thatfatbloke

Same tyres - same price.

http://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-details/falken-ze-912-225-60-r16-98-w#82029116 Ordered them last Sunday and they arrived yesterday,albeit with two arriving at 11 'o'clock and the other two at 4 'o'clock on a different van - strange.

I somehow managed to put quite a few scratches on my screen the other morning when scraping ice off of it. I was using a rubber bladed squeegee type thing,so don't know how I managed to do it. I've read on the internet about using toothpaste or jewellers rouge to rub the scratches out. Has anyone ever tried this,and was it successful?. In other news,I am having the set of Falken ZE 912's fitted this morning. £280 delivered to my house plus £40 to fit with balancing etc. Hope they are as good as you guys say,and don't do what this Falken did!.

Done it. I've ordered a set of Falken ZE-912's. £280 for the four delivered. Plus about £50 for fitting I suppose,brings it to a price that I would have paid for something like Nexen/Nankang etc. I think they will suit my style of driving (vicars wife) and supposedly last a long time,and most importantly should be reasonably quiet. Right,lets get on with refurbing those alloys............

I was considering Falkens as a lot of members like them,but they always seem to score low on the economy tests. Can get a set of Nexens for £312 fitted. Or Maxxis for £400 or............ AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH...............

The question now is - do I get good quality 'part worns' or new cheapo Chinese budgets. I know the tyre issue has been discussed a lot on here and a lot of people like Falken's. Halfrauds can do a set of Falken Ziex's or Kumho KH31's for a similar price of around £380. Or I could get a set of part worn Michelin/Dunlop's with plenty of meat on for around £175 plus fitting,so around £230 all in. Halfrauds also do a set of something nasty for £220 fitted!. I'm tending to lean towards the part worn's at the moment,but that could all change........

Well she failed (as expected),but just on two tyres - and that's all!. Advised on the other two tyres-rear trailing arms,slight play and rear brake pads low. Could have been a lot worse. So I suppose I now have to start refurbing the wheels that a noted member donated,get the new tyres put on,re-MOT her,get the cam belt done,oil and filter change,then over the next few months do the rear brake pads and look in to these rear trailing arm things (bound to be an arm and a leg). I'm still getting this clonking too despite having the anti-roll bar bushes done (an earlier thread).But at least I now know that it's not something dangerous causing it. Happy days.

Yes,thank you. I already have the print out going back several years. Only advisories last year were for both rear tyres getting close to the limit,and they were both replaced.

I think if they spot something dangerous,I'd rather know about it rather than drive around for six months not knowing!.

I have decided to put the old nail in for an MOT test tomorrow (£25). She's currently tested until June,but I want to make sure she will pass before I spend my hard earned on a timing belt replacement. She has no service history so don't know if she got her second belt at 120,000. She is now on 132,000. Didn't want to spend billions on replacing the belt,only for her to fail the MOT big time a few months later. By the way I noticed a green MK4 on fleabay earlier reg. no. R449 FFG,mine is R49 FFG and a MK3. How weird is that?. Keep you posted. Ta ta.

Anyone else here have a MK3 with three tangs on the bulb holder?.

So did I. The seller has refunded my money and I get to keep the lenses too. They are convinced that they sent the right lenses,but three into four won't go. The bulb holders fit the original lenses fine. Hmmm...........

Bu**er. Just as I thought,they don't fit. Supplied lenses have four little gaps to receive the bulb holder, which has only three 'tangs' to go in the gaps. I've contacted them,but don't hold out much hope,so I've ordered a used one on fleabay.

Ordered - thanks.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390502557691?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Has anybody used these?. I just sacrificed my offside one in the car wash! The listing reckons they're the right ones for my car (late MK3),

They've got back to me. It IS £295 for just the belt and labour. They say they don't usually need to replace all the other gubbins as it's always 'fine'. However they obviously wouldn't know this until the car is stripped,so I could be in for a nasty surprise that I hadn't budgeted for if this was the case. Dilemma time now. Pay £295 for the basic belt and labour and keep my fingers crossed,or go to my local garage and get the whole lot replaced at the above price. Hmmmm........

The reason I have just been given by LTW that they can't find my car,is that it's too old!!.

Blimey that was quick. Apparently my car doesn't exist as it can't be found on 'the system'. Service manager reckons some LS's were chain driven and not belt drive.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 'I'll phone you back in five minutes Sir'.

Just phoned Lexus Tunbridge Wells again to see if this £295 'deal' is still a goer. 'We'll phone you back Sir'. Righto,I won't hold my breath!.

I assume all the garages that got back to me with a price had all looked in the 'little black book' of job times,for ALL of them to say the same thing. When I first got the car I phoned Lexus Tunbridge Wells for a price and they never did get back to me. It just goes to show as I have said before that a lot of people believe anything they are told by Lexus,and just pay what they are told regardless,because they are usually 'minted' and don't worry about it which is fine,but I'm an ordinary low paid working class geezer and everything has to be done on a budget. Obviously trundling up from the South Coast to somewhere godforsaken like Coventry or Birmingham wouldn't be economically viable,that's why I phoned Tunbridge Wells. Happy New Year.

..and that's another thing,the confusion over the correct belt. Some are saying that the same belt was used from 89-00,some say only 90-94,yet others say 89-97. Some say I need a 211 teeth belt,some 209. My car was registered on 01/08/97,so one of the very last MK3's. Still the garage have my registration number so they should be supplied with the right one from that. Fingers crossed.

As some will know I purchased the LS with no service history so have no idea whether she has had her second belt change. She is now showing 131,000 miles. I have um'd and ar'd about this,even considered getting shot and going back to Mercedes. I drove my wife's E320 this morning and have decided to keep Lexie!. So,I phoned a few garages and have had three different prices,and I will probably (still waiting for one more price to come in) go for the price from a long established (1907) garage. They are quoting £517 for the Gates belt and all the gubbins with the labour etc. I enquired about the water pump,they seem to think it probably would be OK left alone,but if needed would be another ton on top with the anti freeze etc. Apparently the job books at 3.5 - 4 hours and doesn't need any specialist tools they haven't already got. So I'll probably 'go for it' in the New Year. Over and out.

No comment!.

Have PM'd you Scribe. Just realised that MK4 wheels are probably 17". My MK3 has 16"s. Wanted to keep the tyres from mine.

Hi,the old alloys are in need of a refurb as you can see. I've considered some new/replacement wheels,but due to financial constraints I'm going with the refurb idea. It would probably cost £200/£250 for a company to do it and the car would be off the road for a few days,so I've decided to do it myself !!. I shall do them one at a time using the spare whilst refurbing each wheel. I know the purists will snigger,but it's just to smarten them up for a few months until SWMBO lets me get some new wheels. You may have noticed that the drivers side mirror is lower body colour and the passenger mirror is upper body colour,so I will do the wheels and the drivers mirror in as near as possible to the lighter upper body colour. Can I get the correct colour made up by someone by using the paint code or should I take a chance and just use any old silver and hope for the best?. Cost is a consideration here of course. Perhaps someone will know a good silver to go for as there are many shades of silver of course. Ta.