LenT

I think this is a very reasonable point. I’ve only had to use the SpaceSaver once, when a well-meaning passerby broke the valve clean off the wheel. In my case changing the wheel was no problem at all, but then the car was safely off-road and I imagine an IS250 is a different proposition to a UX. Tyres are a compromise anyway. For example, greater grip is usually at the expense of mileage. ROFs are a compromise of ride quality over the convenience of a limited but continued mobility in the rare event of a tyre deflating. It has to be a personal choice!

This question about ROF (Run On Flat) seems to have come up a lot recently. The answer is that any ROF can be substituted by ‘normal’ tyres as they are not specific to the wheel. The result will almost invariably be a better, quieter ride with even a possible improvement in fuel efficiency. This is because the ROF uses a thicker, heavier, less flexible sidewall to enable it to support the vehicle in the event of a puncture. Even then its speed and mileage is severely restricted. The disadvantage is that road surface noise and imperfections are amplified by the reduced flexibility of the sidewalls. Many repairers - and even some makers - will not support a repair, should it even be possible, because the damage caused by the wheel rim running on the tyre carcass is unknown. They were initially developed for heavy industrial use, especially for military vehicles. It was believed, for example and with some justification, that if you’d suddenly had bullets deflate a tyre, then you might not be inclined to stop and replace the wheel - or even use an injectable goo kit. I don’t know much about the area in which you live, but unless you think this feature will be a real benefit, then I suggest you will be better off with, say, a set of the latest Michelin CrossClimates and - with all due respect to Colin - a suitable SpaceSaver wheel and no tyre inflation kit.

Unfortunately they are not the only examples of dangerous wildlife. I believe you do have quite a few Red Deer - the UK’s largest land mammal. According to the British Deer Society, between 40,000 and as many as 74,000 are involved in automotive accidents annually. An adult male can weigh over 200kg. So I expect that the results of a case of car v deer are not going to easily polish out. In which case your Insurers may well feel more kindly towards your repair claim if it’s accompanied with video of a jaywalking deer. In my experience, the use of a dashcam only has to happen once and it’s paid for itself.

I can’t help wondering about the possible videos which, for obvious reasons, drivers have not put into the public sector. Namely, those instances when scammers have thrown themselves in front of vehicles which - for one reason or another - failed to stop. It’s rather like picking a fight with a total stranger. Sometimes people just don’t react the way you planned. It’s possible that some promising scamming careers have come to a painful end.

I can’t think of a reason NOT to! In fact, I’m sure they will be eventually built-in to new cars. I have them on both our cars and have recorded many examples of bad driving that could have resulted in accidents. One was egregious enough to warrant Police visiting the driver and issuing a warning. One helped another driver who was hit while navigating a roundabout. And when my Accord was written off on the M25, the camera recorded the HGV changing lanes and persuaded its Insurers to settle the claim in full without further delay! Of course, there is a downside. It records your own driving as well. So in that respect it might improve it. For one thing, it may make you more patient. There’s a lot of satisfaction in knowing that however badly someone behaves in front or behind you, you’ve got them on video.

You say Lexus Edgware could find no issues with the tyres, but I wonder if you have a problem with the valve? If you have a dust cap on it, for example, any grit in the cap could be depressing the valve. Or the valve could be leaking anyway. Put the valve at the bottom of the wheel and try gently pouring water over it, looking for bubbles. Incidentally, you don’t mention the age of the tyres. They do deteriorate with age irrespective of mileage. Here’s how to check the age of a tyre. Check the sidewall for the letters DOT. Next to this, there’ll be a 4 digit number code. The first pair of numbers is the week of manufacture. The second pair of numbers is the year of manufacture. For example, 0720 means the 7th week of 2020. Hope this helps!

Just to slightly muddy the waters even more, I note an article in today’s Telegraph quoting a Supt. Jim Munro of West Midlands Police warning that if you use a key fob to lock your vehicle as you leave it, you should check that it really has locked. Apparently WMP has discovered - possibly belatedly- that car thieves are using devices to block the signal from the fob. They suggest you confirm it before walking away. Clearly, turning off the fob after you’ve used a button to lock it will not defeat this particular method. Of course getting in to a now unlocked car is still some way removed from actually being able to drive it off. Fortunately, my wing mirrors fold to confirm the locking so that’s a very obvious confirmation. I also always use the open/close sensors in the front door handles, so there’s no transmitted signal to block.

Such cynicism!! Of course, it could coincidentally result in an increase in sales of Faraday related products. Which might benefit someone who was on commission to bring up the subject in a ….but I may have said too much already. 🙄

What puzzles me, Phil, is that no mention is made of the effective preventive measures that can be taken. Namely, Faraday pouches or boxes - or even disabling the key fob. Perhaps the author of the article is unaware of them.

