wharfhouse

Yes - I looked into a lot of this when I was going to take a stand against my charge - I'd paid £10 for parking on returning to my car thinking it was all good to be told on the parking charge I'd done something wrong at the machine and should have paid £15 as I was 15 minutes longer than the £10 covered (this was in London). It was camera controlled parking and I put the number plate in the machine before leaving but the interface was so unintuitive I really don't know what I did wrong and would have paid £15 if that is what it would have told me to pay (which it must have known as it had my entry time and the time I was paying...) - like you were saying my point was I would be happy to pay something but the charge was excessive for a simple mistake - but when I looked into it all they have so much case law on their side due to judges giving in to their demands the chances of reducing the amount through the small claims court was negligible and so in the end after a few months of arguing I paid the reduced offer of £60. Maybe they would have taken less but I'd other things to deal with at the time. IMO the government needs to regulate this all properly as it's just licences to fleece motorists at the moment with no attempt at reasonable behaviour and the parking companies just out to maximise profits regardless of reasons or problems they are causing for what are often genuine mistakes. But we know that's not happening after the government's last climb down...

The problem is that previous cases have upheld the parking companies claims on admin costs and so in new cases they quote those previous cases. Now there is of course always the chance that you might be able to get a different judge to rule differently but with numerous cases already upholding their admin claim it's an uphill battle...!

Yes - once again we are let down by our government who fail to legislate appropriately for what impacts the majority of citizens allowing a few to gouge the many...

AFAIK from other cases I've looked into the problem with this is that they claim admin in dealing with the non-display of the ticket which just happens to be £100. They have precedents that courts have agreed with them (that £100 is a fair amount) and so although you may win in principle (you paid them) as you still broke the signage T&Cs (not displaying a ticket) they still get their £100...

Yes if it's a private parking company then it's a purely contractual matter and so either party can offer/accept whatever they want as there is no legal process until the parking company decides to go to the small claims court. I feel the same way as you - I was going to allow my first one to go to the small claims court to make it as difficult as possible for them (given that the additional cost of losing is only some £250 compared with the full £100 they are claiming) but unfortunately other personal issues meant I couldn't put the time needed into it to have any good chance of winning and so in the end chose to settle at the £60 after a few months of back and forth with them.

Absolutely!!!

Yes - when I was trying to fight my first one the hotel were also contacting the parking company on my behalf too. Every time the parking company responded they offered a "goodwill gesture" of lowering the charge to the discounted amount - they want money for the least effort.

In the past few years I've had two parking charge notices from private parking firms. In both cases I tried to appeal them as in the first case in a hotel car park I paid but was confused by the non intuitive interface of the parking machine and underpaid and in the second case thought I had paid but my payment wasn't processed by my bank and I didn't realise. In the first case I spent a few months appealing with the parking company, POPLA and the hotel and could not get this changed. The only route left was to let them take it to the small claims court and I was too busy to go through that (yes I know that's what they rely on) so after getting them to agree to me paying the original discounted rate I paid up. In the second case (which was an almost empty car park on a Sunday) I appealed that I had tried to pay but unsurprisingly this was rejected so as it was my bank that blocked the payment I gave up and paid that at the reduced rate. The sad and frustrating thing is that in both cases I had no intention of not paying the right amount but due to simple errors I ended up with penalty notices I paid for. In my experience unless you can show that the parking company did not have the correct signage they simply hide behind the fact that the parking was signed correctly and are not interested in any reasoning - they are simply out to get what they can - if you appeal to POPLA then they have no interest in hearing anything else unless you can prove the signage was wrong and so are a complete waste of space. The only choices are to pay (but in your case you could probably get them to lower the charge to the lower amount as they prefer some money than going to court) or you wait it out (and get lots of letters and demands) and see if they go through with the small claims court. If they do then IIRC and you lose then you will end up paying around £250 total. Depends on your appetite to fight through the small claims court and the time and effort that entails should the parking company decide to take it that far. From what I've read they do have a tendency to use the small claims court when they think they have a clear chance of winning as they have a lot of legal precedents they rely on so you'd need something strong to put up a defence.

I too was under the impression that all UK car insurance included minimum 3rd party whilst driving in the EEA (comprehensive cover however is usually limited or at additional cost). This is the Government website stating it: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/driving-abroad Was it the dsmege to your car or the 3rd party that Lexus is saying is not covered?

I don't have a spare wheel / space saver and do a decent mileage each year. Had one puncture in 100k miles. I always carry a tyre inflator that plugs into the 12v aux socket. Many punctures are things like nails in the tyre that cause a slow leak and so the ability to quickly add air means it's often possible to get to a tyre shop by adding some air ever hour or two. Don't need to be highly accurate at that point - in the past when this has happened I inflates a bit over and then ran until it's underinflated a bit. Chances are a repair can then be done too.

