Malc1

Bill, as owner of a travel agent business i should mention that the Chargeback route can be fraught with lots of unhelpfulness from your card bank provider and as for ABTA, well, don't hold your breath with them for sure ....... have they ever paid out on anything one wonders !!!! My earlier thoughts prevail that getting an independent legal Help Line to give up-front thoughts and then to try to get a good legal team to work for you on a " no win no fee " basis could be very useful ........... independent legal travel might take you some years to get a settlement and only then, if in your favour, would they likely settle " Out of Court " maybe the day before the scheduled trial date ...... maybe years ahead of where you are now The legal line could be quite draining personally ...... so take care eh ! In Equity you are likely due recompense from somewhere ..... just try to de-stress while you're getting your Just Dues ....... plenty of cups of tea might help Best wishes and lots of Good Luck Malc

Herbs, had you thought to go for non-strenuous swimming ?? I usually go a few times a week, just 20 lengths / 30 mins or so and find while I'm in the pool all my aches and pains just " wash away " ...... or it could be that I've just dosed-up on my usual regime of pills before immersing myself 🙃 Malc

He's a nice guy, old school ....... MOT Passed with one Advisory for a Ball Joint Dust Cover . he'll sort it soon'ish, no rush he says, just book it in over the next couple of weeks and all will be well for another term Full Service .... Oil Oil Filter Air Filter New Wiper blades Stop Lamp Bulb . All levels and everything else checked, tyre pressures too ...... all brakes fine and raring to go for another 242k miles .. one live's in hope eh ! £210 all-up incl MOT I'm happy . of course 🙃 Malc

I remember back in 1967 ( age 17 ) my Road Tax was at about the same level as my car insurance with the Co-Op and I remember it being £25 ? Might have been on my old 1954 Austin A40 Somerset .. i think ! ( cost me £4 to buy too ) Not sure if I had passed my Test by that time tho' Malc

Brilliant way to be ... I awaken every single morning and just think ...... " what a bloody marvellous day ahead " .. whatever the weather and crap I know is before me ... just make the most of each and every one as if it's your last ..... and " go out " as cheerful as possible 😇 Malc

and the alternative is just to " give up " and that really would be the last resort ........... and it will come to us all without a shadow of a doubt ............. having been thru' a lot of this cancer crap and tests and radiotherapy and an op to remove bits and bobs ....... well, when me time comes I'll be ready BUT of course I'm now going to be driving my Ls400 till I'm at least 103 ... 32 years to go eh ! brm brm, bring on the 280 horses ....... no empty one's in my V8 4ltr for sure .......... Interesting that renewing my Driving Licence they now can take your photo and signature from your centralised Passport detail . brilliant idea methinks, saves a lot of sodding around for sure Malc

might this then mean a total ban on imported used cars ??? ... I could buy my brand new car in say ????? Or my partner could . then I buy it from her in that country of origin as a used car ..... as with any other car, be it a classic maybe or just as a secondhand car ...... and personally import it into the UK !! Methinks the Treasury or whomsoever would shy against banning used car imports for private consumption ................ but hey, by that time, when 2035 arrives I'll be 85 and still driving my Mk3 Ls400 with hopefully another 130k miles on the clock ....... wot'da'yu'know 😇 Malc

Ban is ONLY in the UK and most of Europe ..... and it's still some way to get to 2030 eh ! One can still pop over to somewhere on a cheapy flight and buy a brand new petrol car and import it ( drive it ) to the UK to drive .... Lexus / Toyota which coy will still be the biggest producer of cars globally whatever ..... the EVs will continue to be but a tiny part of their offerings I'm sure AND AS FOR CHINA . well, when I visited on holiday in the early 90's it was a brilliant country and our Chinese Guide was a well USA educated chap who quite happily told us that he, along with many others were simply being sent to the West to be educated and to learn and to return ( quite happily ) to then bolster and develop the country's manufacturing and knowledge bases to help drive HIS country, China forward to become a great industrial base They got that right then some 30 years back and it's those same people, like our tour Guide, who is no doubt driving the status forward ....... just a shame they haven't moved away from having the Imperial Emperor again ........ " Xi forever it seems " . that will probably be their downfall eh ! ........ Putinesque just don't work for the benefit of the People in reality ... just for the very few now super rich Malc

