nelmo

Actually, yes that is much better - must be the first time the number plate has IMPROVED the look of a car :winky:

Hmmm, not sure about that radiator... :yack:

I would have thought the obvious thing to do is to just try it? Mine auto-connects my phone when I get in but I don't bother with the wife's as she is useless with technology I was talking on my phone the other day in the front room and my wife got in the car to go somewhere. As soon as she turned the engine on, my phone connected and diverted my call through to the car speakers - my wife found herself talking to my mum and I thought my mum had hung up on me :winky:

For those who are vague F1 fans, this article is very interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/26464195 The only solid conclusion that can be drawn is that us Brits are the best

I'm not a great fan of Dunlop - whenever I used to price up tyres, they were always the cheapest, which worried me. I also have a motorbike and there is an ongoing issue with the Dunlop tyres they fit to the new version of my bike, with some of them lasting less than 2,000 miles before needing replacement. Now, on bikes, tyres don't last much beyond 15,000 miles but 2,000 is BAD. I replaced all 4 tyres earlier this year with General Grabber GTs (they're made by Continental) for £540 fitted. Seem to be fine but I'm no expert...

Here's some pics - first, that LFA: All-electric Tesla - 300 mile range (yeah, right): ...but it looks great and check out the dash - all touchscreen, no buttons at all: Jaguar XF estate - best looking estate ever? BMW i8: My personal favourite - Aston Martin Vanquish convertible: Second favourite - Maserati Quattroporte:

If you're nearby, the annual Canary Wharf Motoexpo is on all week. It's not very big but it is free and has some great cars. Lexus has an LFA on display - £380k !! Some beautiful Jags, Maserati's, Rollers...and an Inifiniti SUV with 21-inch wheels as standard. They're actually too big (and I like big wheels) and I dread to think how much the tyres cost. I'll try post some pics up later...

Excellent tutorial - although not sure I'd be bothered to do all that when there is a perfectly good button to press

Still only partial postcodes...the only weakness of an otherwise very good tool.

Excellent analysis Is there not also an issue with the size of the replacement LPG tank? Doesn't it have to be pretty huge and take up a lot of boot space? Minor point - you can't take your LPG car on the Eurotunnel, so that would be my summer holiday out the window

Can I ask - did you buy it before or after the accident? I would never buy a car with accident damage - they can never be repaired properly in my experience. I had a bad accident in a car many years ago and the insurance insisted on repairing it. They had to straighten the chassis but despite being done by a reputable firm, it was never the same again - felt wrong and the brake discs wore un-evenly, a sure sign the chassis was still not quite true. I also remember test driving a BMW - it felt like it was crabbing sideways, a very weird experience which I assumed at the time was accident damage (the dealer insisted it was not - yeah, right). I would have said £4k is right - the labour will probably cost more than the parts...

WTF do they need a diagnostic computer for if there is smoke coming out the exhaust? - are there no mechanics left who understand how a combustion engine works? Basically, oil is getting into the cylinders somehow (the smoke is the result of it burning off) - this most commonly happens through the head gasket or piston rings, as Lurch said. Car mechanic basics, FFS...what is that dealer on about? Sadly, I'm sure the dealer knows perfectly well what the problem is but it's an expensive problem and they don't want to admit it. You'd hope for more from a Lexus dealer. :eerrrmm:

Harry, stop with the condescending - you're not the only one who knows something about F1 history or cars in general... :arrrggg-matey: I've been to Goodwood numerous times and I've heard all those cars running and watched them race at the Revival, so I 'get it' - they do sound great, no argument there. But they haven't sounded like that for at least 40 years and F1 is still around and very well supported, so it obviously doesn't bother most people...

