Lexus-CT

No problem. Worked for an engineering company that had several car importers as customers.

Around year 2000 Toyota told importer of the brand that new cars would have UV protection in their windows in order to prevent skin cancer for their customers. 2017 models still have only protection in the windshields. Just like most other car companies have had in their cars since 1990. Side windows are protected by glass and nothing else, meaning not at all. Taxi and truck drivers are often having skin cancer in the hand near the side window (in UK right hand and US and here in left hand). I had Llumar foil on all windows when we bought the car, except windshield (also sun roof window) and now a rather long time after still look like new. Scratch proof; installer showed me on a test window that scratching with a car key nothing happened to the foil. Have an UV detector and even when UV is 12 outside inside the foiled windows UV is 0. Clear on the front doors and slightly tinted on rear windows - https://llumar.com/emea/en/automotive/window-tint/clear/

Yesterday got a new phone (Nothing Phone (2)) and it sure is different to all the Samsung Notes and S- series I have had since I gave up the first edition of iPhone. Transferred all data from old phone. Took maybe 15 minutes and the new was functioning perfect without having lost contacts, calendar, emails or anything. Not even my own personalized open and lock screens. I just loved that. Now I will have to see how I get along with the new very different phone. Very much different phone. Half price of the top Samsung but actually feels nicer and more like a piece of well-built metal glass thing than a plasticky glass thing. Paired it with my Sony earbuds and listen to music while writing this, so maybe not really concentrated. Alan Walker and Charles Berthoud

Once having our Toyota 3L Targa to 2000km (1984 or 85) (only car I really disliked, no good and my own fault I bought it) service in a workshop near Puerto Banus (where all the rich hippies go) a rather young hippie came into the shop in torn shorts and funny looking t-shirt swinging his credit card and drove almost immediately out in a Maserati. I do not go outside in shorts or t-shirt in daytime anymore since having had surgery for more than 6 skin cancer pieces and doctor told me if I want to live well, go out after sun is down.

When we were younger, we used to go to a lake where there were lot of them, having faces covered and arms free so they could bite and soon the arms were black from mosquitos. After 5 or a bit more minutes we dipped arms in water so they would fly away and covered the arms again and drove home. It was not nice the first couple of hours but the benefit is that the rest of summer mosquitos were no problem. Now that is very long ago, still many years (very many years) later I still have no problem with these little beasts.

Should actually not answer in this forum as price for 98 octanes is around 1.40€ a litre (do your own math), where it is close to 50% higher most other places in Europe.

I have 2 friends that have both been winning this race (not same year of course) one in the 222km and the other in the 333km edition. My friend that won the 222 was also first in the 333 races, but might have been eating something not good so he had to stop halfway. https://www.trailrunmag.com/tag/la-ultra-the-high/ Now to the funny thing. One of them needed new hip and knee in the rather young age some 50 years and the other is still running like he was 25. Density of our bones may be inherited or maybe depending on what we have been eating when young. My sister has extremely fragile bones that break when falling on the beach and I fall down from mountains and bikes and usually just get up and continue hoping nobody saw me being clumsy. So much for the inherited part of that.

Mazda has not been making Ford cars that long.

Only way to over that is to get fit. Real fit. It is easier to stay fit than to get fit. Mountain bike from sea level to 2km up in the mountains and tired and warm, but when fit, no other issues.

Bought a moon watch (one like those used on the moon by astronauts) when they were just being sold and was surprised that it was not automatic and thus did not wind it up. Got tired of winding up when I found out why it did not function, so is now with somebody in family.

IWC make nice watches. Bought an automatic from them named Porsche Design made completely in titanium and it was great a couple of years. Then the titanium locks in the wrist band started to open and the watch was no longer precise, so asked how much to make the watch new again. More or less like Rolex they want such a horrible price that even though watches from IWC are not cheap I did not find it worth it. My favourite watch is Omega Seamaster extremely thin and comfortable, my wife is mostly using a Rolex GMT Master but when dressing up she uses a tiny gold Omega with a black leather band. But with all the smartphones around watchmakers may have few customers left.

Right bike for wanted purpose, right equipment is better than any car. Fresh air, healthy exercise, no pollution (very little compared at least), possibility to go where cars cannot, where you can see immense beauty.

Beer - Hopefully not when you are driving Harley or Lexus. I like fresh air in the mountains and riding on mountain-bike.

Then run flats are better now than long time ago. Probably still heavy for very little reason.