This is the only real negative here. What were the engineers smoking? What a total stupid design to work on. You need to take the whole intake manifold to change the right side spark plugs. In its defence, many or most modern cars seem to have little regard to making it easy to work on. Those days are gone I guess. This is bad for the IS as because of that most owners don't change the plugs. Labour is expensive. This is what will kill these cars. I’m delighted that you’re enjoying the car and hope it will give you many more years of driving pleasure. But there was just one point about your criticism of the engine design. I think you got it right when you observed that ‘many or most modern cars seem to have little regard to making it easy to work on’. I certainly don’t think that ‘this is what will kill these cars.’ - by which I take it you mean a current Lexus. Surely the majority buyers of new - or newish - Lexis will be spending significant sums and would prefer to let well-trained professionals look after the oily bits. Modern engines and their ancillaries are too complex to encourage owners’ attention. The Manuals make clear what Lexus believe is acceptable. I am constantly impressed by the skill and knowledge demonstrated by many of the LOC members and the competency with which they can tackle serious rebuilds. But these are invariably on older vehicles. In fact, as EVs become more common, I can see it being made even harder for owners to delve into the power plants. After all, unlike petrol or diesel, it could prove fatal!

I have the Goodyear Asymmetric Eagle F1 5s on my IS250 and can certainly agree with this assessment. They also offer very good wet weather performance, which is a particular personal requirement. I originally intended to fit the Michelin CCs but they only did one of the two sizes I needed and the Goodyears had recently been introduced to very good test reviews. At my present annual mileage, I’ll probably never have to change them!

On the one occasion that I had to deal with a damaged tyre (a helpful passerby broke the valve!) I was fortunate enough to have a SpaceSaver - which got me the five minutes to a large tyre retailer. That’s the solution I would go for. I wouldn’t even countenance a sealant solution. My particular car has different tyre sizes front and rear, so which spare do you carry? The SpaceSaver is legal on either axle as long as it is used as intended - namely at a restricted speed and distance in order to get to a place where the tyre problem can be resolved. It is also lighter than a full-sized tyre so makes some contribution to fuel economy!

I think the general recommendation is that run flats should ONLY be used in conjunction with TPMS valves. This is to prevent the danger of running unawares on a deflated tyre. Whether they are a benefit or not is debatable. Remember, they are restricted to a 50 mile limit and often restricted to around 20mph. Most tyre dealers will refuse to repair them in the event of a puncture because there’s no way of assessing how much internal damage has been done to the tyre carcass by the wheel rim. Another disadvantage is that the extra rigidity of the sidewall makes for a more uncomfortable ride by transmitting road imperfections. The additional weight of the tyres can also affect fuel consumption. All in all, not such a good choice for standard road cars.

I stand corrected, John. If pressed, I would have guessed that a specific fear of Buttons would be pantophobia. But that too would be wrong. Apparently it’s an old and now disused term for a general fear of almost everything! Oh yes it is!

Koumpounophobia is the fear of buttons and it affects about 1 in 75000 people. Unfortunately it generally refers to buttons on clothing and is possibly associated with the presence of bacteria and viruses. But then car keys were probably not invented when the term was! So it’s time the definition was extended.

When I had my car ‘Detailed’, wrapping the front was an extra I considered. But apart from a couple of inconspicuous pin sized marks, there was no obvious damage. So I decided to just have the full ceramic treatment and see how that went. However, if you have damage to the extent you describe, then I would have thought it was worth considering. The first problem is to have the rust eliminated and the paint surface resprayed. Now this may be a body shop job as It’s not something Detailers usually do - although you may find one that does. The surface has to be perfect as the film will actually make any imperfections more obvious. You also have to consider how that may make the rest of the body look. At the very least, I would have thought that you would need to have a basic level of detailing to improve the rest of the bodywork. The final result can look stunning. Wrapping may not protect from a really determined stone, but it should shrug off the kind of damage you’ve generally been experiencing. It’s certainly more effective in this respect than a ceramic finish alone. And the film itself is also self healing to some extent. In the end, it’ll come down to cost. How long do you think you’ll have the car? It’ll certainly enhance the resale value and your pleasure in driving it around. Indeed, the fact that it’s even a matter of concern suggests to me that you don’t really need much persuading!

I would regard 3mm of tread as the point where tyres have to be replaced. As you say, the tracking is clearly out. Fortunately any competent tyre retailer should be able to do that and include it as part of your new tyre purchase. There’s no point in allowing misalignment to continue. Incidentally, incorrect tyre pressures can also contribute to excessive or uneven wear. Bear in mind that when replacing tyres the new tyres go on the rear axle, not the front. So you’ll have to move the current rears to the front axle. As for the brand, the Michelin Cross Climate 2 is indeed an excellent all-weather tyre. We have the original CCs on a 4x4 and I would have had them on the Lexus, but Michelin only did one of the two sizes it needs. Should you happen to be a member of Costco, it’s worth checking their site as they have regular discount offers on Michelin - amongst others. Incidentally, I did once get my Lexus dealer to quote for the supply and fitting of new tyres and, to my surprise, they matched my regular tyre supplier. So possibly worth checking about a new tyre and tracking deal.

