wharfhouse

Sounds good

When I moved from a company car to a personal car the insurers accepted a letter from my employer that I had no accidents in the previous x years and so started me with some NCB (though unprotected). That was a lot of years ago now so not sure whether they do the same today.

I've found that it doesn't seem to make any difference after the nine years....

I was with Tesco the year before and when it renewed last April it went up 37%, but as it was still within a few pounds of the cheapest quote when I ran an online comparison I stayed with them. Hoping that given last years large increase, this year may be more palatable... but not holding my breath!!!

The Yokohama tyres that were fitted as OEM to my IS 300h were BluEarth E51A and I have replaced them with the same over the life of the car - they have a wheel rim protection built into the tyre (some rubber that sits slightly proud of the wheel rim to minimise kerbing damage). They are always in stock at my local Lexus dealer and I have always gone there for all of my tyres on this car. The BluEarth E51A are £110.17 fitted from Black Circles: https://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/yokohama/bluearth-e51a/225/45/R17/W/91/f?tyre=32829507 - I think you were may have been looking at different Yokohama tyre at £86 each. However, In December last year I paid £80 per tyre for the BluEarth E51A (all in incl. vat, fitting, balancing etc.) at my local Lexus dealer. I think I mentioned before (and others on the forum have too) that Lexus dealers (at least some of them) will beat other tyre places on price so worth asking them for a price. Of course, tyre choice is very subjective and each of us has our own requirements. For me, given my 15K miles per annum, much of it motorway miles, I am happy fitting the OEM tyres at the price I get them for from my local Lexus dealer, and mileage-wise I always get 20K miles from the rears and 40K miles from the fronts.

I'm with Tesco and the insurance on my IS 300h is up for renewal on April and so now thinking I'll be getting the comparison site ready for when the renewal comes in!

I didn't know of Sumitomo but as it appears they own Dunlop so probably not too bad. In that case I think I'd go for a full 4 wheel alignment - especially as the steering wheel is off centre so looks like something has been done previously and maybe not correctly. Then start and replace tyres as budget allows to get same brand on all four corners.

Good to hear you've got DAB working - once you have worked it out and used it a bit it's not so bad to find stations, if rather laborious - but the first time through to get some presets in place is certainly a challenge... BTW if you haven't worked it out yet each audio source you cycle through (DAB, FM, USB, Bluetooth etc.) can have different tone settings - I found setting eg DAB different to USB to Bluetooth etc was very beneficial in getting all sources to have a similar tone response (so bass, mid, treble) - if all are made to be the same I found the one I set originally was fine but others then didn't sound too good - so worth tweaking each that you use one by one.

First in Audio Settings / DAB Settings / DAB Alternative Frequency - set this to ON Then when the DAB signal is too low for good reception, the radio automatically switches to the matching FM station (I think it only works for DAB national stations with a matching FM station - it works well for Radio 2 that I listen to mostly). A better explanation from a Toyota radio manual is: «DAB alternative Frequency» also known as "Network following" is a feature that, when available, will automatically switch to the strongest channel for a certain station. It is recommended to have this feature enabled. Enabling «DAB alternative Frequency» will also activate the «FMlink» feature. «FMLink» is a feature that will switch from DAB radio to FM radio (given the tuned DAB station has an exact FM alternative) when the DAB reception deteriorates. When the DAB-signal improves «FMLink» can again switch back from FM to DAB You know it's switched over as in the display in the centre console (when it's showing radio stations) you will see FM-Link pop up - also you will hear a change in the quality - DAB has a better quality than FM - there is no pause, just a change in the quality. When the DAB reception improves again it will seamlessly switch back to DAB and the FM-Link will pop-up will be gone and the quality will improve again. Much better than losing the DAB signal all together when reception is poor. It's very useful when driving around hilly areas as FM will keep working when the DAB signal is intermittent.

