Boomer54

41 minutes ago, hockeyedwards said:

Free laugh on me, ordered some generic centre caps for the barge. Ordered based on specs found on this forum. They finally arrived and with the gods allowing a 30min interlude between rainy spells, decided to go pop them on.

They seemed a little tight, but I found that reassuring. Couple of taps with the rubber mallet to send it home so to speak, but the cap had other ideas, pinging straight back out and hitting me on the tooth! 😆

Then it rained, so went back inside and will leave it for another day 😛.  Maybe a tiny bit of lube required, or possibly the wrong size, we'll find out on the next episode of....

Get your own back. Use your toothpaste to lubricate it in.

5 minutes ago, talaipwros said:

Well, actually I think this is now a bit of a bargain.

If I wasn't a happy owner of a Nissan Leaf e+, I would have probably bought this takumi one and keep it for the next 10 years,

The old maxim is the best time to buy is when the sellers are stampeding towards the exit door.

28 minutes ago, Herbie said:

No need to criticise, that's a perfectly good way of keeping all settings etc., and is a method that been in use since I started my apprenticeship back in 1974. No need to use jump leads either as you're not cranking the engine, only a few mA to stuff that needs it.

Basically, a bit of bellwire and almost any 12V source would do the job.

Eureka. Problem solving be thy name ! Get Herbie to do it for a pack of his choice of Belgium beer !

11 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

My first career as an eventual City banker, very sober, enlightening and very very personally satisfying 👍👌 ……. My 2nd as a 2nd hand car dealer ….. also very very satisfying 🤩 and my first Ls400 👍👌👍

In both aspects I had to understand some accountancy vagaries to get on in life …… it’s no different today in my 3rd career  ….. global tax efficiency is a mantra I’m getting to grips with 😂 ( hopefully ) 

Im sure no accountants are competent enuf to cope with it all …… I’ve never read of any that don’t come horribly unstuck 🥵

Malc 

Actually Malc it's not usually any one acct. At the multinational level it's done by teams as there is a mountain of research done before decsions get taken and it would be simply too much for any individual to do.

Personally,  Accountancy bored me to tears. Psychology on the otherhand is endless fascinating. Observing and trying to understand the vast complexity of human behaviour is far more rewarding and challenging intellectually.

I could buy a couple of very decent SC 430's for that depreciation value. Malc could get a fleet of LS400's. 🤨

My first career was in Accountancy albeit I was Cost and Management, but I picked up a huge amount from my brother who was Chartered for a Mulitnational Pharma. His son, my Nephew, now does this stuff in London for some Hedgie. ***** Whittington wasn't wrong about the streets 'paved with gold', but it helps if you are in the right line of work.

Just and experiment if I had typed Dirk would it ? Nope.

2 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That is certainly a possibility! But ask for battery health check first, would be sad to waste it if not the culprit!

Good catch. The garage she is in on Thursday could no doubt do that quite easily.

Business Life Cycle - Understanding the 5 Different Stages (corporatefinanceinstitute.com)

In a nutshell for anyone interested to read.

Less of the "We "will never understand the vagaries of global accountants understandings of international tax regimes and tax saving capacities".

It can indeed be extremely complex and if I showed you the books containing matters apertaining to International Tax Law you would run screaming. However, at the heart of it it is essentially optimisation of tax using the myriad tax law that allow a corporate entity to decide where they pay tax and of course where it is most effective to deploy investment capital. Not easy , because you need to know your Law inside out and there is a mountain of it to know. Pays very well for a reason.

10 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

It would be strange if it did start... Then perhaps I would be really worried about ghosts! 

I could feel a Nobel prize in the offing if I could manage that 'Instant free energy'.

1 hour ago, GMB said:

Please let us know how you get on with the battery change. I hope it goes well. It would be good for others to have some confidence.  As a confirmed registered chicken I would pay the insurance in having Lexus take the risk but then you're a better man than I am Bungdit In.    Sorry I can't get that "Carry on" film scene out of my mind.

I will. I have the car in at a recommended Indy garage on Thursday so will wait until Friday to do the swap. Fearless as ever (cough) will do it myself and troubleshoot whatever happens afterwards.

