Bluemarlin

I agree with you Malc. I don't believe EVs help much with regards climate change. It's not just that that's driving the push though, as ICE vehicles produce other directly harmful pollutants, like nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, all of which are eliminated by removing the combustion process. NOx emissions are a big problem in European cities, and apparently result in around 50,000 premature deaths a year Europewide. That to me seems to be where the urgency is coming from. It's possible that there might be ways of cleaning up the emissions to some degree but, as Bernard says, the costs may well make it impractical, especially when there's a clean alternative already available. So, that ship appears to have already sailed. As you say though, most of us here will be able to drive prettty much what we like, until our time comes to pull into the big service station in the sky.

Most of the issues are concerning batttery and charging technology. Issues that will no doubt be resolved in time. In the late 1980's the finance director of a large multinational told me that he could see no point in his company's future that they would ever use mobile phones. In 1946 Daryl Zanuck, of Fox, said "Television won't be able to hang on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." And in 1977 Ken Olson, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation said there was no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. If internet forums existed in those times then many Luddites would have been agreeing and cheering them on. If history tells us anything though, it's that things change, and that current perceptions become quickly outdated, as innovation rapidly transforms the landscape. There are valid reasons to question the benefits of today's EV's, but few reasons to think that situation won't dramatically change in time. Today my preference is largely towards ICE and hybrids but, when 500-1000 mile range, and fast charging becomes the norm, then my preference will likely change.

I had a Jaguar with a lifetime fluid transmission; it packed up at 90k miles. As for the Lexus, I took mine to an independent, who said they'd inspect the oil and, depending on the condition of it, would do one or several drain and fills. The result was they said the oil looked fairly good so they just did the one drain and fill. That was at about 98k miles. As others have said, there are mixed views on the subject. I just did it for peace of mind, and a drain and fill is the safest option. Will probably do again at 150k. I did note that as part of the service schedule they do periodically check the transmission fluid, so perhaps ask them the condition of it next time.

I can confirm that mine was replaced at my last major service. Probably worth marking the existing one and checking it gets changed at major service time, as it's included in the cost of the service.

I believe he has a plug in Hybrid, so can run much further on batteries alone.

The way I see it, there are 4 main options. 1. Pay someone to do a proper job - £600 to over £1000. 2. Do a reasonably decent job yourself, cleaning the underside and wheel wells and using something like Dynax UB/S50 for underside, wheel wells and cavities - less than £100 but several hours work spread over a couple of days. 3. Spray the underside annually with something like ACF 50 - 25 quid and about 20-30 minutes. 4. Do nothing and fix when required - No initial outlay of time or money, but potentially costly repairs later. I went for option 2, which took a weekend and wasn't too bad. Also, for those of who are fans of Bilt Hamber products, I recently found they also do something called Atom Mac. It's a rust prevention/protection product, as opposed to a rust treatment. Unlike ACF 50 though, it's water based rather than oil based, so is less messy and can be applled to all brake parts, including discs. You dilute it at 5%, so the 500ml bottle makes 10 litres. I sprayed it on my brakes, hub, wheel nuts, exhaust and in the engine bay.

I think they're taking advantage of a current shortage. I've had a look online and prices are generally half that of amazon, but seemingly no-one in the UK has any stock.

My previous car was British, an XK8. I think it's called a grand tourer because every time it went in for a service it cost about a grand to fix various bits and pieces that went wrong. Now that I think of it, my first four cars were British. Two Vauxhall Vivas, a Mini and an Austin Montego. The Vivas had various problems, but they were old, and I had to put a new engine in the Mini. The Montego was the only one that didn't cost me any money. After that I had company cars for about 25 years. I do miss the free maintenance and petrol.

But it can pay for the maintenance costs on a British car.

Gotta love the Daily Mail. The article states: "And despite the desire to ‘buy British’, the new car is set to be German — one of a fleet of ten new ministerial Audi A8 armoured limousines no less — because there’s no suitable British-built alternative available. It’s a dilemma facing many UK motorists, too." I have to admit it was huge dilemma for me to find there were no British built armoured limousines 🙂

I have a 2009 car and can't comment on the accuracy of the sat nav, as I found it too awkward to use and so have always stuck to waze/google maps. Since covid, a lot of roads have been blocked/restricted in London, and so I suspect older maps may struggle. I don't know about Leeds though. Would probably be ok for a one off trip until you get your phone sorted, but pack an A-Z just in case 🙂

Cool. That sounds like the ideal interim solution. The benefits of EV, with it's own on board charging when needed.

