Bluemarlin

The label implies it protects your tool, as well the rubber 🙂

Technically it's best to have the climate control on and set to outside air in colder months, as that way it removes the moist air from inside and replaces it with fresh. Personally I leave mine permanently on auto, and I had no interior condensation yesterday, when it was very cold and the exterior windows were completely frosted over. Defrost cleared them in a little under 5 minutes.

What are banks scared of, being bailed out by taxpayers again? I guess they're just gearing up for the regular crash of the finance system, to wipe out people's savings and pensions again, now that they've recovered a bit from rising interest rates and the last crash 🙂

The climate control helps in reducing humidity while you're in the car by collecting condensation the air and draining it outside. Not saying the a/c is your problem, just how it can affect things. In any event, here's an article on condensation: https://mag.lexus.co.uk/fix-condensation-inside-car/

I used to use Bosch on previous cars, but for some reason they weren't so good on the RX, maybe it was the curvature of the screen. In any event I swiched back to the OEM and they've been fine, no smears, no judders, so squeaks. I should add that I also ceramic coat the windscreen when I do the car, which I assume helps..

Thanks Peter. It's a shame about the EU insurance as I drive abroad at least once a year.

I don't know if there's a perfectly logical argument one way or another. Historically I've always had summer tyres and, with a few exceptions, they've been fine. Those exceptions being when we do see the occasional snow in the south, it's been harder, particularly in some rear wheel drive cars, so on some occasions it meant not driving until things cleared. I now have Cross Climates, in part because of a planned winter drive across France/Germany/Switzerland, involving some snowy mountains and heavy rain/snowfall, where they performed flawlessly. They also handled well on a very hot drive across France in the summer, and during the summer here. How long they'll last I can't say, as I've only had them about 18 months/10k miles, but they're showing little signs of wear, so who knows. My guess is that's is as much down do weight of car and driving style as it is anything else. Personally, knowing that I can drive safely and comfortably on the rare occasions conditions might be more challenging down south, is more important to me than any potential differences in longevity. I'm sure there are some differences in performance between winter, summer and all season tyres, depending on prevailing conditions, so any single year round tyre choice will have an element of compromise. That said, I would imagine that most of these differences are more apparent in testing, where they're pushed to limits most drivers would never see, and that any good quality tyre would be sufficient for most people, if driven sensibly and according to the conditions.

That's interesting Peter, how do you find the cost of their premiums? Last time I checked they seemed quite expensive, at least for me anyway. Would be nice if they offered a free catalytic converter shield 🙂

Esso E5 (barring a few exceptions) is ethanol free. The 5 part means "up to" 5 percent and currently most Esso stations are 0%.

Good luck. It would be nice if they were to honour the spirit of the agreement over the strict wording.

Fluid Film looks pretty decent. I think I have an aerosol can of it that I've used to lubricate bike parts and, if I recall, it's a little messy, although most of these products are. Here's link to the Rustbuster page on it: https://www.rust.co.uk/product/fluid-film-liquid-a-rust-proofing-original-71 The thing to remember with things like Lanoguard or ACF 50 is that they'll usually need to be re-applied annually, although it's quite quick to do, whereas a wax type underbody coating should last a few years. Personally I prefer to apply the latter initially, and then go over everything with one of the others, which I then re-apply every autumn.

Not many things are going to be too effective going over already corroded parts. Best advice is to treat or clean off any existing corrosion first. That said, I believe there are Bilt Hamber products that claim to halt further corrosion, and ACF 50 claims to neutralise it. I don't know if Lanoguard neutralises it, or just creates a protective barrier. If the latter then I wouldn't put it over existing rust wiithout cleaning it off or neutralising it first. This site has a lot of useful information about how to treat rust, and different products and what they do: https://www.rust.co.uk/product/acf-50-anti-corrosion-formula-195

Never had problem with MOTs, despite liberally spraying everything with ACF 50. The worst you might get is a note or advisory, saying it's covered in too much oil/grease to properly assess. The best way to avoid that is to do your rustproofing immediately after your annual service/MOT, so by the time it gets to the next MOT most of it has either dried or washed off, ready to do again.

