The look of pain

Taken over a month ago when kambomambo took over Mindie & decided to send me home. This is on a manual with his bum leg by the way. Although he denied any pain whatsoever at the time & the picture was more of him reluctantly bring photographed hence the blurred image. I guess it was fun driving a manual after all those years. It was after the long back & forth trip that did him in. Never drove the car since. 

I must admit, it's kind of nice being driven around in Mindie for a change. Finally get to enjoy it's spacious interior from the passenger seat. Feels like big shots being dropped off & picked up at the mosque during Friday prayers. No more long walks & long waits. Driver just needs to hone his clutch balancing technique between shifts & from standstill. Currently lacks finesse. Previous profession as a truck driver may be the root cause. Seems to like over revving a diesel engine too, for no apparent reason. At least Mindie's always shiny!

Lexus LF-C2 concept

If you thought the LF-A's design is out of this world... The color is called "goldenrod", ooo errr. To call it striking is an understatement. It's supposed to celebrate Lexus's 25th birthday. It was also informed during the LA Auto Show that the new exaggerated spindle grille & sharply angled front bumper gives clues to future designs. 

As much as the spindle grille is starting to grow on me, especially with the mesh design, how much bigger do they need it to grow?! It might as well line up with the head lamp & lower ducts, let alone the whole bumper. This seems to be the trend with western manufacturers too. Expect to see more in 2015, radiator grilles harking back to the monstrous frontage of yesteryear.

On an unrelated note, VW announced a Golf R Variant (estate/wagon body style). Same engine, transmission & adaptive damping that has "race mode"! Truly for the boy racer that really doesn't want to grow up, even with children. Then again, Audi has been doing that with the RS Avants & less prominently so by Volvos plethora of sporty estates.

I digress.

Lexy's 1st Service & Tribose

First service booked for Wed, 19th afternoon and Tribose scheduled on Monday, 24th morning.

That is all.

It's all about making you feel special

In the papers yesterday & also got texted by one of the usual sales Consultant this morning.

Opted not to go as I felt unappreciated enough already after the Golf R debacle. Had they given me the car in the exact spec I wanted, had they treated a loyal repeat customer the way other establishments does, had they not lied about the blue R & the optional rims, and finally they went back on their word saying the $72k offer was low already but they reduced it to $70k anyway after I decided not to take their offer, they would've gotten my hard earned. I'm sure they don't really care if I don't as some other lemming would've jumped at the opportunity to get the ultimate hatchback. However, they didn't realize the damage they have created by destroying the loyal relationship that was fostered since 1997 when I bought an Alfa Romeo spider twin spark, my first vehicle from them. I've made numerous referrals since then, plus the addition of the Mk6 GTI. 

Be as it may, I see this as a blessing in disguise. I'm no longer locked into a compromised situation. Customer appreciation day aside, it's more of a marketing ploy to show they're spending money on you, but it's more opportunistic in nature. I'd rather see that invested in better after sales and making owners feel they are special all the time. Irrespective of how much money they spend, family background & status.

Swissvax shampoo

Today is Lexy's 1st shop Carwash, after delivery. Treating it to a Swissvax shampoo wash which is $8 extra over the normal wash. 

I splurged on the same wash for Mindie before I said goodbye to it and that cost $12 extra. What's the difference? Supposed to give it a more lustrous shine & gloss than normal shampoo. Think of it like those two in one wash & wax jobbies but glorified by Swissvax. I saw the actual shampoo, it's a very viscous transparent solution. Must be some soft carnuba wax combined with it. It took much longer to finish nearly an hour when normally it would take half that time. 

For Lexy this is to get rid of the horrible job trillium did on it. The water beading on it was as if there was hardly any wax on it. Need to complain at Lexus when Lexy goes in for its inaugural 1st service which is coming soon in the next few days. At the moment it has covered about 850 kms. This is flying compared to the GTI I think it took a month to cover that mileage. 

This expensive Swissvax wash is as interim before I get the whole car Tribos-ed. Planning to get it done while the missus is abroad at the end of the month. That way I have a car to use during the few days Lexy is off the road.

