Malc

my perspective as the owner of an on line travel / flight business airline fuel sales have collapsed and people are just NOT travelling anywhere much Like we have Porton Down, the Chinese have similar and there is thought that this virus escaped from there inadvertently, the truth I don't know Also I had video footage sent from a very respected guy showing the Chinese forces despatching up to 45000 with the problem NOW, I don't believe nor disbelieve this at all BUT I DO KNOW FOR A FACT that one of the first deaths from this in the USA was a very very fit and healthy 70 year old guy who had attended a 100 delegate conference in Virginia where he lived, attended by 100 delegates of whom 6 were from China. He died in hospital 10 days after contracting the virus on 26th January I'm fully expecting my business to go into limbo until someone develops the antivirus, hopefully sometime soon In the interim I know that I'm not travelling far from home Malc

my first rate personal experience with purchases from Amayama are simply to look to the basic purchase price just about doubling when landed in the UK with carriage, VAT and Customs Duty and local handling charges here in the UK My UCAs were brilliant Toyota branded OEM products and even when landed, delivered to me in the UK worked out about 50% of the local Lexus / Toyota store price after all costs above Malc

I always have the full laser treatment done once a year, it just hopefully keeps everything fine tuned until I hit the next pothole, maybe the next day ! 35k miles ago May 2017 " Free off rear brake calipers and sliders fit new pin rubbers £18.47 " ................... not incl the labour which covered the service etc separately never had any issue with any calipers apart from this in decades of running my Lexus Ls400s Malc

my indy always inspects the calipers and I noted on one service he actually charged me a little££ for some new pins etc The original calipers on 228k miles seem ok thus far Malc

I'm now changing my front Maxxis at 20k miles for Falken 225/60/16 ............ the Falkens I had for very many years before my size became unobtainable ( for some reason ) so I'm pleased to be going back to them ( OPONEO on-line at £66 each plus fitting valves balance etc from their local ( to me ) fitter next Wednesday ) Have Maxxis on the rears still at 16k miles and still look very good ..... but the Maxxis are a bit harsher ride Malc

Wow, you surprise me I thought they were into any ages now for stuff they sell .... car insce, household insce, holidays, cruises, well well well the one and only time it pays to be getting past middle age I guess Malc

aren't there specialist businesses refurbishing these things ! Malc

and if you do nothing else please have the radiator changed if it's not been done these past few years Malc

I hope you just never have to make any sort of a claim with these guys, nor anyone makes a claim against you with these guys as your insurer absolutely let me down totally and at the very last minute about 2 days before the scheduled Court Hearing, and after about 3 years of getting to that point ........ never trust them again nor their Parent nor their Claims handlers, they are a Group that in my opinion totally failed to support me, their client. Very long story that I shan't bore anyone with .............. BUT you get my drift Malc Whereas Saga, well, what can i say, the epitome of outstanding EXCELLENCE

probably but you might drive yourself mad trying to discover it I had silly quotes from Swinton this year, about double the increased Saga premium so i went with Saga again, but fixed the price for 3 years if nowt changes ( I'll be keeping this car for sure ) and bargaining on the price initially and when going for the " fixed 3 year " deal which i wasn't going to have they reduced the price a little and gave me a free one night only ( no breakfast though ) in one of a choice of about 100+ hotels throughout the UK ! And I had a ( my fault ) roundabout claim in August too that cost them a few bob It's impossible to ever get to the bottom of it all Malc I would NEVER use Adrian Flux again and if NatWest do car insurance I would NEVER NEVER EVER trust them to be on your side

that's good BUT has it actually been changed during it's life ? If it has fine BUT if not then it will need to be quite soon to prevent that probable catastrophic gearbox failure Malc

wonder when Des O'C owned it or last drove it .. he's 88 now..... might not have had such an illustrious recent past and care ! Malc

if it was me I think I would be getting a totally new and independent view on this, with totally fresh eyes and ears, and maybe not even telling the new people what you think it might be .................. before i parted with a penny ! Malc

recent alternator went kaput on a wet and windy Saturday night just as we were arriving at friends for dinner Called RAC and they arranged for the car to be taken into storage overnight / weekend and out to my indy repair guy some 50 miles away on the Monday morning and after dinner a free taxi home for us, some 20 miles distant courtesy of free Full RAC Breakdown and Recovery ........... free, they refuse to charge me the annual fee anymore, think it's maybe because either i have a Lexus Ls400 that's getting towards classic ( classy classic ) or probably more likely coz I have been a Member for 50+ years i guess I have called them out on other very rare occasions too ... flat tyres, other car alternator went kaput ( how rare is that ) Malc

