LenT

Excellent, Neil. Upping your security level like this not only protects your car but your House as well. Hopefully, it means potential thieves go for easier pickings next door! Do your Insurers recognise this by way of reduced Premiums?

That’s excellent, Antony. Hopefully, the Police have a copy to examine as evidence. As they should know, voice prints are as individual as fingerprints - even if attempts are made to disguise their voice. That they didn’t spot the dashcam is pretty amateurish so there’s always a chance they made other errors that may lead to their identification. It’s not uncommon for thieves to wait for a stolen car to be replaced and then target the replacement, on the basis that nothing else will have changed to make it more secure. Clearly you would be beyond infuriated if events just repeated themselves. But it sounds like the car is repairable and your Insurers will deal with this. Unfortunately, they may increase your Premium despite the fact that your only fault was to buy a desirable car. And your sensible use of a Location App meant that they were not paying out for a total loss. I suppose you could ask them to detail what other security measures you could have taken!

So to be fair, it sounds like the Police - aided by the Location App - did all that could be expected. Parking a stolen car nearby is the usual method of discovering if it has a Tracker fitted. Fair enough. But what car of the same quality would you choose - and why do you think it will be less vulnerable to theft?

Just curious, Neil. I had two new Hondas prior to the Lexus (a Prelude and an Accord, in case you were about to ask!) As far as I’m aware, no attempt was ever made to steal them. Are you suggesting that your preference now for Honda is because they are less attractive to thieves or technically harder to steal? Or possibly both? What is it about Honda that makes you confident that they are less vulnerable than a Lexus to theft?

Surely in most circumstances this is the only sensible way to use a trolley jack! Omit the axle stands only if you’re in a hurry to cut the catalytic converter out.

A bit extreme… but I had a sack of coal in the boot of my first car - a Ford Anglia - which dramatically improved its performance in snow. Maybe it’s a Ford thing? Mind you, whether any improvement in road holding compensates for the raised Centre of Gravity is a moot point. 🤔 I wonder what our Traffic Police might have made of it?

And of course professional Detailers use infrared heaters to bake the ceramic coating, which gives a much harder surface.

I’ll have to take your word for it, James, as the link doesn’t seem to open. Or is it just me? 😥🤔

A CTEC trickle charger comes with leads that are permanently connected to the battery posts, specifically so that they can be plugged in to the charger without having to remove the battery cables. The CTEK has safety systems that ensure the battery cannot be overcharged. You don’t have to disconnect either of the battery cables.

If it’s a product such as Supaguard it should come with some kind of Warranty, which will normally be in the car’s Info Pack. As for deciding if it’s actually there …well, Supaguard claims that it produces a beading effect if you pour water onto the bonnet. Frankly, if you want to invest in really effective paint protection that could last up to ten years, then a good quality ceramic finish is the way to go. Check out a local Detailer. The newer the car, the less prep work they require - which is why some new owners take their cars straight to a Detailer for treatment.

Is it a Hillman Hunter? 🤔

Did you install the batteries yourself Roger? Might be worth checking that you put them in the right way up. But in any case, does the key remove from the fob? There maybe a section on the narrow edge - in line with the key- that you press in while pulling the key. It should slide out and you can then use the key to unlock the door. If you then press the Lexus logo of the key fob on to the starter button, it should start the car.

Personally, I preferred the Volvo Estate…

And what non-Lexus car is most likely to be owned by a nonUK poster called ‘The Swedish Guy’? SAAB 93?

The nature of the wear can give some clues as to the cause. Under or over inflation will increase wear rates, as will incorrect tracking. So it maybe worthwhile having the tracking checked when you buy your new rears.

Have one on me.

A very interesting account, Brent, and a good demonstration of how Run Flats and the TPMS combined to identify the slow leak and keep you mobile until it could be repaired. As you say, these are trade-offs against the reportedly noisier and firmer ride of RFs. It maybe that you were also fortunate that it was a rear tyre so the handling and steering were less affected than might have otherwise been the case. Without the TPMS - and with the firmer sidewalls of the RFs - the loss of pressure might not have been so visibly obvious that it would alert you to the slow leak in the first place. Occasionally I see accounts from Posters who find the warnings from the TPMS irritating and difficult to resolve and ask about disabling it. I think your experience is a very good example of how that’s not such a good idea!

