abs66

It wasn't just him if the reports are correct. other exec allegedly did the same. I can see the board meeting now, one exec turns to another and says by golly I think now would be a prudent time to sell my shares. the other exec says by jove you might be right old chap. Another exec asks "any other business?" "No, it was just about our losses over the last quarter and the possible effect on share price that's all" was the reply! I wonder does that sound about right or should I get real?

Well she is off the road as of next Thursday when the current policy runs out and I've decided as I will have 24/7 use of the taxi Im going to rent I will let my LS go to a new home if I get an offer I can live with. I will just have to save up and get another one next year.

I'm sure one of our members from some other country said on here somewhere that his government supplied at a price a basic insurance and that private companies would sell you extra cover if you want it. Somewhat vague I know and bad punctuation as well, can't type so well when frustrated!

Yes surely that is insider trading even the news reports hinted at it. It hacks me off that ridiculous insurance prices are causing me to have to sell my car and people like the tescos lot are making huge profits they denied the rest of their shareholders. Hopefully someone decent and with a good postcode will give my LS a new home. Fingers crossed they get a realistic insurance demand.

I'm right with you on this one Malc, I mean us LS drivers have got to be a low risk and a lot of the cars are not a massive value. I suspect we would need a chunk if money or access to money in order to satisfy the authorities we are bona fides insurance company. Power to the people lol

Anyway, if anyone knows someone looking for 97 model please feel free to pm me. I know it sounds strange but I would feel better knowing it was going to a good home so to speak.

Yes I've noticed the prices creeping up round here too. lets face it greedy companies are just that, greedy. The tax is on petrol far too high, I've spoken to American friends who are gob smacked at the price we pay for fuel and want to know why we don't have our own revolution! I hope the domestic energy companies don't think we haven't noticed that they put up gas and electric prices by 15% just in time for a cold winter and trumpet that they are dropping them by 5% just in time for the warm weather! Whoopi doo! Just how arrogant are these people! If I hear one more well off person tell me we are all in it together , I will scream! I know we have drifted off topic but somehow it feels like its all connected.

Well I know its obvious I'm hacked off but I assume I'm not the only one who feels violated by these thieves. At least in Turpins time they had the decency to wear a mask and admit they were thieves! Its not just the insurance companies hiding behind lots of legal mumbo jumbo, the banks are as bad if not worse. Never mind the journalists, it should be insurance companies and bankers that are dragged by their meat and veg to stand trial for blatant theft. It seems that since the recession started they think we haven't noticed that the have jacked the prices up way more than any of their excuses, sorry reasons explain. The bankers were given even more money after the bail out to lend out to people which of course they have snatched from the tax payer and added into their balance sheets without making the loans and told share holders "look how much lovely money we have earned, time for a lovely big bonus for me please" it makes me sick. You cant beat a good rant can you. I have been phoning round and none of them can explain the massive price hike in my case. I have made no claims the cars value isn't that much and its not a bad postcode. I reckon some of the false claims being made by people for whiplash after a staged accident is just purely an effort to be able to afford next years insurance quote by getting a few grand compo !!!!

Thanks for all the info guys, its much appreciated. Mike with regard to that article you posted a link to, that may well explain a few things as i am smack bang in the middle between Manchester and Liverpool. The fact that I could leave my car open at night and it would probably still be there in the morning is probably irrelevant to insurance companies. Every time I see am article or news report about the reason insurance is going up, I just see an Excuse to squeeze more money out of us poor motorists. I've had loads of quotes now and none have got down to what I consider a reasonable amount so I'm going to call it quits on the Lex for the time being. I'm going back to taxi driving so I will have a vehicle of sorts to get about and I think I will take this opportunity to save up for a later model a 99 or 2000 maybe a 430. She who must be obeyed is right, a lot of people are making sacrifices at the moment and things should eventually pick up enough for me to have another LS and I will for I have been bitten by the bug. Never have I completed long journeys with no fatigue before, once getting in with a bad back and getting out with the bad back gone!! I will have to go and try and work out how much she's worth now as i really hadn't been intending to sell this at all. Any suggestions always gladly received. She's taxed for another 4 months I think and MOT'd till mid November later this year and just had a service. 97 P reg I think the number plate may well be worth a few quid to someone. A sad day for me, but I will be back. Pete

Thanks for the info Mike I will check that out. I know what you mean re us being cash cows, I wish all of us normal folk would just stand up as one and say NO we've had enough stop taking the pee.

I also have had no response from emails asking why the hike. I will try Adrian flux and see what they say. The info about 1st Jan 2012 price increases tend to reinforce my belief that its just a greedy price hike rather than a reaction to circumstances outside their control. maybe I'm just bitter and twisted about being ripped off all the time. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

Not tried saga yet but AA were not cheap at all in fact I've never ever had a good quote from the AA to be honest. I always do the ring round every year as I believe a few hours work can often and have in the past deliver considerable savings. If you work out the amounts saved sometimes against the hours required to find them you could effectively be paying yourself £30- £40 per hour! Well worth the effort. I have reluctantly come to this decision but I will try a few more even if only to get more info about the price hike. Fingers crossed for a miracle, failing that its Auto Trader I'm afraid. :(

I see it now, thanks. It comes up on the middle top on my screen, I must be going blind as its clear as bell when you know where to look...doh!