@Stever750 that's a good thread from @Thackeray - it's certainly not the most intuitive system on the planet...!!! I worked it all out after a while when I got my IS and then stored the the BBC stations (from the National Ensemble) I wanted to the DAB presets, and more recently Greatest Hits Radio. The BBC presets work all over the country (and revert automatically to FM if the DAB signal is poor) but Greatest Hits Radio is on local Ensembles - as I travel between home and the south coast a lot I therefore had to use two presets (there are only 6 presets available for DAB channels) - one for each area and switch between them about half way through my journey. If I want a station other than the BBC ones elsewhere in the country I then have to get back to the Ensembles list, find the Ensemble that contains the station I want and then select that to listen to it. So the upshot is for travelling around the country if you want the BBC stations, once preset, they work well with no further hassle all over the country. Any other stations though will require locating in the local area ensembles as you move around the country and can take a bit of digging out so not that practical unless you are staying a while in one area, though I have got quite used to it now.

Too true! I've had my share of poor alignments done over the years and the car has ended up worse than when it went in! Only ever found one place where I live that did the right job - corrected a couple of bad alignments I'd had done by other places, and that was after giving those places a second chance to get it right!!! The place was also used by some main dealers too.

I would definitely get some decent tyres on the car (btw, perhaps surprisingly, my Lexus dealer is always cheaper than the local tyre fitters and so worth getting a quote from yours), make sure tyre pressures are all spot on, and then get the alignment properly checked at a place that has good equipment and knows how to use it - steering wheel off centre is of course a sure sign of something not quite to spec. I came from having quite a few BMWs to the IS and although the steering in the IS a bit lighter than the BMWs (although it firms up a bit in Sport mode) I found the IS steering in a straight line as good as or better than the BMWs I had (definitely not so much tramlining as the last BMW I had). On the E5, the comparison should be with Tesco E10 for any meaningful comparison. Run one tankful of E5 through first and then see how the second tankful performs for mpg as in the past I have found you can't always reliably measure the difference for the first couple of hundred miles. Like me, it sounds like you do a lot of mileage over the same roads and so you should be able to make an informed comparison over a few thousand miles that removes any "placebo" effect.

Thanks for the update and good that you are finding the car a relaxing ride. On your points: Your mpg is very similar to mine. I leave mine in Eco especially on motorways as it makes the CVT less inclined to rev the engine so readily and the cruise control isn't so aggressive on resuming and so I find it a more relaxing drive. Flicking over to Sport is quick enough if I want some extra urge. I always leave the air con in Auto mode with all vents open (but normally directed away from my body) and let it switch the air con and air outlets as it sees fit. I haven't found any issues Auto mode but I know some people are more sensitive to this - my wife often feels the need to change the settings. I don't feel any wandering in the steering - it's always rock solid and straight as an arrow on motorways. I would check tyre pressures (if you haven't already) and make sure they are at or even slightly above recommended pressure. Also could be alignment - may be worth having that checked. Otherwise tyres can play a part too (some threads on this forum about this) - mine is 17" wheels and I keep replacing with OEM Yokohama BluEarth E51A. On E10 vs E5 I have many tens of thousands of miles where I have been able to compare this like for like journeys and conditions. My conclusion is that E5 is well over 5% (approaching 10% at times) more fuel efficient than E10. Also the car runs more smoothly / quieter on E5. Now, most of my fuel is from Costco and previously Sainsbury's. The better fuel economy means at worst it costs be no more to use their E5 over E10 and in fact saves me a small amount of money. However, their price difference is only about 7p a litre between E5 and E10. Branded (Shell, BP etc) is around 20p a litre difference in price between E5 and E10 and so on that basis using E5 will cost more to run, ignoring the other benefits of E5. On the DAB - if you've followed the instructions for finding DAB stations and been unsuccessful sounds like it may be a visit to the dealer as a possible warranty issue?

The rates are published here: NHS mileage allowance rates | Royal College of Nursing (rcn.org.uk) In summary for the NHS: The national guidance in England is 59 pence per mile for the first 3,500 miles and 24 pence per mile thereafter. This compares to HMRC published (tax free) rates of 45p per mile for first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter. For the NHS rates there would be tax due on the excess payments over the HMRC published rates, but depending on mileage this would tend to zero for higher mileage drivers as more miles would then be done at the lower rate, and their overall compensation would fall within HMRC guidelines. The RCN are trying to get the rates raised, which I agree with as would any other person using their own car for business mileage since HMRC have hardly changed the rates for many years, but this should be the same for anyone that is using their own car for business mileage and not for any one particular profession.

