LenT

Coincidentally, I put a new set of Bosch on this morning. The one good tip I would support is placing a substantial cloth pad on the windscreen just where the wiper arm would hit it if it dropped down. Because some times it does! 🙁

Well, that could be one answer - a wipe over with a damp cloth might sort it out. But considering the age of the car, I would have thought that years of damp may be the cause. It may be that the sensor connections have rusted or possibly even the selector switch operated by the gear lever when selecting reverse?

Is there some reason why you didn’t think it worthwhile to investigate this option? After all, you’ve nothing to lose…apart from your Lexus, of course. 😊

Well you clearly don’t want to go to a Lexus dealer! When I had to replace one urgently as a result of it being sheared off (that’s another story!) I happened to know that there was a large tyre retailer just minutes away. They were able to supply, fit and register a compatible valve for about £65. So rather than looking for a store, as such, you might do better ringing around the local tyre retailers. I’ll probably replace all four when I get the next set of tyres and look for a discount by bundling valves and tyres together.

If there’s nothing in the Manual - and my Manual was ambiguous and misleading when I was replacing my main bulbs - I would take it to a convenient Lexus dealer and ask them to confirm what bulb / bulbs were in place. Mine were D4S specification and I replaced them - just one in each unit - with Osram Nightbreaker Laser, which were a considerable improvement. I didn’t think that LED units were fitted in 2016 models, but I could well be wrong about that!

It rather depends on why the tyre is cheap! Presenting it with a combination of adverse road conditions - such as cold, snow and ice - is no time to discover that the manufacturer used inferior materials and poor design technology. It may sound obvious, but I avoid anything that’s merely cheap if my life depends on it! However, there are many alternatives to Premium priced tyres. For example, many major manufacturers produce lower cost ranges simply by offering a more restricted range of sizes - but still applying the sophisticated tyre design and materials development that they’ve invested in. If it helps, here’s a website that claims to list the lesser known brands owned by the major tyre manufacturers. I think it’s reasonable to presume that they maintain their standards while reducing the price. https://tyres.rezulteo.co.uk/expert-advice/before-buying/brands-products/leading-tyre-manufacturers-which-brand-belongs-to-which-group

My IS came with 18” wheels and low profile tyres. But it was also available with 17” wheels and higher profile tyres - which I might have preferred. They would have given it a more comfortable ride, due to the greater flexion of the outside wall, and reduced the chance of kerbing the alloys! I think your age of IS250 might have been supplied with a choice of 16” or 17” alloys with the larger wheel having the low profile tyre. So if you want a higher profile tyre for comfort reasons, then you’ll have to match it with the smaller size alloy in order to keep the rolling radius of the wheel the same - otherwise the speed and mileage will be incorrect.

Thanks for your reply. I’ll keep my comments on ‘genocide’ brief rather than meander too far from the original topic of China (has anyone mentioned the Uyghur or Hmong?) On a small point of detail: You’re slightly out of date. The latest estimate from the Central Bureau of Statistics, December 2023, is 21.1%. In other words, there are an increasing number of citizens of Israel who you name as Palestinian. I still fail to see how that qualifies as ‘genocide’. What I believe is actually irrelevant. However, anyone interested in a detailed analysis of both reports might benefit from this appraisal by an American academic Cary Nelson: https://fathomjournal.org/amnesty-international-israel-and-race-baiting/ And here’s another backgrounder! https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-status-of-arabs-in-israel When it comes to discrimination, I can’t help feeling that should you happen to be, Arabic and, say, female or homosexual – or possibly both – you might well prefer your status in Israel. Yes, my error! I should have written ‘required’ not ‘allowed’. Apparently this is the current situation. The sole legal distinction between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel is that the latter are not required to serve in the Israeli army. This was to spare Arab citizens the need to bear arms against their brethren. Nevertheless, many Arabs have volunteered for military duty – more than 1,000 in 2020 – and the Druze and Circassian communities are subject to the draft.