I hope you can see them here. When I had the car ‘detailed’ they were on the rims when the wheels were being treated. I chose black to blend in with the tyre, but as you may have already seen, they come in a range of colours if you want to make a feature of them. Scuffs can be polished away if the Alloygator is marked - apparently. I’ve not bothered myself. They certainly do the job as far as warding off kerbing marks is concerned. And any impact sufficient to really damage the Alloygator would probably have buckled the wheel. Considering the cost of these alloy wheels, I feel that if they prevent one scuffed rim, then they’ve paid for themselves.

It’s an interesting question. I was wondering why you don’t ask your Insurers? I would think any damage insurance specific to wheels and tyres would be pretty costly, considering their vulnerability to kerbing. I must admit that when I kerbed my alloys and had my local ChipsAway guy over to do an excellent repair, it never occurred to me to put in a claim. I would have thought that the resulting increase in Premium would exceed the cost of the repair. What I did instead was to fit a set of Alloygators which have prevented any further damage. Now, if a wheel contacts a kerb, the worse damage is a scuff on the plastic rim protector.

As a digression, this reminds me of a similar problem I had with a Honda Prelude. At approaching 120,000 miles and 14 years, I noticed signs of bubbling at the bottom of a rear wheel arch, defiling its otherwise pristine flanks. A local body shop told me that a plastic inner wheel arch liner had become sufficiently displaced to allow water to get behind it and start localised rusting from within. Fortunately they made a good job of sorting it out and I took the hint and px’d the Prelude for a new Accord.

I’m obliged to you Colin. This is not a technology I knew anything about, but as you say, it’s been around for decades. Having had a chance to do some reading about it, I can see that your assessment of the manufacturer’s attitude looks pretty accurate. With a technological solution to relay thefts that they’ve ignored for decades, it’s not surprising that Lexus doesn’t wasn’t to highlight their part in facilitating this form of car theft!

A good point about which many drivers seem unaware. Exhausts lay an invisible film of oil particles on the road surface, which build up and it becomes very treacherous the first time it rains. As for Jeff’s tyres, the tread wear indicators seem pretty near the surface and the sipes are clearly well worn down. Personally, I aim to replace tyres when the tread depth is at 3mm, which is generally recommended by most tyre manufacturers. Of course, you might think that they would, wouldn’t they. But apparently it’s the point at which tyre performance declines rapidly. Checking the tracking - and maintaining correct inflation pressures - are obviously well-worth doing. As for the best time to replace them, well unless there are budgetary restraints - and given the comments on tread depth - then I see no benefit in delaying. It’s surely better to change them just before you need to, then to discover that you’ve left it too late!

If only! I remember having to stand in front of the car, sticking a rod in to it and cranking it up - hoping you’d pulled out the choke far enough. What we would have given just to turn a switch! In most cases, anything that makes driving easier is fine by me. That’s why we have autos. And if you can’t reverse into a parking space, there are cars that will do it for you. So I have no problem with the concept of a smart key. Indeed, eliminate the human parasites who steal what others have earned, and there’d be no need for a security system. So it irks me that having acquired - and paid for - the benefit of a Smart Key, I now have to disable it. The whole point of that technological development is so that I don’t have to press more buttons! Which I suspect may be the reason why Lexus doesn’t mention that turning it off makes your Lexus more secure. So for the present I shall persevere with the pouch, which definitely works - and has the added benefits of protecting the key and concealing the fact that it belongs to a Lexus. If that proves too onerous, then I shall have to consider the retrograde step of pushing additional buttons!

It’s captured mine! But it’s only now, thanks to some posts here and elsewhere recently, that I discovered that an alternative to Faraday devices was the OFF switch! Who’d’ve thought! Well not me, for one. I had no idea that the key signal could be switched off at source. Strangely, I don’t recall any of the articles discussing this form of car theft ever mentioning it either - or I might not have gone the Pouch route anyway. But surely it’s in the Manual, I hear you chuckle. Well I may have missed it (Lexus often seems to spread relevant info across different pages and sections) but the mention of switching the key fob off comes under the heading of saving the battery! References to signal blocking only seem to crop up as warnings. There’s no all embracing section on ‘Security’, for example, that might include it. And no-one at the dealership has ever mentioned it as an effective theft prevention procedure. So well done you lot! I shall certainly keep the keys in my new Faraday Box. And my new Pouches certainly work for now. But if - like me - you’ve discovered that can’t be relied on, then it’s been a worthwhile exercise. And maybe I’ll see if I can be disciplined enough to follow the ‘Switch Off’ method.

That’s really infuriating! Going to all the trouble of investing time, effort - and a little money - into this extra level of security, only to discover that you may not have been getting it at all. The new pouches I’ve just acquired are certainly effective, even if the flap isn’t sealed, surprisingly. But your experience demonstrates that it’s well worth checking them out occasionally - even if they look perfect. I too have wondered if it’s all worth it for an older car. But I suppose an older car can be worth a lot if stolen for parts. And it’s probably easier to sell than the very latest models that will attract more attention.