Boomer54

You can say that again !. try driving down from Avoriaz in winter in a BMW 5 series tourer WITHOUT snowchains. IF you were not sober at the start you certainly are by the time you reach the bottom. On the 7th day whilst resting god took 5 seconds to make an idiot who thinks it doesn't matter if his car is rear wheel ,or front wheel drive. Paah, snow chains, why bother this is a BMW, the Germans must know about snow !

So, LexiGirl just had her first groom under new ownership. Nothing like washing a car to see what you've got on the outside. She is a seriously, stonkingly, beautiful piece of engineering. On day 6 (of ownership) 'god' declared I can't do better than this so for all tomorrows I rest. I am very confident at this juncture that Jeremy Clarkson, and his team of 'experts', whose major function is to seek controversy to boost audiences, are not fit to road test my toaster. See if you agree below.

Maybe we should have sub forum called Dinosaurs Still Rule Anyway as we know, 'it ain't the miles on the clock that count ,it's the pedigree of whats under the hood' 😉

Sometimes it's the only way to travel. I did it myself out of Naples right along the Amalfi coastline and back via Salerno. No way I would drive those roads competing with a zillion scooters etc. I imagine the Douro valley also has some challenging roads sans a hoard of mad Italians who think they are Fangio recreated.

Don't tell me ,he 'beamed there' !

"somehow I managed to learn and pass my test in a manual transmission" Takes me back. I passed in a Austin Morris 1100, my first car. My Instructor warned me not to try it, but I ignored him and failed 1st time. The problem was it did not have synchromesh on 1st gear so you had to learn how to 'double the clutch' ! Anyone under a certain age has probably never heard of that and why should they have !

Incredibly generous of you Anthony ,but I must also 'fess up'. I was born just over the Pennines myself in the Aire valley, but have resided here in Preston so long now I may no longer have passport privilegies for 'gods own county'. Hey, thanks for the offer and I may take you up on it.

"Median house used to cost 5 times median annual salary, now it is 14 times... and trust me I am not on median salary." Now you trust me when I tell you that data is absolutely meaningless. I'll explain, the ratio of affordability needs to capture three things . One, the aggregate capital value of property, the aggregate income level AND then the one thing that is crucial ,but hardly ever gets mentioned, which is the cost of financing. That is why the best expression of affordability that asses that criteria over time is to look at the at aggregate percentage of income that is devoted to meeting the cost of housing. That ratio encapsulates all of the three criteria that we should be interested in. Look this really ain't rocket science, you want to explain over 80% of the rise in house prices you don't need to look further than the base rate set by the BOE. That is what sets your cost of financing and that is what is very correlated to the rise in house prices. All other matters are relatively unimportant.

Good point, seasonality alone could support using a wet application at least some of the time.

Thanks for the feedback lads. From a bit of reading I wondered if applying dry rather than wet might give extra longevity. Cannot find any really hard data for that. It's more parochial views on it from some users. If you have tried both would you think there was a difference in longevity ?

BUT, that isn't HIS choice. He made a choice, he paid a premium to get it. Each to theirown ,but I am a stickler for terms of contract. If it was me I would be reading exactly where there is a caveat in the small print giving them the right to vary. If it was not there then they would be getting me the car I chose and paid for. Moreover they would be furnishing me with a courtesy car until they did so. No discussion on those terms. I have never broken a contract in my life and I don't have much tolerance for letting others do so. On the plus side everybody knows exactly where they stand.

I wondered if anyone had experience of using these as opposed to traditional wax for detailing their cars? If so, what is it and indeed if they were satisfied which brand did they use. Longevity of finish would be interesting also. There was a time I would not have looked for an alternative, but Arthritis in the hands makes the usual waxing a bit taxing (I was a poet and didn't know it). Any thoughts appreciated (about the ceramic and not a new career with the pen).

Gorgeous colour combination.

Welcome Chris, One newbie to another. What colour etc you got there ?

