LenT

Ironically, just to the right of this post was a puff for the ‘World Premier of the all-new Lexus LBX’ dated June 5, 2023. The opening paragraph claims: Lexus has a proud history of pushing boundaries and challenging the status quo. Since its founding in 1989, it has repeatedly pioneered new thinking and new products that have changed people’s perceptions and reshaped the luxury car market. It has constantly evolved the concept of what luxury means, not just by creating desirable and exciting products, but also by redefining the complete ownership experience. Well, it would appear that Lexus is certainly continuing to redefine the complete ownership experience - but possibly not in the interests of their customers. And suggesting that a customer should resort to aftermarket products to protect their investment is certainly a new concept of what luxury means!

LOCers who have been discussing the merits of Diskloks and Ghost immobilisers might care to study this photo! 🙁

And some posters claim that Lexus pays no attention to the complaints on this website! 👍 (Now see what you’ve done! 🙁)

I take it that that will be this fella: https://bollardsecurity.co.uk/product/d4-telescopic-bollard/#specs How have you been getting on with it? It looks excellent. Short of ramming it, cutting it or trying to pull it out with chains - none of which would be an easy or quiet process - I expect it will persuade most thieves to go for a neighbour’s car instead! Unfortunately, our drive is so exposed that installation would be a load of bollards. 😊 Can’t quite agree here, Chris. One only has to watch a few crime-related programmes to see that home CCTV can often provide the clues to identifying the perpetrators. Yes, they may wear masks or helmets, but they often tend to be the same masks and helmets - and the same jackets and the same designer trainers that pick up identifiable gravel! And sometimes they remove a glove and touch part of a car enough to leave even a partial print. Even the way someone walks has been enough to identify them. And of course CCTV isn’t limited to just car theft. I had a case where two incompetent installers damaged the kitchen floor while removing a dishwasher. Despite denying liability, their conversation and actions outside the house were recorded and their company ended up paying for a whole new kitchen floor. That one case alone paid for the entire CCTV installation. So I’m rather a fan of them!

I guess this is the type of driveway bollard you have in mind, Chris. If the drive is suitable I would think this could be very effective - especially the retracting type that has no surface locks to attack. I would add that a CCTV security system is also a good investment. And there’s no doubt that professional thieves target specific models and clearly consider them most vulnerable when parked at home overnight. But of course they’re less effective when your Lexus is parked in a supermarket or restaurant car park. https://bollardsecurity.co.uk/product/r5-telescopic-bollard/#fulldesc The question of whether to announce the installation of a Ghost (or similar) immobiliser with, say, window stickers, is an interesting one. I think it would deter the opportunist - especially if combined with a Disklok. It could be argued that knowing what they might be facing, the thieves will be prepared. However, the likes of Ghost do maintain that it is resistant to CANbus attacks. There was a joker some time ago who claimed to be demonstrating how such immobilisers could be bypassed by, for example, a bit of bent wire. I believe he was outed as an incompetent installer who’d lost the franchise and was trying to discredit it by deliberately rigging systems for his videos. I imagine that cars - much like horses - have been targeted by thieves ever since they were used as transport. Clearly, customers have a right to expect manufacturers to constantly improve their car’s security, but for both buyer and maker there’s a cost/benefit equation to consider - and sometimes the better answer may come from the aftermarket.

It’s gone off camping on its own? 🙁 Bit headstrong I’d say. In this weather I think you were wise to stay at home.

I share your pain, Stephen - almost literally! I find that the problem is how dirty do I let the Lexus get before subjecting us both to the two bucket, snow foam, Karcher extravaganza? Recently I found a mobile Detailer who came to the car and did an excellent job for a very reasonable price. But I feel a lot of muck has to be shifted to justify that!

Ideally, David, I go for a compromise. I pay someone else to do the hard work. And then I enjoy watching them do it. 😊

You make that sound expensive, Niaz. 😊 But to be fair, you do get two 200ml tubs of carnuba wax, a nicely rolled bit of paper tied with a red ribbon, and an acrylic case with an engraved 900 silver plaque. Unfortunatly, it doesn’t quite stretch to an applicator or polishing cloth. https://swissvax.co.uk/collections/autowachs/products/divine-carnauba-wachs-62-vol For people who do these things on the cheap, SWISSVAX does offer a single tub of Carnuba Wax at the everyday price of £1400. https://swissvax.co.uk/products/carat-81-vol-carnaubawachs-mit-ptfe Makes a few days of professional Detailing with ceramic products look like quite a bargain!

If it’s always the same rear passenger foot well - and you’ve eliminated the roof as a source - then I suggest checking underneath the door on that side. it’s possible that any drain holes have been blocked by rust and water collecting in the door can’t drain out, so seeps inside past the door cards. Another option is water seeping in via the boot - or even past the rear screen - again due to blocked drain holes. Take out the mats and boot floor linings and check for signs of staining.

The Disklok is probably the gold standard steering wheel lock. Autoexpress described it as ‘virtually indestructible’. I don’t think its ever succumbed to the ‘5 minute destruction’ challenge. So I presume it’s not susceptible to simple lock picking. You can’t cut the wheel because it covers the entire wheel. A thief would probably have to tow the car away to an isolated location and attack it with heavy machinery. The only proviso seems to be that it is essential to get the proper size. And it’s significantly more expensive than any of its rivals. I had a couple of the earlier versions and they were a bit cumbersome to store, but easy to fit. These days I - and some other LOCers - use a Milenco bar lock, which has also proved resistant to attack. The Full Monty would be to couple one of these with a Ghost Immobiliser. So having perhaps defeated the obvious deterrent, the thief still couldn’t get the car to start. It would be time to move on to an easier target!