For now at least Lexy looks good after the premium wash. Can't wait till after the 1st service is done so I can finally get to hear the resonator enhancing the snarl of the smooth V6 engine.

Lex Luthor aka Sexy Lexy

I have succumb to Sexy Lexy's charms. When was the last time I actually washed my own cars? Eons ago. Not only did I have to give it a hose down on the evening of the 1st day I took delivery, because it rained in the way home, the following Sunday I hosed it down again because it got a little dirty during lunchtime. I eventually washed it in the afternoon as I couldn't stand the rims looking slightly matte. 

I've used it daily since Monday with nary a though for rain. I'm more concerned about it being left in the heat of the day. If the car gets rained on you can wash it. If the bits get dried out there's not much you can do about it. Even after using it during the day I still use it in the evening. Throwing caution into the wind from any impending rain. The mileage has creeped over 500 kms in exactly a week as of tonight. Technically that should be about 350 kms. So you can't blame me for babying it, except for the numerous washing & wipe downs. I draw the line on waxing for the moment but the urge is growing because the job done by Trillium was not up to zymol standards. I'd rather it gets the "Tribose" treatment. Basically a flexible nano polymer coating for vehicle exterior & interior (sans tyres or leather parts). But I don't think I can endure the 3 days away from the car to have the treatment done. The cost is not even an issue at the moment. It needs it pronto for protection and super duper shine. I might get it done next week.

Getting back to the frequent use, at least for my standard, I should hit 1k mileage by another week's time. Meaning for its first initial service as stipulated by the agent. It has not been a hardship restraining revs up to 3,000 rpms & max speed up to 120 kph. It's been a joy to putt about & is able to keep up with the flow of traffic. It's been palatial, the long trudge to & fro work seems no longer a chore. Dare I even say, it's not long enough! I just don't seem to feel the tiresome journey any more. Especially if you drive like a typical Lexus driver. Serene, never rushed or aggressive. Generally of course, there are exceptions to the rule. He knows who he is... Mr Kambo. The fuel histogram does not lie! I don't blame you though, this is why I want to get the initial service over & done with. To hear that V6 snarl in conjunction with the 'resonator' at 4,000 rpms and above. Kinda funny when I think about it, Mondie & Mindie the 'gyrators' didn't need it. Painful crescendo & seat massaging for no extra cost option.

So there you have it, stark lack of updates on the blog due to me enjoying driving as opposed to talking about it. It has been a journey of discovery particularly in the techy bits. I only just found out, the navigation screen changes background color to show if it's day or night, i can set speed & rev limits which indicates in the Speedo binnacle, there is a microSD card installed just under the Mark Levinson logo. Eat your heart out for those on Premium HiFi, that's Lexus speak for 'standard', Mark Levinson HiFi, that's where it's at.

Not for me

There's too many of this sort of thing going on nowadays. Gatherings at public areas occupying space doing nothing productive & causing inconvenience to others. For some reason it actually discourages me form getting the same car as everyone else. They're not clubs per say but more like like minded friends or acquaintances gathering together. There's a Toyota GT86 group, at one time beetle but I don't see that anymore. Plethora of ricers, civics, skyline, sirion, Suzuki swift et al. It's enough seeing bikers riding in force during weekend, we don't need a line of posers slowing other road users just because they want to drive around wasting fuel just to be seen.

I certainly hope I don't see more proliferating like this like a Camry club or worse still, some premium marque. This needs to be confined to the car shows only. I'm getting old. Nag nag nag. Young whipper snappers! You might wonder what's the big deal, they're not harming anyone they're just loitering outside Starbucks. Maybe but apparently the group in this pic has been there since this morning and was already there when I arrived before lunchtime & they didn't look ready to leave when I left around 1.30 pm. Imagine if this was at your establishment and this sort of activity causes nuisance & interrupts your business by preventing other legitimate customers to gain easy access. It's a different story if your "bapak" owns these establishment, then you can do whatever you like.