Bluemarlin

Quite possibly Malc, as he also has another youtube channel, telling people how they can pay off their mortgage in 5 years, along with other financial advice.

They're really not, at least not for any reasons claimed in that video. Sadly I sat through it, and it appears to be yet another scare mongering conspiracy theorist, who conflates projections with intent, in order to drive clicks. As has been previously pointed out, the WEF comment about people owning nothing was a very obvious, and clearly stated prediction, based on the trend towards people owning less as a matter of personal choice, and not a stated aim, which some have tried to claim. In reality, the WEF's actual stated goal was "By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.” Which is the very opposite of what conspiracy theorists try to claim. If anything their stated goals appear to be largely aimed at increasing individual freedoms and empowerment, as well as reducing poverty, disease and crime, and using technology to benefit populations as a whole, rather than a few individuals or corporations. As such it generally pays to read what someone's goals are, in their own words, rather than relying on falsified misrepresentations made by people looking for online followers. Equally, Bill Gates has made statements about population growth and the problems he perceives from that. I think his perceptions and predicions are wrong, but nowhere do I see him proposing the kind of population control that this youtuber claims. At most he suggests that spending millions on keeping an already dying individual alive for an extra few months might not be the best use of public finances, which sounds nowhere near as unreasonable as this guy is trying to make out. I looked at his channel, and it seems to be a mixture of anti vaxxer stuff, with a blend of conspiracy theories, and a helping of fundamentalist christian end times and apocalypse mumbo jumbo, so not somewhere I'd instinctively go for rational global commentary. However, especially in the US, there's an appetite for this type of alarmist thing, and telling people what they want to hear is often a good way to generate subscribers and ad revenue.

I was going to say that it might end up cheaper paying someone to do it, but I see you've already reached that possible conclusion. An alternative though, if you're keen to do it yourself is to wait, as you say until spring, but in the meantime give the underside a good spray of ACF 50, to keep any worsening at bay over winter. With a big bottle of ACF 50 (£25), and a garden sprayer with a lance, like the one linked below, you could probably cover most (if not all) of the underside without having to raise the car. Not perfect, but will hold you over until spring. Would take less than £40 and about 30-60 minutes, but put down some plastic sheeting or cardboard to catch the drips, and leave it to dry for a day or two. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Defenders-Sprayer-2L-Multi-Colour-Purpose-Pressure/dp/B08N58758Y/ref=sr_1_5?crid=DEVZXIHXHHY7&keywords=garden+sprayers+2+litre+pressure&qid=1698842736&sprefix=garden+spayer%2Caps%2C448&sr=8-5

That's something I'd be looking at. I once had a host of very similar issues on a previous car, which were intermittent to the point of the dealer having problems trying to replicate it. In the end it turned out to be due to a badly fitted replacement windcsreen, which had a tiny gap in the sealing that was letting in water when it rained, causing the issues, which subsequently dried, meaning the issues went away again. When they finally discovered it they found a pool of water under the carpets, so it might worth checking if there's any water or dampness under the carpets. In any event, I doubt I'd be selling on, and would be pushing the dealer to either fix,, replace or refund the car and, if I got no joy there I'd be talking to trading standards. It's also worth checking if you have legal cover added to either your car or home insurance, as often that will provide legal help for such disputes.

Daylight robbery! It's 2p a litre in Venezuela.

I used a big syringe on the end of the tubing. A 500ml syringe is only about a tenner on Amazon.

Indeed. In much the same way that too much cleanliness can lead to allergies. Fortunately I came from a generation where people were less concerned about causing offence, and so I'm virtually immune to even the worst kind of insult 🙂 As a result, I've always felt that we have no god given right to have our choices, decisions or feelings validated, so that we feel good about whatever we do. Feeling bad is sometimes a good thing, as often it's a reliable indicator that you're doing something wrong. Consequently we should be thanking people for a bit of appropriately given "tough love", and not trying to block out or cancel them.

Does he not have AA or another service that could recover the car to a garage?

I believe that the VGRS is susceptible to low voltages, and the steering adjustment might be too, so it's worth checking the state of charge of the 12v battery before looking at more complex solutions.

Apparently there's been a notable rise in personality disorders in recent years. Various causes are given, such as an increase in dysfunctional family backgrounds leading to emotional issues; along with the rise of social media, which encourages a sense of self entitlement and dissatisfaction, as well as isolating people more from human social interaction. There's a lot to be said for the latter, as previously people with negative, or even paranoid, thoughts would be told not to be so daft by friends etc, and would get over it; whereas now they simply go online and find thousands of others who share their delusions and magnify them, leading to ever increasing frustration and anger. Doesn't help that we have dishonest leaders and politicians, who only serve to fuel the fire.

