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Motability Scheme does greatly benefit many OAPs too but has no bearing on the BLUNT cancellation of the …….. Winter Fuel Payment …….. that some 10 MILLION OAPs will summarily lose This needs to be quickly addressed by those that have the ability to do so PLEASE ……. and not saying this lightly …… many OAPs will likely unnecessarily die this winter from this draconian Govt step in the wrong direction Malc

Just a placeholder for the moment, but going forward am looking to make full guide of everything you need to get IS250 with 3GR-FSE engine. Why do it? Short answer - because I can... Longer answer - because I always thought that IS250 is great car, but it is borderline sluggish (if only it had maybe 40 more hp!)... GS300 is also great car, but it is a bit of boat and styling... well let's just say "one need to get used to it"... I had it for just over a year now and it is best value Lexus one can get, very comfortable and luxurious car, I also find it attractive from certain angles, but being honest it is not the sexiest car ever made. So... logically, the solution is to take timeless IS mk2 body, also a more sporty chassis and fit little bit larger muscle in the place of it's heart. 3GR is not 2GR of course, but that is the engine which is readily available and also it costs cheaper if you take it together with the rest of the car (I know... it is madness that one can buy whole GS300 for £500, but the engine alone is closer to £1000... does anyone buy them?!). In ideal world I would simply have IS350, but in no world I am paying £11k for JDM import, when IS-F can be had for £16-18k. Obviously 2GR is just better engine, but even bare 2GR (non-hybridysed) is like £2000, ECU is another £500... and I can assure you to finish 2GR swap you would need 100s of small bits, which you simply don't get just buying the engine... and in UK we can't source it from any other model, so that will have to be sourced from US (remind me - why Lexus UK are idiots and didn't sell any 350s here?)... in short, it is hard to source and expensive. GS300s are on every corner and they are cheap. So it isn't 306hp, it does not have dual injection, but 252hp based on my calculations is 48hp more than you get in IS250 and for total cost of broken IS250 and rusted GS300 one can't even get bare 2GR, nevermind other nice bits like larger brakes. Also 3GR is "plug&play", that is because IS300 actually exists as a car (never sold in UK... again!) and everything is identical and simply bolts on. As noted, this process just started, so more detailed steps will follow, but as general advice... you will need some knowhow, workshop manual, techstream, lift, few good friends, engine crane/trolley and a bit of tools (I will summarise key bits later, but ones does not need many specialised tools) and about 10 times more time than you would think. I said I can drop the engine in 1 hour, I did it in 1st hour... of day 2. In theory it is very simple, but in practice the cars you will be working with are not going to be brand new, and when you spend 2 hours just removing 4 rusted bolts, the days gone by quickly... or just forget to take wheel locking key... that happed... not even once... that said engine can be removed without removing the wheels at all, but needless to say, it is much easier with them off. Current status - I have an IS250 that is missing the engine... and also a 4GR-FSE engine on the floor. Target status - IS250 with 252hp, "big" brakes, with MOT and ideally running as it should. Didn't have much time for taking snaps, as it was all consumed sweating, eating rust and cutting stuck bolts, but just few pictures for tasters. Also - thanks to @H3XME for lending a hand... I still have your 18mm and ball joint splitter 🙂

My wife has had MS for probably 35 years. When I bought our latest WAV for taking her out. I looked at Motability. When she reached pension age, her Mobility Part of PIP, stopped being awarded… I bought the VW Caddy…! Fortunately, the ramp is wide enough for putting my Recumbent Trike in the back…! PIP_Mobility Part....pdf

Working for me as well on android

My sincere thanks for the advice. I am able to confirm that the boot and the amplifier were checked at the time, and that I also had a peep under the lining myself before and after and saw no signs of wet or damp or anything visibly untoward. I am glad to say, touch wood, that I have had no detectable issues of any sort after more than a month now. I should add that car was in for routine servicing last week and, to my continuing relief, the same mechanic as originally inspected the car again gave it a clean bill of health.