My Lexus often has the same problem - and it dates from 2015! So that’s a bit disappointing to hear. I solved it by using my Garmin satnav instead. Assuming that there’s no clue in the satnav Manual for the car - which can be a challenging read - I’d be inclined to go back to the Dealer and request an in-depth walkthrough of the satnav system with one of the Sales Team. Ensuring that all the car’s systems work as specified - and that they have been fully explained to you - is one of their responsibilities.

That’s my general policy anyway. But then the Lexus dealer from which I bought it is near enough to actually collect the car if I wish - and provides an excellent service. When buying new tyres, I use the same large, local retailer and they certainly locate the trolley jacks with precision. Whether they use locating blocks, I haven’t noticed - but will look out for them next time. I can see that a shaped block that fits over the jacking seam would be a sensible way to spread the load and prevent distortion of the jacking point. The Manual states that the supplied scissor jack should NOT have anything placed on top of it - or, perhaps more surprisingly - underneath. So clearly Lexus believes that the shaped top of the scissor jack doesn’t need any additional blocks. As a final thought, I would never put any part of myself under a car unless it was also supported on axle stands. As I mentioned in another post, according to the Health & Safety Executive, in the last five years 12 mechanics have died under vehicles that dropped down on to them. And over 2,300 suffered non-fatal injuries.

When my Father contracted what proved to be an ultimately fatal Pleurisy, he was prescribed (as I recall) a weekly case of Mackeson milk stout. (I believe it was also regarded as beneficial for women with an iron deficiency.) I don’t think the claimed health benefits really stood up to investigation, but in the days when medical alternatives were of limited efficacy, it gave some psychological relief. And actually, like real Guinness, it was a rather pleasant drink. 😊

The Manual is rather ambiguous in this respect. It lists the same bulb type for both main and dip - but didn’t make it clear (to me anyway) that it’s actually the one bulb serving both functions via a mechanical shutter. I suppose this was on account of it also being listed as a Dealer only operation. Not knowing that only one bulb each side was required. I found a video with a lad replacing two bulbs - main and dip - on a similar Lexus IS250. It was very entertaining! It was clearly done over several days, in at least two different locations and involved several changes of T-shirts! To do the right lamp apparently involved dismantling most of the front end, in the course of which he stripped some of the fixings, which he airily dismissed! 😀 It was at this point that I thought I would let the Dealer do it after all. Had I known it was a one bulb, mechanical shutter system, I might have carried on looking for a relevant video.

Well that’s a relief…to us both! Did you get it from Autobulbs Direct? I’ve always found them very helpful. (Other retailers are available!) You might be interested to know that I also upgraded my main headlight bulb with one of these Xenon bulbs - it served as both main and dip in my Lexus. It was a D4S fitting in my case. The resulting improvement was even more dramatic than the reversing lamp. I got my Lexus Dealer to fit it, which only took minutes, because the Manual refused to reveal how to do it, claiming it was a dealer-only operation. So I included it with a Service visit. Interestingly, although the main beam improved it was the better controlled, brighter illumination of the dipped beam that I found most useful down our narrow country lanes as the verges so we’re so much better defined. https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/d4s-osram-night-breaker-laser-xenarc-220-bulbs-next-generation-pair.html

It says that in my Manual too! Some models did have some LED bulbs, the replacement of which you were supposed to leave to ‘qualified technicians’. Mine were all halogen, however. I hope so too, Phil! 🤔 I take it that your lamp is also located in the boot lid, and the Manual does illustrate bulb removal - after a fashion. It’s a bit fiddly and I found it easiest to remove almost all the lining clips to get at the bulb fitting. Good luck! 😊

No Matt, it’s not something I would do - although I believe that it has been done! I actually think that, unlike the single reversing lamp, the paired brake lights and the single fog light are actually up to the task. Unlike the reversing light, following drivers are more likely to be exposed to the dazzling effects of these brighter bulbs if used in brake and fog lights - which will always be irritating and occasionally dangerous.

It might interest you to know that this bulb is also available in red! So provided it has the same wedge-base fitting, it can replace brake and fog bulbs. However, there is a BUT. These LED bulbs do not currently have ECE Approval and should therefore only be used off-road. I discussed this with my bulb Supplier and their explanation was that this was an example of legislation not keeping up with technology. When the Standards Committee met to draw up the legislation, no-one envisaged the development of an LED bulb in that fitting. My possible objection to using them in brake and fog lamps is that they might simply be TOO bright and potentially dazzling - especially in poor weather conditions. This is all too apparent when autos are stopped at traffic lights and held by the foot brake. They’re not a problem for the MoT as the Tester is only required to confirm that a lamp has a working bulb of the correct colour at the time of the Test.