Tiffany arrives at her new home

[Mincey]

No photos yet - it was chucking it down and blowing a hoolie yesterday. Amends will be made when the weather improves.

So first impressions...

The Good:

• The ride is significantly improved over the F Sport ES as you'd expect without sports suspension and 18" instead of 19" wheels. She's much smoother over bumps. There's a piece of road near here where a channel was dug across the road just on the braking point for a junction and it always triggered the ABS in Betsy - I need to see if Tiff does the same.
• Road and engine noise is very much reduced. I'm guessing some sound deadening is left off the F Sport models to give a more "sporty feel". Coming down the A47 yesterday though I switched the radio off and it was almost silent. Probably not LS silent, but she's probably the quietest car I've been in. This does however mean that a closer eye needs to be kept on the speedo!
• After a few failures I got the boot to open by waggling my foot. This will come in very handy as I've often got my hands full of boxes of IT stuff or bass cabinets etc and having the boot open for me without having to put anything down will be very convenient.
• The centre console layout is much better. Betsy's was a little disjointed with the two cup holders in different areas.
• My wife hadn't sat in the back of Betsy and was amazed by the amount of room in Tiff and enjoyed playing with the reclining seat. 
• Being able to move the passenger seat using the buttons on the right hand side instead of leaning over to use the buttons on the seat.
• The length adjustment on the drivers seat is just right for getting under my dodgy knee.
• The panoramic camera is bloody awesome! 
• I wasn't expecting a front parking camera
• Having not had the blind spot warning thingies on the mirrors before, I'm really looking forward to my first run back from Royston at the junction where the M11 meets the A14. That's always a squeaky bum moment or two at rush hour with cars joining in my blind spot.
• The HUD. When I got in to drive home, I had the sinking feeling that I couldn't cope with an analogue speedo anymore and was trying to find a way to display the speed digitally in the big blank square in the middle of the speedo. I then remembered she has a HUD and everything was fine again.
• The wider touchscreen is great. I just need to remember how to set the order of apps in AA so that Spotify is always on the right.
• The Sales experience at Leicester. Benjamin who sold me Tiff was a legend. He couldn't do enough for me and very patiently explained several things twice. There were no attempts to upsell Gap insurance (still don't know whether I should get this or not), tyre insurance etc. Having the Dealer Principal come in to try to flog all that is something I've always dreaded. I just want to pay for the car and go, which is what happened this time. I've taken Tiff on finance - it saved me a grand and I liked the idea of a call from Lexus Leicester some time in the future offering me a new car for a slight adjustment in monthly payments etc. 

The Slightly Disappointing:

• The ML stereo hasn't quite lived up to my expectations yet. The ML in my IS250 was the dog's bits - I hope I just need to fiddle around with some audio settings which I've not managed to find yet
• In Betsy, I could use the tuning dial to move between tracks on Android Auto. Tiff doesn't seem to have this feature and I'm not struck on having to tap the touchscreen instead. When I work out how to fix Spotify on the right hand side of the touch screen though, this might be easier.
• When I fill up, I always take a photo of the mileage and MPG for my records and Fuelly. Is it possible to have the mileage showing all the time or does that just come up when everything's off?
• The touchscreen. It might be my fingers but some options do take a couple of prods before they're accepted.
• Lexus Link+ falls over after accepting the agreement for the additional services. I'd like to know what additional services Tiff can offer!
• Tiff's steering wheel doesn't feel as nice as Betsy's.
• I'm not struck on the non-F Sport grill if I'm honest.
• The "look back" in car parks isn't quite as satisfying as it was with Betsy. I think it's a colour thing.

The Bad:

• No wireless Android Auto! I'm glad I didn't rush to put my AAWireless dongle on eBay now. Thankfully the USB A socket is near a long slot where the dongle can be hidden.
• My wife came out to see Tiff when I got home and immediately noticed a scratch I'd missed. 
• The key "card". Benjamin told me to look after it as it could cause issues when trading Tiff in and that they cost about £600. To be honest, I'd rather not have one and have had £600 taken off the cost of the car. I can't put the card in my wallet as that lives in my back pocket and it would crack in no time. I'm not going to get a new phone wallet thing and put it in there in case I leave my phone somewhere. The card is going to stay where it currently is - in a Faraday pouch in the safe in my garage. 

