rich1068

Hi Trevor. Would you care to tell us more about the Accord Coupe V6? Asking for a friend.

Have you tried that breaker in Chesterfield? Puremoto I think it is. I've spoken to him before and he seems friendly enough. Or for new try Amayama.

I should mention that I spoke to Ron yesterday and he's in fine fettle.

Try disconnecting the battery, leave the car for 10 minutes, reconnect the battery, turn the key to the second position and leave it there for 6 or 7 minutes. Turn off and then try to start again.

Astonishing isn't it? During the same round of dealer visits as the Merc and Volvo I called at the local Audi dealership, enquired about a test drive and was asked if I'd bought a car from them before. My face didn't betray the Anglo Saxon in my head but I turned on my heels and walked out. Incidentally the same dealer chain as Mercedes. Now I stick to my £850 Saab, £500 Lexus and £1000 Volvo. I also take great pleasure parking them right outside the showrooms if I have to visit for any reason.

I can remember a bizarre incident with my local Mercedes dealership a few years ago. I was in the market for a brand new large SUV type vehicle. Business lease, had to be able to get 3 child seats in the back, that sort of thing. On my list was the M class or GLE or whatever it's called. So I went to have a look, took one for a spin and rather liked it. So I asked the sales person to give me a CH figure but they were clearly out of their depth and it was like trying to get blood out of a stone. In the end I was told I had to commit to ordering one before they could give me a price. Excuse me? I order one and then you'll tell me how much it will cost me? I'll pass thanks. Ordered an XC90, had it 4 years, brilliant.

Try and replace any felt. If that holds any mucky water it will stink when it dries.

Remembering the MKIV Golf, I recall the look of horror on the dealer's face every time I walked in with yet another complaint. It got a bit embarrassing to be honest. It was on a 3 year contract hire agreement with VWFS and they ended up swapping the car for a new one after 18 months. Most memorable incident was one of the rear doors swinging open as I went round a corner on my way in to work one morning. As they put me in a courtesy car the service guy asked me what happened to mine, I told him and he said "Not another one!"

Oh dear. I was just looking at some of the flooding pics this morning. Hope you get it sorted.

An awful lot of German cars full stop. I was thinking "You know, I don't think I've ever had a truly unreliable car" and then I remembered my MKIV Golf.

You know when you see those ads and the car is listed with full main dealer service history? And you wonder about their definition of each of those words? Would anyone like to see what full main dealer service history looks like? Of course you would Run out of space now.

Fresh ticket

Well guess what? He rang me today. It turns out he has to give up driving (Parkinson's unfortunately) but I was the first person he thought of getting in touch with. Obviously I have my own now but if anyone is after an extremely low mileage GS300 give me a shout.

If it's just yellow and not heat damaged then the ArmorAll (?) wipes from Halfords are very good. Two cleaning wipes and one sealant for a tenner.

Cars of that age and mileage I just assume nothing's ever been done and carry out the fullest of full services. Keep an eye on the area where the rear arch meets to sill and assuming you intend to keep it, just work your way through everything from oil and filter to belts and plugs. Apart from that it's a Lexus. It'll outlive all of us.

99 octane on winter tyres with a K&N #10brakemod

Haven't been following this so I'm afraid I don't know if I'm adding anything that hasn't been said before but I was underneath a 57 plate 400h yesterday with the cat removed. Goes through the MOT just fine and from what I'm told Toyota/Lexus have dropped the price of genuine replacements by quite a margin too.

Belts are still a bit beyond me. Baby steps. Dave is doing the Volvo aux belt and tensioner on Monday.

Heresy! I think I'll be using a combination of tap and distilled water. Run tap water through. Final go with distilled. Something like that. Then the genuine Volvo stuff. I was getting a bit antsy about this yesterday. Don't know why, it's just another job to tackle and is relatively simple. There is another drain on the back of the block but I'm leaving that because there are stories of it shearing. A bit of flushing should dilute/remove whatever is left to the point it doesn't matter. And we're not talking about £60k worth of RX, it's a beaten up old Volvo! Chill Rich

Pretty sure Mark Levinson units on any Lexus always prominently say so on the unit itself. If the ad has has pics of the dash it should be easy to spot.

Thought I'd throw this out to those more knowledgeable than I. You might know I recently picked up a Volvo V70. No history so I'm trying to cover all the servicing bases. One of those is to put some fresh coolant in there and I'm pretty much following the same procedure as on my GS. Drain what I can from the tap on the bottom of the radiator and then refill what I take out (actually, on the GS I did this twice just to be on the safe side). But first thing I notice is that the approved Volvo coolant is green/blue but the stuff in the expansion tank and cooling system is pink/red much like that in the Lexus. So first questions... Is coolant colour a reliable indicator of type? Google isn't that helpful. Looking at the Halfords site (as a guide) Lexus coolant (pink/red) is the OAT type like the genuine Lexus stuff but that recommended for the V70 is the Silicate type. I know you're not supposed to mix, would this indicate someone has filled the system with the "wrong" coolant? Next question, if a complete fill of pink/red coolant has been carried out at some point rather than green/blue what if any damage could have been done? Are they interchangeable if done completely? And lastly, due to being unsure would you recommend running a few gallons of distilled water through this just be on the safe side before using the correct coolant? Probably can guess the answer to this one. Many thanks as always.

Buy genuine. They're only 30 quid a set from Lexus Parts Direct.

Have you looked at those Saris Bones things? Impressed with the one we used recently. https://www.saris.com/catalog/racks#region=2&make=241&model=5389&year=26228

Come on guys. 16 years old with 150k miles? Anyone care to throw in an M Class or X5 of equivalent age and mileage and see how they compare? It's an extremely unfortunate set of circumstances that seem to have led to the electrical problems on this particular RX but I'd still choose one over the other two all day long. Nothing to do with how they drive, handle, mpg, whatever. Just where my money is safest and how likely it is that I'm going to have to throw more at it.

There are probably a couple of fuses you could pull instead of disconnecting the battery, like on my GS. So you don't lose settings. But I'd have no idea which on an RX.