In summary 5001 miles and your engine is toast.....

Oh, and the accounts show they do pay tax:

Yes. With luck we may all get it via a software update… and someone somewhere here said they had a new NX as a courtesy car and it definitely had wireless AA.

They aren’t paid by taxpayers though, they are paid by individuals in receipt of benefits choosing to purchase a service from them, the same as those individuals could choose to buy anything else with their benefits payment . Motability Operations is owned by four banks (Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and NatWest Group) and has the contract with the Motability charity to run the leasing scheme. The government only provides funding for specialised or wheelchair vehicle adaption grants As I said, the fact they can take a relatively small weekly allowance - plus a voluntary up front fee depending on vehicle selected - and run this entire operation from it (without taxpayer cash supporting the leasing element) is a brilliant example and it’s a shame we can’t duplicate its success in other areas.

I have a NX Premium which has the standard audio and I think it's the best system I have had. It's head and shoulders above the B&O I had a a Q5 back in 2013 and definitely better than the ML I tried in a Takumi UX.

Another go at a 430 estate - I don't hate it....

For Motability, recipients trade in getting a cash benefit for a private vehicle. It doesn’t cost the government or taxpayers more (unless you argue the favourable VAT treatment is a cost). Car companies negotiate with Motability to get their vehicles in the scheme - Motability are the UK’s largest fleet operator - and have to offer discounts effectively in exchange for volume. Recipients will pay a larger deposit to get more expensive vehicles (typically). There are elements to criticise - the huge reserves and some high executive pay - but personally I think the scheme is a great example of meeting a need without needing huge government subsidies.

Killing a bit of time last night I used a combination of Midjourney Ai and photoshop to come up with this. I always liked an estate (or wagon/shooting brake if you prefer) and this just ticks all the boxes for me. Dear Santa.... 🙂

Hi, I recently had to remove the front plastic trim, and the cross member underneath wasn't looking too good. any products people recommend for rust conversion / protection etc. watched a few YouTube videos, but can't seem to get the products the recommend (US market). Was kind of thinking of this from Toolstation (https://www.toolstation.com/rustins-rust-converter-250ml/p97400), but would be nice to hear recommendations. Thanks, Darren.

Blimey what an excellent project to do Linas. It's good that you're in a position to do it. Looking forward to this project of yours. Best of British to you 👍

What a great idea for a project! Nothing against those that spend thousands on their cars, but I do love a 'cheap', drop in upgrade when it can be done. Is the 3GR engine much heavier than the original? Can't imagine there is much in it, either way. Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing the results.

Winter Fuel Payment weird but telling 🤔 My partner has just advised me that Rachel Reeves as Chancellor and her husband/ partner who works for the NHS in something of a senior role ……. enjoy a joint State paid annual income of @ £ 450/500k 👏 The incredulity of their comprehending the OAPs who NEED that Winter Fuel Payment is astonishing 🤫 Malc

Lovely. Just ordered a set from Aliexpress. Will give them a try.

Nice. This should be interesting. Will everything else (gearbox, diff etc) be standard IS250 stuff?

Given that CarPlay is just a way to get your phone screen to show on the car infotainment screen, most problems can be found to be the fault of the phone not playing nicely.

Regarding the comment by AWC regarding unlocking the car after the charger had been plugged up this is a good point. I found early on that if the car is unlocked and I plug the charger cable in followed by locking the car everything is fine, however if I return to the car for something therefore unlocking it I find the charging connector remains unlocked following locking the car.again. The charging plug has to be removed and reinserted to lock again. This situation should not arise and I informed my dealer about it some time ago.

Not sure if they are a less common size. Run flats are less common too. Hopefully the tyre choice improves before we require new tyres 😀

That was me, 24 plate NX350h with wireless AA.

They were very generous, they were not going to give up until they found it but eventually they had to as they ran out of ideas. I won't name them for obvious reasons

as the map feature is still all but useless I deleted the app off my phone a while ago. It really is of no use to me.

