Brian R

Has anyone tried/considered this: Can Phantom Looks pretty good to me and might well delay/prevent car theft. I'd be interested in any experience or view on this product.

A bit like their built-in sat nag and speed awareness :-)

Very topical subject given just last week I ordered and had delivered the same day one of these: 10 amp battery charger/maintainer Unlike most CTEK's this can charge at 10 amps and apparently maintain. I've already charged 2 deeply discharged field batteries used on electric fencing and no complaints (so far) from the equestrian quarter. CTEK and their like tend to have circa 5 amp outputs, and they will very often be unable to kick-start a fully discharged battery, whereas I know from practice my old faithful conventional 12 amp charger can and does. So far it appears to be doing its job and I would also add it replaced a very short (1 day) experience with a Ring charger/maintainer which in the event was a complete waste of time on all accounts.

A quick search would suggest they are a good make and as follows: Are Kumho tyres any good? A quick review Kumho is a South Korean tyre manufacturer that has been in existence for well over half a century and now finds itself in the top echelons of tyre manufacturing, producing high-quality tyres with an output of around 68 million tyres annually. Kumho is a subsidiary of the Chinese tyre conglomerate, Doublestar. Kumho is used as original equipment by some of the biggest car companies in the world including BMW, Ford and Mercedes-Benz. Kumho has kept its place amongst the leading tyre brands by producing an extensive range of tyres to cover all the needs of the domestic passenger car market. From ultra high-performance tyres that are used on the racetrack to a standard all-season tyre for everyday motoring, Kumho also augment their range with off-road tyres for enthusiasts and winter tyres to handle extreme driving conditions in different parts of the world.

Just to add my two pennies worth and from experience with numerous batteries courtesy of electric fencing. If a battery is deeply discharged, you might find some smart chargers are unable to kick-start the charging process. Fortunately, there are some that have a greater output and should be capable of initiating a charge process. One such is this one: CTEK 10 amps charger/maintainer Personally I use an ancient i.e. 45 plus years old conventional charger and usually for only 10 minutes or so before connecting up whichever smart charger comes to hand. BTW, my car is permanently connected to a smart charger which I simply plug into the mains and then let it do its bit. I'd also add a 10 amp charger is going to charge at twice the rate say a 5 amp would, and on occasions this may be helpful.

Exactly as Malc suggests and from experience I can tell you Halfords offer various lengths, one of which will suit your needs and be much, much kinder to your wallet. Jeez, £262.60 for an earth strap, is, as my daughter would say, someone having a giraffe!

Typically, on day-to-day driving, 27/28 mpg, and on a good motorway run, then 37/40 mpg. However, the day-to-day mpg can easily fall to low 20's if I don't spare the horses. Just for my amusement, there is a regular run I do where circumstances usually allow me drive largely on battery power (albeit not exclusively) and over a distance of circa 7 miles, I've been able to tease 48 mpg out of it. This gives me some bragging rights when my wife cheerfully informs be of her 60 plus mpg from her Honda hybrid!

Converting your mpg (US gallon?) figures to UK gallon, then you are achieving 25.8 and 39.6 mpg I'd say that was pretty impressive! I'm sure some of the V8 owners (given mines a hybrid) will shortly be along to comment but looks like you have a gentle touch on the gas peddle.

Magnus, any chance of a clue? European, American, Japanese, Korean?

Hello Paul Yes, this problem has been reported on this site. Apparently the cost to repair/replace is somewhat excessive but a much simpler workaround has been published within these pages. Nonetheless, yours is under warranty and should therefore be replaced/rectified at no cost to you. Got to admit mine too suffered this reluctance to latch, but in the event it all but fixed itself when I prodded the mechanism, which seems to "stick" or at least catch. I'd also add the whole arrangement is a bit feeble, so going forward a delicate touch is highly recommended.

Couldn't agree more that LKA is a right pain in the bottom and dangerous taboot. I'm fortunate that my car predates this latest risk-averse nonsense, but my wife's Honda doesn't. Frankly, when I drive her car, I often think of Steven King's Christine and the damn thing is trying to kill me! She has the measure of it and swiftly turns it off, but I don't and the bloody thing literally wrenches the wheel from my hand. It's not about safety because it is downright dangerous!

Well, depending on her budget, she will be able to get very close. Just a case of setting aside circa £22K 😂

Looking good and with a very nice shine!

It will be interesting to see if they come up with an answer and I suspect it's still a work in progress.

I've completely given up on Lexus Link+. Couldn't activate it with my reg plate nor my VIN and following your prompt I just downloaded the upgrade and stil cannot. I will say there was no mention of the upgrade having anything to do with Toyota so I'm not sure how that crept into your equation

I think I would be contacting Lexus/Toyota HQ direct on 01737 363634 Outline the case to them and your dealers take on matters and see what they would propose.

Looks entirely viable, and what a resource that web site is. Come the day my local council demolishes a wheel and then denies all responsibility, that's where I'll be heading!

Exactly the experience my wife has with her Honda hybrid. Basically she has to physically disable it each drive, but can only do so after she has driven a few hundred yards. Quite simple in practice but having driven her car, I was shocked at how aggressive this feature is. If you were not aware, you'd swear some phantom sitting next to you had wrenched the steering wheel out of your hand! A ridiculous EU driven safety feature that in my mind and experience is downright dangerous.

I, too, have one that was bought by my "kids". It's a gender (MR), birth year date and name initials combination. I've now had it on 4 cars, all of which were/are much newer than the reg number would infer. Kind of amuses me that people might be thinking the car is much, much older than it really is!

Making good progress and water tightness is a major milestone, followed by the internal drenching as the plaster dries out! It'll all be worth it in the end, and fingers crossed for you that it completes soonest.

Here's a few that did the rounds last week but took ages to arrive at my destination.

Is there any prospect of using a "bike" carrier, the type that strap on the rear of a car? There's a multitude of designs, and one of which may well fit the bill.

That looks pretty spectacular and quite an experience for the driver and passengers. I've always liked accent lighting and that's taken it to a new level. Some might not like it but I do. Well done, it must have needed a fair amount of planning and execution.

Thanks Caspa and that is precisely the one I am warming too. I also tried another that slides into the CD player but it was too floppy when in situ but curiously perfectly fine in one of our other cars. I'll bite the bullet shortly after I've decided what new phone to buy. Our Croatia trip made me realise I need much more battery power!

I've never bothered with a phone cradle/mount for the LC, but I borrowed my daughters "Blukar" device for use on a hire car while we drove around Croatia and one of its islands. The attachment technique to the centre vents is very good and extremely firm. Now, I've just tried it on the LC, and again it works very well, but I can see prolonged use will put a dent into the softer materials employed in the Lexus dash as opposed to the Opel I hired. Blukar air vent mount So the question is what do you use in yours, and where do you site it?