Brian R

Exactly my take on matters but having said that I am into my third year with Darwin given they have come up trumps every time. My past insurers look like a whose who roll call!

Couldn't agree more with the above, and here is my take on the self same recent conundrum. On the subject of Relax and whether one has to adhere to the service schedule verbatim, I can advise from my experience it is not necessary and the warranty stands if you had a minor instead of a major but see below.... Earlier this year I took mine in for what should have been its third MAJOR service at just, 12000 miles! The service manager agreed it was nonsense to apply a 60k major service, which on this occasion would have involved spark plug changes. Common sense would clearly show plugs that had only done 12000 miles do not need changing. I was advised the Relax warranty would nonetheless remain in place. This time based servicing can and does make a mockery of the whole idea, and I've certainly had other cars that were rightly based on mileage, albeit with an intermediate oil change if deemed advisable. Taking mine as an example, it has had 6 oil changes in 12K miles, all manner of filters changed etc, etc when in reality much of what was ripped out had hardly seen any service whatsoever! So unless our spark plugs have some metallic/porcelain/iridium degradation over time, I, for one, will continue to suggest mine are not changed until the car hits 60 thousand miles. Mind you, on present mileage that could be 24 years hence. If I still have the car 😂 then, I'll park it outside the pearly gates and sell it off cheap on the implicit understanding the plugs might be hard to remove. Mind you, the "climatists" will no doubt stick their oar in long before that!

I insure mine with Darwin and have done so for the last 3 years and also for the first time ever our, "tip car". Darwin also got that business given they offered a competitive premium. Indeed, the cost increased by 25% this year and so much for the laughable inflation figures which basically are no more than a starting point. BTW, I couldn't agree more than with Andrew's above comments.

As per the title. I'm saying nothing other than, let the critique begin...... https://www.carvibz.com/jdm/new-lexus-lc-coupe-coming-in-fall-2025-will-replace-v8-with-hybrid-v6-making-375-hp/

Perhaps it's time to conduct a blind test similar to those they used by washing powder advertisers. Personally, I have never been at all bothered whether it is supermarket or branded fuel. This largely because I've physically watched tankers from all brands, supermarkets, et al being filled from the same storage tanks and notably at what used to be the Shell, then Mobil, then BP, then Petroplus, refinery at Coryton, Essex. In itself, petrol is a powerful solvent and I struggle to accept the marketing claims this fuel is better than that fuel. Perhaps a slightly different story with the advent of E10, but modern engine systems will and do adjust their timings according to the octane rating of fuel. When did you last hear your engine "pinking"? Essentially, if your engine was designed to run on a particular octane then that's all it needs and a higher rating will not magically improve performance because your knock sensor will adjust the engine timings accordingly. As for the detergents put into fuels, then I'd like to know what these are given they must be pretty potent when diluted by 6000 gallons of petrol held within a tanker. As ever with these debates one's experience is purely subjective, but I'm quite content to continue to fill up with Sainsbury's fuel given my mpg will only vary according to how my right foot feels on the day.

A one-year term rate is currently on offer at 6% and available on balances up to, £500k. A better rate of return than many of my fund investments!

Probably the only car I would consider, or the Z4 equivalent, or just maybe an F type. For a year or more I had a calendar pic of the concept Supra but regretfully little of the rear end styling transferred to the production model. Shame because I lusted after that car more so than I do now. Still very worthy of consideration, albeit I think the Z4 is a very close contender. The F type whilst gorgeous to look at is likely to come with many blank cheques which will need a signature.

I think it's one of those occasions when you, "should be careful what you wish for". I know there is a lot of hate for the original set up but frankly I, for one, don't find it too bad. Furthermore, I also think a lot of users forget or are perhaps reluctant to use the voice activated commands. Having said that, every time I use the car for a "proper" journey, I feel I'm on a learning curve to reacquaint myself with its unique foibles.

Well worth being creative given the fact you only want to do this once and ideally you'll end up with something that is out of the ordinary. I wish I had been as brave when we doubled our house with an "extension" some 18 years ago. Good luck with the build, it looks very imaginative and I'm sure it will be worth it regardless of the inevitable hiccups along the way.

Looks like a new car! Much work/cost but well worth the effort. 👍

Hmm, curious Andy because I've never had that experience. Out of interest, do you see the green "side light" icon to the left of the speed/RPM display when this happens? I normally see it light up when I'm in significant shade but not in broad daylight. My setting is midway so in theory more light sensitive than yours.

