LenT

You make that sound expensive, Niaz. 😊 But to be fair, you do get two 200ml tubs of carnuba wax, a nicely rolled bit of paper tied with a red ribbon, and an acrylic case with an engraved 900 silver plaque. Unfortunatly, it doesn’t quite stretch to an applicator or polishing cloth. https://swissvax.co.uk/collections/autowachs/products/divine-carnauba-wachs-62-vol For people who do these things on the cheap, SWISSVAX does offer a single tub of Carnuba Wax at the everyday price of £1400. https://swissvax.co.uk/products/carat-81-vol-carnaubawachs-mit-ptfe Makes a few days of professional Detailing with ceramic products look like quite a bargain!

If it’s always the same rear passenger foot well - and you’ve eliminated the roof as a source - then I suggest checking underneath the door on that side. it’s possible that any drain holes have been blocked by rust and water collecting in the door can’t drain out, so seeps inside past the door cards. Another option is water seeping in via the boot - or even past the rear screen - again due to blocked drain holes. Take out the mats and boot floor linings and check for signs of staining.

The Disklok is probably the gold standard steering wheel lock. Autoexpress described it as ‘virtually indestructible’. I don’t think its ever succumbed to the ‘5 minute destruction’ challenge. So I presume it’s not susceptible to simple lock picking. You can’t cut the wheel because it covers the entire wheel. A thief would probably have to tow the car away to an isolated location and attack it with heavy machinery. The only proviso seems to be that it is essential to get the proper size. And it’s significantly more expensive than any of its rivals. I had a couple of the earlier versions and they were a bit cumbersome to store, but easy to fit. These days I - and some other LOCers - use a Milenco bar lock, which has also proved resistant to attack. The Full Monty would be to couple one of these with a Ghost Immobiliser. So having perhaps defeated the obvious deterrent, the thief still couldn’t get the car to start. It would be time to move on to an easier target!

Well, you’ll get many different recommendations! Personally, I’ve always had BlackVue - and its footage helped pay for my Lexus when my previous car was written off! You’re right to go for the two channel versions - and I would also recommend a battery backup, such as the BlacKVue Pro Magic, that keeps the camera able to respond even when the ignition is off ie parked! If you’re budgeting for less than £400 then you might be interested in the BlacKVue Outlet offerings. https://blackvue.co.uk/product-category/outlet/ My only other advice is to reformat the SD card at regular intervals to avoid rewriting errors - and to buy the largest one you can afford. Keep the original in the car as a spare so that in the event of an incident you can swap it for the SD card with the recording on, so keeping the evidence secure! As regards fitting, this should be well within the abilities of an competent local auto electrician.

A fine example of how a system will take something written quite literally.. Much like the now notorious mailing that an unnamed financial institution sent out to some of its richer customers - but forgot to check the temporary placeholder name that the original programmer had set up! https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dear-rich-*****/

Marius… Hopefully, this page at lexus.co.uk will present you with a list of relevant manuals and guides which will answer your questions. Just look up your vehicle in the list. Whether you regard the Premier versions as worth it rather depends on how much value you put on a superior sound system, for example. The ML installation is generally considered superior to the unit in the other grades, but not worth the extra if you’re not likely to appreciate the difference. https://www.lexus.co.uk/content/lexus/uk/en/customer/manuals

A fine thought to live by, Ronnie. All the best to you and yours.

So very true, Bernard. While I will happily concede that a busy motoring journalist is in a far better position to compare different cars, these kinds of negative comments are simply banal. The performance figures quoted invariably come from Press Releases and are not always - shall we say - achievable in real life. Or, more importantly, actually relevant! And that’s mainly because when you buy a car with your own money - and have to pay for your own tyres, brakes and maintenance - you don’t drive it in the same way as a free, loan car from the Publicity Department! But to be fair to the mass of motoring journalists, it’s a comparative few who get to go on the extravagant launch jollies. In the past I had occasion to employ a couple on a freelance basis, and their everyday transport was far from glamorous. It’s not the best paid job in journalism. Mind you, developing a good relationship with the Pub. Depts. did have its benefits. I recall one guy who would acquire a large estate for about a week every year. His review was about how well it performed when taking a whole family touring! I think your point about the kind of negative comments aimed at many Lexus models by some of the motoring press is well made. They are being dismissed for failing to be something they were never designed to be. Fortunately, I doubt that that concerns the typical new Lexus buyer.

🤔?

