Rabbers

When posting on the subject of digital mirrors (see above, Sept 15), I forgot to mention that the system includes a BSM function similar to that used for traditional mirrors, which should presumably mean that the cameras have not fully eliminated blind spots. The BSM can be switched off but, as has been my own practice with normal mirrors since I first had the function in a 2016 RC, it had been left on. Its presence with digital mirrors surprised me because my impression throughout the drive was that the field of vision in both the narrow and wide angle modes was so comprehensive as to be optimal. In fact I couldn’t figure out without longer acquaintance exactly what the cameras could possibly fail to see and not simultaneously communicate to the driver. Could it be that the BSM, which functions independently of the digital cameras through sensors located in the rear bumper, is insisted upon by regulatory authorities as a back-up to the digital monitoring system?

Clearly needs a cuddle.

No quick glances in my case, long lingering looks of love, rather.

Nor humans, though I suppose one could trawl the net for pictures …

The cat suggestion is not wholly devoid of merit. My car is parked in an extensive garden frequented by numerous cats, both stray and domesticated, some pretty and others ugly, and one or more of them regularly sleep underneath it. Were this not the case, and given the environment, I suspect I would have a quite nasty vermin problem. My only grievance is that winter leads some of the cats to prefer a warm hood to the cold ground, as evidenced by paw-prints on my otherwise immaculate bodywork. But, unless they are muddy and wet, I prefer these to God only knows what I might find in and around the car without the cats. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry if you think the mouse nest is a year old since the mouse/mice will either have died or migrated. Otherwise you should try sprinkling rat/mouse poison inside your garage at home even in the absence of suspicious traces.

Indeed there are, but surely none that you need to look or glance at as frequently as you do the wing-mirrors or, in this case, the digital equivalents. Therefore, to have the latter at the same height as traditional ones is appropriate.

Maybe or maybe not, but one thing is sure, namely that we are unlikely to see them except in demo ESs since nobody appears to be buying them.

Paul & Malcom: All this talk about OCD has got me seriously worried since I previously believed the condition more frequently affects young or youngish adults than the more mature and wiser constituents of Lexus’ traditional target groups such as ourselves.

Although I haven’t owned or, as far as I can recall, driven a car with a manual box for thirty years or more, I must admit that I still receive a signal from the recesses of my mind to put the car into Neutral when stopped at lights. The signal is immediately countermanded by another stronger one telling me not to do so and stay in D, but the process illustrates how the Clutch Down/Shift to N/Handbrake On sequence as originally learned became instinctive (and perhaps a bit flexible with experience).

An interesting but somewhat academic thread. I really can’t think of a situation where an automatic car needs to be put in N unless it needs pushing or towing as the result of breaking down or having a dead battery. In fact I would think it possible for a car (especially a Lexus👌!) to go its entire life without its owner(s) ever having put it in N.

Probably a silly suggestion since the screen works for some functions, but is the light sensor free of blockage?

Like you, I don’t believe the 2019 RC supports OTA software updates. Is your car registered with LexusLink and have you ever at some time in the past successfully used the satnav via the relative app on your phone? If so, you might want to try to use the app again and see if it reactivates the system in-car.

I’ve only seen the Audi screens in pictures since following this thread, and they certainly look nicely integrated into the design of the dashboard. But, as far as I can tell, they require the driver to look down, which is a safety issue. It could therefore be argued that Lexus, by comparison, has sacrificed aesthetic appearance in the interests of practicality.

True, but only up to a point. They are conveniently placed for easy visibility, better than traditional wing-mirrors since they are closer to the driver’s line of vision, and I can’t really see where else they could go.

I found the digital wing-mirrors fitted to the demo car very impressive when I test-drove an ES. The angle they cover is extremely wide compared to normal mirrors, making blind-spot monitoring unnecessary. I didn’t go on the motorway but would think the improvement in safety to be particularly valuable on fast multi-lane roads. The mirrors also incorporate side-distance measuring lines, making parking easier. I thought the clarity and depth of the images especially good (in fact better than that provided by my RC’s rear-view camera). It wasn’t raining when I was driving, so I don’t know if the claimed protection from wetness attributable to the deeply recessed lenses is as effective as claimed. Nor did I drive at night, so I wasn’t able to judge if dazzle and glare are an issue, but I would be surprised if the system does not automatically adjust. Aesthetically the narrowness of the mirrors suits the ES’ lines very well, making the profile look even sleeker. The €1800 price-tag is a bit steep but, as optionals go, I would find it desirable were I in the market for an ES. My only concern, apart from the possible attraction to vandals of mirrors that look (and are) expensive, would be the nagging thought, notwithstanding Lexus’ proven reputation for reliability, that something could go wrong with the system or the folding mechanism, in which case one would be in deep trouble pending repairs.

