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wharfhouse

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Everything posted by wharfhouse

  1. Your IS 300h probably isn't worth that much now - keep running it until it gives up? I'm in the same position - really like my IS 300h and just can't see what else to move to at the moment that would give me anything more so for now it's cheap motoring to keep it...
  2. Changing something part way through a test certainly wouldn't help with setting a benchmark. Given I do a lot of miles I have been able to do some pretty exhaustive testing comparing E10 to E5 over many thousands of miles on the same roads, same weight in the car (hybrids seem sensitive to weight, even the contents of a full tank compared to a near empty tank) and weather conditions (very important, especially to a hybrid as air temperature can make a lot of difference to the battery efficiency and how much it supports the ICE / runs in EV etc.) to try and remove any placebo effects (I'm not one to be drawn in by the petrol companies marketing claims). My tests have been mainly done comparing Sainsburys E10 (95 octane) and Sainsburys E5 (97 octane) all bought from the same fuel station with a high turnover of fuel (using the same fuel station with a high turnover is important as different E10 and E5 brands will produce inconsistent results, old fuel vs new also, and even different fuel stations of the same brand can). I am confident that under the same conditions that E5 delivers between 5% and 10% better fuel consumption than E10. This of course comes from a mix of the lower ethanol content and the higher octane rating of E5, though which contributes the most is anyone's guess. A few other points that I have noted are: a) The car runs more quietly and smoothly on E5 compared to E10, especially at higher speeds and accelerating hard. b) I haven't tested for any performance gains with E5 over E10 and I doubt they would be measurable in a hybrid, but just noted as in a) above. c) The improvement in fuel economy seems to be better with E5 at low speeds (there seems to be better pulling power from low speeds on E5 lowering the amount of throttle needed) than higher speeds - hence my 5% to 10% span for improvement as it does seem to vary a little depending on what sort of journey is undertaken. d) As the fuel in the tank ages the difference between E5 and E10 become more noticeable - so E10 left in the tank for a couple of weeks seems to deliver noticeable less mpg whereas E5 doesn't seem to anywhere near as affected. Since doing most of my comparisons I have now switched to using Costco fuel and did a few tests with that which largely bore out what I found with Sainsburys fuel. So my rule of thumb now is that if E5 is no more than around 10p per litre more than E10 at the same fuel station (at todays prices) I will be saving money or at worst breaking even using E5. More than 10p per litre difference then it will cost more to run the car on E5 (putting aside other less quantitative benefits such as smoothness and noise etc.). Given that Costco E5 is as cheap as the supermarket E10 and much cheaper than any branded E10, and the car appears to run very well on it, that is now what I use wherever possible.
  3. Yes brakes and various other consumable / wear and tear parts aren't covered as you say. A TPMS sensor I'm pretty sure wouldn't be covered. The 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty is pretty comprehensive (better than 3rd party ones) but is more for the bigger things that could fail and shouldn't in the time/years of the warranty. BTW if you didn't know - it also includes Lexus Roadside Assistance within the annual cost (LRA is around £155 per annum and so makes the overall circa £500 of the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty better value still).
  4. I don't quite understand your question but will try and answer best I can. If there are any outstanding issues on the car before the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty is requested then these will need rectifying before you will be able to take out the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty. After that the car must be serviced by Lexus as per the schedule (12 months or 10k miles whichever comes first) for the warranty to remain valid. AFAIK any other work doesn't have to be done by Lexus but if there is then an issue with that work I would expect any warranty claim to be turned down.
  5. Yes, I get close to 600 miles from a full tank - which I have needed many times and I couldn't have been stopping for the few hours extra that would have been needed (at least with today's EV tech) to complete those trips.
  6. Yes, I don't do it on a regular basis - usually refuel at around 1/4 tank and before the light comes on but had a few more miles to do this time than I had planned for so it was one of those moments that I probably won't experience again so thought I'd see what numbers it presented when refilling.
  7. In case anyone is interested, I found myself a few miles from a fuel station today when the mileage remaining in the fuel tank registered zero (well it actually just says "Refuel" when you get to that point and then stays at that). The fuel light had been on for some 30+ miles before this. Yes, I know - living on the edge!!! I did about another 5 miles, mostly in EV mode to the fuel station after it hit zero miles left as it was mainly A roads, and then filled the tank to the fuel shutoff, and then just a tad more to account for any frothing. With that I put 58.1 litres into the tank. Given that the tank holds (according the specs) 66 litres, that means there is around 8 litres remaining when the miles left being reported hits zero. I generally achieve at least 10 miles per litre (using the car computer), so in theory that means at least 80 miles of range left (taking it steadily) after the car reports zero miles. Now, I don't know whether the full 66 litres can be used (the take off pipe may leave some still in the tank, I have no idea) but if you ever do any maths and wonder why it doesn't seem to add up the reason is the 8 litres left in the tank once the car reports zero miles remaining.
