Rillo

US cars are also tested with the weight of only the driver - here they use weight of 2 passengers I believe? Also they test with half full tank of fuel instead of full.

Also, but this is just a guess, they test in hotter temperatures on a dry track?

maybe I am being too cynical, bitter and twisted after 11 years of a Tony and Gordon but I can't help but feel that the country has slipped under the waves....

- crap service from car dealers / shops etc

- try finding a reliable builder / plumber etc who gets the job right first time - almost impossible in my experience

- try dealing with councils / taxman / services

- no respect / manners / sense of community anymore

- the system is setup in favour of the liars / cheats / scrotes / scroungers / chav ******wits

Sorry for the miserable reply !! :D

A few (clean) suggestions

- play world of warcraft

- play Planetside = see www.planetside.com

- watch the Blakes' Seven box set, then the Sapphire and Steel box set followed by the first 7 series of Are you being Served?

- http://www.celebheights.com/

Have the door seals checked...

I can heartily recommend RetroGamer magazine to you lot based on this thread.

RETROGAMER

A few retrogame moments :

1) managing to get past level 5 of Manic Miner

2) managing to dock without a computer in Elite

3) building a course in Kikstart 2 that was actually playable!

4) playing DOOM on a 486DX PC and having the whole department gather round and watching the 3D graphics in amazement.

5) completing the 1500m in Daley Thompsons decathlon and having to explain to your mum why you were red and sweaty and your wrist hurt !!!

damn this global warming!!!

The sat nav picks up the satellites instantly in my experience. As for post code, as others have said above you get 4 digit which good enough in most cases.

My 2p worth as an RX350 driver who has driven 400 a couple of times. Obviously they both share the same fundamentals other than drive train so I won't comment on those - you either like the RX or you don't.

However a few things I did notice were :

1) Under relatively hard acceleration the front wheels really struggle for grip (a problem my AWD 350 does not). I got the TRC lights on very easily. I found this disconcerting.

2) I found the transmission of power to rear wheels to be quite slow - so there seemed to be a second whilst the fronts spun madly and then the power was shunted backwards. Not a great problem but not smooth

3) In cold weather even after fully warming up the engine was running most of the time - I got 28.1 mpg on same journey I would have seen 22mpg in my 350

4) brakes are very sharp / on-off in nature. may be because of the recharging stuff but found it hard to stop smoothly.

5) very heavy steering compared to my 350

6) feels like a very very heavy car

7) Motorways - where most of my time is spent - not enough increased mpg to justify the added purchase expense.

so overall would I be happy when coming to buy a new RX to have hybrid - sure. However I have to agree that whilst hybrid is a good technology it needs some work and certainly I wouldn't trade in my 350 for one just yet.

There is good news and there is bad......

Good news is it is a known problem - 1st stage is to add padding at back of dash and mess with the scuttle plate fixings. Stage 2 if needed is to fully remove the dash!

Bad news is it is not 100% guaranteed to work. I bought a new GS430 Nov 2005 and even after treatment it still creaked - Lexus very kindly gave me another car.

Hi everyone

I have been reading the forum for a little while - was looking to buy an '04 LS-430, but at the dealer, I decided to go for an LS 460 SE-L demonstrator that they had. It's Black with Black leather.

Contrary to some reviews, the car is not bland at all. When parked up outside a restaurant, everyone who walked past stopped to stare. One woman driving by, almost caused an accident as she craned her neck round to get a better look. Today, I had a guy in a Mercedes CLS 500 follow me down the road and give me the thumbs-up sign as he went past :D

So far I love it, but it doesn't seem to be as quiet as some of the reviews state.

I'll post a video to YouTube in the next few days and put the link on here.

Hi there TeesLS, strange but true, I too was looking for a good late, low mileage LS430, thought I had one and got the local dealer to have it shipped south. (its not in there yet 15/12 @ 22:50 but I have just reveiwed the Swindon dealership, at the bottom of the LOC home page "review your Lexus Dealer Today, that should explain all & if they allow it will probably leave you a little surprised) However, today was the day when my LS460 SE-L Sable with light grey interior arrived home. Thankfully it didnt rain today and got home as dry and gleeming as it was when it was driven out of the showroom 30 minutes earlier. To say I am already smitten is an understatement. I would love to know if you still feel the same. Its taken me far to long before buying myself a little luxury and compaired to my recent Jaguars and E63 experience it truly is in a different league. Fingers crossed we still feel the same in a few years. All the very best, happy and comfortable driving. Mike

I take full responsibility for S-Face's purchase - it was me who drove him around in my LS 430 a few years back :D

Once he'd been LS-ed he was hooked!

