Bluemarlin

Judging by my last trip to the supermarket, I'd say the same was true of the passengers 🙂

I too am paranoid (although in practice without cause to be) and so keep a small jump start pack in the car. I should add that whilst it's fine to jump start a hybrid from another car, or battery pack, it's not recommended to jump start other cars from a hybrid. I assume it's because the 12v battery is only really large enough to fire up the electrics and not for cranking an engine.

I assume that no drilling is required because the holes are pre-drilled. If you look at the trim pieces on the roof you'll see removable bits at each end, so if you lift one of these you'll see where it fits. One of the reasons I went for the 450 over the 400 was the fact that it didn' come with either roof rails or a sunroof, both of which are known to cause leaaks.

I'm not sure that insurance can ever be "fair", in a true sense, in that it's aggregated such that some pay for a service they might never use, whilst others are paid out more than they pay in. That's the nature of it though, as insurers can't pay out claims unless they're making money from those who don't claim. The only alternative would be some kind of flat rate insurance for everyone, but that woudn't be fair either, as those with lower risks will be even more heavily subsidising those of greater risk. Any middle ground, such as doing it simply by car, or age range, is just a means of profiling and, if you're going to do that, you may as well do it with as much data as possible. Possibly one way to minimise people being ripped off is to ensure insurers don't wriggle out of claims, maybe by having an independent body that assesses claims and decides if and how much should be paid out. That said, on the couple of times I've had to claim on insurance (car and house) they've paid out quickly and fairly. Maybe the bigger problem is the cost of cars, and the increasingly high cost to repair them, along with the ridiculous cost of loan cars. My previous car was hit by a lorry and had a few scratches and a broken windscreen. I insisted on a repair instead of the computer response of writing the car off, and the repairs came to £3k, whilst the loan car was billed to the third party insurer at around £8k for the 10 days I had it. I'd happily see loan cars being restricted to a maximum charge of say £50-100 a day if it meant lower premiums. I don''t know what the answer is, but don't think that greater use of data is the biggest problem. In fact, if used properly, it should provide a more accurate risk profile, and so premiums that more truly represent individual risk.

Great pictures. One of my first company cars was a Nisssan Silvia turbo. It was mostly great, apart from in the snow and on roundabouts when it was wet:)

Herbie's right, nothing unsuaal and nothing to worry about. Mine failed a hybrid health check after the 12v battery was replaced and so they asked me to come back for a re-test after 500 miles, where it passed with flying colours.

Prices of used cars have gone up in the last few years, mine was 11 years old when I bought it 18 months ago, just before prices went crazy, and it was substantially less than that. That said, I wouldn't be too concerned about buying from an independent dealer, rather than paying a large premium to buy from a Lexus one. Mine was from an independent and had full Lexus service history, one owner and looked and drove liked new. I doubt I've done better buying from Lexus, so it's a case of shopping around until the right one comes along. Whatever the case, I'd check that it had a full service history and had been properly serviced to schedule. Also would be worth giving the underside, sills and wheel arches a look over for rust. The 450hs don't seem to suffer from it much, unless they've spent their life in winter conditions or by the coast. so there shouldn't be anything more than a bit of the usual surface corrosion. Not sure where you are, but in the UK Lexus also offer an extended warranty up to 15yrs/150k miles, subject to an inspection and Lexus servicing, for around £550 a year. If it's available where you are then it's reasonable value peace of mind, as it includes breakdown cover too.

It will depend on the condition of the seats, pictures would help. If it's just the usual cracks that appear with wear, then I've had a lot of success with just touching up with a colourant/sealant. The one I've used is from Furniture Clinic. who will colour match from a sample if you don't have the exact colour name or number. Clean the seats first with mild soap and water. I assume the Gliptone stuff is similar, if so it's easy to apply, you just wipe it on with a sponge and let it dry. Only takes a few minutes a seat. Obviously tears will need a proper repair.