I have a long-ish run to Bletchley coming up on Monday. Parking is always a pain in the butt at the client's site so the panoramic camera will come in handy. I can't see too much changing in terms of mpg etc even with different tyres but I'm happy to be proved wrong. 

I've had front and back dashcams fitted. I doubt that the wireless link has improved at all but again I'm happy to be shown otherwise. My brother in law had them fitted on his Toyota and agreed that the best way to get footage is to pop the SD card out and stick it in a PC. It was galling to have to pay for new cameras when Betsy's would have been fine. I realise that it's probably impossible but couldn't Lexus supply UK spec cars with suitable wiring so that cameras could be added and removed at whim? 

The only buggeration about the whole process is (again) the faff with changing numberplates. Why oh why oh why can't V5s be held electronically now? I've now got the wait for Tiff's V5 to endure before I can swap the plates over. 

[Mincey]

Just discovered how to change the speedo from analogue to digital. Now to work out how to change the default indicators from three flashes to five.

EDIT: £9.99 to Carista and it's done.

[Andy B]

1 hour ago, Mincey said:

 

• The wider touchscreen is great. I just need to remember how to set the order of apps in AA so that Spotify is always on the right.

Hi James, congratulations on the car.

To set the the order of the apps in AA.....

• open the AA settings on your phone
• press on "Customise launcher"
• from the list of available apps, hold and drag each app up or down until they are in the order you desire (be aware that AA typically has 4 apps in each row, so to get Spotify on the far right you'll need to place it at position 4 or 8 or 12 (etc.) in the list
• press the "back" arrow to save your selections

Hope this helps.

[Andy B]

51 minutes ago, Mincey said:

Now to work out how to change the default indicators from three flashes to five.

I think this is a dealer-enabled configuration change only (but can also be done DIY via an OBD2 adapter and associated app, such as Carista).

[Mincey]

1 minute ago, Andy B said:

I think this is a dealer-enabled configuration change only (but can also be done DIY via an OBD2 adapter and associated app, such as Carista).

Managed to do it with my OBDLink adapter and Carista. Was racking my brain as to how I did it on Betsy and my IS300h! Paying £9.99 for a month's Carista subscription beat driving back to Leicester in this wind.

[Dippo]

13 hours ago, Mincey said:

 

• The ML stereo hasn't quite lived up to my expectations yet. The ML in my IS250 was the dog's bits - I hope I just need to fiddle around with some audio settings which I've not managed to find yet

Go to the audio screen, and touch the three dots - there's a thread about it somewhere.

[Ken R]

Why the delay in changing number plates? My dealer has always had them switched by the time I collect the new car.

[DavidCM]

23 hours ago, Andy B said:

I think this is a dealer-enabled configuration change only (but can also be done DIY via an OBD2 adapter and associated app, such as Carista).

If you search this forum you should find instructions on how to do it yourself.It involves moving either the wiper or indicator stalk a set number of times up and down(and possibly a masonic handshake).Very fiddly to do but it worked on my RC.

[Mincey]

2 hours ago, Ken R said:

Why the delay in changing number plates? My dealer has always had them switched by the time I collect the new car.

I need to wait for the V5 for the new car to arrive before I can put the plate on it. 

[Boomer54]

It's going to be a long long wait. Betsy has friends at the DVLA.

[Mincey]

11 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

It's going to be a long long wait. Betsy has friends at the DVLA.

"If that trollop thinks she's wearing MY plate, she's got another thing coming...."

[Mincey]

Right, so that's:

• ML sound sorted out (thanks for the tips above!)
• Connected services sorted. I switched the hazards on remotely then couldn't switch them off without going into the car...
• Spotify set so that it's always nearest me - this was a setting in Android Auto - "Navigation always on left" (or similar)

I'm surprised that she hasn't got sequential indicators at the front though. Betsy had them. Their lights look very different though:

Were sequential indicators binned with the MY22 version?

[Mincey]

I love my postman. Not only did he bring Betsy's V5 this morning, he also brought Tiff's too. The package is complete:

(and  yes, pruning that Clematis is on my To Do list...)

[rayaans]

17 minutes ago, Mincey said:

I love my postman. Not only did he bring Betsy's V5 this morning, he also brought Tiff's too. The package is complete:

(and  yes, pruning that Clematis is on my To Do list...)

Looks very nice - I think the Takumi / less sportier specs suit the type of car much more. 