The latest demographics of Israel show that of its 9.8M population, 7.2M (73%) are Jews and 2.1M (21%) Arab - the majority of the latter apparently preferring to describe themselves as ‘Palestinians in Israel’ or ‘Israeli Palestinians’. They have full voting rights as Citizens of Israel - and I believe they are discriminated against in only one respect: they are not allowed to join the IDF. It was considered invidious to ask them to face possible military action against other Palestinians. So if the definition of ‘genocide’ is ‘the systematic and deliberate extermination of a national and racial group’ ( eg driving all Jews into the Sea) I don’t really see how giving full citizenship to another racial group achieves its extermination. In fact it’s further complicated by the fact that the birth rate for the Muslim population of Israel - although it has considerably reduced - is still greater than that of the Jewish population. Which suggests that there will be more Palestinian Arabs becoming Israeli citizens in years to come than fewer - the antithesis of genocide, I would have thought.

A very good choice. Generally regarded as even being a very good all-season tyre which in comparative tyre tests has performed as well as the Michelin CrossClimate.

You’d think ‘Going equipped’ would include a can of fuel!

Very interesting, Colin. So if I’ve understood you correctly, the CANbus vulnerability was introduced from October 2016 as a result of what was probably sold to IS buyers as an upgrade at the time. As mine is an IS250 registered in February 2015, I suppose I should find this reassuring. Incidentally, I have been led to believe that that was also the last month in which my particular V6 Premier variant was sold in the UK. Do you have any sales stats that might confirm this?

Oooops! 😧 My apologies for the typo Linas. My tipping is not what it used to be! But as I may also be confusing you with Linus Pauling - currently the only person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes - I hope you'll forgive me!

As an owner of just such a Lexus, my thinking is that the value and demand for my eight year-old vehicle makes it less attractive to a thief aiming to sell it on as a legitimate used car. They may also presume it to be of a high mileage, which rules out breaking for parts. I was concerned about catalytic converter theft - of which it has three. But on checking with my local Lexus Dealer about fitting appropriate shields, I was advised that ‘they were unaware of cat thefts from IS250s.’ This they attributed to the main cat being inaccessible in the engine bay and the other two being so small that they contained comparatively so little of the rare earth elements that theft is not worth the risk.

Thanks for your comments, Linus, but I’m not sure that it really contradicts my admittedly somewhat ‘tongue in cheek’ observation. The majority of car theft is now targeted vehicles stolen to order - either to be sold on or broken for parts. So it’s driven by demand. As you rightly say: Now what contributes to the fact that Lexus cars ‘are genuinely sought after’ is their much lauded reliability - as promoted by the likes of ‘Which’! It’s certainly the case that some stolen vehicles are bought by unsuspecting buyers, but I doubt the majority can be unaware of the history of their new, remarkably cheap motor - especially if, as I suppose, such attractive features as the famed Lexus Warranty appear difficult to enforce! It thus follows that if a Warranty claim is difficult to enforce, then its reliability becomes an important factor in the relationship between car thief and car buyer. I suspect that this type of buyer is not generally one who seeks redress through the Courts, but will be more inclined to take direct and personal action. 👊 The CANBUS vulnerability also strikes me as a ‘two-edged sword’. Unless the vehicle is being broken for parts, then the thieves have to repair the damage before anyone is going to buy the car - whether it stays in the UK or is shipped abroad. Clearly, it can be just as easily stolen again by another set of thieves using the same method - only this time the ‘owner’ may be less inclined to report it! Worse still, they may come looking for a replacement from their original supplier - and not in the best of moods. So my advice to car thieves attempting to sell on a stolen Lexus is that it is in their own interests to fit an effective shield to foil further CANBUS attacks in the future. 😊

An interesting thought, Malcolm. I bought some shares when they went public - and they plummeted almost immediately! I did think that being a shareholder might bring some benefits but if there are, they’ve passed me by! Mind you, MrsT’s Suzuki 4x4 has always had good quotes from Saga and is currently on a three-year fixed price deal. And I notice that they seem to have enough funds to finance very large cruise ships. Pity we avoid large cruise ships like the plague! On the very few occasions I’ve had to contact Saga, it’s been a very simple process and the individuals involved have been very pleasant to deal with. Apparently that type of customer service costs a little extra these days!