On the rare occasions it's been used I find the RAC full breakdown and recovery assistance First Class, nay EXCEPTIONAL Malc

Ken hi glad you're sorted now Did you deal with the potential radiator issue too ? Malc

Paul, there is much esteemed wisdom spoken on this Forum about the necessity to deal with the radiator issue before it becomes a terminal one Please take heed, don't ignore it, it will probably save you £000' or writing-off your car This is FACT and not just heresay Best wishes with whatever your decision on this BUT you have been warned about it .... it is of course your decision Malc

and I've been successfully using standard 95 octane for as long as I can remember ( and that's almost since the modern ( 1960's ) motor car was invented ) using unleaded fuel and no harm has knowingly come to me or my cars by using it in this lifetime ...................... over several hundred thousand miles maybe Thank you RON Malc

well, there will be the swing when the battery making stuff just isn't available and people living in flats, housing terraces etc won't be able to charge their existing EVs Canterbury City Council ... 162 ? new flats, some in the old Debenhams store, BUT with planned zero provision for parking and zero availability of Parking Permits for any residents in these flats .. a simple condition of occupancy of this new £500,000 ? per flat development, to discourage car ownership ..... there's plenty of buses and taxis eh ! I mentioned Japan before 1.5 times the size of the UK with double the UK population .... and Toyota ( and others ) proposing taking mainstream Hydrogen Cell powered cars to the masses as the mainstream fuel at the behest of the Govt there Methinks EV is a no contest, probable realistically a non-starter when reality sets in for users ........................ and this Govt Malc

if you drive it permanently in the effective Sport mode " PWR " you will find it perkier and usually more fuel efficient too mine's in permanent PWR mode Malc

at that mileage possibly the " or what " but only the eventual buyer will ever find out be interesting to watch to see if it gets clocked eh ! Malc

Hi everyone ...... just for info if anyone's interested needing to shortly replace my front tyres 225/60/16 and have plumped for the Falkens again after many years of them not being available ( to me ) and successfully using Maxxis found the Falkens from OPONEO which I believe is a long standing supplier to a shortlist of fitters ( or to my home, so no point in that tbh ) . My local one is about 15 miles away so I'm ok with that, and pay the fitters directly at point of fitting and their price seems ok, about £15 all-up, VAT valve and balance per tyre Anyway, there seemed to be a choice of my size so I ordered the cheaper ones at £66 per tyre incl vat .... the ZE 914A rather than the later mark at about £6 dearer I'm assuming they are within a sensible date ( being the old stock ) and as I'll be through them in 2 years or so 20/30k miles that should be fine I remember I always used these Falkens for many many years before they became unavailable and was very happy with them The Maxxis have always been a stop-gap tyre, seems a bit harder ride and no more lifespan it seems then the Falkens My spare is a Falken with 4mm still Malc

all no-name product ?? ........ not sure I'd be totally au fait with that BUT hey, it's probably ok and I would leave the Elfs alone till Christmas tbh Malc

EVs .. just reading the impending long term shortage of the stuff coming out of the ground for the necessary batteries ........ so what's next then ! No EVs by 2035,............... No new Hybrids nor Diesels nor Petrol cars being sold Hey, maybe it is the new Hydrogen cell technology and the waste emissions water being used to wash the roads and water the green verges and flower borders ............... Malc

am I imagining it but is the Mk1 Ls400 the same ....... somewhere niggling in my mind is that silly fact .......... perhaps it's my dotage coming on or maybe it was on my erstwhile Mazda 323f ........... what a great car that was too Malc