Utopia is usually being quite satisfied with all one has in life ............. and it's in Kent right now, overlooking the water at Queenborough Town Quay 😇 Malc

even if ? " tiny bit " in a very short time ? Not at all sure these imponderables with nice to expect Outcomes will turn to reality Chancellor has a big big black hole to fill-up and all vehicles are prone to being clobbered . there'll be " no nice " way to achieve this ........... tax tax tax on all and sundry .... it's inconceivable that those that can afford new cars will escape with anything other than a " heavy fine " equivalent for having their cars, any cars .... . especially company owners who are being ultra squeezed ........ take the reduction in Divi Payment tax advantages upcoming ..... clobber the rich, even all those who aren't quite so poor makes sense ........ BUT if one can blatantly spend on a new car, well, a deserving cause / case to be clobbered for sure I'll just rev up and race around in my V8 4 ltr limo for a while yet thank you . yes a 15p petrol tax increase next spring won't make one jot of difference to my budgets . coz I'm not going for broke buying a new EV .... I'll be the best part of £40/ 60 / 80 ....... 100k in pocket maybe 🤣 Malc

today, tomorrow, next week even BUT in the longer term do you really think so ? Roads have to be maintained and built and it's vehicles that have to pay for the " damage " caused ................. EV VED will be, and is a captive to the chancellor and I have no doubts whatsoever that EVs will pay a fair share ( or more . hehehehehe ) of those costs It's just about " when " Malc

not really at all .... buddy on this forum had a roof tile drop and smash his rear screen ... unobtainable UNLESS you go to Pilkington, the UK manufacturer of bespoke classic and rare car glass ( used to have their factory facility around the corner from me in Queenborough Kent ) and I think he was quoted a few £000s for a bespoke one to be manufactured Searching in depth rather more widely might turn one-up from somewhere tho' ..... methinks you was very very lucky to find yours Malc

good luck with all that ...... wonder what *** did the last cambelt change then ? Malc

purchasing power equates to about £975 today ........... Malc

from my experience of these cars ................ and i had J54DAP some while back . 15" wheels too . same as yours maybe or has yours 16" ones ? Anyway, the exhaust system should outlast the car . it's tank like stainless steel APART from the front box which will rot out, about now, causing the gasses leaks you have ... OEM not available ( well not for me anyway on my Mk3 ) and when it was it was about £6/700 . so I got a recommended local Kent exhaust fabricator to make a new one .......... £300 + vat . and a good half day job The existing very limited cats could be simply re-used and were fine ..... and this was at 235k + miles when it was done earlier this year The exhaust heat shields fell off some while back but they seemed to be a little superfluous anyway Good luck Malc

in my case it's about once or twice each and every day for about 22 years ........ quite blissful and sublime driving for sure .............. and if mine was to get properly written-off where she couldn't be repaired, well, I know there's another not too far away ready to be purchased and used for so long as i can drive Replacing my alternator was a bit of a faff to be sure ... there are about 3 or so different options and only the ONE would do for my specific Mk3 ............. no good asking Lexus parts . they didn't have a clue ........ I didn't do this BUT one could have the existing alternator " rewound " is it ? by a specialist fabricator ..... that way it would fit ok your specific car ....... if there's a next time that is ..... I think my original alternator lasted just over 200k miles Malc

then get them to do it all on a " no win no fee " basis otherwise you might be ££££s out of pocket Malc

I think you'd be OK finding any parts you ever needed . well, for the next 25 years anyway 🙃 Malc

nope, yours is a Mk4, the front bumper lights are different is the simple tell-tale sign .................. the parking sensors on the Mk3 were an addition methinks, coz i don't have them either Make sure you get to use your car lots and lots, these Ls400s thrive on happy and good regular use Malc

Sends shivers thru' me thinking of all that terrible weather to come to Kent .......... I'll be hibernating for sure 😃 Malc

strangely MY OWN VEDs total about that per annum . the Lexus at just shy of £300 and the Honda Legend at £600+ Malc

or indeed their own Legal Advice Help Line ?? OR maybe your own car insurer's Legal Advice Help Line ..... of course it might even be the same Help Line that they both use ! Malc

It's simply an underused Mk3 ....... what's the point buying one unless you're going to get the benefit and fun from using it ??? Might be the new owner is going to do just that . i hope so eh ! Someone on here ?? I feel blessed with my Mk3 at just 235k miles more 🤣 and at an advanced age and ability that there's no way i could possibly get any benefit from stuffing shed loads of pound notes into another ... hahahahahahhaha Remembering buying my second Ls400 at just 3712 ? miles from a car sales guy in Windsor some years back .. I did up to 43k miles in it before some toad wrote her off ......... and all that car had from new was a change of cambelt too ........ think I paid just under £4k at the time for her ,,,,,,,,,,,,, delighted to have an almost new Ls400 at the time for little money too . felt lucky and blessed . as i do now, every day driving my Mk3 Malc

so £10/12500 just for the 4 or 5 wheels . WOT a load of nonsense .... must be totally barmy having a car with such a liability, responsibility built in from new........ Poor Lexus conceptually methinks Malc

Well done ...... another 100k miles and 10 years to rest soundly Malc