I've just been out and had a look and yes you can adjust the light sensitivity threshold. Go to the main menu, select "Settings" then "Vehicle" then the respective sub menu setting. You can then adjust up or down as necessary. Frankly I'm not sure how much difference it will make but given it's the only option then suck it and see.

Just been out and looked at mine and no you can't turn them off. Just as you have said, it's either Auto, sides only or headlights. There is no facility/ability to totally turn off your lights. Now, having said that, I seem to recall there is a setting that allows you to adjust the light threshold at which "Auto" turns any light on. I'm pretty sure that is the case on the LC, but in fairness I might be wrong. I'll have a look see later and advise.

Sometimes you really struggle to see who owns who! You'd like to think better the devil you know but seems not to be the case in this instance. Personally, I've always accepted that insurance is a necessary evil and I have no expectations they will ever pay out! Mercifully I have never put my pessimism to the test but just this morning I've taken out travel insurance and excess insurance for a forth coming trip so who knows.........

Strewth that is high! Is that down to policy more than market?

Looking the mutties right now, so I can only guess what it will look like next week.

The problems stem from when the UK government offered all manner of incentives to switch to diesel, and then promptly created a cost differential between it and petrol. That differential is now reducing and so it should given diesel is an easier fuel to produce. Demand is of course dropping like a stone, further pushing the cost down. Sadly, diesel was demonised by the VAG cheat system when in practice it is a much more efficient fuel than petrol and that the emissions "problem" was a long way down the road to being completely solved. Even now I believe there are some Mercedes diesels which have cleaner emissions than their petrol counterparts, but I suspect their days are numbered. Basically an irrational fear of diesel now exists, when in reality petrol in itself is not a saintly fuel.

As Colin says the barrel price has been steadily rising from circa $70 to $82 but mind you I don't feel we reaped the full benefit when it fell to $70 and less for a while. Having been in Dorset some of this week, they must have some of the most expensive petrol in the south! Ironic, given Europe's largest onshore extraction facility is located not too far from Corfe. Then again their output of, 13500 bpd is a spit in the ocean and nowhere near enough to satisfy UK consumption. Personally, our local Sainsbury are the petrol champions and charged me £1.409/litre when I filled up just yesterday. I'm afraid a degree of price volatility has returned, but I think it will be reasonably short-lived. Having said that, I doubt we'll see less than £1.40/litre again.

Wow, that looks fantastic! Love the colour and can't wait to see the finished item.

You are absolutely right and I'll be pressing the ignore button straight after this post.

Are you actually going to buy one, or are we obliged to suffer the tedium of your market muses for ever and a day?

Regretfully Malc, you may well see cost increases in the very near future. Our local supermarkets are already upping their cost/litre. I presently pay circa £136/£137 from either Sainsbury or Tesco and will be brimming the car in preparation for a longish trip next week, by which time I would fully expect at least another penny or two on the foregoing figures.

Exactly so, and in reality I used my policy with the longer NCB to insure the LC and the shorter to insure the other "lesser" car. I do feel aggrieved that I cannot possibly drive both cars at the same time, but as you say insurers are past masters in shafting their customers.

Very similar situation to me and this is how I believe it works. For most of my life I drove co cars and somewhen around 2012 I bought a "personal" car and that had to be insured from scratch i.e. with no NCB, albeit I think the insurance company gave me a 1 year token NCB. In or around 2017 I bought a second car and like you, I nearly fell foul of the rules and in practice I again had to insure this from scratch and once more build up a separate NCB. Importantly, the NCB on each car is transferable to any subsequent cars one might buy to replace those previously insured. NCB is not car specific but recognised simply as two policies. So for example, I kept my first car and built up a unique NCB and in the same way built up NCB on the second car. Both cars have since been replaced and I'm still running two distinct insurance policies, each with their own accrued NCB from the cars they replaced. Hope this helps, and I'm sure if you look around there may well be some multi car policy, but I'm sure that too will come with its own slant on matters. Perhaps I should also add, don't let your NCB lapse, given some insurers like to see continuity from one year to the next. Again, some insurers are "happy" to perpetuate NCB even if you haven't insured for some years. Something you need to factor into matters.

Just a word of warning, not all Faraday pouches are born equal. I bought 2 highly rated pouches and one proved ineffective in less than 3 months, the other still works as it should a year or more after purchase. As Len says, you really need to check they still perform as intended and do so on a regular basis. Essentially, the more a pouch is used, the more chance the foil within it will get damaged and allow signals to pass in/out. Personally, I always switch the fob off to prevent a relay theft and for good measure also pop them into a pouch.