Working fine for me, I am on iOS.

I opted for the NX 350h Premium Plus which doesn't have ML - but having had ML on previous RXs, I can't tell the difference. Might be due to veteran's hearing, though!

Malc motability scheme with few exceptions only applies to under 65's

Bob, So thinking this through tell me if I understand this correctly. At first blush I had thought the extra size of the 20" alloy would reduce the clearance around the wheel arch. However, this is incorrect ,because to maintain the rolling radius of the wheel the tyre size is adjusted so that the overall circumference of the alloy/tyre remains the same. Hence, the clearance space is unaffected by alloy size? The clearance is affected by the vertical setting selected on the coilover suspension which reduces clearance around the top of the radii ? The use of spacers by offsetting the wheel reduces the clearance around the entire wheel arch horizontally as opposed to vertically as per the coilovers? In effect pushing the wheel outwards by the size of the spacer selected? If correct this would account for a remark I saw on the Lexus dealers healthcheck noting some small abrasive marks to tyres and internal wheel arch which would suggest that for a small point in the past the settings were slightly off allowing contact between the two.

We never stop learning

Ken, that is what we are doing 👍 Sods law that we only increased the voluntary excess last year but, as you say, one would hope that future premiums wouldn’t be greatly affected by it. Shouldn’t affect NCB since that is protected. We will see, since insurance renewal is late Sept.

Agree .

In place of /in addition too why I we funding the Mobility scheme that costs Billions? A scheme that allows for a Lexus or Range Rover? 🤔

I see it finally has wireless Android Auto 🙄

I agree with the above sentiments. I would never pay extra for a higher spec car if that higher spec was primarily centred around a so-called "enhanced" sound system. I love my music but if I want to listen to it in high-definition I'll do that at home - not on a trip around the M25. The standard sound system in my NX sounds fine to my, admittedly ageing, ears.

They benefit from it with massive earnings potential over their career, which as consultants gets them into the top 5% of UK earners, and an NHS pension which is pretty much the most generous public sector pension scheme in the country. They can also - as has been pointed out - decide to run off to the USA or Australia, having had us pay for their training, and thus we don’t benefit. If Doctors want USA style pay, they should stump up and pay for their own training (as they would in the USA, $40-60k per year in costs).

I can tell you, the latest system 3.0 isn’t flawless. I used it extensively last week on a trip to the highlands and for the most part it’s good but it got uncomfortably close to some trucks as if it was being sucked in! I certainly wouldn’t trust it implicitly.

It was technically an option on all ISs in Japan. You don't see it much on ISFs because this would be the equivalent of spec'ing up your RCF and saying "I'm not keen on the 19" RCF wheels, but I like the F-Sport ones in the RC brochure, how much extra are those?". Japanese dealers will usually do whatever the customer wants within reason hence you see stuff like this.

It’s all personal preference but I never thought that the ML system I had on my RX450 f sport was any better than the standard system in my current NX450 f sport. Of course it’s your choice but I wouldn’t pay extra for the ML system, i think it is a Lexus marketing gimmick. How many here had ever heard of ML before Lexus started pushing its name.

Well over my life I have run quite a number of cars to decently high mileages of around 150k to 200k miles (clocking up between 15k and 30k miles per annum much of it at full motorway speeds) and only ever followed manufacturers recommended service intervals and scheduled maintenance and so can speak from real experience that I have never had any issues and all ran perfectly when traded in and so I certainly plan to continue doing that. Anyone who wants to change their oil every few thousand miles is free to do so of course - it's your choice - but I genuinely do not believe that it's necessary with modern engines and oils. And of course don't forget that in a hybrid at 10k miles the engine hasn't done 10k miles as a percentage has been electric with no engine running.

There is lighting in booth front and rear outside door handles.

Hi. Please feel free to give us a try for insurance if you haven't done so already. Regards, Dan.