New member not yet an owner.

[Boomer54]

I am backing off the idea of double wrapping the car. Looking at reviews makes me aware that any 'portable' garage surrounding the car cover might just give rise to a greenhouse effect of excess moisture. So, unless I can find something that  convinces me it has adequate ventilation I won't follow through with that idea. Sounded good in theory ,less so in practice.

[LenT]

19 hours ago, Boomer54 said:

On another note I cannot believe it's taken me nearly 50 years to drive an automatic. So, simple and solves the problem on a bad RA day with the left hand when it comes to changing gears. I did wonder beforehand if I was being stupid buying an automatic when I have never driven one.  Not an issue as it works out.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, Stephen.  Automatics have progressed dramatically over the years.

But despite the occasional need to drive one, it wasn’t until I came across my Lexus that I’d ever had to consider owning one.  There was no manual option, after all.

I’d always felt I was in more control being able to choose my own gear.  It was part of the joy of motoring….I thought.

Well, I’m an auto convert!  I’ve decided that having someone else choose the most appropriate gear is befitting of my status - apart from which it has coincided with developing arthritis in the left ankle.

I did use the paddle shifts when I first got the car, as a kind of compromise.  But frankly the Lexus auto is so smooth and efficient that I’m now perfectly content to just worry about the steering, stopping and speed.

The one thing I do miss is engine braking.  You can use the paddles to select a lower gear when going down really steep hills - but we don’t have many of them in Northamptonshire!  

[Boomer54]

20 minutes ago, LenT said:

Don’t be too hard on yourself, Stephen.  Automatics have progressed dramatically over the years.

But despite the occasional need to drive one, it wasn’t until I came across my Lexus that I’d ever had to consider owning one.  There was no manual option, after all.

I’d always felt I was in more control being able to choose my own gear.  It was part of the joy of motoring….I thought.

Well, I’m an auto convert!  I’ve decided that having someone else choose the most appropriate gear is befitting of my status - apart from which it has coincided with developing arthritis in the left ankle.

I did use the paddle shifts when I first got the car, as a kind of compromise.  But frankly the Lexus auto is so smooth and efficient that I’m now perfectly content to just worry about the steering, stopping and speed.

The one thing I do miss is engine braking.  You can use the paddles to select a lower gear when going down really steep hills - but we don’t have many of them in Northamptonshire!  

"arthritis". Thanks Len, we won't start a thread on this because it would run and run. Suffice to say bane of our lives. Fell running, to long distance flat running to basically nothing. Not a regression I would recommend to anyone.

[LenT]

42 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

arthritis". Thanks Len, we won't start a thread on this because it would run and run.

No it wouldn’t!  🙁

[Glyn Jennings]

10 hours ago, Boomer54 said:

The video did make it look pretty easy. I think I might just buy the SCMods unit and give it a try. If I can't work out the wiring I'm sure I'll get some help.

Let me know if you get stuck at any point and I will try to help.

[Boomer54]

1 hour ago, Glyn Jennings said:

Let me know if you get stuck at any point and I will try to help.

Much appreciated Glyn.

[Lexiguy]

Hi Steven

There have been very positive reports about the rear camera kit which Calvin at SC430MODS.COM supplies.

It appears to be an easy fit, not having to remove the head unit to fit it.

After much procrastinating, I am on the verge of buying one from him and from reports, I would not hesitate to fit it my self. Especially as I have removed the boot linings previously to do a wiring job.

I don't know exactly where you are but I am just over the Pennines from Lancashire and would be happy to assist if you feel that you need some practical and moral support.

Regards, Anthony 

 

[Boomer54]

3 hours ago, Lexiguy said:

Hi Steven

There have been very positive reports about the rear camera kit which Calvin at SC430MODS.COM supplies.

It appears to be an easy fit, not having to remove the head unit to fit it.

After much procrastinating, I am on the verge of buying one from him and from reports, I would not hesitate to fit it my self. Especially as I have removed the boot linings previously to do a wiring job.

I don't know exactly where you are but I am just over the Pennines from Lancashire and would be happy to assist if you feel that you need some practical and moral support.

Regards, Anthony 

 

Incredibly generous of you Anthony ,but I must also 'fess up'. I was born just over the Pennines myself in the Aire valley, but have resided here in Preston so long now I may no longer have passport privilegies for 'gods own county'. Hey, thanks for the offer and I may take you up on it.

