Rabbers

For private use over the better part of two decades I have never had anything other than various generations of a MacBook, an iPhone and an iPod (the latter now commercially defunct but still fine for the car). I once also had an iWatch but was never comfortable with it, not least because it made me feel nerdy. While realizing full well that I am locked into an Apple ecosystem from which there is no easy escape, I don’t resent my captivity for the simple reason that I have always found each and all of the devices easy to use, totally reliable, and aesthetically pleasing. Maybe there are competitors with equally good and functional products, but I have never felt any urge to go out and find them.

Love how the fashionable “reach[ing] out” of the opening paragraph morphed into simple “contacting” in the final one. Not to mention the shifts of person from “us” to “I” to “Lexus”. So although the contents are worth a chuckle, the style might itself be worth another.

Lorri, the up/down brightness adjustment controls only work when the tail-lights are on and are themselves both working properly. Your Lexus dealer will presumably know this, but check anyway. Congratulations on your car. Great choice.

I had 18” tyres on two IS300h’s and was sceptical about 17” ones supposedly giving a gentler ride until I experienced them on an IS I had as a courtesy car, the difference being quite noticeable. However, the downside was a reduced feeling of stability at higher speeds, for example on long motorway curves and fast bends, and fast winding roads in general. The choice really boils down to what your main priorities are.

Good comparison. I think they stopped because people finally understood that smoking Camels was more dangerous than the event itself.

Sorry for not providing a link, Vlad, but the article I read was not in English. I’m sure Google will be your friend though.

No, it’s a conversation in Warsaw.

Quite so. Even thinner, in some places, than the air itself.

I recently read about an imminent Nissan-sponsored attempt to drive an Ariya Pole-to-Pole taking in the entire length of North and South America, a journey that will require the batteries to be recharged an estimated 54 times. Unquestionably an impressive feat of endurance if successful but perhaps a little less so if it is considered the car will be towing a special renewable energy unit with wind turbines and solar panels to generate electricity. I’m not sure if this might not be considered cheating, but, then again, I don’t suppose any EV-charging stations are being planned for Antarctica in the near future.

I gave up on this thread a couple of days ago suffering from information overload. Today confirmed my original diagnosis.

Slightly OT, but I recently got a mail from the LOC which, if I understood it right, asked me if the replies I received to a query resolved my issue and if I wished to inform the senders accordingly. This put me in mind of Amazon asking you to rate a product and/or seller, although the LOC to its credit also asked if I wanted to continue receiving this message with regard to future queries. Which I didn’t. Thinking about it, I concluded that the act of starting a new topic and ending the title with a question-mark must automatically qualify it as a query requiring an answer that may or may not satisfactorily provide a solution to a problem. Which, I suppose, is not an an illogical assumption for men and algorithms to make.

I am generally tempted to take part in such surveys, not from any belief in their practical value, but because I feel it would be curmudgeonly of me not to keep market researchers in work.

And was to remain an example of good quality coming at a high price. Before I took delivery of a new IS250 some years ago my dealer saw a scratch in the wood of the Yamaha-manufactured centre console and ordered a replacement. When I signed off on the warranty transaction a few weeks later I noticed, flicking through the dealer’s accompanying file, that the price of the replaced section was listed at €3900 excl. VAT.

Thanks for the lucid explanation, Paul. As I said, the unheralded appearance of a Gracenote image in place of the original album artwork offers a bit of variety and, as such, the effect of this particular bug is not necessarily unwelcome.

Almost as nice as the ES, in fact.

My music library consisting of CDs was originally synced complete with cover art to iTunes on my MacBook in the normal way and thence to my iPhone and iPod for playing in the car. The cover art always initially appears on the infotainment display even with Gracenote enabled, which is fine by me, especially as I can thereby get to “rediscover” the cover of an album I haven’t played for many years. What I find strange, however, is that when music restarts after having been interrupted when the hybrid system was switched off, it it is then accompanied by a Gracenote image and not by the cover art as before. Again, this is fine by me insofar as it provides a bit of variety, albeit unsolicited, but does anyone have an explanation for why it should happen?

I have had Dunlop SportMaxx as OEMs on both my RCs, switching to Pirelli when they were worn. Ride comfort is similar and equally good, but the Dunlops wear out a lot more quickly, especially and not unexpectedly the rears. I had Bridgestone RE050s as OEMs on an IS300h. They were satisfactory on most counts when new but became very noisy as they aged, which they also did quite quickly.

You were right to try changing the fob battery, which immediately solved a similar starting problem I once had, also, as it happens, with an IS300h. And, as you say, the need for a new battery would have been made clear one way or the other by using a second key. I think you are going to need to visit a Lexus dealer or an electronics specialist, but, before you do, I would check to see if your fob is perfectly clean with everything tight and in place inside and out.

The beam of the headlights of the ES that prompted my OP did not change in height or intensity during the time it was fully in my sight. It is possible that the headlights had been dipped manually or by conventional Auto High-Beam in anticipation of my approach but I think not. Given that I would have expected a flash in response to mine by way of demonstration that its lights were actually dipped, my pretty firm guess is that the ES was driving with an adaptive system enabled. Since I was ultimately not made dangerously uncomfortable by the beam but merely surprised by its strength, albeit sufficiently so as to be deceived into initially thinking it was erroneously set high, I can only conclude that whichever of the systems I encountered, AHS or Bladescan, meets Lexus' effectiveness claims.

I would agree that conventional padded or semi-padded covers may not be suited to the RC, largely because of the geometry of the doors and windows. I finally settled for the simple repurposing of an unlined lightweight pvc sunscreen of the type designed for external use with magnets inside the horizontal seams. The corners easily fold into position between the window-edges and door-linings so that the fabric is pulled flat and taut against the windscreen when the doors lock and the windows fully close. I find the screen satisfactorily protects against normal levels of frost and ice and a light layer of snow, the effects of which can be cleared with a simple good shake. And unlike its rigid and more cumbersome equivalents, it conveniently folds away into its own small pouch for easy storage inside the cabin. Mine is unbranded, so I can’t recommend a name, but I’m sure you’ll easily find one online or in specialist shops.

Glad to hear that. I was worried about being considered a lone flasher.

The other night I was driving along a familiar stretch of straight country road where oncoming headlights become fully visible at about 5-600m. Fearing that I was about to be dazzled by an approaching car with lights on full beam I instinctively flashed it a couple of times before realizing to my embarrassment that its lights were actually dipped. When the car passed I was amazed to see it was an ES !!!!

That is exactly the scenario that led me to buy my first Lexus. And it was Lexus rather than Toyota because the quality and “prestige” were closer to what company cars had accustomed me. I have been congratulating myself for the goodness of my choice ever since.

Unless I park on a hill, when I always use it, I apply the parking brake only in the warmer months and, as a general rule, not in winter, especially when leaving the car in the open overnight - or even for a few hours if there is a threat of ice.

Maybe he thought he was doing you a favour?