I once got a fine (or, rather, my employer did as it was a company car) for driving a German-registered car in France without an identifying national sticker. It came by post in the same envelope as a speeding fine, each offence having its own paperwork supported by the same photograph taken by a mobile camera. I paid the speeding fine myself as per company rules but declined responsibility for the other. I still wonder if the police would not have ignored the latter offence had I not also committed the former, but it was clearly a case of unusual bureaucratic zeal on somebody's part. Of course the need for a separate sticker no longer exists among and between EU member states provided the numberplate incorporates the national identification code. Anyway, I thought I'd share this story to illustrate that the French police might well check for the presence of separate stickers on non-EU cars, though I would be surprised if there won't be an informal period of grace of a few months before enforcement of the GB-to-UK change. But, then again, some policemen are more zealous than others, and surlier with it ...

You just can’t get good help anymore.

When I had the windscreen replaced on an IS300h, the guy who did the job (a counterpart of your "mature chap") claimed, in reply to my question about the price of the OEM screen (which I asked out of pure curiosity since the cost was entirely covered by my insurance), that Lexus and Toyota screens, like those of most new cars, premium or otherwise, are made to "significantly higher" material and dimensional specifications than those purveyed by Autoglass et al., whose aim is to meet regulatory standards and not much more. I remember receiving the same explanation years ago when I had a windscreen replaced by BMW, and, all things considered including wide differences in operating costs and achievable profit margins, the explanation makes sense. Having said this, I also recognise that all operators in this sector have vested commercial interests and individual axes to grind, with the result that the whys and wherefores of pricing and quality claims are opaque to say the least. Regarding the physical appearance of non-OEM windscreens, my comments are entirely my own, and derive from my years of aimlessly wandering around dealers' used car lots while waiting for my cars to be serviced. Without consciously trying, I have rarely not been correct in spotting vehicles with non-OEM replacement windscreens as confirmed immediately afterwards by checking for etched manufacturers' names or, more frequently, the absence thereof. That the cars have in my recent experience been mainly Toyota with a sprinkling of Lexus is, of course, immaterial. I honestly can't put my finger on exactly what distinguishes OEM and non-OEM screens even when seen adjacent to each other on the same models of car, but, if pressed, I would point to combinations of factors that might include more or less subtle differences of tint, individual ways of reflecting light, possibly the degrees of optical continuity with other glass surfaces, and, more generally and perhaps most tellingly, consistency of aesthetic impression in relation to the car's other constituent parts judged in their totality. While on the subject I should mention that it has long been my intention without ever having followed up on it because of forgetfulness, to embarrass the sales people at my dealership by asking whether they point out the presence of non-OEM windscreens to prospective customers or let them find out for themselves. I suspect the latter to be a likelier scenario, but maybe I'm being cynical.

If the glass damage clause in your policy does not specify maximum claimable amounts, I suspect that “market value” in this context means that the insurer will apply the current second-hand percentage value of your car in respect of new to the cost of replacing and fitting the windscreen, the choice of an OEM or cheaper generic product being the policyholder’s. So, for example, if the current value of your car is 50% of the manufacturer’s list price, the insurer will want to settle for no more than 50% of the cost of the new windscreen. Whichever way it goes, I strongly recommend you opt for an OEM Lexus screen. Generic ones look a lot flimsier and shoddier and, I’m told, are badly noise-proofed by comparison.

Interesting thread. I didn't previously know that individual brands of air filter could differ significantly in efficiency unless the size is wrong. Like many or maybe most Lexus owners I take the quality of OEM replacement parts largely for granted, and get peace of mind in return for the prices asked. It has, however, occasionally crossed my mind, without my ever having acted on it, that I might be able to switch from the Denso air filter to an equally good and cheaper equivalent, specifically Mann. I base this on my satisfaction with the latter's cabin air filters after having now used them for quite a few years, most recently in my RC and previously in both the IS250 and 300h. AutoDoc and other online sellers list the active-charcoal type for my RC at about a quarter of the price Lexus asks for the Denso product, €11-12 v. €47 when last I checked. I first came across Mann, which is a German specialist manufacturer of automotive filters, when a local garage replaced a clogged Denso filter identified as the cause of minor but irritating windscreen fogging in the IS250 I had at the time. A side-by-side comparison showed no visible quality difference between the Mann and Denso products, and if there was any subsequent difference in cabin air quality I was frankly unable to detect it. Since then I buy a couple of Mann filters at a time so that I always have one spare. Would it be worth doing the same with the engine air filter? I am aware that the saving in relation to overall running and maintenance costs is very small. Inclusive of savings from other minor jobs that I am just about capable of doing myself such as replacing wipers and topping up sprinkler fluid, I doubt if my overall annual saving has ever added up to more than a free tankful of petrol. Still, unless I end up with a piece of rubbish, I must admit that I love a bargain...

