PhilipK

The Distance Selling Regulations only apply to items purchased before 13 June 2014. They have now been superseded by the Consumer Contracts Regulations. I also believe that the "cooling off" period is 7 working days (starting the day after you receive the goods), rather than 14.

Not sure that the readings with a normal multimeter will be sufficient to accurately diagnose a marginal battery. You really need a dedicated battery tester which does a voltage test under load to properly check a battery.

Do these cars have a Slave cylinder? If so, could the seals have gone in it? Also, have you tried a complete flush and refill with fresh brake fluid? If there's a compressible contaminant in the fluid (or an air pocket somewhere) it might explain the symptoms?

Isn't standard procedure with an overtight oil filter to hammer a long screwdriver through the side of the filter and use that to remove it? Failing that, is there enough room to cut the filter away (possibly "nibbling" at it with a Dremel or similar small tool)?

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The paint code for Cadoxton Slate is 1G0. (I'd still double check the VIN code on the car before ordering any paint, though).

My personal experience (mostly with BMW and Porsche) is that you need to pay around £100 (inc VAT) per wheel to get a proper job done - that includes removing and replacing the tyre, balancing, etc - so I usually pay close to £400 for a set of 4 wheels. The other culprit for destroying the finish on alloy wheels is brake dust, which is quite corrosive if not washed off reasonably regularly.

You probably know this, but the paint code (and interior trim code) should be on the VIN label inside the front door jamb. (On my 2009 MY it's on the passenger side).

I had noticed this as well on my new (to me) IS250, but I had put it down to the car being an Auto, so the brakes have to do a lot more work than on a Manual (where the engine braking is much greater). Also, one of the issues with banning asbestos from brake pads is that they all seem to shed much more dust now. Is there any particular downside to the reduced dust brake pads? I wouldn't mind paying a bit more for them (especially as the Lexus alloy wheels don't seem to be particularly resistant to corrosion, and will be affected by brake dust), but if the braking performance is compromised in any way then I wouldn't want them.

Thanks to all who replied. It was indeed just a case of having turned off the "door" switch. (Of course, the footwell lights and the gearchange illumination are controlled by the dashboard dimmer. And I'm sure that other lights are controlled in obscurely different ways - sometimes this car seems to be too clever for its own good). No chickens were harmed in the making of this thread.

On the scuff plates inside the front doors on my SE-L, the word "LEXUS" on the scuff plate sometimes lights up. However, I cannot figure out why it is sometimes lit and sometimes not - it doesn't seem to depend on how dark it is outside, whether I have my lights on or off, whether I have just unlocked the door, or, indeed, whether I have just swung a chicken around my head three times anti-clockwise. Anybody know what set of circumstances should make these illuminate?

You probably need to re-initialise your windows. With ignition on, lower the window and keep the button pressed for a couple of seconds. Then raise it and again keep the button pressed for a couple of seconds. You need to do this using the switch on each door, not from the driver's door. You can get genuine copies of the E19 disk for West Europe for about £60 on eBay. There are 2 or 3 sellers selling them.

It's not just the extra octane that you pay for, though. There are additional additives and detergents in better petrol that you don't get with cheap/supermarket petrol. I've lost count of the number of times I've read on various car forums about people having all sorts of problems, which go away when they switch from supermarket to branded petrol. Personally, I only use Shell V-Power Nitro+ in all my cars.

Just make sure that you don't get so carried away with trying to squeeze every last MPG out of the car that you stop enjoying driving the car. You are driving a 2.5 litre V6, after all. In the greater scheme of things, unless you are doing stellar mileage, the other costs of motoring (mostly depreciation, but also insurance, servicing, repairs, tyres, MOT, VED, etc, etc) will hugely outweigh the cost of fuel.

My apologies - I checked today and indeed the controls on my steering wheel are illuminated. I tend to keep the illumination on almost the lowest setting, so they are very dim, which is probably why I hadn't noticed them before.

When I did my IAM training, my instructor suggested waiting for at least 3 indicator flashes before going from "signal" to "manoeuvre" in the "mirror - signal - manoeuvre" sequence. (Actually the IAM uses Course/Mirror/Signal/Brakes/Gear/Accelerate - mnemonic "Can My Safety Be Given Away?" - as the approach to all "hazards" (everything in Roadcraft is a "hazard", including a lane change)).

Google translate has this to say: code P0014Description.Camshaft position BIgnition timing too farOr VorgerruktSystem performance (zilindergruppe 1)surveysymbol B

You should hear what your colleagues say about you :-)

I don't think that my steering wheel controls are illuminated - and it would be quite distracting if they were! There is a rotating knob which changes the intensity of the interior lights which is located on the right hand side of the dashboard, just above the satellite switch. According to the instructions, turning it fully anticlockwise will turn off the footwell and gearknob illuminations. Mine has a click stop when rotated fully clockwise - I have not been able to find out what this is for (and yes, I have read all 800+ pages of manuals that came with the car).

The advice I received when I asked a similar question (albeit about an IS 250) was always to go for the car with the most toys! (Of course I ended up spending far more than I had originally intended and bought a later, low mileage, SE-L with MultiMedia).

Using kickdown is no different to dropping down by 1 or 2 gears in a manual car (or pulling the - paddle a couple of times on your auto) - just puts you in a lower gear at higher revs, and therefore in a more responsive part of the acceleration curve. It's just another tool that you can use as part of your everyday driving, along with the ability to change the gear range that the car can select with the paddles, or using S mode rather than D, or using the Snow or Pwr settings, or using Cruise Control, or switching off traction control, etc. They are all appropriate settings in different circumstances, and as a good driver you will want to know what each of them does and when is the right (and wrong) time to use them.

Have you checked all the fuse boxes (I think there may be 4 - two under the bonnet and one in each footwell)? It sounds as if the paint shop may have blown something when they boosted the car. If you are lucky, it will just be another fuse somewhere (like you found the the radio). If not, you may need to have a "difficult conversation" with the owner of the paint shop over where liability lies ...

<also snipped> As per ColinBarber's comment

I'm in Winchester. While it's called "Caspian Sky" here, apparently it was called "Glacier Frost Mica" in some markets, and is a very light pearlescent colour. Although my V5 describes it as "blue", if you asked 100 random people I'd bet that all 100 would describe it as a white car ... which is why I'd like to compare it with Arctic Pearl.

Shame you're so far from me, Normski - I'd love to see your Arctic Pearl next to my Caspian Sky (which has the same wheels) just to see how similar/different the two colours are.