The specialist who dealt with my previous car had a private car park a little way down the road from their premises, where they kept customers cars overnight. It was inhabited by a few winos, homeless etc, who they use to give food to, as they were seen as a theft deterrent.

It's wide enough to get some tubing down, at least mine is. In fact I use clear plastic tubing, which I've marked against the dipstick, to read my oil level as the dipstick is so hard to read. I just push the tube down to the top mark, then stick my thumb on the end, pull it back out and see if the oil in the tube is between the high and low marks I've made on it. Much easier to read.

In theory they change the key battery at each service. Personally, having experienced a flat key battery before I change mine every year, just to be safe. I also keep spare batteries in the car.

Not sure Dave, but when I had to remove some I used some plastic tubing down the dipstick hole to siphon some out.

Funnily enough my second "proper" job was in a bank. I remember being a bit surprised that you had to spend months stuck in the machine room, tallying the day's takings, before progressing to the dizzy heights of being a cashier. I stayed six months before deciding it wasn't for me. Those were the days though. Getting a loan depended as much on your ability to charm the bank manager and how easy or tough his judgment was, as it was your financial position. It felt like going to a public school headmaster (without the caning though).

Last time I drove to France I averaged 40 mpg for the trip. Usual around town is about 30, with longer runs averaging 35-40. A lot depends on speed, and I find that 60-65 mph gives me the best mpg. Petrol makes a difference too, with premium giving me aroud 3-5 mpg more. Best fuel I've found for mpg is Esso premium, and worst Sainsbury's.

Or "she", if you want to be inclusive. Better yet, should have been "they" and "their" in absence of a preferred pronoun. Have I regained my woke credentials?

That would put them in a woke dilemma though, as some of their women readers, the modern ones, would complain about not being able to shave their beards.

Interesting Martin, I hadn't even considered the effects of poor implementation by the public sector, and was more curious as to the social effects of substantial job replacement in what have traditionally been considered worthwhile, skilled, and largely middle class jobs. Interestingly many tech experts and senior people involved in the development of AI, along with like of Elon Musk and Apple's co founder have written to governments asking for a pause in AI development, until the wider social implications have been examined, and how they might be addressed.

I wasn't so much referring to the practical use for consumers, or the tech in things like cars, Malc. More so to how it will be applied in business, and what impact that will have on society. Particularly as the low hanging fruit, when it comes to job replacement, won't be those who handle machinery, but those who handle information. How long before a corporate finance department, with an annual salary cost of say £1m, is replaced by a single manager and a bunch of machines, that can process the data and spit out a spreadsheet thousands of times faster than a human can? It won't be too far away before better paid execs will be worrying about job security long before the tea lady (do they still exist?) or office cleaners have to concern themselves. I'm sure such technology will bring us a lot of benefits too, but dealing with the implications quite possibly extends into the realms of morality and philosophy as much as it does politics and economics. Oh, with books to read, fish to catch, and a host of fascinating places to visit and explore, I can keep the old brain cells clanking away without the need for work. I'm lucky enough to enjoy my work, but it's still just a means to far more enjoyable ends.

I'm sure volume does play part, at least in the UK, whereas the RX was the top selling luxury car in the US. Still, I guess we have plenty of choices, whatever our preferences or budget.

Fair comments Linas. I think Lexus were also somewhat hindered by being a spin off luxury brand, and having Toyota as the mainstream range. I imagine that makes it a harder decision to offer entry level models to the luxury range, for a variety of reasons. You're also right about people changing their cars frequently, and so longevity has less value to many buyers. Even so, it does seem like longer warranties, even though of limited benefit to new car buyers, have some influence on buying decisions. I think some buyers though (Range Rover ones for example), would settlle for an effective shorter term warranty.

That was the expectation, anyway 🙂

That's a great Philosophy Malc, and it's unfortunate that not everyone thinks that way. Hopefully common sense will prevail, as current AIs are running at 150 level IQs, with that exponentially increasing year on year; and their strong point is collecting, sorting, analysing and interpreting data. The people doing those sort of jobs are usually sat a desk, and are often in the mid to high five/low six figure income bracket. At the present rate of advancement it wont be long before corporate legal, finance, marketing, customer service, IT and tech support departments are decimated in favour of one man managing a machine. Perhaps new, as yet unthought of, opportunities will appear for these educated/trained people, otherwise it's hard to see how econmies will cope with the loss of spending and tax revenues from those reasonably high earners. The optimist in me thinks we'll figure it out, but in many ways I'm glad I'll be retired before we see how it fully pans out.

Ot they can do what the likes of BMW/Mercedes/Audi do, which is to offer lower spec cars within the range. The German manufacturers have long since learned that people willl buy a lower spec car with a luxury badge on it, over a better equipped one from the likes of Ford, Mazda, Toyota etc.