Cotswold Pete

As an about be be pensioner I am likely to be financially okay (luck and judgement got me mainly sorted), and I totally get that some pensioners need all the help they can get, and some will never need the fuel payment. IMHO the problem will be those that do not meet some benchmark and will have a be a little colder of hungrier each winter, and most MPs do not know what it is like to be hungry, homeless, frozen like too many people (not just pensioners) suffer from in the 7th largest economy in the world. On the new government I would suggest reading Why we get the wrong politicians. Even before reading this I always thought no new MP goes in with a view to being naff at their job. Whether Labour or Tory they want to do good but they get subsummed by the whipping strucuture in Commons and appeasement of the 'Ruler'. By the way having read books on the good and abd of the Nordics, Germany, Netherlands and a good few others, nowhere is perfect, but some are less broken than others. I would add I wished more people voted as democracy is a fragile thing hard fought for by the people over the centuries.

100% agree, my E350 not a patch on it (apart from mpg on with diesel). Also cannot keep away from the Lexi forum, the Merc forum nowhere near as informative, helpful. Not sure about Porsche forums, though having been in a number of 911 I can appreciated your new motor, not that I would ever want to own one. Everytime I see something praising the 400 it warms the cockles of my heart.

Not the easiest way to save $30,000 and get a 1,000,000 mile motor. Though I assume it has the LCD display so no issues with flourcescent tube fade on the console which bugged me in cold weather with my 250,000miles Mk4

Only squeak I ever had was from the rear, which went when I replaced a shock which was done pre-MOT. Also my Mk3 had bad knocking due to failing bushes on front control arms, whereas Mk4 towards the end of it's life there was no knocking even though they were end of life. Best of luck locating and sorting

Well last night sat down with a home made savoury waffle and some spincha quiche and good old dollops of Tomato Sauce and a nice raspberry cordial, then tried watching the Spain v. England, but got bored after first half so watched something else. Tonight, left overs from Sunday Veggie Roast and a nice cold cider - a treat I enjoy with lashings of hot gravy.

Does seem unusual for total collapse, but try this chap - https://carseatrepair.co.uk/ About hour and half from your neck of the woods. Mentions Lexus as work he has done. Having had two LS in past even at 20+ years the foam was fine (where as my Dads 20yr old Peugeot was total shot in the bum area)

How about these, I have seen them on quite few high performance cars. Not cheap, but have less surface area to create noise and drag. https://seasucker.eu/ I use a Saris Bones for carrying bikes, but rear mounted bikes totally kill dynamics, so fuel consumption on my LS went from 34+ to 24 on a motorway run, a roof mount would have been better

Never heard of Slims Detaling, but the web site seem like a Detailers Heaven. Now in my bookmarks for browser, must get around to doing the car properly now weather is more or less summery!!

Crikey VLANs for a car, what's next Malwarebytes that decides it's bad to listen to Jazz and blocks your radio!!

Working in Cyber, I have been aware of the CAN protocol for a while, but found this article gives a overview of the route to hacking. CAN hacking As it says the CAN is based on the IP protocol (the Internet basically) which is highly hacked, and all this sh*t reminds me of back in 1980 the networks I played with were a lot more secure and when I fisrt looked at IP (1981) I began to realise it was a potential to be open and a tad of a target for the crims. This is why CAN attacks were few and far between until (more or less) around 2019, when the crims appear to have got their act together and worked out how to connect to the network and attack it like they would attack your router or PC on your home (or office) network. Makes me think that when time comes to replace my car it would be a pair of shoes and bus pass as the replacement

That shirt says it all. Even though I now drive a MB, my keys have the Lexus fob, just hard to let go of not owning a Lexus (at the mo)

I know what you mean, having been in IT for 44 years now, about 24 years ago I was struggling to get some printing app working on my PC. My 5 year old daughter saved the day. At work I feel like I know nothing about the tech, one of my 23 yr old colleagues just learns like a sponge. The only things us oldies bring to the party is the experience of not panicking and knowing how to talk down the angriest of clients.

I recall the scumble era. Only remember it well, as in the next valley to me is a company called Scumble Goosie who strangely enough do not specify a scumble option for the finish on their furniture. They are opposite the local paint specialist, maybe I ought to nip in and see if scumble means anythnig to the pain merchants (they do the sort of stuff you never see in B&Q or even half decent Hardware store). I am not keen on going to Amazon unless I really have to, though I am not averse to making Jeff Bezos so rich he can potter off the Mars and avoid paying his taxes there instead.

I am off to Bristol Airport later to pick up my son and will traverse the bridge twice. Always cautious on it these days, but 40 years ago quite normal for me to storm it at over 90. In 1979 I cycled over it, traffic was a lot less, but still not a pleasant experience, but the view up the river towards Pill were worth it, shame you cannot spy over the other side towards Avonmouth docks.