1 minute ago, Linas.P said:

Just small note here - idling car to charge it is not the most ideal, especially when you have to run 4.3L V8 to do it. Battery would charge faster when driving (~2000-3000RPM is where alternator makes it's maximum amps) + it consume negligible fuel compared to running the car.

As for radio coming on I really don't know, but I have one idea - there is function for road alerts, so for example if you listening for CD or using Aux, it may turn it to radio when driving and I remember begin really irritated about this when going trough Link-House tunnel. They had maybe faulty transmitter there for emergencies, and every time entering the tunnel it would switch to FM and I could see little warning appearing "emergency reported" (or something along those lines). 

So perhaps it could turn on the radio even when it is off, if it could switch from CD to FM, then why not turn the radio on? Thinking about it now - I am not sure you can even switch it off...

I probably would have just taken it for a drive, but the car was 3rd in line behind visitors so was essentially blocked in. Book in the car was the best I could do to get out of the way for an hour.

The radio coming on issue is a real issue and you are right the TA if on can cause the the audio system to switch from CD etc over to radio. I have had that ,but someone indicated the problem for me and then it was an easy solve. The other day was different as the audio system was actually switched off, but then spontaneously switched on in CD mode. I do think when taken with a hood refusing to open and the boot taking a couple of tries to open that the source is going to turn out to be the Battery.

• "Lexus won’t start after disconnecting the Battery." ...how very strange😉

2 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

Sitting in the car for 50mins with the engine idling whilst reading a book?  Maybe time to call a helpline? 

It is a good book if that helps !

7 minutes ago, GMB said:

Not worth the risk on a dodgy Lexus. They bite. Let the dealer do it and take responsibility and pay his awful fee.

Read the horror stories.

Sacre Dieu !

The heathens are amongst us.

54 minutes ago, Bluemarlin said:

I'll be honest and start by saying that I'm not up on matters concerning the WHO, health regulations amendments and pandemic response measures but, as you asked, I've had a brief look at the video and read up a little, so will give my first impressions.

Please note that to some extent I'm playing devil's advocate, for the sole purpose of airing any potential counter arguments to the concerns expresed, without being able to address the veracity of any claims made by either side.

Firstly I'll say that it makes perfect sense to have some form of internationally co-ordinated strategy for any future pandemic, and associated health regulations. For better or worse, the WHO would seem to be the logical body to lead that. The key issue therefore is do we trust the WHO and, if not why not, and what do we do about that?

The video quite rightly points out the fears and potential risks of trusting such a body, but provides little in the way of substance for its suggestion that deliberate harm would be caused. Of course it's possible that unintentional harm might occur through mistakes being made, which is indeed a valid concern. However, it fails to balance that concern against the harm that might be caused by not having an agreed co-ordinated stategy.

It also claims that we have no democratic say over the proposals, and that is not strictly speaking true. We have as much democratic control as we do for most other things, in that the democratically elected goverments of each member state have to agree to any such proposals.   

Further, it seems that the WHO is largely a body of co-ordination, and that any regulations made are negotiated and ratified by sovereign nations. From the little I've read, it appears that whilst the WHO can make recommendations, it has no power to enforce them on member states, or override the decision-making authority of national governments.

Ultimately then it seems, like many such things, there's enough complexity, misunderstanding and misrepresentation for people to read into it whatever they like. If you're inclined to believe that the WHO are plotting against us, you can cherry pick things that appear to support that. Equally though, you can take the view that the intentions are well meaning, whilst accepting that any such large venture might be vulnerable to mistakes or missteps.

Personally I'm inclined to the latter view, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, and so the biggest question I'd ask of those who think it's simply a nefarious way of exerting  power over us, is this. In the absence of a centralised body to help co-ordinate a global health strategy and future pandemic responses, what alternative would you suggest?

Like I said at the beginning, I'm not fully read up on it all, and so all I'm able to offer is an alternative perspective, which may or not have merit, due to my lack of knowledge of this specific subject. My comments therefore are largely limited to the mechanics that are common to many conspiracy theories, which often try to misrepresent things, or seek to assign an intent based on the theorist's own fears, biases and assumptions, rather than substantive evidence.

I'll end though with a few links to fact checks that address some of the claims made about the health regulations and pandemic treaty proposals, which you can make of what you will.

https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/claims-of-a-who-globalist-takeover-are-out-of-this-world/

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02018-4/fulltext

https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-conspiracy-theories-about-the-pandemic-treaty/a-65982226

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220608-conspiracy-theories-cloud-pandemic-treaty-push

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138892

 

You're good. On that note what is your consultation fee for advising me on a strategy to persuade my wife to sanction my second SC430.

