Rabbers

Always liked the name more than the product.

I’m not sure if you are thinking of literally embossing/debossing, which, apart from requiring dies, would be difficult on padded surfaces such as headrests or seat-backs. Your best bet would be laser-etching, which is a service available in most large towns. Portable machines are also available, I believe, but you would normally take the headrests to the provider of the service, along with a sample of the logo or lettering you want reproduced.

I do that and, as far as I can tell, never had a problem because of it. I used to wonder if I’m not using too much fuel but, according to the mechanic who handles air-con matters at my dealership, the increase is no more than 2%, probably less. Of course, if fuel prices don’t go down any time soon, the difference will start adding up.

Difficult to tell if the so-called "Orange Pack" OEM calipers on my RC (see photos below) are bigger or the same size as those shown in the OP (Brembos?), but on the basis of estimated scale it looks as though they might be at least the same if the JDM rims on the latter are, like mine, also 19". Assuming this to be the case, and leaving aside colour preferences, the owner of the latter might have saved some money by ordering a set. Sorry if my rims look a bit grubby but I haven't yet remedied the effects of yesterday's rain.

Depends how big “a bit” is. Personally I think the aesthetics of the RC300h in the F-Sport version as it comes out of the factory are pretty much unimproveable. Maybe you could lower it a cm or so, and re-paint it in a colour exclusive to yourself. But that’s about it.

Two lovely young ones might have made for a more interesting narrative…

I’ve seen comparisons of noise levels inside cars moving at various speeds measured by the simple placement of a dB meter in the cabin. And, of course, Lexus always does well in such tests, particularly the ES, I believe. However, I’ve never seen comparisons measured from the outside. I suppose this is because there would be so many possible variables in terms of place, speed, weather etc., as to make testing very difficult to organize.

I completely agree with Roger. You should go for runflats if, perhaps as the result of a nasty blowout or having had to wait for help in some god-forsaken place, you dread getting a puncture. My own experience of runflats (Michelins) is limited to 9000km I did in one IS300h before I traded it in for another. I briefly considered transferring them but then thought it silly to forgo the OEM normals (Bridgestones) on the new car. On normal roads the runflats gave a decidedly firmer ride and jolts were especially more perceptible to passengers because they weren’t anticipating them. They were also noisier, but not intolerably so. However, on motorways and fast roads in general I felt hardly any difference, and I thought the car might even have been marginally more stable at high speeds. I believe I would probably choose runflats as a matter of course if I did more motorway driving, particularly long-distance, which nowadays rarely exceeds 10% of my monthly total.

No doubt you’ll be letting us know at the time, Malc.

Using jeweler’s rouge for scratches requires rubbing which indeed might well alter the surface. Seeing that there was no mention of scratches in the OP my recommendation is based on the the possibility that the glass underlying the spots is neither damaged nor discoloured.

Suggest you try jeweler’s rouge. Apply a tiny amount to the smallest area you possibly can and see if it has any effect. If it doesn’t, stop.

Did an album with Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido. Check it out for superb guitar duetting.

True enough, John, but I think, without getting too earnest about it, that we need to make a distinction between planned serious malfeasance, as was the case with VW (and probably others) and a company’s legitimate protection of its own commercial interests. We may not, as paying customers, necessarily agree with these interests, the negative perception some of us have of Lexus’ seemingly conscious non-adoption of up-to-date anti-theft technology being a case in point, albeit a comparatively very minor one.

The thought that a few extra sales might derive from non-adoption of the latest anti-theft technology might well lurk in the minds of some car industry executives along with the idea that car thieves are excellent judges of a car's desirability and therefore, ultimately, of the value of a marque. However, since the adoption or non-adoption of new technologies is largely a matter of commercial judgment, there is nothing sinister about decisions taken one way or the other, certainly not in ethical terms given that they are not safety-related. That the encouragement of thievery by preventive omission might constitute even the tiniest element in a car manufacturer's marketing strategy has, moreover, become even less of a likelihood in recent years (indeed if it ever was) because of the fear of scandal and the increasingly probable presence of whistleblowers on payrolls.

Generally speaking, I start thinking about giving my car a waxing when rainwater on the body shows signs of not beading. As specifically regards a new car, I don’t think I’ve ever waxed one before 6-9 months after regular weekly washes with a good shampoo.

And Dante of Virgil, I believe.

