DanD

Woah... steady on! You make very good points but, as Antony pointed out, Relax is free. On that basis, I think it's a pretty good deal.

With regards to Chirac... Civil servants in France are only allowed to drive, or be driven in French cars. They must be seen to lead by example and promote French brands. If you are a civil servant and are entitled to a company car, it has to be a Renault, Citroen or Peugeot. Up to a few years ago, such cars had to be white too... which is why there used to be so many white cars in France!

I can imagine Morpheus being driven in one of these in The Matrix!

Have you got evidence to show that it is a 'vastly inferior product'?

For cars with auto high-beam and/or adaptive headlights, do these functions need to be switched off when driving on the continent? Edit: I directed my question to my local dealer and I have just a received a reply from them: You do not need to change any settings, the great news is that adaptive lights will still work and will not blind your oncoming traffic. No adaption is required.

Depending on how far from a dealership you are, note that dealer has always replaced batteries for me free of charge, although each time it was as part of a service...

I am assuming that you checked the manual?

Doesn't the AWD system contribute to making the already small boot even smaller by further reducing the depth? (which makes me wonder if the 2WD version of the NX has a deeper boot that the AWD!...)

I believe it is and that it is now a legal requirement for all new cars. I also believe it should work going forward too, up to a certain speed. Some manufacturers allow you to select from different sounds... not sure Lexus does.

I too like the idea of colour matched wheel arches. On the other hand, I don't like the suggested spoiler. I think it would spoil the clean lines of the car.

You should be able to use this button to move right and left and select different menus. One is a customisation menu that allows you to change the sensitivity of the light sensor, another to change what triggers door locking/unlocking (i.e. speed or gear selection in and out of P), easy access (partial/full), etc. Most of the customisation options are only available when the car is in 'P' (not accessible in Drive mode). As I said, it's been a while since I've owned an RX but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. If in doubt, you may need to check your handbook (vehicle customisation or just customisation). You can download one from the Lexus website.

Could be wrong as it's been a while now since I had a 450h, but I seem to remember that the customisation screen is not on the main satnav screen, but is between the speedo and rev/eco dial?

Great colour. I would definitely go back to the dealer and mention it. I would not be surprised if they were to fix this FOC for you, especially if it is not as a result of you kerbing yet.

I recommend you use a password management tool like LastPass or Dashlane. They work well and generate complex passwords on demand. All you have to do is remember one master password. Your passwords are safely saved to the cloud, allowing password managers to be deployed to and used on multiple devices, on whatever platform (Apple, Windows, Android). They are also more secure than the built-in options offered by Google, windows, etc. As a starting point... https://uk.cybernews.com/lp/best-password-managers-uk/

Zombie

I have you checked for a commode under your seat?

I quite agree as so many factors will have an impact on fuel consumption. I have never bothered to make the calculations, but I'm guessing that a difference of a few miles to the gallon is not going to make a huge monetary difference unless you cover huge miles. Personally, I think enjoyment comes first.

As I want to keep busy between contracts, I occasionally spend some time at Southampton docks loading and unloading cars onto and from ships. I have driven a variety of cars, from the run of the mill Renault, Toyota, Minis and BMW, to Alpines, McLarens, Bentleys, Rolls and other Range Rovers. Some of the ships are huge and can carry in excess of 8,000 cars over 16 floors. The cars have to be driven from and to car parks that can be 2 or 3 miles away from the docking areas. For logistical reasons, they can be moved from one car parking area to another, and can also be moved from one floor within a ship to another. On occasion, cars may be offloaded in Southampton from one ship, and re-loaded onto another. If you add movements at the factory, at the port of departure, at a potential transit port, at the port of arrival and then movements at the factory itself where the car is tested, at the preparation centre (some dealerships like BMW send their cars to an offsite, 3rd party prep centre) and finally at the dealership, you are probably not far off 37 miles.

Got email from Lexus last week. They will be taking orders from September, with deliveries early in 2022. I'm guessing this would suggest that demo cars may be in the showrooms from late August?

I get 35-42mpg. Normal mode in town (50% of my driving), Sports mode on M-Way and A-roads. Blu-Earth Yokohama tyres (hate them, but they are supposed to be good economy wise) Climate control is on all the time I drive with enjoyment rather than economy in mind.

I thought all current generation RX had the touchpad (but only the recently facelifted one has the touchscreen), is that not the case. I have had the touchpad in previous and current NX (joystick in previous Lexus). It is definitely not the easiest to use, but you do get used to it after a while.

At least you know that the thieves won't go far!

Now there's a challenge... I'm going to the Isles of Scilly!

Pit

Dynasty