That reminds me of a time in the UK when the ungodliness of the hour or the dictates of nature would cause one to pull into places called “The Happy Eater” and reluctantly partake of the “All-Day Breakfast”. Never in the field of culinary endeavour has a business been less aptly named. You went in happy and came out feeling borderline suicidal.

Yes, I’m sorry. That was very insensitive of me. The post was not at all suited to a Full English and barely tolerable with a Continental. But I still think it was more instructive than the back of a Kellogg’s packet.

Driving through central Rome this last weekend I found myself passing the spot where, some thirty years ago, I discovered how the memory of spectacularly bad deposits of bird poop seen on other people's cars might in future lessen my anger at finding normal-sized ones on mine. Memories of this sort are not easy to translate into polite prose, but I thought I would make the effort, starting with apologies to the squeamish. Rome is not car-friendly at the best of times, and can be even less so in the autumn when the sky is occasionally darkened by flocks of starlings (known to ornithologists as "murmurations") whose ability to copiously defecate while flying in tight formation is boosted by an evident fondness for the local food. Their route south for the winter follows the river out to sea, with the result that cars parked along its banks become seasonal targets for heavy faecal bombardment. Although the flocks are getting smaller, supposedly as the effect of climate change on migration habits, their collective firepower remains impressive, especially to its victims. One October evening my wife and I were enjoying a riverside stroll when we spotted a small crowd of people up ahead. On investigation, we found them to be gaping in a mixture of incredulity and awe at a row of five cars covered in a layer of fresh starling poop so thick as to be prompting earnest conversations about what makes and models were underneath. Picture, if you can, five car-sized mounds of greyish-green organic compost merging to form a single gigantic turd. And nor was this brutal assault on the senses confined to the eyes and nostrils, for the entire feculent spectacle was accompanied, indeed reinforced, by a continuum of trickling and plopping sounds interspersed with gaseous hisses and random discharges of varying duration and intensity. To the merriment of some of the more callous onlookers the owner of one of the cars duly appeared, his walk slowing and his distress building as he drew closer. Eventually, after hyperventilating loudly and alarmingly for several long minutes, he took a final deep breath and pointed a limp finger towards a barely intelligible VW logo on the hubcap of a partially exposed wheel. Ashen-faced and still in a visible state of shock, he then stumbled off whence he came in search of a shovel or, more probably, a stiff drink and a quiet place to weep as a prelude to trauma counselling. Now formally identified as a German classic, his car was promptly dubbed a "Dung Beetle" by a wit in the crowd. In the course of the next few days all the cars were removed except one, which, as the weeks went by, gradually developed a leathery crust and an iridescent sheen from oily traffic fumes. Hoping, no doubt, that a willingness to tackle biohazards without protective clothing would lead to career advancement, a traffic warden succeeded in scraping enough slime off a numberplate to enable him to write the first of a growing sheaf of daily parking tickets. These he carefully tucked into cracks below the bulges where he guessed the wipers to be, thus definitively consolidating his status as the most hated man in the neighbourhood. After month or so, by which time it had featured on local TV and was beginning to compete with nearby antiquities as a tourist attraction, the heap was removed under cover of night by a special task force from the city's sanitation department with a view, one presumed, to its immediate incineration since there was no way any owner would have wanted to be reunited with it. When I drove past after almost three decades I was amazed to see that the spot it occupied has remained demarcated by a small ridge of petrified excrement so evidently resistant to chemical and mechanical treatment as to ensure the puzzlement of future generations of archaeologists. Perhaps this post will illuminate their researches.

I understand that Lexus in some European markets has scrapped, or is thinking of scrapping, its first batches of NX2021 brochures because of errors or inaccuracies or likely changes in specifications. It is also possible that online data is undergoing market-by-market revision. One wonders if the confusion being created (and evidenced in this thread) is not some kind of attention-grabbing pre-launch ploy.

Right. Especially if you are believed, rightly or wrongly, to be thinking of buying the model requested, but also if you are a loyal and valued customer. I too requested and was given an LC even when the dealer knew I wasn't in the market for it. And it strengthened my loyalty to the dealership.