I feel your pain. The IS is a low car - I have chewed up one of undertrays on the sleeping policemen humps down a road I travel reasonably regular. With 4 people aboard the car has bottomed out on road humps a number of times. Unfortunately I don't have any solution except to be aware and try and traverse such things at an angle if possible.

The headlight washers only spray when the lights are on and then only about every fifth time the washers are used. They may of course be blocked but if you hadn't realised about the frequency of use to get the lights sprayed thought I'd mention it.

There was a lot of used ES on the forecourt last time I went into my Lexus dealer...

Yes that's the case and I had it confirmed by email. The only proviso being it's all linked to the registration number of the Lexus that is covered. So if eg Lexus owner or spouse is driving a different car they will need to quote the reg number of the Lexus and then the details of the car that has broken down (if different). So always make sure driver and spouse know the reg number of the Lexus if in any other car.

I have 2014 IS 300h (Executive trim) - I bought the car when it was 2 years old with 40k mile on it. Car now has 142k miles. In that time the only repairs have been: - screen wash water bottle sensor - new front wheel bearings at 80k miles (also had front discs/pads changed at same time) - new spring on bonnet latch at 140k miles (became weak and bonnet wouldn't stay latched properly) Still have the original 12V battery and can leave the car over a week and it starts no problem but I do keep a lithium jump pack in the car for the inevitable day when the 12V battery gives up. Still on original rear discs and pads (4mm remaining) but last couple of services reporting them as pitted/corroded now and so will need changing in the next couple of years I guess. Tyres have consistently lasted 20k miles on the rear and 40k miles on the front. Other than being maintained by Lexus on schedule through its life that's it - everything still works as it should.

As above - find a good place that can do a proper alignment - I've had many issues in the past with tyre shops - many just don't have the equipment or skill - need to find a good one - probably by recommendation.

If it's like my IS 300h the speed camera alert beep is linked to the internal sat nav volume. Try using the internal sat nav and set the volume of the spoken directions higher and then see if the speed camera beeps are increased in volume (with or without using sat nav).

Only thing I know is that over many tens of thousands of miles I have compared E10 to E5 and can say that without any doubt in my mind that E5 offers at least 5% and up to 10% better fuel consumption than E10 (comparing the same brand) and that the car runs quieter on E5. Some of that gain is likely due to less ethanol in E5 than E10 and some due to the higher octane rating and some due to whatever other addives are in E5 over E10, but I don't know what makes what contribution. If E5 is only a few pence more than E10 it's a no brainier for me financially to put E5 in. I now use Costco fuel almost exclusively and the difference in price between E5 and E10 makes E5 the financial choice. That same calculation may not work for other brands where the E5 is substantially more than E10.

Hybrid battery warranty is up to 15 years and unlimited mileage so long as the hybrid health check is done every 12 months or 10,000 miles (whichever come soonest).

So long as the car is running in either on D or P then no problem (whether it's moving or not is immaterial as it's a DC to DC charger for the hybrid battery to the 12V battery). The ICE will start as needed to recharge the hybrid battery if it runs low. However, never put the car for any length of time in N (as this does not charge the hybrid battery) and never sit listening to the sound system without the car actually running (in P if you're not going anywhere) as the 12V battery is quite small and so can be drained in that case - with the car running (in P if stationary) that means the the hybrid battery will keep the 12V battery charged and the ICE will start as necessary to replenish the hybrid battery.

Nope - the car does that while I'm driving. Unless you don't use it regularly you shouldn't need to do anything special. I do about 15k miles a year and my 2014 IS 300h now has 140k miles on it and still on the original 12v battery. And I've left it for 10 days recently without using it and it started just fine. How many more years the battery has left in it I don't know but I have one of the lithium jump packs in the glove box just in case which will get me mobile in a matter of minutes if there is a problem. When the battery finally dies I'll get another fitted and not be worried. You should only need to trickle charge if you leave the car for a few weeks unused and then only do drive a short time before leaving it again for a long time. Regular use of a few hours a week will maintain the 12V battery with no problems.

Ah OK - sorry in that case I can't offer any other help - mine have always worked as expected (except when they got switched off by mistake once !). Hope someone else might have some ideas.

As you had an electrician check the system this is probably a daft question but I'll ask it anyway - did you check that the system is switched on - there is a push switch on the right hand side of the dashboard. When switched on there is a light on the dash display that looks like a tree. Seems strange all sensors, front and rear, have failed.

All the Lexus loan cars I've had have been about half full on collection - I was just asked to return it with a similar level of fuel which was reasonable and which I always did my best to achieve. Bit swings and roundabouts as sometimes probably a bit low and other times a bit high but it was never checked when returning the car.

This link is how to check the headlight alignment is correct to not dazzle oncoming vehicles but also throw the farthest distance - might be worth a try to see if your headlights match this? https://www.championautoparts.com/en-gb/news/how-to-check-headlights.html