Rabbers

Absolutely. And if the numbers of used LC500 V8s offered for sale in Germany are a direct reflection of customer preference since launch, which I presume they are, it could be argued that Lexus should be thinking of withdrawing the hybrid like Ford in the case of the 4-cylinder Mustang (though I would think that Lexus Germany has already been shifting unsold inventory across other markets). However, I would doubt that it ever would, simply because the marque’s interests at present and in the immediate future are too deeply rooted in its proprietary hybrid technology.

Not top of the list, or even close to it, but surely it is somewhere in the mix of thoughts about whether to choose the hybrid or the V8?

A few months ago I posted on this Forum after looking on Autoscout.com to see what used LC500s were being offered for sale in continental Europe. More than half of the approximately 60 listed were German-registered and not a single one of the latter was the hybrid model, and the same went for Belgium and Holland. The few hybrids for sale were in Italy, which I supposed was because the bhp-related annual road tax is 40% higher for the V8 (€1231 v. €878) with the bearing on insurance being proportionately similar. I now imagine the picture in favour of the hybrid will become consolidated in Italy and possibly go in the same direction in Germany and elsewhere simply because of vastly increased fuel prices. The difference between 15km/l (35mpg) for the hybrid and 11km/l (25mpg) for the V8, which I understand to be the realistic average consumption figures for each, is now adding up to a lot of money, especially in countries where long drives, even multiple-tank ones, are not uncommon.

Never had a Nano, so my comments are not experience-based, but any sound problems I ever had with a Classic or, more recently a Touch, were to do with the USB connector cables because they were of dubious quality and/or had a short effective life. I finally bought an Anker brand one (black, 20cm length, therefore less obtrusive, and cheaper, than Apple originals) and never had any issues. This is also the brand I use for recharging/non-BT playing from an iPhone, and it has now lasted for over six years.

I thought I'd revisit this thread after reminiscing with a friend about a bizarre incident that occurred during a holiday we took in Provence a few years ago. It was the first day of our stay and we and our wives were enjoying a leisurely lunch in the garden of a hotel overlooking Grasse. The food was good, the sea sparkled on the horizon, and all was well with the world. Our car, a Peugeot 504 rented at Nice airport that morning, was visible in the driveway, not that we were worried about its safety. The vague discomfiture we felt on hearing the crunch of footsteps on gravel suddenly turned to alarm when we saw a man crouched next to the car. Before we could react, he sprang upright and proceeded to head-butt - yes, head-butt - the passenger-side front window, shattering it at the second or third attempt before finishing the job with his fist. Wrenching the door open with the alarm screeching, he grabbed rental papers and a pair of sunglasses from the dashboard and, after fixing us with a triumphant smirk on his blood-streaked face, disappeared into the trees. "Quick, somebody go after him!", cried my wife, promptly eliciting the suggestion she was joking. We learned from the restaurant staff that the brute in question, instantly identified by his trademark head-butt, had a history of similar offences. He was known among the locals as "Le Bélier" (i.e. The Ram), a somewhat unimaginative nickname that risked elevating him, we felt, to undeserved fabled status while gratuitously insulting a noble animal. He typically operated in broad daylight in up-market restaurant car-parks and, for reasons best known to himself, targeted only white cars. This was according to a police sergeant who cracked a faint smile when we asked if it would therefore not be safer for us to drive a black car and limit our gastronomic adventures to the sort of all-night greasy spoons for which the area was decidedly not famous. Fearing an excess of red tape, we decided not to take the matter further. A statement countersigned by the police proved good enough for the Hertz agent in Grasse, who viewed the bloodied front passenger seat with surprising equanimity and replaced the 504 that same afternoon - as it happened with another white one.

I hope he’s subtle about it, at least.

Great move, that would have made me a lot more reluctant to part with the car. Did you also get the platform behind the seats re-lined? I remember carpeting it because the surface got so scratched. I guess I was always sensitive to hard suspensions because I remember not being able to sleep after a long day’s autobahn drive in the GT because I would be trembling all over for several hours.

Yes indeed, a 1973 1900cc acquired in Germany together with my Danish wife. I subsequently concluded it was better suited to a bachelor lifestyle and sold it in Denmark (with my wife’s consent) very gratifyingly at three times the original German price after getting my first company car - another Opel, a Commodore,- which made me understand just how nice a drive the GT had been by comparison. Ours was originally yellow and resprayed anthracite grey after a minor but unsightly accident we had in Hamburg. Although it was unkindly known as “the poor man’s Corvette” and was frankly downright uncomfortable and a bit noisy, I too wish we had kept it. No question that it had a lot of personality.

