Malc

I would hesitate to suggest that your own repair is an insurance job at @ £1000 ........ but if you wasn't to claim for your repair costs and just paid out a local bodyshop guy it might get down to @£150 with a bit of persuasion and a bottle of scotch ! ( what's your excess I wonder ) Swap the bent wheel for the spare ( if you have one the same ? ) and make zero claim on your own insurance IF the other guy is accepted as being 100% at fault. A pain in the butt I know but you've got to play those insurers at their own game, they will push you into the best situation for them, whether or not it's in YOUR best interests. Malc

just personally negotiating a " non-fault " claim in my Honda Legend through my insurer's claims handling company. Just totally deny any responsibility for anything at all to do with the damage, blame the other party totally, refuse a 50/50 settlement even. In the end, the claims handler's will do what the Expert Vehicle Inspector tells them what caused the damage ( to both vehicles ) and how it occurred and then they will TELL YOU who is responsible and apportion properly the blame % .................. and/or recommend going to Court and a personal appearance or not ....... if your insurance covers that contingency. Nothing is a cheap fix .......... that wheel will cost you up to £100 to fix alone ! The bumper, wing and door mirror would be up to another £300 ............. if it's simple ! Malc

when the Mk1 came out there was no recommendation at all about the cambelt change ... it's made of a product including kevlar ........ ( indestructible usually ) Then the UK arm of Lexus decided 60k / 10 years was the recommended change all the while recommending 100k miles in the USA where there's an awful lot more Ls400s Make of this what u will, the same car, same set-up etc and the UK market being taken for a ride I suspect ! I mentioned 150k life of the belt coz I read somewhere ages ago that no-one had heard of a Ls400 belt breaking except under test conditions at @150k miles Malc

Mk1 and Mk2 cambelt is non-interference if it should ever break .. would cover at least 150k miles before that happens usually ........ Malc

Tyres ............. what brand and size was original with the car ? It was designed with those in mind I'm sure Malc

Ray, how many miles had the original covered ? Malc

Chris .... but which Ls model ?? Malc

this is confusing me a little ......... if the potential claim is against the Lexus Main Dealer for mis-selling the warranty BUT it is being sold and pressured to be sold by Lexus itself BUT Lexus itself then sets the threshold to claim too high. then I don't see how the claim can be against the Dealer ! The row is between Lexus UK and the underwriter of their warranty surely ? The poor customer gets shafted in the middle and that's why the Dealer is trying to protect the customer .... against all the odds I surmise Malc

Lexus main dealer ? or a car sales general dealer ? who may not have a clue about the specifics of servicing the Ls 460 If it's the Lexus or Toyota Main Dealer then I would take it straight back to them to get the car " fit for purpose " ( under their implied warranty legally sold with the car ) or if it wasn't them then maybe bite the bullet and take it to the Lexus main dealer for a full 10 year service Presumably you have done all the appropriate checks to ensure the mileage and pre ownership data you have is quite correct and honest ? Malc

I think firstly look to see who did the last full service and when ( if it's quite recent ), and ask them maybe .............. for a 9 year old car to have only done 23k miles seems quite extraordinary ......... is there an odd tale to tell about how you acquired this car ............ and it's history ? That may throw some light on your terrible fuel returns Malc

hey, which is your car ... there never is a 2018 Ls400 ! Malc

Maxxis tyres now being used on mine for a couple of years since the Falkens seemed to become difficult to obtain ........ no idea of the wear quality but they haven't become a problem for me just yet Malc

brilliant Malc

try the NFU and no, you don't need to be a farmer ....... my nephew gets all his insurances through them .... 40+ and 3 cars and house and dogs cover ................. BUT as I say. it's a lottery a throw of the dice Malc

Saga seem to be doing " new " quotes and business at a discount right now .... even if you have a second car with them already insured But it's simply a lottery, a throw of the dice Malc

you can see my other post here ............ mine's working fine right now, the very hot weather possibly leaked a little of the stuff that solders these joints or whatever AND it's back to the day she was born, in October 1995 see....... " no hands or actual manual interference " these cars sometimes cure themselves of their misdemeanours Malc

if you find the website you'll find they do lots of door mirror stuff with the glass just the simple add-on Malc

.... it concerns me about only having the one key, not just coz if you lose that one then you're totally scuppered BUT the likelihood of the car being a car finance snatchback or stolen and recovered ........ hence missing keys ! Just a thought Malc

good to get the update ....... I've just been exploring door mirror glass for my Honda Legend ( my Ls400 ones are ok ) and even tho it's not a stock item with kim@wingmirrorman.co.uk she will make a stick on mirror glass to fit ( to my template sent to her ) for £20 all-up ! I haven't explored Ls400 door mirror glass with her .... maybe it's a stock item But only if you're interested ! Malc

hey Wildpolish .... maybe just ask the Council for their insurers details and tell them that you will be dealing directly with them if they don't settle sensibly ...... then actually deal with the insurers directly .....maybe ask your car breakdown people to advise you, RAC, AA, GreenFlag whatever .......... you have little to lose and the Council might actually re-think their approach ! Malc

aaaggghhhh ....... that won't be anything like as comfy as a drive in your Lexus though Malc

it never breaks down so why would it Malc

apart from first registration that i know nothing about, it used to be a simple fact that an imported vehicle had to go to some VOSA Testing station somewhere ( local to you ) to be able to get it's registration in the UK ...... Conformity and a new MOT ............... if Lexus confirm the car conforms then one would think the import scenario for registration in the UK would be quite simple............... just my thoughts, hope they might be of use Malc

Reality with damaged used cars is often like this ..............my indy car mechanic always has a few " older " cars for sale at silly low prices ...... he buys write-offs at auction for £00s, he is very picky, knowing that a simple bumper replacement will cost the insurers several £000s, he buys replacement bits from breakers for comparative " pence " , replaces the offending part, his nephew does professional bodywork respraying, sorts out an excellent finish and the car looks like new and up for sale .......... but not for long ......... his customers get excellent deals and he makes a very useful profit too. Some minor scrapes and dings can't often be satisfactorily sorted so they get left, most people accept little blemishes in a secondhand car ..... awaiting the next scrape in the supermarket car park eh ! Malc

I was initially wondering if the air temperature was affecting it, rarified air etc up the mountain and having some odd effect BUT hey, the farmyard clutter of all that rubbish clogging it up just has to be the reason .............. I envy you driving up the mountain to work ....... I remember my Grand Tour of Italy in my now ancient Ls400 in 2015, driving up and around the Dolomites in early May, wow, stunning ....................... journey of a lifetime. Malc