Bluemarlin

Progress also often just means being better at hiding your wrongdoings 😉

At 105k I'd get it changed, just for peace of mind. That said, I had mine changed at around 100k and the independent who did it said the old oil looked fine. It's worth getting them to tell you the condition of the old oil when they change it, so you'll have an idea of if/when to change it next.

I don't have a credit card linked to my apple ID and I can download free apps on my iPhone. Can't remember how I did it. I think it was either by selecting "none" when it asked for a payment method, or by adding a voucher to my iTunes account on my PC, and then setting my Itunes balance as the payment method. Something like that, anyway.

I think Einstein would have called it spooky action at a distance. Something to do with quantum entanglement. Much like Schrodinger's cat, the window possesses both possibilties of it either squeaking, or not, and only adopts a singular state when you use it. The broader question would be whether it makes a sound if no-one's there to hear it.

I think there's also a case of the latest technology that nobody has yet released. In some case what we get isn't just what's possible, but what's sufficient for us to be persuaded to upgrade, with manufacturers releasing previously developed upgrades as and when they have to.

You do't have to have a credit card with Apple. I once had issues with my iTunes account being hacked, so I deleted my credit card details and just use Itunes vouchers now. Years ago I used to be a big gadget fan, and was lucky enough to work in the mobile industry, so always got the lastest phones for free. Now that the novelty's worn off (and I have to spend my own money) I find that pretty much any phone does what I need. I still use an iPhone as my main phone, but usually buy used for under £100 (current one I've had for 3 or 4 years) and only upgrade when apps won't work on whatever highest level of OS it will take. My backup phone is a used Moto G, that was only £50, which frankly works as well as any iPhone I've ever had. I still like gadgets, but tend to be more interested in those that do things I couldn't previously do, rather than ones that might do the same things a little better.

I would certainly give it a try. Once a year, when I wipe over all the rubber trim with Gummi Pfledge, I also lubricate all the hinges and boot struts. If I recall, I use either Fluid Film or SuperLube, and either spray a little into the crevices, or wipe it on with a cloth. For the record, I also give the underside an annual spray of ACF-50, which not protects against corrosion, but also helps to keep things lubricated. As a result I have no creaks or squeaks.

That's the nature of large corporations. The only diifference being that the Russians seem less shy about admitting it.

Mt guess over the longer term willl be that nation states become less and less important in terms of the global economy, and it will be corporations running the show.

They'll be fine, as I'm not sure if Trump knows that Alaska is part of the USA. He'd probably blame Canada for letting it happen.

In my experience I get 3-5 mpg more with premium. That said, not all premium is the same. Esso used to be the best for mpg before they stopped zero ethanol, now Shell seems to be marginally better. Typically on mixed driving I get around 30/32 on premium and 27/29 on regular. That said, driving style makes a lot difference, especially on long motorway runs. I find 60-65mph to be the sweet spot, and on a run over to France got an average of 40 mpg at that kind of speed. Funnily enough it rarely makes any difference to journey time, as the slower speed is mitigated by less slowing down for other drivers and then speeding up again, whih of course burns more fuel when accelerating. At 60-65 I find that sometimes I can maintain a constant speed for most of the journey with hardly ever having to touch the brakes.

Good question. Trump is unpredictable, disloyal, volatile and bears grudges. Who knows how much time he'll have to focus on things as he'll be trying to jail the Bidens as well as Hilary.

It's not common knowlegde. First dealership I took mine out with hadn't a clue and in the end I had to ask them to call Lexus to get the details. Second dealership I renewed with took a while to figure out as well, even though I had the warranty number.

It's not discretionary, it's just that a lot of dealers don't know anything about it. The only discretion they have is that they might insist on an inspection first, especially if it hasn't been previously serviced by Lexus.

12v is only around 25-50% charged, so if it's only getting to that then it sounds like it's had it.

I'm with Linas, in that I'm not a fan of pumping it out. Besides, it's just as important to change the filter. I just take my own oil and filter to my local garage who do the change for about £50.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I was referring to interest rates in the US and West, which have been relatively high, making investment in China less attractive. To some extent that will change as US rates fall. I'm not up to speed on Japan's economics, but prior to the period you refer to weren't they subject to pressure from the US to increase their currency value, and the threat of tariffs, to reduce exports. I also seem to remember the US devaluing it's currency around then, thus enabling them to buy out a lot of Japanese investment cheaply. I'm not disagreeing with you, but it will be interesting to see how China plays things as they appear to be more tolerant towards a long game. All that said, neither us nor the US seem to be handling our economies brilliantly either.

I'm not sure I'd be too quick to compare the US to Europe with regards EVs, as there are a number of factors that make them different. One is that Americans drive around twice as much as anyone else, so range and charging are more important. They also have a lot of people living in rural, fairly isolated areas. ICE cars are also cheap, and petrol is substantially cheaper in the US than Europe, so there's little to no financial incentive to transition. Ultimately, driving a petrol car in the US is a very cheap and easy way to travel compared to Europe. EVs may not be so convenient or cheap in Europe, but differential is far less.

That's true. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of that Middle East wealth invested in China. Additionally, investment in China will have been hit by high interest rates making investment less attractive. With interest rates likely to fall further this year, China may start to look like value again. Ultimately falling markets eventually reach a point at which they become attractive again.

I would try cleaning them first. Having said that, I had a similar recurring problem on a previous car. The fix for that was to reset the sensors by starting the car followed by a sequence of shifting from neutral to drive to reverse, not quite sure of the order. Don't know if there's a similar reset sequence for yours.

Fair enough Linas, I don't want to get into a climate debate but will just say that I'd agree if that's all we were focusing on, but we're not. We currently generate around half our electricity from renewables, so it's not just about cars.

You're right, it might be sub optimal from a climate point of view but, given that car manufacturers have got on board easily enough, perhaps it was the easiest place to start. You appear to have a fixation with being punished, but I don't see it that way. Sure, it's an annoyance, but I suspect that politically it's more about window dressing, and keeping up appearances, than anything else. The reality is that we had to get there eventually, and any transition will be inconvenient and expensive. We just happened to draw the short straw when it came to timing. Nor would I be too concerned about us being inefficient in making the vehicles. We've been inefficient at making ICE ones for a while. Besides, we can always just buy them from China 😉

Well I'll concede your point about BEVs and the environment, on the grounds that a lot depends on how the electricity to charge them is generated. However, regardless of whether we need them, they're simply better technology than ICE, always have been. The first Porsche was electric, and the only thing that stopped electric cars being the default choice was battery tech. Solve that and have cars with 1000 mile range and fast charging, and you'll have faster, quieter cars with fewer moving, wearable parts, that require less servicing. Also, once you shift our dependence from fossil fuels to renewables, you also shift our reliance away from those evil dictators and further towards energy dependence. I have mixed views on the environmental issues, but they've been the catalyst that is driving research and innovation away from outdated technologies and towards a future that holds far more possibilities than oil and gas ever could.

It is Malcolm. In the belief that Brexit would remove the ability for Europe to crap on us, it also restricted our ability to crap all over Europe for as many uninterrupted days as we liked. You're now limited to 90 days at a time to crouch over those wonderful French holes in the ground, or examine your output on those thoughtful German shelves.

Well at least big brother can deactivated. As for crapping, you'll be able to crap as much as you like, you'll just be charged by the pound. It'll fall under emissions charging 🙂