  8. I've just picked up one of there from IKEA in my IS 300h - https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/kallax-shelving-unit-white-80275887/ With packing this would have been 1.5m long. Backs seats down and my normal driving position (I'm nearly 6ft tall) and there was still a good 10cm to spare.
  9. I asked on the Lexus mag forum about the vulnerability of the IS 300h to CANbus vulnerability through the headlights as it wasn't in the list of cars due for any retrofit, both for my current 2014 model (which shouldn't be vulnerable) and if I purchased a post face-lift 2017 model (which I thought might be) - this is the reply they posted: Hello Phil, Thanks for your question. Your current IS 300h is not impacted as the technology that enables CAN bus theft isn’t in those vehicles. While no car can be considered 100% immune to criminal intent, our Product Technical team have also advised that the IS 300h from October 2016 to September 2020 Production is not affected by CAN bus theft due to the platform of the vehicle. We hope this helps. Thanks.
  10. Interesting that there is no mention of the IS on the list - I thought facelift models from around 2017 also had the CANBus vulnerability through the passenger side headlight (but not the original pre-facelift from 2013-2017)
  11. When I moved from a company car to a personal car the insurers accepted a letter from my employer that I had no accidents in the previous x years and so started me with some NCB (though unprotected). That was a lot of years ago now so not sure whether they do the same today.
  12. I've found that it doesn't seem to make any difference after the nine years....
  13. I was with Tesco the year before and when it renewed last April it went up 37%, but as it was still within a few pounds of the cheapest quote when I ran an online comparison I stayed with them. Hoping that given last years large increase, this year may be more palatable... but not holding my breath!!!
  14. The Yokohama tyres that were fitted as OEM to my IS 300h were BluEarth E51A and I have replaced them with the same over the life of the car - they have a wheel rim protection built into the tyre (some rubber that sits slightly proud of the wheel rim to minimise kerbing damage). They are always in stock at my local Lexus dealer and I have always gone there for all of my tyres on this car. The BluEarth E51A are £110.17 fitted from Black Circles: https://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/yokohama/bluearth-e51a/225/45/R17/W/91/f?tyre=32829507 - I think you were may have been looking at different Yokohama tyre at £86 each. However, In December last year I paid £80 per tyre for the BluEarth E51A (all in incl. vat, fitting, balancing etc.) at my local Lexus dealer. I think I mentioned before (and others on the forum have too) that Lexus dealers (at least some of them) will beat other tyre places on price so worth asking them for a price. Of course, tyre choice is very subjective and each of us has our own requirements. For me, given my 15K miles per annum, much of it motorway miles, I am happy fitting the OEM tyres at the price I get them for from my local Lexus dealer, and mileage-wise I always get 20K miles from the rears and 40K miles from the fronts.
  15. I'm with Tesco and the insurance on my IS 300h is up for renewal on April and so now thinking I'll be getting the comparison site ready for when the renewal comes in!
  16. I didn't know of Sumitomo but as it appears they own Dunlop so probably not too bad. In that case I think I'd go for a full 4 wheel alignment - especially as the steering wheel is off centre so looks like something has been done previously and maybe not correctly. Then start and replace tyres as budget allows to get same brand on all four corners.
  17. Good to hear you've got DAB working - once you have worked it out and used it a bit it's not so bad to find stations, if rather laborious - but the first time through to get some presets in place is certainly a challenge... BTW if you haven't worked it out yet each audio source you cycle through (DAB, FM, USB, Bluetooth etc.) can have different tone settings - I found setting eg DAB different to USB to Bluetooth etc was very beneficial in getting all sources to have a similar tone response (so bass, mid, treble) - if all are made to be the same I found the one I set originally was fine but others then didn't sound too good - so worth tweaking each that you use one by one.
  18. First in Audio Settings / DAB Settings / DAB Alternative Frequency - set this to ON Then when the DAB signal is too low for good reception, the radio automatically switches to the matching FM station (I think it only works for DAB national stations with a matching FM station - it works well for Radio 2 that I listen to mostly). A better explanation from a Toyota radio manual is: «DAB alternative Frequency» also known as "Network following" is a feature that, when available, will automatically switch to the strongest channel for a certain station. It is recommended to have this feature enabled. Enabling «DAB alternative Frequency» will also activate the «FMlink» feature. «FMLink» is a feature that will switch from DAB radio to FM radio (given the tuned DAB station has an exact FM alternative) when the DAB reception deteriorates. When the DAB-signal improves «FMLink» can again switch back from FM to DAB You know it's switched over as in the display in the centre console (when it's showing radio stations) you will see FM-Link pop up - also you will hear a change in the quality - DAB has a better quality than FM - there is no pause, just a change in the quality. When the DAB reception improves again it will seamlessly switch back to DAB and the FM-Link will pop-up will be gone and the quality will improve again. Much better than losing the DAB signal all together when reception is poor. It's very useful when driving around hilly areas as FM will keep working when the DAB signal is intermittent.