I agree with you Linas, that it's relevant data that matters. The trouble is one doesn't know what data is relevant until after you've processed it, as human beings are terrible at assessing risk. For example, immediately after 9/11 Americans stopped flying and drove instead, which was not only statistically less safe, but resulted in a higher number of traffic accidents. Armed with sufficient data, insurance companies could have predicted that. The eye colour example is a good one too. Imagine if blue eyed people did crash more. That may just be a weird coincidence, however it might be discovered in the future that there's some genetic anomaly that makes blue eyed people more prone to taking risks. Either way, the reason doesn't matter, as it's only the outcome that matters to an insurance company. I know you think past data is no good for predicting future events, but did you know that bookmaker odds on horses, which are largely based on past data, are scarily accurate? For example, over the long term, even money bets win half the time, and 2-1 bets win one in three. This is true right up the range until you get to the outsiders, so past data is a powerful component of future prediction. So yes, their job is to predict the future, that's what they've always done, and have done so by assessing risk based on historical outcomes. It's no different to what lenders do with credit assessment, investors do, and bookmakers with sports events. They all take past data, mix it with current and future variables, and come up with a statistical likelihood for a given outcome. Besides, you even do it yourself. If you're looking for an insurance company, and one has a history of poor reviews, then you'll judge them on historical data, and either avoid them, or take the risk if the price is low enough. It's the same calculation and decision making process in reverse. I do agree with you though that some no doubt abuse this, and take advantage of certain markets or demographics, but that has always happened, in many industries, regardless of data collection. So yes, whilst it's possible for some to abuse data, it doesn't change the fact that the more data you have, the more accurately you can predict future events. This is why data is now considered to be the world's most valuable asset, even more so than oil. Yes, it will be exploited, but it works both ways as, whilst some may exploit it to use against us, it's the also the same collection and analysis of data that has given us comparison websites, so that we can best choose who it is that's exploiting us 🙂

I'd probably be more concerned about it having sat around than a lack of an oil change in 8k miles. All other thngs being equal, if it was synthetic oil, I'd take a look down the fill hole to see if there any signs of sludge, and take a sample of the oil to see what it looks like. Any other problems, such as engine wear if the old oil wasn't doing it's job would either show up in terms of how the car drives, or (if less serious) be invisible without an oil analysis. If all looks ok, and the car drives well, it wouldn't be my biggest concern. I would however check for any signs of corrosion or wear due to lack of use. As mentioned by others, a pre purchase inspection would be useful. Check also what other scheduled service items are outstanding from that missed period, such as brake fluid, spark plugs, timing belt etc. Unless it was priced noticeably better than others of a similar age/mileage/visible condition, I'd probably look elsewhere though. If you do end up buying it then I'd suggest doing a second oil change after about 1000 miles or so, to clear out any possible crud. Ultimately it all boils down to the price and the overall condition of the car, as any used car carries a risk.

For cleaning, I find any mild soap and water will work. I actually use my rinseless wash solution. For restoration/sealing, I use a leather colourant from Furniture Clinic, who will colour match to your car's leather.

If I recall on mine, once you've registered your phone and set up the bluetooth audio options for both phone and music, you have to set it to AUX to get bluetooth music.

Isn't that the point though. Insurance companies assess risk, and then price accordingly. That risk assesssment comes from actuarial data analysis and so, the more data you have, the more accurately you can assess risk. Historically it might have simply been age and car based, but then expands to postcodes, driving record, occupation, as they collect more data. It may transpire that poorer people have fewer accidents, or their claims are lower, and so they might be a lower risk. Insurance companies don't care what the detail is, just the risk profile. So, if it transpired that blue eyed people made more claims than green eyed people, they wouldn't care why, and only that they cost more to insure. In short, insurance companies are esssentially trying to predict the future and then bet on the outcomes, and the collection of as much data as possible, assuming you have the ability to process it, is an aid to that. Of course some of that data might be irrelevant, but you don't know until you process it. Either way, with the growth of AI, and quantum computing, the ability to process massive amounts of data is only going to increase, and with it the demand for more and more data on people, from every area of commerce, medicine, government and law enforcement.