We are totally in agreement, John. I can’t even remember my Life Path number, whatever it was and presumably still is. And, as regards sidestepping the path of destiny, the only things I’ve ever sidestepped on a path are of the type I would have otherwise needed to scrape off my boots.

It actually happens, John, that a nice but slightly weird old girlfriend of mine worked out my LP number for me before we left each other by mutual agreement immediately afterwards. Many decades later I still regard this as one of the best “sidesteppings of the path of destiny” I and probably she ever did. Thank you for reminding me of it.

Great phrase that, Phil, and congratulations if it’s your own. I wish I’d heard it earlier in life, and maybe occasionally acted on it.

Indeed. I didn’t really like to describe myself as koumpounophobic since it is the sort of term that tends to alienate readers, not, I hasten to add, that the LOC membership is wanting in semantic erudition.

Given that I rightly or wrongly still cling to the belief that thieves are less likely to want to steal a Lexus than other cars (criminal market shares theoretically reflecting legitimate ones), the only use to which I put my Faraday pouch - being that for which I bought it several cars and upwards of a decade ago - is to prevent doors locking/unlocking and mirrors folding/unfolding when I move around the car washing and drying it. I am perfectly aware that the key can be disabled for the same purpose, but I prefer the pouch. Maybe I suffer from some form of button-phobia.

I have read or heard somewhere that quite a few Germans who, despite looking down on the KIA brand, bought the Stinger when it first came out often re-badged it with customised emblems of their own choosing.

Having now waited two hours to pick up friends off a delayed flight, and with an hour still to go, I thought I'd post a few comments on some Lexus information and advertising sites I've been visiting to pass the time. After viewing the Northside Lexus tutorial on the RC almost in its entirety for the first time in a while and dipping into others in the series for cars I wanted to know more about such as the ES and the new NX, I must say I remain impressed by the amount of information and the clarity of its presentation. Belonging as they do to the "getting the best from your car" category, these tutorials are likelier to appeal to a less technically adept audience (which includes me) than do task-specific "how to" videos, many of which are similarly well produced and scripted but assume the willingness of viewers to get their hands dirty. More to the point, their length allows for a lot more detail than do new-model walkarounds presented with a similar didactic intent but with variable communication skills and often more dutifully than enthusiastically by salesmen palpably unaccustomed to the medium. The comprehensiveness of the content confirmed my impression that the tutorials were originally inspired by this major U.S. dealership's alarm at the quantity of unproductive time its staff was spending on post-sale queries from customers disinclined to consult their owner's manuals, and I think I would be right in saying that the earliest were handed out in DVD form to new owners along with other point-of-delivery material. Although some new- or recent-model journalist reviews, professional or amateur, sponsored or independent, often associated with car magazines, can be both entertaining and informative, I tend, perhaps unfairly, to look for lapses of objectivity connected to possible undue influences or vested economic interests. To which I would add a growing irritation at displays of self-promotion and excessive self-regard on the part of some of the reviewers themselves. However, I must admit that the extent of my dislike is usually proportionate to my agreement or disagreement with the opinions expressed. Car commercials made for TV and/or employed with extended footage as website fillers naturally don't deliver more than tiny smatterings of explanatory material, if any at all, and the current crop of high-budget Lexus productions seem even shallower than most insofar as the cars themselves are merely glimpsed from artful angles and largely overshadowed by dramatic urban landscapes or exotic scenery. Also, a growth of designer stubble not infrequently appears to be a prerequisite for Lexus' casting of the ideal driver for its commercials, presumably because chins thus adorned, better if slightly greying, project an image of stylish maturity in life as in the choice of a car. Clearly, therefore, any number of candidates suited to the role could readily have been found among the LOC membership. Be this as it may, since the aim of the commercials is to invite closer acquaintance by downloading a brochure, reading the accompanying online text, or visiting a dealer, they cannot be said to be ineffective.

Amortised over 15000km service intervals, twice the cost for the oil seems absolutely reasonable for the benefits you describe.

I asked the same question when I saw Toyota Original 0W-20 oil named on my first Lexus service bill years ago, and was told this grade gives better fuel economy and is more effective in a wider range of engine temperatures. Given that I wouldn’t know how to dispute these claims even if I were inclined to do so on the basis of the permanent tiny spark of suspicion I have about Toyota’s corporate vested interests - I have nevertheless always gone along with the manufacturer’s recommendation in this as in most things.