Do not take cars there, only mountain bikes. That means that there is even less use for the old stiff tyres that can continue driving without air in them. Some premium tyres have self-sealing layer inside and are giving a comfortable close to no noise ride.

This picture should prove that a good sealant is worth having (not the one standard in Lexus cars): Riding on trails where cacti and thorns are all over the place I sometimed had more than 5 holes in the tyres. Did not find out till I was home, as the holes were sealed immediately and almost no air loss. As long as we are not politicians or (other) criminals, the hard old fashioned run-flat tyres are completely overkill.

Do not know how legal it is to change to LED in the US from Halogen so not commenting on that. Do not know if the car was with Halogen or HID (Xenon) from factory, in 2006 LED was not common. If OEM was Halogen and if you can find a LED that emits light in all directions from same physical spot as halogen bulbs do light output should show same direction. LED use less power than halogen and should not blow fuses but might pop up an error code telling whatever because of the amount of power a Halogen bulb use is much higher than a standard LED unless the LED circuit has a built-in resistor that eliminate the difference. Standard Halogen bulb and same dimension LED: One thing to notice is that most LED lamps are emitting light through only 1 or 2 light emitting diodes / direction/s and if not placed extremely correct they might give an incomplete or completely wrong light pattern on the road – to the sides – up in the air. https://www.diodedynamics.com/9005-hp48-led-bulbs.html may be replacement for 9005 bulb https://www.diodedynamics.com/9006-hp48-led-bulbs.html may be replacement for 9006 bulb If only problem is the ventilated LED blow fuses it can be handled with a relay:

Tell me OEM size, size of temporary rim incl. width and I will tell you which tyres will be able to drive as well as such narrow tyres do.,

If you mean a spare wheel, I am happy not to have one. Have been using Quadboss sealant on mountain bike riding on razorblade-sharp lava splitter and thorns as long as fingers plus beautiful pointy cactus all around have kept me riding and I never had to walk home because of a flat. A bottle in the trunk and an electric pump should handle more than 90% of flats. I used to buy from Quadboss but they are no longer selling to end-users so you will have to buy from one of the companies selling the sealant. A good thing about the sealant is that you can wash it away with just water. Before I found Quadboss I used the dirty stuff latex that Lexus/Toyota have in their sealant and get that in and it will take a week to get the glue off the rims. Got latex on riding clothes and impossible to get away so new clothes needed. A bike can take you places where cars cannot go. Maybe a Unimog can go to most.

What is in the future for Lexus? Will Toyota stay the big leader of car production? Will other companies be ready to take the leading position?

Blown fuse?

