Bluemarlin

Is this the part you're after? https://www.ebay.com/itm/165128085804 It's on ebay US at $71 dollars with $69 shipping to UK from Japan. There may be customs charges too.

It was thoroughly deserved. Shame we didn't get to play them in the final. We could have had a pre match parade of Paras, Marines and Gurkhas, followed by a Harrier flypast 🙂

Does the NX have a timing belt, or is it a chain?

I've seen an LX 570 in the UK, it is big. It's pretty much permanently parked in the drive of a big house, which you can see when you look down when crossing (on foot or bicycle) Twickenham bridge.

To be fair, no matter how good Lexus cars are, one must be the worst. Whether that's the IS250 I don't know, but it's still possibly/probably better than other makes/models. Maybe it's better to be the worst of a good bunch, than the best of a bad one.

Indeed. Imagine what it must have been like posting pictures of your Betamax and 8 track player on your MySpace page 🙂

I'm using Cross Climate SUV's. Mine's an older 450h though John, and so has the 19" wheels.

To be honest, for all the praise and expectations heaped on France during the tournament, and the fact that they were holders, I thought they looked fairly average throughout. In their last couple of games especially, they produced very few chances in open play, and were just fortunate enough that the ones they did create they converted. I'm no great fan of Argentina, but they played exciting football on Sunday, and scored two very good goals, with Di Maria's goal being exceptional. In fact, had he not been substitued, I'm not sure the game would have gone as far as it did. He was man of the match for me.

I've heard the same, especially if you're driving in conditions that switch from snow to clear or gritted roads. I actually bought a set of socks, and chains, for a winter trip to France/Germany/Switzerland, due to the snow and mountains I was going to face. However, I had all seasons, and so the socks and chains sat in the car unsued, as the tyres performed flawlessly.

I've been waiting for it to get a bit milder too, but now that it has it's raining. As soon as I get a window of mild and dry weather I'll give it a quick wash and rinse the underside with the lawn sprinkler.

Very entertaining match, with the late French revival making it exciting. In the end the better team on the day won though. Can't imagine what it must have felt like to score a hat trick in a world cup final and still lose.

If I remember correctly the coolant in 2007 was Toyota long life coolant, and that some years later they came out with super long life coolant, which is supposed to last longer.

That's a tough one, as I'd prefer France, but had a small bet on England and Argentina before the tournament started. So, my heart says France, but my wallet says Argentina.

Tell that to the top level athletes who play darts 🙂

In which case the suspension may be fine, in that it's not actually faulty, and a bit of lubrication may get rid of the creaks. Can't hurt to try. As for the foggy windows, is it possible that you still have a leak somewhere? Check the carpets for damp, and lift all the covers in the boot to see if there are any signs of water ingress. You might also want to try switching your ac to outside air now that it's colder. Recirculation just keeps any humidity within the car, which can cause your windows to fog up, especially in cold and damp weather. Your pollen filter will keep the outside air clean from any pollution.

My guess is they'll tell you it never needs changing. In truth you could go round in circles debating whether it needs to be done or not and never reach a definitive conclusion. In my view you've had one Lexus dealer quote you £150 for a drain and refill, so if you think it will bother you then get it done at what seems a reasonable price, but if not then don't. An interesting experiment if you do might be to ask them for the old oil, and then send it off for analysis, a basic one is about £30. At least that way you'd get an idea if it ever needs to be done again. To be honest I wish I thought of that when I had mine done.

I was once fortunate enough to see Pele play, in a friendly match between Fulham and Santos, which Fulham won 2-1. Apparently he later became a scout for Fulham. It was a capacity crowd with record gate receipts of around £12,000.

Spray any bushes/rubber components with silicone lube and see if that helps. A spraying of something like ACF-50 on the suspensions parts might possibly help too. As pointed out above, bushes aren't covered by the Relax warranty. However, they can also quickly show signs of wear, whilst still being perfectly serviceable, and able to last for many miles/years to come. I was told last year that mine looked worn, and was quoted around £2k to replace the arms, but I just sprayed some lube and it wasn't mentioned at the last health check. It's also worth noting that the 10yr+ warranty doesn't specifically exclude bushes like the Relax warranty does, and I read elsewhere on the forum that someone got their control arms repaced under this warrranty. So, anyone with worn looking, but not seriously degraded bushes, might want to try and keep them serviceable until they get beyond the 10yr mark.

I don't think it's the screen wash. I think it's more to do with outside water/moisture freezing in the nozzle and blocking it.

In fairness, I believe the "car care nut" is an ex Lexus/Toyota tech, rather than a random YouTuber. That said I imagine he also panders somewhat to an American audience who believe that if you don't change various parts or fluids every 5 minutes then your car will blow up. I always find it amusing when people say they change their oil every 5k miles, and transmission fluid every 30k miles and have never had a problem, whilst ignoring the fact that many stick to 10k oil change intervals and never change their transmission fluid, and have no problems either. Like I said before, change it at around 90-100k if it makes you feel better (I did), or perhap if the car's been used for towing or something. Who knows what will haappen with a car, which is why the best peace of mind is a decent warranty.

I suspect a combination of reasons Phil. Firstly probably habit/convention, as many manufacturers specify lifetime fluid, usually meaning 100-150k miles. The second might just be a case of reality. I've never read of any eCVT failures and, whilst I'm sure there are some, they're likely to be an exception, and even possibly due to something other than a lack of fluid changes. I mean I doubt they'd offer 15yr/150k mile warranties on cars that don't need a fluid change if they felt transmissions were likely to be failing around that point. I believe they also check the fluid as part of the service schedule, so maybe they only go for a change if they spot any problems with the fluid. I also remember reading somewhere that the most likely cause of failure is either the wrong type of fluid, or incorrect fill level, so why risk a point of failure if they feel the existing fluid will last. My guess would be that you'd be unlucky to have a transmission failure, with or without changing the fuid, during the iifetime of the car, and would suspect that you'd lose a car to rust, accident damage, or other failures before your transmission failed. That said, I changed mine at 96k, due to convention and peace of mind, and doubt I'll do it again during the course of my ownership.

Whilst we're praising the RX, one thing I really like, that seems specific to the 3rd gen, is the pop out cupholder to the right of the steering wheel. This may well not mean much to some, but I love it. Not just because I find it easier to use from that side and positioning, but also because it's placed right in front of the air vent, meaning that cold drinks are kept cool by the air conditioned air in summer, and hot drinks kept warm by warm air in winter.

Yes, it is different, and I believe subject to less wear than a regular transmission, so perhaps the lifetime claim is true, although I don't know what Lexus consider to be the lifetime of the car. If it worries you, you could always ask the dealer to tell you the condition of the existing oil when they check it. When I had mine drained and filled, the specialist told me the cost would depend on how many drain and fills they'd need to do, based on the condition of the oil. They only did one as they said the oil was in pretty good condition, that was at 96k miles. For short term peace of mind though, you still have the Relax warranty for a couple years and, if you're concerned beyond that, you could always take out the extended warranty after that, which would cover you until the car is 15 years old/150k miles, which appears to be how long you plan to keep the car.

If it's just the nozzles frozen, then more strongly conncentrated screen wash, or even meths, may not help, as the liquid here is exposed to the air and so the alcohol content will evaporate. Additionally water/water vapour from the outside may be freezing in the end of the nozzles, hence the need to melt that first so any screen wash can flow through. Of course the nozzles could simply be blocked with dirt or something, and so giving them a clean might help too.

I imagine that's true, but they seem pretty solid and secure. I guess I'll keep an eye on them though.