Car thieves obviously get ‘Which Car Reports’. I note that in the Feb 24 edition the Lexus brand yet again tops the Reliability Table of 29 brands in all three car age groups. In two car age groups (0-4, 10-15) it gets four stars, and in the 5-9 it gets five. In fact Lexus is the only brand awarded five stars for its reliability in any category. I suspect it’s partly due to Which that car thieves are now increasingly attracted to Lexus. After all, if you’ve sold a stolen car to someone, you don’t want them to come looking for you when it keeps breaking down!

Not quite sure why you wouldn’t want to do that, Jon. Presumably you’re familiar with the use of Dinitrol and it’s the right product for treating the rust? Do it while you have access, I would have thought. Perhaps it might also be useful to see if you can detect how the water causing the rusting is getting there? Meanwhile, all the best with the dashcam - one of the best extras you can fit to a car, in my opinion!

I think that argument might be truer of, to cite a current example, the Post Office’s Horizon computer system! Surely every car owner is aware that potentially it can be stolen. But not every car owner is aware of how it can be done - or the many and various methods of preventing it. So I see this as one instance in which approaching owners to offer a free theft deterrent would be excellent customer relations. Why Dealers are not doing it is a puzzle. My business used to be running advertising agencies and this is the kind of marketing advice we would offer clients.

Exactly so, Bob. As contributors to the LOC, we are not typical Lexus owners. Most car owners regard their cars as transport, not a hobby. They may not even be aware where their Lexus stands in the thieving league table. So I think that you are correct in suggesting that Lexus should regard the development of a security plate to help counter CanBUS attacks as an item worthy of a recall. Surely Lexus has a duty to inform owners of an upgrade that will improve the security of their products? Being proactive in this regard can only help to enhance a Dealer’s reputation, after all!

Just for the record, SAGA came up with a revised offer of £652 but I had already accepted the AA's £640. But as we are all surely well aware, it does demonstrate the value of not accepting the initial computer-generated value!

Last time I bought a new set of tyres (Goodyears) I was surprised to find that Lexus MK would price match my regular tyre retailer. I didn’t in the end buy from them but only because I was also having a set of Alloygator rim protectors fitted. I later fitted a set of mud flaps myself and can confirm that that is well worth doing. Don’t really understand why they are not original equipment - the argument that they marginally increase fuel consumption doesn’t impress me.

Having just now renegotiated my car insurance with the AA, I’m inclined to agree with you, Andy. The proposed increase took it from £490 to £780 and the justification was the generally increased cost of repairs and risk of theft. Negotiation reduced that to £640 which, in view of the general increases, I have accepted. The cheapest online quote I had was for £466 from Admiral - not a company with whom I wished to do business. Curiously, Saga - who insure my wife’s car and every year pop up offering to take on the Lexus and undercut the AA by about £20 - this year thought I would find their quote of £900 irresistible! And me a shareholder too!! One curious feature of the Insurance is that MrsT has always been a named driver on the Lexus, despite never wanting to drive it. But - in common with other insurers - removing her would actually increase the premium. On behalf of the rest of you, I did enquire if a reduction was obtained by adding one wife to the Policy, would a second wife produce another reduction? Apparently, it wouldn’t. 🙁

An important point to consider. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that the cheapest policy is rarely the best! And that’s something you discover if you ever have to make a claim against it. My Lexus renewal has just come up and I shall be having a meaningful discussion with the AA about the increase! I already know I can get it cheaper but with companies I’m not keen to do business with. The only time I really had to test the efficiency of the AA was when my last car was written off by an HGV changing lanes on a motorway. The claim was resolved swiftly and entirely to my satisfaction - and virtually paid for the Lexus. To me, that’s worth a extra few pounds.

A suggestion I’ve made a couple of times - which I believe achieves this - is to fit a ‘Kill Switch’. When I had a Lotus Elan it was a simple switch that broke the low tension lead to the distributor. I don’t know if this can be done with modern ignition systems. But what I have seen is a ‘Kill Switch’ to the fuel pump. This achieves the same effect, in that the engine will churn over but fail to fire up. I can’t imagine that attacking the Canbus will reveal this cause - but I may be wrong! Short of running through a spark/fuel diagnostic analysis - or calling out the AA - I can’t imagine the average chummy hanging around to sort out the problem! This one video installation- others are available…. .