Hadrian

I learn't to drive in a Mk. 2 1100cc A40, then bought as my first car a Mk.1 948cc 469 MKP Funny how you remember these things. The only major thing I had go on it was the crankshaft. Cost £40 to get that fixed. With the back seat folded down it would carry a lot of gear. It did suffer (as did many cars of that era) from the dreaded wire worm.

A little thread drift if I may, but what type of car is most likely to "tail Gate" you ? Anything made by Landrover Any BMW Almost any 4x4 At night, any small hatchback driven by baseball cap wearing youngster. ............................

Strewth they saw you coming Back in the 60's when I had an Austin A40 I used to change the spark plugs every year. You could get 4 spark plugs for £1 for quite a few years. Petrol was four gallons for £1 .....Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Then again as an apprentice I was probably earning less than £10 a week.

"In my opinion"....These are the usual extras added to the price of a used vehicle. They are just a bonus for the salesman. I've been sucked into thes a couple of times myself, but not again. Another one they offer is replacement of a similar car if it's written off in an accident, rather than what your insurance company would offer. Then there's the "bump and scuff" cover, which gets minor bodywork repaired "free of charge". You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Things can go wrong on any make of car. No matter what their original cost.

I can't quite see the point of fog lights on the front of a car. With the cars that I've owned which have had them fitted I have never used them.

Right, I've found the best place to put the sat nav on my is300. Just in front of the gear lever, with a couple stick pads and blue-tac to stop it sliding around. Yes it does mean I have to look down, but as I go mostly be voice commands this isn't a safety issue. It's also not on display to the low life, and I have a bit of black cloth to hide it when parked.

Last year we came back to our Civic in the car park at Duxford to find the passenger side door and front wing damaged. It cost me £300 to get repaired. Like many of you here I always try to avoid car parks, but sometimes there isn't an alternative. A few years ago I parked early morning in a car park in Bury St Edmunds. The car park was virtually empty, but I parked in a spot which doesn't get used much. I came back an hour later to find someone had parked their BMW as close as they could to my car, even though the car park wasn't even a quarter full. It must be the pack instinct ? Our local Sainsburys resurfaced their car park a couple of years ago, and made the spaces wider. I can't see this happening in a pay and display car park.

Just to add. With the larger sized screen, it's a question of where to put it. I use my garmin on a "bean bag", and the only place to put it was in front of the display screen. This has obvious disadvantages. It won't go on the dashboard, as it hits the windscreen (on is300). The only alternative being to fix it to the screen itself, which means having to remove it whenever you park. I shall be looking into this further. I used it for the first time yesterday on a trip to Suffolk (from near Southend). I know the different routes available, and it worked as expected. Coming home though, it tried to take me on some strange diversions. I think I may need to check my preferences, as well as using less detail to reduce on screen clutter.

It's the GARMIN DriveSmart 61 LMT-D 6.95". Geoff..... It has speech recognition, but that is a bit hit and miss. It's not cheap, but is the same size as the built in screen. Updates are included, and it's easy to use.

I have just bought myself a new Garmin Sat Nav with a 6,9" screen. So much easier to use than the built in one. You don't need to go into a multi layered menu to be able to do anything. Free updates too.

Yes me too. Along with Horace Batchelor, from Keynsham Bristol., that's Keynsham spelt, K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M. Then there was the promotion of the Irish Hospital Sweepstake. Which turned out to be a scam on a massive scale. I tend not to listen to much music on the radio these days.

No car that's looked after and serviced properly should fail an MOT. As when it's serviced they should look out for any issues which could lead to failure. When it's serviced and MOT'd at the same time, even more so.

A lot will depend on your style of driving, and your expectations. We bought the is300 for comfort and reliability. We have not been disappointed.

Probably worth trying to jump start with another vehicle, but first check battery voltage while trying to start.

As far as I am aware, there is no legal requirement to have your car serviced at a main dealer, in order to preserve your warranty. As long as you can prove it was serviced as per schedule. Of course it is preferable, as a main dealer will have experience in a particular make. It also shouldn't make any significant difference to it's trade in value when you eventually come to sell it. As far as pads and discs go, who actually makes those fitted by Lexus dealers ?.

God forbid that there should be another Clarkson, he is one person I refuse to watch. When buying tyres our Ozzie friend does give some good advice. ....Don't ask for advice from the tyre retailer, as they will advise you to buy the brand they get the best discount on. Most of the top brands will give you a very similar performance, while cheap brands give you inferior performance. There's no such thing as a "quiet" tyre.

When you look at well known brands of tyres, they all perform pretty much the same. The cheaper brands are usually not quite as good. This chap has a lot of experience in tyres, and gives some good advice.

Does this happen in all locations ?

Thanks for the various replies. Driving on a variety of roads, motorways and A roads it's showing a touch over 53 mpg. So not bad at all.

That's something I didn't know.

Regarding synthetic oil...Some years ago when I had my first Accord, I asked the chap who ran the garage where I got it serviced about using synthetic oil. He explained that it's not just a case of using it at the next oil change. The engine needs to be drained of oil and the system flushed to get rid of all of the standard oil. It's not cheap either.

I've only just come across this thread too. When looking for a replacement for our Civic Hybrid I didn't even consider a BMW, as I love the CVT gearbox. When spending a lot of money on a car I prefer to buy from a main dealer. Within walking distance we have a Toyota dealer and an Audi dealer. Talking to a chap in the Toyota dealership last year, he said he could get any Lexus brought there for a test drive. I did consider an Audi, but their automatics aren't particularly reliable. Yes I know you can pay through the nose at a main dealer, but I feel they have a reputation to maintain, and give a good service. Another deciding factor was that we also have a Lexus service centre a five minute walk away. I don't believe in spending a great deal of money on a car then getting it serviced in some back street garage.

If you do a search for "getting reversing sensors fitted" the name of a nationwide company comes up. They will fit sensors at your home for about £150, depending on your requirements.

My only experience is of fitting rear sensors to my Civic hybrid. Kits cost about £20, and a couple of hours work. Just need to drill holes in the right place first time. Core drill include in kit, sensors come colour coordinated. Just take measurements from a car with them fitted. Took power from reversing lights. I'm not sure if there are any issues if taking power from an LED cluster. Indicator unit went on back parcel shelf. Or if just a buzzer hide it somewhere discreet. There's a bit more work involved if you want a display in the front of the car. Trickiest bit can be finding somewhere discreet to hide the wires. If you don't feel confident in doing it yourself, there are people who will come to your house and fit them.