GIven that you had to recharge the battery, I'd be looking to give that a full charge or, if it's old, replacing it. I'd then look and see if/how many of my electrical gremlins still exist. It may not be the cause of your problems, but is an easy first option, and often a failing 12v battery can cause all sorts of unexpected problems.

Surely none of this is news to anyone, especially with regards to new and emerging technology. Smartphones were initially prohibitively expensive, and didn't make sense for most people, now virtually everyone has one. It's pretty obvious, even to the most evangelical of EV supporters, that the reality is that whilst EVs may be better for some people, that either petrol or diesel are better for others. Naturally the hope is that, with economies of scale and, as technology advances, both in terms of batteries and charging facilities, that EVs will ultimately become at least as comparable to ICE vehicles in terms of cost and practicality, if not better. Whether that situation will arise is yet to be known but, given sufficient time, it's currently as probable as it isn't. So for now, who knows. The only thing that does seem certain is that the momentum to shift away from petrol and diesel is unlikely to be reversed.

Now I'm confused. You say it has a 1 month/1000 leeway. Surely 5 days is well within the 1 month leeway.

I don't know, you may be right William.

That seems a bit harsh

I can understand that. In the short term though, depending on how deep the chips are, it might be worth putting something like clear nail varnish over them to protect any exposed metal.

It sounds like you're pleased with it, practical presents are always best. I hear wives are just as pleased with vacuum cleaners and irons 🙂

Can't comment on how common it is Sam, but I can say that I've some success with the colour matched kits from Chipex for stone chips.

With rise of finance options, and the offer of "entry level" models, I think the snob value is diminishing with these brands. There are lots of people who will buy an entry level, lowest spec Mercedes, just to be able to say they own one, which ultimately diminishes the brand's snob value. Not that those brands care if they're getting substantially increased volumes. Lexus, on the other hand, don't have to produce entry level, or gateway cars under the Lexus brand, as they have Toyota. So, whilst they may wish to capture more market share at the premium end, I'm not sure they'd want to be any more mainstream than they are.

By accident really. Most of my driving life has involved company cars, the last two being a Jaguar X Type and then an XF. When it came to buying a car for myself I bought an XK8, as I liked Jags and had always fancied one. Then, around 18 months ago, after I got tired of expensive repair bills, mounting rust, and impending ULEZ charges, I fancied a change. I was also tired of bending down to get into a car, and for a long time had wanted an SUV. Lexus had never really entered my thinking, but I searched on Autotrader for ULEZ compliant SUVs and a host of varying RXs came up. After reading up on their reliabilty record, and how comfortable they seemed to be inside, my mind was made up, and I haven't regretted my decision.

Using the manual is always a joy, if only to experience the wonderfully intuitive nature of it. For example, there is no "Vehicle Customisation" reference in the index of the Owner's Manual. However, there is a "Customisation" reference. So, one duly goes to that page, only to see instructions on how to use the customisation options that are accessed by the button on the steering wheel, and the little LED display. Ever helpful though, it then says, for customisation options available on the navigation screen, please refer to the Navigation System Manual. Whilst desperately trying to maintain the will to live, you dig out the Navigation System Manual, and are filled with hope when you see "Vehicle Customisation" in the index. Excitedly you turn to the required page, and are pleased to see instructions on how to access the Vehicle Customisation settings. The excitement turns to joyful anticipation and curiosity, as your eyes move down the page to see what wonders of customisation are available to you, only to have despair rapidly return when confronted by the sentence "For a list of the settings that can be changed, refer to Owner's Manual." ...FFS. Any lingering will to live has now gone forever, and is replaced with a burning desire to rant on a forum.

I am guilty of rarely, if ever, using the parking brake on any car I've driven. It's more a case that I'm used to doing it, and so forget, more than any conscious decision not to use it.