However....... am i seeing a wonky number plate or is it just the angle 😅

[Mincey]

3 minutes ago, rayaans said:

Looks very nice - I think the Takumi / less sportier specs suit the type of car much more. 

However....... am i seeing a wonky number plate or is it just the angle 😅

The plates were pre-drilled so they ought to be straight! The front one does look wonky though, I'll give you that 😄

[rayaans]

6 hours ago, Mincey said:

The plates were pre-drilled so they ought to be straight! The front one does look wonky though, I'll give you that 😄

I was looking at the back one!

Mainly because the left side looks like the little bump is more visible!

[Mincey]

9 hours ago, rayaans said:

I was looking at the back one!

Mainly because the left side looks like the little bump is more visible!

The holes in the plates are drilled too low:

When she goes in for a service next, I'm going to ask them to do a new plate as it does look a bit pants. I was surprised that they went to the trouble of drilling the plates because previously they've given me new plates with sticky pads on the back. I thought that pre-drilled would save me time masking around the old plate so I could line everything up properly but...

Have you used those plastic number plate screws? What a pain in the derriere they are. One will come out nicely, the other will refused to budge no matter how carefully you try to remove it. I'd do a half turn and it would turn back to where it started. The head broke off one so I had to take it out with pliers which was equally difficult. I eventually found two bolts in my bolt stash which were the right thread and used those. Later that afternoon I thought that perhaps plastic screws are used so that they don't come loose with vibration. Off to Halfords I went. They only had blue number plate screws. Blue?! Who uses blue screws? Onto amazon to buy a bulk pack of black, white and yellow screws. If anyone needs any, you know where to come....

[Boomer54]

Whose been 'screwed' now. You knew Betsy would get her revenge!😄

[Mincey]

22 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

Whose been 'screwed' now. You knew Betsy would get her revenge!😄

That's a good point - I hadn't thought of that. 

[beyond the blue]

I've always used the plate surrounds, I think it gives a more finished off appearance IMO.

[Mincey]

23 minutes ago, beyond the blue said:

I've always used the plate surrounds, I think it gives a more finished off appearance IMO.

That Sir, is an excellent idea!

[Mincey]

I've just been out to put a larger SD card in the dashcam. "That's odd!" I thought after (finally) connecting the app on my phone to the dashcam. The front view was fine, but the rear view was blue. Sky blue in fact. It soon became apparent why:

[rayaans]

9 hours ago, Mincey said:

The holes in the plates are drilled too low:

When she goes in for a service next, I'm going to ask them to do a new plate as it does look a bit pants. I was surprised that they went to the trouble of drilling the plates because previously they've given me new plates with sticky pads on the back. I thought that pre-drilled would save me time masking around the old plate so I could line everything up properly but...

Have you used those plastic number plate screws? What a pain in the derriere they are. One will come out nicely, the other will refused to budge no matter how carefully you try to remove it. I'd do a half turn and it would turn back to where it started. The head broke off one so I had to take it out with pliers which was equally difficult. I eventually found two bolts in my bolt stash which were the right thread and used those. Later that afternoon I thought that perhaps plastic screws are used so that they don't come loose with vibration. Off to Halfords I went. They only had blue number plate screws. Blue?! Who uses blue screws? Onto Amazon to buy a bulk pack of black, white and yellow screws. If anyone needs any, you know where to come....

My car has the plastic screws - never had an issue with them to be honest but I do spray them with silicone before I screw them on. The other issue is when the dealer overtightens them so they dont come out. 

Other cars have got WURTH number plate surrounds which are much better in my view.

[Mincey]

7 minutes ago, rayaans said:

My car has the plastic screws - never had an issue with them to be honest but I do spray them with silicone before I screw them on. The other issue is when the dealer overtightens them so they dont come out. 

 

That is a cracking idea - many thanks. It was really weird trying to get them out. I'd give it half a turn and then take the screwdriver out and boing back it went to its original position! I'm coming round to the number plate surround idea. 

[rayaans]

4 minutes ago, Mincey said:

That is a cracking idea - many thanks. It was really weird trying to get them out. I'd give it half a turn and then take the screwdriver out and boing back it went to its original position! I'm coming round to the number plate surround idea. 

Thats usually because its been overtightened and the threads have got stuck, so the head keeps moving when trying to screw off and pings back into the original position until it eventually snaps right off.