  19. @Stever750 that's a good thread from @Thackeray - it's certainly not the most intuitive system on the planet...!!! I worked it all out after a while when I got my IS and then stored the the BBC stations (from the National Ensemble) I wanted to the DAB presets, and more recently Greatest Hits Radio. The BBC presets work all over the country (and revert automatically to FM if the DAB signal is poor) but Greatest Hits Radio is on local Ensembles - as I travel between home and the south coast a lot I therefore had to use two presets (there are only 6 presets available for DAB channels) - one for each area and switch between them about half way through my journey. If I want a station other than the BBC ones elsewhere in the country I then have to get back to the Ensembles list, find the Ensemble that contains the station I want and then select that to listen to it. So the upshot is for travelling around the country if you want the BBC stations, once preset, they work well with no further hassle all over the country. Any other stations though will require locating in the local area ensembles as you move around the country and can take a bit of digging out so not that practical unless you are staying a while in one area, though I have got quite used to it now.
  20. Too true! I've had my share of poor alignments done over the years and the car has ended up worse than when it went in! Only ever found one place where I live that did the right job - corrected a couple of bad alignments I'd had done by other places, and that was after giving those places a second chance to get it right!!! The place was also used by some main dealers too.
  21. I would definitely get some decent tyres on the car (btw, perhaps surprisingly, my Lexus dealer is always cheaper than the local tyre fitters and so worth getting a quote from yours), make sure tyre pressures are all spot on, and then get the alignment properly checked at a place that has good equipment and knows how to use it - steering wheel off centre is of course a sure sign of something not quite to spec. I came from having quite a few BMWs to the IS and although the steering in the IS a bit lighter than the BMWs (although it firms up a bit in Sport mode) I found the IS steering in a straight line as good as or better than the BMWs I had (definitely not so much tramlining as the last BMW I had). On the E5, the comparison should be with Tesco E10 for any meaningful comparison. Run one tankful of E5 through first and then see how the second tankful performs for mpg as in the past I have found you can't always reliably measure the difference for the first couple of hundred miles. Like me, it sounds like you do a lot of mileage over the same roads and so you should be able to make an informed comparison over a few thousand miles that removes any "placebo" effect.
  22. Thanks for the update and good that you are finding the car a relaxing ride. On your points: Your mpg is very similar to mine. I leave mine in Eco especially on motorways as it makes the CVT less inclined to rev the engine so readily and the cruise control isn't so aggressive on resuming and so I find it a more relaxing drive. Flicking over to Sport is quick enough if I want some extra urge. I always leave the air con in Auto mode with all vents open (but normally directed away from my body) and let it switch the air con and air outlets as it sees fit. I haven't found any issues Auto mode but I know some people are more sensitive to this - my wife often feels the need to change the settings. I don't feel any wandering in the steering - it's always rock solid and straight as an arrow on motorways. I would check tyre pressures (if you haven't already) and make sure they are at or even slightly above recommended pressure. Also could be alignment - may be worth having that checked. Otherwise tyres can play a part too (some threads on this forum about this) - mine is 17" wheels and I keep replacing with OEM Yokohama BluEarth E51A. On E10 vs E5 I have many tens of thousands of miles where I have been able to compare this like for like journeys and conditions. My conclusion is that E5 is well over 5% (approaching 10% at times) more fuel efficient than E10. Also the car runs more smoothly / quieter on E5. Now, most of my fuel is from Costco and previously Sainsbury's. The better fuel economy means at worst it costs be no more to use their E5 over E10 and in fact saves me a small amount of money. However, their price difference is only about 7p a litre between E5 and E10. Branded (Shell, BP etc) is around 20p a litre difference in price between E5 and E10 and so on that basis using E5 will cost more to run, ignoring the other benefits of E5. On the DAB - if you've followed the instructions for finding DAB stations and been unsuccessful sounds like it may be a visit to the dealer as a possible warranty issue?
  23. The rates are published here: NHS mileage allowance rates | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk) In summary for the NHS: The national guidance in England is 59 pence per mile for the first 3,500 miles and 24 pence per mile thereafter. This compares to HMRC published (tax free) rates of 45p per mile for first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. For the NHS rates there would be tax due on the excess payments over the HMRC published rates, but depending on mileage this would tend to zero for higher mileage drivers as more miles would then be done at the lower rate, and their overall compensation would fall within HMRC guidelines. The RCN are trying to get the rates raised, which I agree with as would any other person using their own car for business mileage since HMRC have hardly changed the rates for many years, but this should be the same for anyone that is using their own car for business mileage and not for any one particular profession.
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