rich1068

I think the boys in blue are about as keen on this as your insurance company but yes, I used to do this with my BMWs. You didn't even have to use the spare key, just get in and start it then get out and lock it.

Don't think I'd sleep either.

I take it these are the systems where the key is in your pocket and as you grab the handle the door unlocks? I could never really see the point. I ordered this in 2011 on a BMW E91 thinking it would be pretty cool and for opening I suppose it is but to lock the car you had to touch a certain part of the handle. I found this to be a major step back, like using a key in the lock rather than just pressing a button on the fob as you walk away. Could just be me I guess.

lol. Your secret's safe with me. So long as you keep quiet about me putting all my mucky microfibres and rags in the washing machine.

Sorry, don't know why I said colour coded. I meant black to match the tyre. Whatever, I've never felt the urge to get any. Now, replace the alloys with cheap wheel trims on my wife's car? That I've considered

...driving up Junction Road, Hunters Bar about 5ish this evening. Could you turn off your full beam please?

I'll give you a shout in a year or two. My IS300 should have done about 70k by then

Colour coded I assume they'd look OK but many seem to choose the same colour as the paintwork I've also heard about them coming off and/or flat tyres as a consequence of the seal between the wheel and tyre breaking. I think if this is a once in a blue moon thing you might as well just put it down to experience.

SOMEONE RAN INTO THE BACK OF ME!! Luckily I was in the XC90. Barely noticeable damage to the Volvo, front end of the French thing that hit me (technical term) f####d.

Well done you for biting the bullet and getting new quality tyres on each corner.

And pictures. We'll need pictures!

Harsh first post there Stevolt In mid level saloon leasing-land I find Mercs are the cheapest (has the arse fallen out of the used Merc market yet?), then BMWs (usually keen pricing from Alphabet/BMW themselves) and then Audi.

Ah, we're all children.

Says the Toyota owner

Bad advice from Halfords.

Agreed. Dealers can sometimes surprise you (in a good way!) with this sort of thing. I haven't had a BMW since 2013 but still use the local dealer for wheels and other cosmetic work.

Ask and you shall receive...

Welcome from another recent Lexus owner! Looking forward to seeing some pictures when it lands.

Sorry? IS-F? Not a car I'm familiar with.

A neighbour has the Prius+ and thinks it's superb. And with 7 seats that puts it on the long list to replace the XC90 when it goes back next summer. Favourites so far are the X-Trail and Kodiaq. Unless we go S-Max/Galaxy. My attitude to the slightly more fragile stuff ie French, is that if you're getting new and leasing for the length of the warranty then fine. Buy them with your own money or keep them longer or buy second hand and you're taking a risk. I know there are plenty of happy owners out there but not for me.

Cars. In no particular order.

I'll have a go at this. 1974 VW Beetle 1303 - My first car. £600 and terminal rust. My dad was so taken with it (another ex-Beetle owner) that before I passed my test he used to take it to work. He even had it the day I passed my test and I had to wait for him to come home before I could drive it on my own! 1965 VW Beetle 1200 - Loved this car. This is the one I should have never sold. A Deluxe in Java Green. Saw me all the way through college, my first jobs, met my wife while I had it, had our first kiss in it I never used to give a second thought to jumping in it and driving half way across the country. At a steady 55. A Mitsubishi Colt Mirage of unknown year. It used to be my grandad's and was a sort of beige colour. Sold it to a guy called Brian who it turned out, was a bit of a s*x pest. That's all I really remember about it. 1994 Citroen AX Dimension - Our first brand new car. Cheap as chips, we dressed up really smart the day we picked it up. Citroen were giving things away even then and the offer was a mobile phone and a contract with Vodafone. A massive Nokia which is still kicking around somewhere and my wife still has the original number give or take a 7. An Astra 1.7 diesel estate. My first company car. Hateful. 1999 VW Golf 1.4S - Really wanted this. Loved the look of the MKIV and to echo First_Lexus, it broke. A lot. And like First_Lexus I got another one out of VW but it wasn't the same. 2003 Skoda RS - Wow! What a car. Loved every second. First car I properly went to town on. I even bought out of the lease so I could do even more stupid stuff to it 2006 Audi A3 2.0TFSI S-Line Quattro - Dull as ditchwater. Golf in a posh frock. 2008 Saab 9-3 1.9TiD Vector Sport - We had our first child so I had to be sensible. And bought a saloon. Idiot. 2011 BMW E91 320d M-Sport - Lovely car but rattled. So badly they took it away and gave me a... 2013 BMW F30 330d M-Sport - Again, lovely. But by then my anti-tech attitude was sinking in. Not really bothered about a car with a built in browser or adjustable suspension settings, they're all just gimmicks imo. Mixed in with all this there have been a succession of family wagons which have all been very good. A Touran, an S-Max, a B-Max. I always enjoy the multi-seat family stuff. It's like that scene in Get Shorty. 2014 Volvo XC90 Executive - Now this car I like. It's noisy, thirsty and slow but it goes anywhere, swallows everyone and their luggage, cruises comfortably all day long and would survive a nuclear strike. I also like Volvo's desperate attempt to keep up by cack-handedly trying to add things like Bluetooth. It works but in a way that would make other manufacturers laugh at it. No piano black interiors or glossy touchscreens here, just grey plastic and dot matrix displays. And so now it starts getting silly. I ditch diesels entirely because they're hateful and soulless and I start buying other Volvos and pretend they're for my wife when in fact she takes the XC and I drive a succession of V70s because they have silly mileage and still work. And even though all the Ford era bits are a bit **** and break you know the car will do a squillion miles and still be just as smooth and comfortable as when they were new. Then all of a sudden I had to have this Toyota...

Coloured in with a black Sharpie and I've picked up a touch up kit too. But pleasantly surprised to find out that though the rub strips themselves are a bit pricey (70 quid-ish) should I want to replace they're self adhesive and come already painted/coloured. Nice one Lexus.

Take it to a proper tyre fitter. One you trust. Pay the tenner or whatever. Or are you ever in Sheffield? I can put you on to my guy if you like? I don't have any faith in a dealer's ability to sort wheels and tyres. Not knocking them, I just think it's rare to come across one that knows what they're doing. Tyres just don't seem to be their thing. I picked up my IS a couple of months ago and as part of the full Lexus used car handover they put a couple of tyres on, tracked and balanced it. First time I got up to speed it nearly wobbled me out of the sunroof. I expect the tracking's out too.