Well, you’ll get many different recommendations! Personally, I’ve always had BlackVue - and its footage helped pay for my Lexus when my previous car was written off! You’re right to go for the two channel versions - and I would also recommend a battery backup, such as the BlacKVue Pro Magic, that keeps the camera able to respond even when the ignition is off ie parked! If you’re budgeting for less than £400 then you might be interested in the BlacKVue Outlet offerings. https://blackvue.co.uk/product-category/outlet/ My only other advice is to reformat the SD card at regular intervals to avoid rewriting errors - and to buy the largest one you can afford. Keep the original in the car as a spare so that in the event of an incident you can swap it for the SD card with the recording on, so keeping the evidence secure! As regards fitting, this should be well within the abilities of an competent local auto electrician.

A fine example of how a system will take something written quite literally.. Much like the now notorious mailing that an unnamed financial institution sent out to some of its richer customers - but forgot to check the temporary placeholder name that the original programmer had set up! https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dear-rich-*****/

Marius… Hopefully, this page at lexus.co.uk will present you with a list of relevant manuals and guides which will answer your questions. Just look up your vehicle in the list. Whether you regard the Premier versions as worth it rather depends on how much value you put on a superior sound system, for example. The ML installation is generally considered superior to the unit in the other grades, but not worth the extra if you’re not likely to appreciate the difference. https://www.lexus.co.uk/content/lexus/uk/en/customer/manuals

A fine thought to live by, Ronnie. All the best to you and yours.

So very true, Bernard. While I will happily concede that a busy motoring journalist is in a far better position to compare different cars, these kinds of negative comments are simply banal. The performance figures quoted invariably come from Press Releases and are not always - shall we say - achievable in real life. Or, more importantly, actually relevant! And that’s mainly because when you buy a car with your own money - and have to pay for your own tyres, brakes and maintenance - you don’t drive it in the same way as a free, loan car from the Publicity Department! But to be fair to the mass of motoring journalists, it’s a comparative few who get to go on the extravagant launch jollies. In the past I had occasion to employ a couple on a freelance basis, and their everyday transport was far from glamorous. It’s not the best paid job in journalism. Mind you, developing a good relationship with the Pub. Depts. did have its benefits. I recall one guy who would acquire a large estate for about a week every year. His review was about how well it performed when taking a whole family touring! I think your point about the kind of negative comments aimed at many Lexus models by some of the motoring press is well made. They are being dismissed for failing to be something they were never designed to be. Fortunately, I doubt that that concerns the typical new Lexus buyer.

🤔?

….comes out as…. (Just for the record!). 🙁

Perhaps the only redeeming feature of this Wikipedia account is that it doesn’t record that Tarbuck was driving a Lexus - unlike the general media! No doubt if he had been in a BMW, Mercedes or similar, that may also have attracted a media mention. In a Vauxhall or Ford? Possibly not so much. But whereas I am indifferent to the news that ‘famous comic and show business great’ chooses a Lexus to drive around in, I can’t help feeling aggrieved that it was also the car pointedly involved in two hit and runs, a leaving the scene of an accident and a failure to report it. As has already been said, all surely grounds for a retest at the very least. Did Tarbuck really not notice all the nearside scratches and maybe wonder how that happened? Did he think it was possibly just an understandable audience response to an earlier gig? And was he still so distraught after his sister’s funeral, several days earlier, that it was realistically offered in mitigation? Unfortunately, having pleaded guilty and been fined, I doubt that he can be retried on the grounds of undue leniency. Sadly, it’s the Court that comes at as a total joke in this sorry affair.

But my point is, Niaz - and I don’t expect you to have the answer because I certainly don’t - why does Lexus regard them as an ‘extra ‘ ? I find it hard to believe that someone buying a new Lexus LS, say, would prefer to avoid the tiny additional cost of a set of mudflaps in order to gain a very few extra miles per tankful. At the same time, willingly subjecting their splendid new bodywork to a peppering of road muck!

Mudflaps! Yes,I fitted a set of mudflaps. OK, so it’s not an LS - but do they come with mudflaps as standard? I stand to be corrected - but I suspect not! And no doubt some will sneer that they’re not a serious modification. But this was the state of my Lexus after a short drive on damp roads. And I’d only given it the full two-bucket treatment just the day before! 😡 The reasoning seems to be that they create extra drag that reduces mpg. But it’s supposed to be a luxury car. I’ll happily sacrifice a few extra miles so that I can arrive somewhere with a car as clean as when I set out. Or am I alone in thinking that?

When MrsT and I retired almost 15 years ago, interest rates for our private pensions were around a modest 4% - enough to provide a reasonable income. But within months they started to tumble until coming to rest at less than 1% - less than inflation. Now that was good news for everyone with loans or a mortgage, but not so much for us savers! Fortunately, we can run a nice Lexus and have a comfortable life - and that, as you suggest, is down to the personal savings we arranged for ourselves. But other pensioners are not so well set up. If we had to rely purely on State Pensions - generous though I actually think they are - we would simply have to tailor our standard of living to suit. But it’s that last point that many people find so hard to come to terms with.

Er…that was just my way of saying I like carrot cake, Niaz! 😊 But I had an office in Northampton for a while - it’s a nice town. And it’s surrounded by very attractive villages, too. Recalling some of the earlier posts in this thread - which has somewhat meandered - what it doesn’t have is some of the less welcoming areas mentioned that you wouldn’t want to drive around in your Lexus!

Would that be somewhere in Northamptonshire? 🤗

Quite right. We’re called Pensioners! 😆