If same as this: https://www.ebay.de/itm/304194547471?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20230804085259%26meid%3D04eb7d37c22e4957b10765a5367d3802%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D234021173247%26itm%3D304194547471%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DSimPLWebV1EmbeddedAuctionsCPCAuto&_trksid=p4429486.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A30419454747104eb7d37c22e4957b10765a5367d3802%7Cenc%3AAQAIAAABEKQWTaSuKxcpq1j5hG%252Bz9F%252B8zK5%252FOpV48i2l8raehpQf2RPSYqzpCvtKyH0On5bYt7p%252BemSkVPX9wuLdyOKXgtQWgTgHE%252BKD3RXeL5zS720z6WSVQvn%252FgcxhOW27LzDqPMgYo1%252F%252Be7hfHSYjzptu0jkmTKBHkmPd8e%252Bnpcepj5VnA9GIedkkOwKTySFyRskLCUS0PIAcXxGK0I%252Ba%252F7iVq8Rst1SeBGy0JYFcbMYrAOh2zGyHbFozCvhxlzdzOSxMOaN9aUOA4D%252BYCPq8caaGglfobjSfp3%252FiH35iMy5XX25h4qSdPMw8cYJjCUmQWvXKWRLzeXfTckRNKhjAeMtsY%252F1PDfelNPuwQj%252FSTeTcNfZ8%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A4429486 https://www.ebay.de/itm/302929983777?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20230804085259%26meid%3D04eb7d37c22e4957b10765a5367d3802%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D234021173247%26itm%3D302929983777%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D4429486%26algv%3DSimPLWebV1EmbeddedAuctionsCPCAuto&_trksid=p4429486.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A30292998377704eb7d37c22e4957b10765a5367d3802%7Cenc%3AAQAIAAABEKQWTaSuKxcpq1j5hG%252Bz9F%252B8zK5%252FOpV48i2l8raehpQf0o%252FK7ajlDD50HKEoNTFUBgHWnLR3WKouyXEcWn%252BRHiltQhbj4Ll%252Bd1jnW4A%252FFvEi97RKBCptflKxvFgvK06Hie%252F9j%252B835A1amo%252FOw4B9u9uuQR5Rki5yPyY1HzbrEY45UUxQBsNRBo1t9bWBuaqGgY5krZJgLI%252FZTgQP%252BcpIKTmd0Zu5iflatSfmf7qb27l7BrK2Xz8tEiHITVtttBSX6Ce3KeUMweRoyMXuDksCMTnxTp3bsQK6F89yrKAriIII9Pfdho7dgfgHkn46MsQQymJRJheksB2aMdC7TEBEIS72IF7UNqPCPOPfNTzdBxta%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A4429486 https://www.ebay.de/itm/391913312641?hash=item5b3fda9181%3Ag%3Ay40AAOSw3mpXK73B&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0AD8cO1n4RPeJJdWC7j7i57W28Xad9aDIUT6fVLqPvuP%2FyjoZGvBMcb%2B%2Baf8XqRMlqkVWjnmRSR9l76gRnVTE5cfYO2Vx0qYgWCZbWDHdok5kEUSuKAgx1r9sdX5u3XWE0EQ0kJJs7oPA0pxFY7CZR8IbJ%2BLjyOsQWqq%2BWCJEz6PirpLVELDMAo06ZucMZ30GeXLQNvzFW9F9K%2FIZj8%2FbJ3AMZTMnHeuPmnDSfRQB0oL3hCMNmzUlcB5tQIKREi7MGh9NOfSPP%2FlwZze1H6zXu0%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8SnsOjnYg&LH_ItemCondition=3 If your key looks like this: https://www.ebay.de/itm/256259465520?hash=item3baa412130%3Ag%3Ab7QAAOSwKkRlLknI&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8Ldde%2BWX9p5Ez6rsISZCZSuFQ2jbYMPL6iIxJAg9p6y0vdaSk1Gnfjc%2BhMu4fV8CiOevRjfiH48gQbTx4XifnHUfCIq6krcRzNf8Wi5AnFwxS1z0tLC3D56FMJPMdP%2BaTucIH59XQeWAQ290fRI1R2KoAwU0WwKjNOF7FASIKKBQod2c97PZQMd0E1TR9TyEpLwRzvc6joSmf%2BW9mTjVYcxwmNVJjXrUyFDH37m2qTSa3l%2BHrtyaoDmaXR09buuBMXgoJM%2B%2BlbYzesoTXfvk6wStpP%2FZbxG%2BLfZcm7d7CqS4jqqqO0074hGsLMEJQObFMg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8ansOjnYg&LH_ItemCondition=3 A good locksmith will be able to copy the one your have to one of the above. If Lexus behave like you describe they are not in the market in a couple years.

If 245/45/17 is close to OEM size then you will have a more comfortable ride in 225/50/17. The 245 will need 502 revolutions to get you 1 km where the 225 will need 499 revolutions for same distance and that will be close to no problem. The speed shown on the instruments in the car will be a bit more correct as well. Another thing is that not all tyres are made of same rubber, so for comfort (and other reasons) I recommend Continental.

The amplifier is not to blame for running hot. The designer of the car that put an amplifier a place where it cannot get rid of the heat if produces is to blame. Meaning Lexus. Have no idea where the ML amplifier is in a CT but it must be a place where heat can get away as where I live temperature is often above 35 degrees Celsius and though I do not play full volume the amp must be working well to produce the nice clear and powerful bass.

Not that I understand the reason for having an external CD player if the internal is functioning, but anyway: Is the external CD player powered by the USB from the car or is it powered from another place? The USB in the car we have is not able to deliver power enough to feed an external CD player and will not be able to function. The player in our car can read DVD disc and I have made some with m4a compression 512 kbps which is for most people will be impossible to find sound quality different to standard CD music discs that are recorded with 1411 kbps. A DVD disc can hold quite a lot of hours of music so changing discs will hardly be needed for most trips, longer than the time between refuelling the car. On top of that, you can then select the music you want to listen to, not just what the maker of the music-CD wanted to put on it. High quality – high resolution music recorded 24-bit/192kHz is anyway not made to be listened to in any car, as no loudspeakers that can survive the rough life in a car will be able to reproduce the sound that less than 5% of people are having hearing good enough to hear the difference between that and the m4a compression used in movie-DVD discs