[Phil xxkr]

On 9/15/2023 at 8:55 AM, LenT said:

No it wouldn’t!  🙁

I agree, that's novo virus 🤣

[First_Lexus]

On 9/15/2023 at 7:52 AM, LenT said:

Automatics have progressed dramatically over the years.

They most certainly have! My disability has meant I’ve driven only automatics since I was eighteen (somehow I managed to learn and pass my test in a manual transmission, God only knows how!).

Over the past (cough, cough) ‘few’ years, i.e decades, I’ve owned a few Mini autos (the original sort), torque converter three and four speed autos in Montego and Maestro, Nissan Micra, Renault Scenic and various Hondas. 

The current Lexus eCVT is superb, having now owned three of them. Learn to drive it differently and it rewards you with smooth progress. It’s a big step forward from the (normal) CVT in my 2004 MINI (my second of those). Even so, I’m a convert to CVT generally. 

The only automatic I’ve ever owned that I didn’t like was the VW DSG nightmare in a Tiguan. Hesitant to the point of being dangerous, it finally exploded at 40k miles on the M1. When it went bang it blew a hole in the gearbox casing (fortunately replaced under warranty, and then the car sold quickly as I established my experience was far from unusual!).

I once worked with a colleague who refused to even consider an automatic, as he said “…I like to feel in control.” I’ve never been in a car with a driver who was in less control 😆.

[Boomer54]

"somehow I managed to learn and pass my test in a manual transmission"

Takes me back. I passed in a Austin Morris 1100, my first car. My Instructor warned me not to try it, but I ignored him and failed 1st time. The problem was it did not have synchromesh on 1st gear so you had to learn how to 'double the clutch' ! Anyone under a certain age has probably never heard of that and why should they have !

[First_Lexus]

46 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

"somehow I managed to learn and pass my test in a manual transmission"

Takes me back. I passed in an Austin Morris 1100, my first car. My Instructor warned me not to try it, but I ignored him and failed 1st time. The problem was it did not have synchromesh on 1st gear so you had to learn how to 'double the clutch' ! Anyone under a certain age has probably never heard of that and why should they have !

I remember my Father - who passed his driving test while in the Army and in either Egypt or Malaya (as was, I forget which it was) - talking about having to use the ‘pre-selector’ gearbox on his Father’s Armstrong-Siddeley.

We’ve never had it so good!

[LenT]

3 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

I’ve never been in a car with a driver who was in less control 😆.

This amused me greatly, Ed.

Took me back to my very first job in a Company just off Fleet Street, in what I later described as ‘the armpit of advertising!’

The owner would often insist on giving me a lift to Holborn tube station.  This involved long, straight stretches of the A40, which was interrupted by several pedestrian crossings.  From about 200 yards away,  I would see someone start to cross and it was immediately obvious that our trajectories were doomed to coincide!

At about 20 yards, my driver would stamp on the brakes and exclaim “Did you see that!  The fool stepped right out in front of us!”
 

2 hours ago, First_Lexus said:

having to use the ‘pre-selector’ gearbox on his Father’s Armstrong-Siddeley.

As a child I would sit downstairs on Daimler-powered London buses in order to watch the driver use the Wilson pre-selector gearbox.

Such fun!

[Glyn Jennings]

1 hour ago, LenT said:

This amused me greatly, Ed.

Took me back to my very first job in a Company just off Fleet Street, in what I later described as ‘the armpit of advertising!’

The owner would often insist on giving me a lift to Holborn tube station.  This involved long, straight stretches of the A40, which was interrupted by several pedestrian crossings.  From about 200 yards away,  I would see someone start to cross and it was immediately obvious that our trajectories were doomed to coincide!

At about 20 yards, my driver would stamp on the brakes and exclaim “Did you see that!  The fool stepped right out in front of us!”
 

As a child I would sit downstairs on Daimler-powered London buses in order to watch the driver use the Wilson pre-selector gearbox.

Such fun!

Is anyone young on here?😂

[Boomer54]

22 minutes ago, Glyn Jennings said:

Is anyone young on here?😂

Maybe we should have sub forum called Dinosaurs Still Rule

Anyway as we know, 'it ain't the miles on the clock that count ,it's the pedigree of whats under the hood' 😉

[Boomer54]

So, if the vehicle healthcheck goes off ok today, and i am confident it will, then I will start ticking off the things on my to do list.

Now, I refute up front any suggestion that I have anti social tendencies, but what do you think of my choice of new alloys?