AFAIK the NHS actually pays for private car use over the HMRC rate of 45p per mile first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter - I think something over 50p per mile now. It's the only organisation that I know of that actually pays more then the HMRC rates. I assume that the nurses getting paid that will pay tax on the excess over the HMRC rates... HMRC really need to review the figures for everyone with the significant increases in recent years running a car (not just fuel but everything else).

Good to hear that you got some answers. When you get around to needing it, the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty is comprehensive (also includes Lexus Roadside Assistance on the annual cost) and so if you want to have some peace of mind is actually a small price to pay, especially if you were planning on using Lexus dealers to service the car (which you must for the 10 Year Plus Extended Warranty to be valid).

Yes, it still exists AFAIK, myself and others have recently taken it out or renewed. It's not widely advertised and some dealers (or at least their staff) don't seem to know about - perhaps have never been asked about it. It is a national warranty underwritten by Toyota (Lexus) and can be purchased from any dealer and used at any other dealer should a repair be required. I use Lexus Reading (Jemca) and have had no problem renewing it. Other members have purchased through various different dealers around the country - perhaps one nearer to you will suggest one they have used successfully. Otherwise you could contact cr@lexus.co.uk for clarification. Make sure you use the correct terminology "10 Year Plus Extended Warranty" and not just extended warranty as that was a previous product (before Relax) and can cause confusion at dealerships.

I know it's doing the councils work for them, but they seem to only rely on the public's reporting these days and so if you can, report any potholes in your local area (this can often be done online via the council's websites or other 3rd party websites). It doesn't always result in a fix (they may reject it as not bad enough - yet) but other times will fix it - and if they don't fix it and damage then occurs to a vehicle, or worse, they can't say they didn't know about it and will be liable to for the damage. I reported a few more in my local area about a week ago - one was rejected as not bad enough to fix but one has now been fixed (within a week) and some more are still under investigation (and given that some of these are worse that the one that has been fixed I am hopeful they will address them).

In that case the engine bay looks fairly normal. Mine is a 2014 IS 300h Executive too, currently with 144K miles on it - had it since it was 2 years old and 40K miles. Like others have said the bonnet only gets opened when I top up the windscreen washer fluid or by Lexus during a service. My car also looks a bit dusty and dirty with some light corrosion setting in now on various metal bits and pieces like the top of the inverter, strut tops, hose clamps and some nuts and bolts. Nothing serious though. From my experience of my car, very little has gone wrong and it still drives great. The only things that I have had replaced are: - Windscreen washer reservoir sensor, stopped telling me the reservoir was running low, but could have lived without it but done under Extended Warranty. - Both front wheel bearings at 80K miles - took it in for one making a (relatively quiet) noise to investigate, they agreed to change it under Extended Warranty and then checked the other and did that too without me asking and said that was starting to fail too, all done under Extended Warranty. - Had front discs and pads changed at the same time they did the front wheel bearings - they would probably have done another 20K miles but made sense to do them while the other work was being done under Extended Warranty so cost me a bit less than it would have done otherwise. - The bonnet stopped staying latching down (would jump up to the safety catch while driving) - started at about 130K miles very intermittently and by 140K miles was getting very regular and difficult to get it to latch properly at all. As it was in Lexus for it's service asked them to sort it out at the same time. They charged me £150 to fix it, which after looking at the invoice and inspecting the latch, they fitted a new spring (a few pounds if I'd have done it myself) and gave the whole latch a good clean (I had been using WD40 on it as it gets very gummed up there due to road grime). It's been fine since. - One of the rear seat belt socket sometimes sets off the warning of a passenger seated without the belt done up (when the seat is empty). I think this was caused because I plug a harness in for our dog when it's on the back seat and it's pulled against the seat belt socket too much, and if it's left pulled up after the dog has been let out the seat belt alarm sometimes sounds so not sure if it might have damaged a sensor wire slightly, but push it back down and all is fine. That's it - still the original 12V battery. Still original rear discs and pads. Tyres like clockwork last 20K miles at the rear and 40K miles at the front. Economy still close to what it was when I first purchased the car. Hope you get many years / miles from your car.