Well the day has finally come where I will soon have to say goodbye to our much loved family LS. I thought petrol prices or some massive repair cost would do the job of removing me from the driving seat but no, it is the thieving gits at insurance companies that have done the job! The car runs well, just sailed through another MOT so I was looking forward to another year of comfort and smugness then the letter came Your insurance runs out on such and such a date and here is the renewal price. Several minutes passed whilst I recovered contemplating for a minute whether it was Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis that hit me! I recovered enough to realise that most insurance companies spell loyalty "S.T.U.P.I.D" and if I shopped round I would surely, as I have in the past, find a better deal. Many hours later I sat at the computer with a sore jaw, not from Tyson or Lewis but from it hitting the desk every time a quote came through. At this point, my better half thought she best take our 2 year old out for a walk as there was a danger she would be learning all sorts of new wonderful words to repeat to Granny next time she saw her! Now I appreciate that the insurance companies are taking a hit due to the scum bottom feeders that are touting for business re you not watching where you are going and finding someone to blame before your ladder hits the ground! But we are told that those claims push our premiums up by about £40 per annum so an increase is understandable though most of us are not happy as we know that the Insurance companies themselves help fuel the whole blame culture. Makes you wonder how many Claims handling companies are actually owned by insurance companies doesn't it! Also I understand that 3 points on your license can add another 5 - 10%. Now before everyone says ah well tough you shouldn't have been speeding, I didn't realise I was, as i was driving a hire van who's speed limit is often 10 MPH below the national limit for cars and I was under that, so be warned people double check with the hire company as mine didn't tell me that. I know I should have double checked the law before hand so my bad, hands up, take it on the chin time etc. Any way having taken these things into account I should expect a rise but...........expletive........more expletives.........a £1000 rise !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last year 5 Years NCB £400 as near as dammit, This year 6 Years NCB £1400 as near as dammit. Ok add £40 for blame culture Add 10% for 3 points (still angry about that) another £40 Oh what the hell round it up to an extra £100, so thats about £500 yes? No......£1400, wheres the extra £900 come from, and heres the really annoying thing, they wont tell me why! Done the rounds of the comparison sites, some companies wont even quote I assume because of the 3 points. It cant be the post code as its a low to medium risk at worst according to their own data. One company even quoted over £8000 ! another who I have had a previous happy relationship with over a number of years wouldn't quote on the grounds, and get this, "The main driver" ie me as no one else on policy is too young!!!! I'm Forty effing Five, 45 !!!!!!!! Well even though I've started spending on her recently, oil change, anti freeze, oil and air filters etc and have laid out a chunk of money, I'm not prepared to drop my trousers, bend over and grab my ankles any more. I've had enough of these money grabbing shysters that are no doubt partly or wholey owned by the banks that my hard earned helped bail out. My family is going to miss her but she will have to go, hopefully to someone who can actually afford to insure her. I hope I will be back one day with another Lex when I'm more flush but until then I would like to thank everyone for the brilliant advice and suggestions since I joined, this is a brilliant club and I will keep logging on to see whats going on. Cheers

Wheres the search option gone........or is it just me that cant see it !!

nice. What are you going to do with the DHP's?

Mine too has just sailed through the MOT which i admit i wasnt expecting of a car this age! You just have respect the Lexus engineers for a brilliant build quality. I told my mechanic that if i could , i would only buy Lexus from now on. He didnt seem to get it, so i just smiled, handed him the keys before the mot and left. I went to pick up my newly mot'd Lex to be confronted by a new Lexus convert looking suspicously like my mechanic! He was raving about how it drove, how smooth and quiet it was etc etc you know the drill, he was that surprised he almost forgot to charge me, almost! I was ready to drive off but he was still waxing lyrical so in order to shut him up I told him how much it cost me.....silence! The last i saw of him was a greasy arsed overall dissapearing inside for what i can only assume is a copy of the auto trader :-) NOW he gets it!

The Wheeler Dealers on Discovery are buying cars from people, flog it to them, let Ed China fix it and then buy it back, gotta be cheaper than experimenting yourself.....

Its the American forums where I found the info about pressure caps and temp sensors. Good luck, fingers crossed for you.

Britrb, did you ever get round to removing the rear boxes? If so what does it sound like? Any good?

I too had a non working lighter in the front, and on further investigation it was just where the plug on the back of the lighter was loose, popped it back on and all ok now. On another thread somewhere someone mentioned a little fuse on the lighter itself which bridges a little fibre washer, you will see what they mean when you have a look. I will try and dig out the thread.

Cheaper than £70, tell me more my good man! mind you I assume I would need a pro to fit a new one... got all excited there for a minute lol

Congrats on your purchase, I still smile driving mine and mines way older than yours. I'm in the North West too so would also be interested in a good mechanic who actually knows the cars.

Any luck yet Mudguts? Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks for that info Tony, hopefully that will help lots of people with the current high prices. I was shocked to hear about the sudden price hikes people were experiencing as my trade insurance is lower than some quotes people were getting to insure just one car! No doubt I will receive a kick in the nads when mine comes up for renewal in Feb next year! Mind you, at least windscreen cover is included in private insurance, something I lack on my policy and yes you guessed it, just got a chip in my windscreen for the first time in years! Sods law! Off topic but has anyone tried the chip repair halfrauds sell for £30? Any good?