by prising them away from the body.

Just get new pipes. The problem with repairing old pipes is that you have no idea how bad the corrosion is, and sooner or later it'll go again, somewhere else.

W211 Mercedes E-class's are well known for this. The problem was that certain "valeo" radiators were poorly designed so as to allow engine coolant to leak into the gearbox oil, and vice-versa. There's nothing wrong with with running gearbox oil pipes through the radiator, so long as you do it properly :) On the Mercs, the solution was to replace the torque converter and radiator only. The gearbox was otherwise undamaged. The problem made itself evident with a pulsing, or thrumming, running through the vehicle.

Well the car had its MOT today and sailed through. That said, there's a very small amount of play in the rear wheels which I'm certain is worn bushings. I'm pretty sure replacing all the above bits will make a huge difference, the car is lovely on smooth asphalt, however, the rear axle thumps over bumps in the road (front is pretty quiet). And the rear of the car is at least an inch lower than it should be.

Well I have all the bits now for both sides, just need a nice bit of weather to sort it. The shock is from Maduggo's supplier, everything else is from Lexus. The spring sits on that huge dust boot (about £60), the orange thing is some kind of bump stop I guess. I wasn't sure about buying the top mount, a circular bit of metal, but it was only £25 or so and it has a big thick rubber collar around the edge, so I thought I might as well as it'll help reduce noise getting into the cab. A new bolt for the shock is a no brainer, the old one will be corroded to hell. Total cost, about £150 for the above, so £300-ish for both sides.

As far as LPG goes, I wouldn't even consider it if those installers have no experience of the model. Let someone with deeper pockets (or a braver outlook) make the jump...