All that fuss over a 4l V8. What you need is 6.2 litres Malc: https://www.motor1.com/news/611761/2023-dodge-challenger-black-ghost-807-hp-redeye/

I wasn't aware of such a thing David. Does the petrol engine provide any propulsion, or is it simply a charger for the battery?

I feel your pain. Thankfully I'm back down to one car 🙂 I don't particularly buy the environmental angle either Malc, and accept that it's possibly swings and roundabouts when you take the manufacturing process into account. However, I do see the political/economic advantages of moving to a fuel source that can be generated in a multitude of ways, instead of relying on foreign oil. Spend a day or two in Knightsbridge and look at all the fancy cars on foreign plates that are shipped over for the summer at £20k a pop, then transported to places like Marbella, before flying them home to the Middle East. A large proportion of the hotels and properties are owned/occupied by Arabs too. Most of this wealth comes from our total dependence on oil. These countries mostly have fully funded health and education services, without the need for income tax, while we struggle to pay our bills. As such, it would seem to me that anything that could give us options, and move us a step closer to energy independence, would be a good thing. I think the government's goals would be better served promoting this angle just as much as the environmental one. That said, I don't think we're fully there yet with EVs. I believe the cars offer better technology, efficiency, and even perhaps lower maintenance costs, but battery and charging technology has yet to catch up. It will though.

I agree that hybrid would probably have been a better interim solution or, rather than an ICE/electric motor hybrid, perhaps an EV with a small petrol generator built in. Don't know how practical that would be though. I don't think there are any concerns with grid capacity though: https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/journey-to-net-zero/electric-vehicles-myths-misconceptions The bigger problem seems to me to be charging points, specifically for large developments of flats. I can't see that being overcome until charging can be done at a similar speed to a petrol fill up. That said, plenty of people only put a tenner in the tank currently, so maybe they'll be the same with electricity.

I think he was referring to the sofa manufacturer/

You're welcome. Their stuff is easy to use, just wipe on with a sponge and it dries pretty quickly.

Haha, I'm not quite as far out as the stockbroker belt, nor in enough to be anywhere near Peckham. More SW London. Cycled through Putney this afternoon and the Sainsbury's local was £1.60.

You may well struggle to get a match based on the dye colour code, as I couldn't for my pale grey seats. However, Furniture Clinic do a leather colourant/dye that has worked great for me, which they can match from a leather sample. If I remember rightly they need a piece about the size of a postage stamp. I was able to find some excess I could cut off from the bottom of the front headrest. Other places to try are underneath seats.

Petrol near me has finally dropped to below £1.70, and was £1.67 at the Esso station I passed the other day.

Disagreeing with you doesn't make someone a keyboard warrior, but we'lll go with that if it makes you happy. I've been to neither, but visiting a city doesn't give someone any more expertise concerning their polution. I doubt the countless visitors to London have much of an idea about our environmental intricacies. Nor do I claim to be an expert on either, and am only pointing out that there's readily available information that disagrees with some of your claims. That's not keyboard warrioring, it's just not letting unproven claims and assumptions go unchallenged. I agreed with you that Beijing was polluted, and that some of it was industrial, but disagreed that cars played no part, and referred to an article showing that vehicles were responsible for 70%. I also agreed that Tokyo was cleaner, in part because of industrial pollution controls. I only disagreed with your claim that cars were't part of the problem, as if that were the case then Tokyo wouldn't be toughening up vehicle regulations and offering subsidies for EVs. I don't disagree with you that EVs may not be the answer. They may even be bad, but you've yet to make that case. There are pros and cons for both EVs and ICE cars. I just disagree with lazily produced examples, designed to only favour one side, and which can be easily countered. All that does is suggest that your concerns are more about "secret" government agendas. than the practical realities of each alternatives. Both Malc and Las Palmas put up valid concerns over why EV and battery tech may not be the answer, for practical, economical and environmental reasons, which to me seem far more convincing than "but Beijing", "but Tokyo", and the WEF and government plots to control people. Now back to Alex Jones with you 😉

Sometimes taking things apart and putting them back together is all that's needed. If it does happen again, and you get it serviced by Lexus, you could always get them to look at it under the Relax warranty.

Some people like to remove badges for aesthetic reasons, but it seems odd they'd do that if it left visible holes. Have you asked the previous about it, and whether he still has the decals?

The weather hasn't affected mine. I checked yesterday and they were all 34 psi, which is the same as they were 3 or 4 weeks ago.