Video made sense, I would think applying the 0000 wire wool, the real trick is to not over-pressure. I have clayed windscreens before and it is pretty good, so next time might give it the wire wool treatment and leave it at that. As other posts say glass is hydroscopic it is only dirt that makes the water cling, and the reason why you get champagne bubbles. If you had a 100% clean glass with bubbly in it, then you should get no bubbles as there is no dirt to cause nucleation. Does this mean to really check how clean the screen is you should chuck a bottle of Dom Perignon over your Lexus🤑

It took me over 5 years of owning a Mk3 and then a few years of Mk4 before I reckon I knew all the hidden secrets, some I found on my own, but quite a few via this forum. The luxury barge that keeps giving

Any sign of the yellow orb gets us Brits taking our warm layers off (be it roofs or jumpers). Used to drive around in the LS with sun roof open even when just above zero if the sun was out 10 days ago was in St Davids (Pembrokeshire), after lots of rain a bit if sun and a mere 10 celsius out comes the T-shirt and off for a 10 mile stomp. So enjoy your SC430, I am a little envious

Interesting article with lots of tech depth and CANbus history. I deal with Zero Trust systems in the world of computing, using a system invented by the CIA 16 years ago, and Zero Trust is a bit of a b*gger to do easily. I suspect will be a while before we see car manufacturers do what the kentindell link says. Even doing Zero Trust in the PC world you need to deal with what is called a 'Living Off The Land' attack, which tells me even if the car tech is upgraded the hackers will eventually suss it out with a LOL attack. Don't forget crims are not nice people with nothing better to do than work out how to nick things that are not theirs, by using tools developed by (usually) highly autistic geeks.

I always assumed with any of my cars (not just Lexus) that an emoty tank had somewhere between 6 to 8 litres still swilling around. But running the tank dry meant over time sucking tank debris into the fuel line. Only ever ran a car to zero once, but it was a 6 month old Ford Escort and all seemed fine, not so sure would have try that on a 10 year old motor unless I had no choice. I know fuel filtering better than it was years ago, so maybe less of an issue to 'go low' on reserves. My E350 says fuel is low when there is near enough 100mile range which is about 10 litre in the tank and with my old LS I recall getting over 50miles when I had 'run out of petrol'

Be interested to hear your thoughts whatever you test and see how it compares to ES 300h, which I am possibly thinking of getting some time (even given Canbus issues). I never owned a 430 but been a passenger in a few and I can see why some think they were the sweet spot, on the 400 front, once I had various bushes sorted the floaty feeling was not there, which the wife noticed much more than I did.

Crikey not seen one of them in a while, used to have a neighbour back in the 80's and his dad drove a canary yellow one, never got to have a go though

Sam, this is a sad story to read, and I totally understand the thought of getting rid of the car. I had similar dilemma last year, but my LS had done 230K+ and needed about 3K spent on it, to keep it on the road, but decided I did not have the skills to do it so it went to the great Lexus resting place in the sky. Since then I have regretted it at times and then at other times decided it was the best thing to do. As a Lexus owner of 15 years, my Merc seems so rough and ready and though cheaper to repair I spend a lot of time thinking about the Lexus I will buy when I feel the Merc is just not making me feel like driving much. So whatever you end up driving it will not be the same as an LS400 (I did not want a 430, was not sure on a 460 though was erring on buying a ES300H before bargain - or so I thought - E350 dropped into my lap) Best of luck with whatever you end of driving

Tis a lovely place to visit, did so last Xmas and sung carols in the minster with the choir. And then visit Hull, different vibe, but interesting to wander around down by the old docks

My first experience of a Jap car was the 4th Gen Datsun Cherry in 1983 (only had it for a week while my Ford Escort was being repaired), I hated it. My next experience of a Jap car was 1994 in an LS400. Blown away (though took me until 2008 to actually own an LS). Totally agree with the sentiments of this post, and even though I now own a Merc I still advise most people who ask that if you want a car that is relaible it has to be a Jap car. Not sure when the other Far East manufacturers will catch up. I would add (though) I used to have Honda as a client and visiting their (now gone) Swindon site felt a bit like being in a movie where no one could step out of line, a little creepy if you ask me. On the supercar front been in quite a few, always a thrill whethe and Evo or NSX or even a Chimera, but never wanted to own one.

Having stood on top of various skyscrapers and looked over the edge as heights generally do not bother me. Watching the trailer reminded me of the video of climbing the tallest mast in Kansas, which makes me wince. I used to climb 20meter radio masts back in the 70's that were swaying (trailer mounted with stabilisers!!) that was about my limit. 518 meter mast climb Never had a problem with my platform shoes and my corduroy drainpipes back in the day👠👠