Much appreciated Glyn.

"arthritis". Thanks Len, we won't start a thread on this because it would run and run. Suffice to say bane of our lives. Fell running, to long distance flat running to basically nothing. Not a regression I would recommend to anyone.

I am backing off the idea of double wrapping the car. Looking at reviews makes me aware that any 'portable' garage surrounding the car cover might just give rise to a greenhouse effect of excess moisture. So, unless I can find something that convinces me it has adequate ventilation I won't follow through with that idea. Sounded good in theory ,less so in practice.

The video did make it look pretty easy. I think I might just buy the SCMods unit and give it a try. If I can't work out the wiring I'm sure I'll get some help.

Basic systems came back to show me what they would install. They install via an interface behind the Sat Nav screen. Probably works fine given they will warranty it so why am I reluctant not to go with it. I guess I favour the boot installation ideally, but it's finding someone to do that. On another note I cannot believe it's taken me nearly 50 years to drive an automatic. So, simple and solves the problem on a bad RA day with the left hand when it comes to changing gears. I did wonder beforehand if I was being stupid buying an automatic when I have never driven one. Not an issue as it works out.

Ok, so I have just watched the video of the SCMods camera installation which answered my questions.

In my experience most cars have stuff running in the background causing a gradual depletion. On that basis I would tend towards disconnecting to offset that depletion and then just reset the stuff in question. However, given the period in question is 3 months I suspect your battery will be dead anyway so why bother disconnecting.

Yesterday I started the process looking for a reversing camera for the car. Went to Basic Systems in Preston. They just came back to say they can install a camera that will use the existing Sat Nav screen (would not have any system that destroys the aesthetics of the interior) . They priced at £550 which I would pay if it comes to it as they impressed with their setup. However, at £60ph for a 1/2 day install the numbers imply the camera itself may be overpriced. Perhaps more importantly I need to know what camera system they are using and where the cabling will run. On that note I am very aware SCMods do a kit (that is apparently proven tech). Not very expensive kit so all good there. My question here is I wish to know is all the SCMods installation confined to the bootspace via the reversing light and the existing DVD boot installation OR is there any need to run cabling to the front and connect via the Sat Nav screen installation. Frankly, if it is the former that probably limits labour costs and more importantly does not involve unnecessary disruption elsewhere to the car. I know there is a thread discussing reversing camera and someone there installed the SCMod kit so some feedback would be much appreciated. If it helps anyoneelse I bought a car cover from Everycarcovered this week. It took 2 days to arrive. Came in a nice bag with gel covered caps for the straps to stop abrasion. I can attest it fits the SC430 like a glove. Comes with or without wing mirrors pockets. Cannot attest to longevity obviously, but on inspection it's put together well on things like the seams and the interior lining. Cost £189 which inc £8.50 delivery.

Now this is more like it, blue skies allround. Hence, we are literally taking the roof off today for it's debut 'wind through the hair' outing. As I do that I am going to send out a shout to Stew the great guy who sold me this. Nowt to report Stew, she's like 'gold'. Gave the wife a little trip yesterday and just tickled the the 3.9 setting. Think she's more comfortable with that than I am (what a wimp).

Going out this morning to work my way through the very many controls on this Lexus. See whats what so to speak. Particularly the Sat Nav which as I found yesterday works fine. Pressed OPEN en route and obviously it had a prior route planned which it was ever so good at describing to me. Curiosity satisfied I pressed CLOSED . Yet the voice kept right on going behind the cover. Anyway we had a chat this morning and she asked me 'does my butt look good out here'. Answers on a postcard to Lexigirl lancs. NB The cobbles for historians used to be in Rochdale town centre until 30 years ago ish.

So, she is now home making those cobbles look good. Felt for Stew letting it go, tough one to eat. How reliable do people find the trip digital readout for fuel consumption? Just asking ,because it tells me I was getting 38.5 mpg which I was not expecting. Already under guard.