Welcome to New Labour Britain mate....

Tough on crime = make 4000 new laws for irrelevant offences and only prosecute people who can pay the fine....

Bring on the general election / revolution

tyrannosauruses

Geordie temperature chart

>

> The latest invention from Newcastle...

>

>

> 50 Degrees. Southerners turn on their heating. Geordies plant

their gardens.

>

> 40 Degrees. Southerners shiver uncontrollably. Geordies Sunbathe.

>

> 30 Degrees. Southern cars will not start. Geordies drive with

their windows down

>

> 20 Degrees. Southerners wear coats, gloves, and wool hats.

Geordies throw a t-shirt on (Girls start wearing mini-skirts)

>

> 10 Degrees. Southerners begin to Evacuate. Geordies go swimming in

the North Sea.

>

> Zero degrees. Southern landlords turn up the heat. Geordies have the

last barbecue before it gets cold.

>

> Minus 10 Degrees. Southerners cease to exist. Geordies throw on a

lightweight jacket.

>

> Minus 80 Degrees. Polar bears wonder if it> '> s worth it. Geordie

Boy scouts start wearing long trousers.

>

> Minus 100 Degrees. Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Geordies put

on their long johns.

>

> Minus 173 Degrees. Alcohol freezes. Geordies become frustrated

because the pubs are shut.

>

> Minus 297 Degrees. Microbiological life starts to disappear. The

cows on Newcastle town moor complain of vets with cold hands.

>

> Minus 460 Degrees. All atomic motion stops. Geordies start to stamp

their feet and blow on their hands.

>

> Minus 500 Degrees. Hell freezes over> ...> ...> ...> .Sunderland

qualify for Europe.

The Lexus garage when it goes in for a service

The voice control in my RX gets very confused by my Durham accent :D I have to do an impression of Miles Chumley-Warner to get it to recognise me !!

Nokia ExpressMusic

10/10 - very small, decent camera, Bluetooth, web, mp3 player, radio, get 4-5 days on a single charge

As a general comment I do think that Lexus is going to really suffer in next 5 years if they don't sort out decent diesels for their mainstream models. Hybrids are good for tax but real world fuel economy is not as good as BMW,AUDI and MERC diesels.

I'm lucky in that I owe no money on my RX so my only expensese are fuel, insurance, tyres and servicing and this is still 4K+ a year (never mind depreciation). When it comes time to swap I will have to think long and hard about continuing with Lexus unless I go for a 5 year old car...

Just think - an RX with a BMW 3 litre diesel - magic!

The Lexus dealers obviously must vary a lot in quality. My own experience (Lexus Bracknell) was that this was my best dealer experience in over 30 years of motoring. I couldn't fault their sales service and would most definitely use them again. The handover experience when I picked up my car was excellent - even though I was buying from the cheapest end of the range I felt like I was treated as an LS buyer! The followup from them to check I was happy with the car was also excellent.

I agree - Lexus Bracknell have been brilliant as far as I have been concerned - even when I had rattles from a new GS they quite happily sourced a replacement car for me. Service has been great too.

Honest - this really does work!!!

switch air con on full without recirculate. pop the bonnet and spray a healthy dose of Febreeze anti bacterial or dettol spray etc into the air vents under the wiper arms. Should cure it.

I heard from lexus that it is actually a golf sized hatch, hybrid with part time 4wd... due end of next year

Can anyone tell me if the RX300 SE-L is compatible with the Lexus iPod integration kits. Allowing for touch screen audio control. I seem to remember seeing a post somewhere now cannot find it.

All help appreciated

thanks

yes it is - but check the kit out as it is not as sophisticated as teh vaistech. Only plays playlists....

I switched to Dunlops - lot quieter but only get about 16-18K out of them

As a Newcastle fan I can confirm that having a billionaire owner is not all it's cracked up to be

The kit I have relies on you sorting tracks into playlists. If you access the audio section it gives you the playlist title, track title but not the artist. Not a problem to me but maybe to some

I have the lexus kit and I believe if you attach via CD socket (which lexus do) you cannot see text.