Horses for courses, Each to his own, etc., etc. Evidence for me that faux-leather can be a good choice in terms of physical durability and long-term appearance, especially in cars that see a lot of use with cabins subject to soiling and wear, is provided not by any car I have personally owned (though I once had an otherwise very nice Opel GT with vinyl seats and the less said about them the better) but by a sofa in tan “Naugahyde” that stands in the reception area of a hotel where I sometimes stop, more out of habit and sentiment than preference, when driving through Germany. This truly hideous specimen of American-influenced Fifties taste probably originated in a military base and already qualified as a vintage piece when I first clapped eyes on it more than thirty years ago. Unlike the hotel’s owners, their guests and the rest of the furnishings, this monstrosity still looks in pristine condition, and when one thinks of the abuse to which it must have at least occasionally been subjected down the years, one can only admire the survival capability of a high-quality low-maintenance easy-to-clean industrial product.

Which could well explain why one sees so many cars, even quite decent ones, with side-window screens of the type held by suction-cups.

And already was in the 2016 model too.

Insofar as the material in question absorbs the cleaning liquid I occasionally use on it, the level of porosity thus evidenced is so akin to that of real leather as to lead me to believe it actually is. This, to all intents and purposes, is good enough for me regardless of whether or not it came from a dead animal. 🤔

Same here. No discolouration whatsoever. But the backs of the rear headrests and the tops of the seatbacks feel a little harder and drier to the touch than the unexposed surfaces. Also, the surface of the black leather-covered "dome" on the dashboard seems to want more frequent "moisturising" after routine dusting than it originally did.

Wasn’t mine?!

At the risk of responding to pedantry with more pedantry, I would say that “significant” and “great” are not synonyms and nor are the corresponding adverbs. And when juxtaposed, as the latter were in my OP, they describe a slightness of difference.

Yes, if there is the slightest doubt about the dashboard’s resistance to extreme direct heat, covering is the safest choice regardless of any protective treatment it may have received.

Just buy a good-quality common-or-garden folding aluminium foil sunshade, plain on the one side and whatever colour suits your cabin trim on the other, e.g. red. Position it against the windscreen or the rear window according to where the sun is going to beat when you park, and it will not only protect most of the cabin surfaces from the rays but also significantly (though not greatly) reduce the cabin temperature. Folded flat it will store easily out of sight behind (or under) your seat.

I am grateful for the elucidation. Not that I hadn’t already got your drift.

I almost hesitate to reply, but I chose the adjective “powdery” to indicate a substance morphologically more akin to caster sugar than the crystalline granulated type.

Sounds absolutely disgusting, and perhaps not unlikely to have been dangerously evocative of machine-fire fire had the car been moving when struck. The nearest I have experienced to this was a nauseous combination of undigested grape pips and skins, almost certainly of the Lambrusco variety, which is known for its potent staining properties. The catalogue of solid pollutants liable to be found on one’s car seems to be getting longer, possibly as a result of hot weather, climate change, excessive urbanization etc., which may be causing our feathered friends (or enemies) to change their dietary habits. One has always been aware, of course, that birds can pee as well as poo, and a recent proliferation of splatterings of a yellowish hue and filmy consistency may well indicate that liquid nourishment is being desperately sought wherever it can be found in these times of drought. Occasionally, the stains are not only exceptionally copious but are also accompanied by a powdery sugar-like residue that could well suggest avian diabetes. Not that I am planning to investigate the possibility.

That sounds perfectly logical. But then again, were I to want a car coated when new, I would unless advised differently instinctively take it to a body shop on the assumption that it would do the job at least as well as any detailer. Re-coating subsequent to future repairs would therefore be done as a matter of course

I find the system’s switching between outside and recirculated air modes works well automatically, and I rarely find myself needing to manually override it. An exception regards the “sudden” presence of exhaust gases from preceding vehicles, e.g. upon entering a poorly ventilated tunnel, when the switching is not sufficiently immediate to prevent the fumes getting into the cabin despite the sensitivity being set to maximum in the customization menu.

I remember falling out with my dealer years ago when I had a BMW because they routinely added STP-brand injector cleaner to my tank unasked when servicing the car. I had no technical objection but didn’t like being charged twice what I would have paid to do it myself had I chosen to do so. I have a vague recollection of Lexus once doing the same with their own brand, i.e. Toyota, but with the difference that they asked beforehand. They seem to have desisted in recent years, or maybe they only recommend its use at long intervals.

Not only in the U.K., I would think, though I doubt, if it ever came to it, that proving or demonstrating that a car was deliberately left unlocked would be easy. I think the writer I mentioned was merely making the point - a dubious one in my view though not entirely devoid of logic - that no anti theft device is perfect and that you might as well leave a car unlocked if you want to avoid or reduce prospective damage.

Well, I don’t entirely agree with these observations. I have had Touch ID on my last few iPhones and my wife Face ID on hers, and the technology is excellent. Sure, you occasionally need to try a second time, but this is rare and the reason apparent and easily remedied. I also have Touch ID on my laptop, Apple again, and I can’t recall it ever not working first time. My suspicion is that whereas single commercial entities such as Apple can establish their own systems, car manufacturers and regulatory bodies have longer lead-times for choosing and adopting a standard.