14 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

Obsolescence of oil fuel might not happen any time soon !

Methinks the odd $ billion or two won’t be missed by them 

Malc 

I agree, but nonetheless it is a good long term strategy to invest in what threatens your economic existence.

I mean do BP and Shell really give a rats a... about climate change, or are they investing to manage the threat to their core historic business? If your answer is more than two letters please sign up for my well priced course in cynicism.

3 hours ago, Boomer54 said:

Yes, I had thought there would be more to it than the simple battery swap of old.

Not sure Lexus would do it though unless I detach my current charging setup. They seem a bit pernickity about anything that is not original source from them.

Finding a suitable Battery will be easy enough , but I was surprised not to find tech spec data for it in the manual. Is that normal?

Given Saudi wealth is primarily based in fossil fuel historically you can understand that investing in whatever threatens to make their wealth obsolete is as much strategic as it is anythingelse.

52 minutes ago, wivenhoe said:

We swapped the wife’s Honda Jazz for a new Yaris (was a straight swap as the Honda had the same residual as paid for 2 years before). The Yaris is a top of the range and cost £ 21k. The Takumi LBX is £ 40k - spec wise not that much higher so double the price for better materials and build - I just don’t see it. 

Be interested to know how you get on with that Yaris. Think my daughter would like to trade up to that from her Aygo.

Yes, I had thought there would be more to it than the simple Battery swap of old.

Not sure Lexus would do it though unless I detach my current charging setup. They seem a bit pernickity about anything that is not original source from them.

19 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

 

I know that things in the USA are bigger and better than anywhere else but this is ridiculous 😎

Luxury electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors has posted massive losses while reportedly losing over $225,000 per sold car.

According to the company's latest quarterly earnings release, the market has not responded well to its products. Lucid listed a $630.9 million net less for the quarter, stemming from remarkable overhead costs.

The $137.8 million in revenue was dwarfed by a $469.7 million lost from "Cost of Revenue." Additionally, "R&D Operating Expenditures" cost another $230.8 million, while "SG&A Operating Expenditures" provided another $189.7 million in losses.

In total, the company's "Free Cash Flow" was a whopping negative $706.1 million. These numbers are actually an upgrade from 2022, when the company lost $530 million and was in the hole for $860 million.

Remember the days amazon used to post similarly lousy numbers, but at least in their case you could see the growth progression from their investment. Lots of times that just does not happen and it's a sink hole for capital that is never coming back .

So, if I said money was no object for a really proven top line product what Battery would people recommend ?

No, Malc ,whatever it is that is permeating inside your head, resist . 😉

Certainly starting to get the idea I am having to charge up too often. Stew did tell me he wasn't sure how much life would be left in this Battery so it is not coming as a surprise if it does need swapping out.

18 minutes ago, PRT68 said:

Sadly, I think the tax rate of £675 is the main stumbling block to this age of vehicle. 

I can afford to purchase one of these, but for the amount of times I would use it, the cost of tax per use is very high. That £675 is say £60 per month by direct debit. I use my RC300h once maybe twice per week, so in an F version that's £7.50 in tax alone per journey!

Looking on the Lexus sales site and Auto Trader, there are lots of 15/16 versions for sale, and no 17/18/19 models which come under the lower tax rate of £180. This can't be a coincidence.

I realise some may say if you can afford the car you can afford to run it, but many are looking at figures now, and in this case they don't compute.

I don't mean to come across as being rude, just stating facts unfortunately.

 

Not rude in the slightest. You have succinctly made a very valid point. Indeed, I deliberately bought a pre 2006 SC 430 knowing I would be dodging the higher road tax bullet. Sure you are right in suggesting it is a factor in play for these cars.

Good to hear you are on the up !

Side effects, oh yes. I took Methotrexate for 3 years only changing from that at the start of this year. I basically spent 3 years in a semi fog-like state. Indeed, if I were still on them I wouldn't have the SC 430 and I wouldn't be on here, because the apathetic state 'kills' all interest. Sometimes the 'cure' is worse than the problem it's dealing with.