Varta E23 is £86.99 delivered at Tanya batteries: https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/varta/e23/

You're probably right Atticus. My seats don't get too much wear and, on the last couple of cars, when I have started to get some cracks appearing I use a leather colourant, which has a sealant incorporated into it, which seems to bring the seats up like new again.

As I understand it, even real leather car seats are coated with some kind of plastic clear coat, so I'm not sure that specific leather treatments are needed. I give everything a dust off and wipe over with a damp cloth, then use 303 aerospace protectant on the leather seats and interior plastics.

I can just picture some bright spark in the transport ministry thinking about how to turn the M1 into a series of 300ft hills in order to reach a net zero target 🙂

I might be wrong, but I imagine it's easier to compete financially in the USA, where there's not only a much bigger market, but also competitors like Jaguar/BMW/Audi/Mercedes are relatively expensive imports. It's also possible that with Toyota having a number of plants in the US, that they receive a fair amount in federal/state tax incentives, which might filter through to Lexus. Reliability would also matter more, as there are far fewer company car buyers, parts for European imports are expensive, and Americans tend to keep their cars longer. Lexus repeatedly tops consumer reports for reliabiliity in the US.

You're probably right, in that it's the model range Linas. Not sure whether that's because they won't sell well here against the competition, or simply becaue they're not offered here. Possibly the former, as Jag/BMW/Merc/Audi are very popular in the company car market, which accounts for around half of new car sales, which then of course feeds into used car availability. That would be a tough market to crack, as company car buyers aren't particularly concerned about some of Lexus' key strengths, which are reliability and dealership experience. I assume it's a similarstory in Europe, as travelling through France and Germany Lexus were almost non existent.

If your car is definitely Euro 4, you can contact clean air zone support at the DVLA and get them to amend/update their details. https://contact.drive-clean-air-zone.service.gov.uk/

I get what you're saying Linas, but my point was that Lexus aren't directly aspirational within the brand, and the aspiration comes from first owning a Toyota. So, a different business/marketing model. I'm not sure what you mean about slow hybrids though, as the RX 450h 0-60 time is around 7 seconds, which is only around a second slower than my previous XK8, which was a sports coupe compared to a lump of an SUV. It's swings and roundabouts I suppose. BMW has a clear upgrade path within the brand, whereas the Lexus brand isn't diluted in the same way.

I think in the UK it's luxury labels that people want, rather than the luxury itself, which is why BMW/Mercedes/Audi have moved downwards with lower end/more affordable models. People want to say they drive a Mercedes, and so will buy a basic one over a top spec Ford. In the US, Lexus had the advantage of Toyota being popular, possibly because they're a huge manufacturer there, and so offering a premium/aspirational variant, under an exclusive luxury brand, was a natural fit. I think it's unrealistic to compare Lexus with the likes of BMW/Merc/Audi in terms of mainstream, as the former now have a wider range to capture a larger market, whereas Lexus and Toyota are split, but cover an even wider range in total. So you can buy an entry level BMW, which is an entirely different car, but more a luxury label than a luxury car. Whereas entry level for Lexus is Toyota, where you can often buy similar cars, but in a less luxurious form. For example, you can buy either a Toyota SUV or a Lexus one, but with the other brands an SUV is at the premium end only. In other words, there's no brand dilution with Lexus, so as a stand alone brand it will never be mainstream. However, if you treat Lexus/Toyota as a whole, then it's an entirely different business model, which I think is a good one.

In any vehicle you're using fuel to go uphill. As for driving an RX downhill, as I recall, a couple of winters ago, I was driving in the mountains in Germany and used S mode, which lets you set the highest gear to allow engine braking downhill.

I find that it comes down to personal experience/preference. I recently found that Sainsburys E10 got me around 25-27 mpg, compared to Tesco/Costco/Shell E5 giving around 30mpg. Esso E5 gets me upwards of 31 mpg, with the current tankful averaging around 35 mpg.

Good tip, because it does drip quite a bit when applying it. I usually grab a few cardboard boxes from the recycling bin, flatten them, and leave them under the car for a day a so after spraying it.