….comes out as…. (Just for the record!). 🙁

Perhaps the only redeeming feature of this Wikipedia account is that it doesn’t record that Tarbuck was driving a Lexus - unlike the general media! No doubt if he had been in a BMW, Mercedes or similar, that may also have attracted a media mention. In a Vauxhall or Ford? Possibly not so much. But whereas I am indifferent to the news that ‘famous comic and show business great’ chooses a Lexus to drive around in, I can’t help feeling aggrieved that it was also the car pointedly involved in two hit and runs, a leaving the scene of an accident and a failure to report it. As has already been said, all surely grounds for a retest at the very least. Did Tarbuck really not notice all the nearside scratches and maybe wonder how that happened? Did he think it was possibly just an understandable audience response to an earlier gig? And was he still so distraught after his sister’s funeral, several days earlier, that it was realistically offered in mitigation? Unfortunately, having pleaded guilty and been fined, I doubt that he can be retried on the grounds of undue leniency. Sadly, it’s the Court that comes at as a total joke in this sorry affair.

But my point is, Niaz - and I don’t expect you to have the answer because I certainly don’t - why does Lexus regard them as an ‘extra ‘ ? I find it hard to believe that someone buying a new Lexus LS, say, would prefer to avoid the tiny additional cost of a set of mudflaps in order to gain a very few extra miles per tankful. At the same time, willingly subjecting their splendid new bodywork to a peppering of road muck!

Mudflaps! Yes,I fitted a set of mudflaps. OK, so it’s not an LS - but do they come with mudflaps as standard? I stand to be corrected - but I suspect not! And no doubt some will sneer that they’re not a serious modification. But this was the state of my Lexus after a short drive on damp roads. And I’d only given it the full two-bucket treatment just the day before! 😡 The reasoning seems to be that they create extra drag that reduces mpg. But it’s supposed to be a luxury car. I’ll happily sacrifice a few extra miles so that I can arrive somewhere with a car as clean as when I set out. Or am I alone in thinking that?

When MrsT and I retired almost 15 years ago, interest rates for our private pensions were around a modest 4% - enough to provide a reasonable income. But within months they started to tumble until coming to rest at less than 1% - less than inflation. Now that was good news for everyone with loans or a mortgage, but not so much for us savers! Fortunately, we can run a nice Lexus and have a comfortable life - and that, as you suggest, is down to the personal savings we arranged for ourselves. But other pensioners are not so well set up. If we had to rely purely on State Pensions - generous though I actually think they are - we would simply have to tailor our standard of living to suit. But it’s that last point that many people find so hard to come to terms with.

Er…that was just my way of saying I like carrot cake, Niaz! 😊 But I had an office in Northampton for a while - it’s a nice town. And it’s surrounded by very attractive villages, too. Recalling some of the earlier posts in this thread - which has somewhat meandered - what it doesn’t have is some of the less welcoming areas mentioned that you wouldn’t want to drive around in your Lexus!

Would that be somewhere in Northamptonshire? 🤗

Quite right. We’re called Pensioners! 😆

Andrea Bocelli…another excellent choice, Niaz! Here’s a selection of solos and duets that should do the trick. Mind you, I recall a time in Florence when every street busker would be having a shot at ‘Time to say goodbye’ with varying degrees of success! And that often proved an incentive to be somewhere else. https://youtu.be/aAly0LdU13I

Excellent choice - every car should be so equipped. And judging from the rest of the posts in this thread, they’ll be immediately providing vital evidence should you even be bold enough to go for a local drive!

I’m sure we all wish you and your wife a very happy and successful outcome for the future.

I’ve not heard it either, but I suspect it’s a recycling by a character in Only Fools and Horses of a very old gag about the proud road sweeper who’s had the same broom for the last 25 years! And its only had four new heads and three new handles… (Other variations are available!)

You’re thinking of Saudi Arabia. Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates where you can only lose your liberty! 😊 Mind you, since Sharia Law applies there, could you demand that the thief also gives you their car as compensation?

W. (W Motors is a Dubai-based manufacturer of what they describe as high performance luxury hypercars!)

I note that the brochure boasts of this vehicle’s ‘quietness’! Did you buy this new from a Lexus dealer? If so, did they not notice the ‘crooked fenders’ or the missing ‘noise cancelling tech’? If this is all as you say, then I would have thought you had a case for demanding that the Dealer rectify what would appear to be faults or you reject the car!

There are quite a few shots with it on a Mercedes. In one of them Tarbuck is actually holding the plate in position. So it looks like it was also a stick-on option for a photoshoot. As for his driving….well, his behaviour was disgraceful. I’m sure he had very good reasons for not waiting at the scene for Police to turn up with a Breathalyser! I don’t know if it was a first offence, but he seems to have got away relatively lightly - unlike the owners of the cars he hit. Perhaps his daughter, Lisa - who I thought had developed in to a fine and versatile actor - would now explain to him why he should hand over the keys to the Lexus to a more sober personality.