How many miles are on it?

Usually as you get older the telematics policies usually cost more as the insurance company has to pay to fit the electronic box and you might only be with them for a year. For less experienced drivers where the insurance cost is high, then the cost is absorbed within the policy. I also wonder if one had an accident and the telematics showed that you were eg speeding at the time of the accident whether the insurance company would then have grounds not to pay the claim (they would have to pay 3rd parties, but maybe not one's own costs)?

Oil change intervals are always hottly debated... To add to the thinking, my parents have had a 2012 Audi A3 from new and only do a few thousand miles a year, kept in a garage when it's not being driven. It's always been serviced at their local Audi dealer and a few years ago the dealer said to them given their low mileage don't worry about doing a service every year, just do it once every two years. I found it interesting that a main Audi dealership suggested this given that they were waiving some revenue. My parents didn't initiate the conversation either - they would always do whatever the dealer told them to. It's now a year since their last bi-annual service and the car has only done just over one thousand miles. I checked their car over thoroughly before it went for it's MoT and the oil was as clean as the day it was put in. The car sailed through the MoT with no adviseries once again.

Good to hear there is no damage to the car, and that those in authority have had the sense to cone off the pothole - hopefully they will fix it. Agree with your thoughts, although a pothole can cause £££ of damage to a car it's not usually fatal. I really feel for motorbikes and cyclists though where clearly it can be fatal. Part of the reason I keep reporting ones I see appearing, especially locally.

Climate control doesn't sound quite right to me. I have always just leave mine on Auto (with A/C on) and all vents open. I point the side vents to the side windows and the centre vents towards each other in the centre of the car and slightly up (unless I went it to my body). Never felt anything blowing unintended on my body that way but the Auto does what it needs to in order to maintain the set temperature. I generally set it to around 20C in warm weather and 18C if it gets very hot outside. In cooler weather around 22C and if it's really cold might up it to 24C for a while. There are some settings for climate control to do with how strong the fan works at (mines left on default) which if someone has altered it may play a part. Also when the car is in Eco mode that puts the climate control in an Eco mode too (automatically). It's more powerful in Normal and Sport modes. There is also the S-flow button that controls whether the rear of the car gets air through to it or not - worth reading the manual for all of that. The mpg sounds spot on and so everything with the engine / hybrid sounds like it's working as it should. There are a few averages you can look at for consumption. Each time you restart the car, per fill up and over all time (since a reset). These can be displayed on the instrument display by scrolling down the different windows but not all at once. Also the display can be customised to show the different averages (they are not all there by default)). You'd need to read the manual to decide which averages you want to display. I set mine up when I first got the car - did an overall reset - and haven't touched them since, just scroll up and down to see what I want to. DAB takes a bit of working out - again best to read the manual (a couple of times) to work out how to get the channels you want programmed in. It works in Ensembles (collection of stations) so you select an ensemble and then a station from the ensemble. The BBC national radio stations are all on one ensemble. Once you put one of those on your favourites it will find it anywhere in the country. Also there is a useful FM link function too (I think that needs switching on in the audio setup somewhere) which for the BBC national stations means that if the radio loses the DAB signal as you drive around it will switch to the FM signal for the station and back to DAB when the DAB signal comes back - all seamlessly. That way you don't get DAB drop outs (which are common otherwise, particularly in hilly areas did to DAB not having the same coverage as FM.

I believe you need to find out if the pothole has been reported previously - if so then if there is any damage to your car you have a stronger claim against the council. If you can get photos then get those along with some reference for size and depth. As the police are there get their details and maybe a statement from them. Personally I would get Lexus to check the car having explained what happened and have a 4 wheel alignment check done and then see what you need to do to make sure the car is sorted and see how and what you can then claim off the council sending details, photos and police report/details. If the pothole was previously reported and they start denying liability I would think a solicitor may be able to apply more leverage. I try and report local potholes for just this reason. The council keep saying they do not need repairing but as I've logged them if I or anyone gets damage there is a stronger case.