I'm confused - don't you think the new F1 cars sound closer to the BRM? Much less high-pitched wail and a little bit of growl? It's not like F1 cars are now silent - it's still damn noisy. As Keith said, F1 championships have often been one-horse races - this is a quote about the 1950s championship: 'Given the supremacy of their all-powerful Tipo 158 cars the first world driving title was bound to go to one of the Alfa Romeo trio, known collectively as 'the three F's' Then the 1952-3 seasons, Alberto Ascari: 'In 1952 he drove his Ferrari 500 to victory in six of the seven championship races. In 1953 he again overpowered the opposition, winning five times and cruising to a second successive driving title' In the 1960 championship, Jack Brabham won 5 of the 8 races... Sound familiar? Were they soulless then as well? BTW, I can assure you that my wife would not be more interested in F1 if the engines were louder

How has the excitement been lost? Just because it's a bit quieter? Isn't the excitement caused by racers trying to overtake, crashing, spinning off etc, etc? F1 has never been hugely exciting IMO, especially compared to MotoGP (bikes) but it seems to be marginally more so this year (apart from Mercedes winning everything). 'Inevitable' problems with diesels? I had diesels for just 5 years and had one sticky EGR valve (whatever that is) in that time that the dealer sorted for free. Diesel engines are generally considered more reliable than petrol, I guess partly because they are simpler (no spark ignition system, for example) and the lower revs they run at.

Ah yes, apologies, forgot about that...that is quite a biggie actually :(

It's obviously rocket science to you as you didn't understand it before you bought your RX To summarise; smaller car + smaller engine + lower weight = less petrol.

Fat chance! In Autocar's test, on the motorway at 70-80mph, it averaged 32mpg! They did say they got 60mpg when the battery started off fully charged but they didn't clarify where/how they were driving. What Car said it averaged 39mpg on their 'True MPG' test, whatever that is. In fact, it is pretty much identical to the Lexus system, except the batteries are obviously much better (or more of them?) as they claim 32 miles on battery alone (Autocar managed 25). The only other difference is that you have more control - you can decide to let the engine only power the batteries and all drive to come from the motors, which would be good for town driving. So pretty good but 0-60 in 11 secs is a tad dull and all the reviews say it is old-school-diesel noisy and rides badly... Now, if Lexus could steal their battery design and bring out an RX500... :shruriken:

Average MPGs for vaguely similar cars (from Fuelly.com): Lexus RX400 - 31 mpg BMW 530i - 25 BMW X5 petrol - 22 (20 for the V8) BMW X5 diesel - 27 VW Golf V6 - 28 (ok, only similar in power terms) Volvo XC90 V6 petrol - 25 Volvo XC90 diesel - 30 (but only 200bhp) Land Rover Discovery V6 diesel - 25 Land Rover Discovery V8 petrol - 16 VW Touraeg V6 petrol - 23 VW Touraeg V6 diesel - 28 Like I said, good luck with the search

Well, when you find another 2-tonne, 4WD, 3.3 litre petrol engine car with 270bhp that can pull my 1600kg caravan and does better than 29mpg, be sure to let us know...

Looks great but...er... where do your car passengers sit now? Would be even cooler if you managed to keep the electric adjustment

Bluetooth is a great technology - one of the few that seems to work across all manufacturers. Not used a main phone with Bluetooth but I've paired up all sorts of devices before without any problem, so sure it will be fine. I've got rid of my landline and just use my mobile only now - about the only people who called on my landline were %^&* cold-callers trying to sell me some rubbish - great to get rid of them.

Skoda? Luxury interior? You're looking at very different Skoda's to the one's I've seen Bit of a strange jump, from a Skoda to an RX - very different cars in all respects and, to be honest, you might be better off with the Skoda if money is an issue. The Skoda will be cheaper to insure and will almost certainly save you a small fortune in petrol in the long run. I never understand the reluctance to travel to see a car - you're spending thousands on a car but you don't want to spend £50 to go check out a possible better alternative? I've often travelled a couple of hours to buy...although admittedly I've always done all my checks before I go etc.

Crikey, very brave buying a 95k miler with no service history Does it mean it's never been serviced or just no book with it? I hope you at least asked Lexus to check the car on their system? I'd be amazed if it hadn't been to a dealer at least once in it's life...

Yup, very true - not only is the RX a big, heavy 4x4, it's also a big, heavy, FAST, COMFORTABLE 4x4. My previous Hyundai Santa Fe was a 2 litre diesel and did slightly better mpg BUT it was dull as ditchwater to drive and far more un-refined. If you want fuel economy, go small hybrid...you cannae change the Laws of Physics, Jim... EDIT: sorry, just realised I pretty much repeated everything javadude said....sorry... :eerrrmm: