I like the idea about the rumble strips - I have some green polywood (plastic woods used in deck chair) - never rots and the 2x4 size laying flat might be just the trick since I can easily drill a hole in them and spike them down at each end so they stay put - foot on edge of road should be enough, maybe 18 inches apart. Good thing is I can cut the grass right them without having to get off the tractor, remove, cut, put them back. I use the same material now but about 8 inches vertical - I striped them white and epoxied in a spike at the bottom - they look great but people just plaster them into the dirt by driving over them! Our street is private and narrow even though I am on straightaway - people get run off the road by larger delivery trucks. I don't want to damage their cars. One guy in the neighborhood as anal as me just pounds in snow spikes year round. I am afraid if I plant a small hedge (yew or boxwood) it will get run over, snow plowed away or killed with road salt.

I have the same issue and for a long time I could not figure out how the rain water is landing on top the car especially after I weather-stripped the top and sides of the door - until today when I just happened to open the garage door to clean the water mess on the car, the water came pouring through the sectionals of the door! Now it is simply not just the few drops of water that is the nuisance - if your car has some or lots of) dust the water drops create a messy look after the water drops on the car dry out - it looks really yucky on most cars and especially on a black car! If you want to go out and it is still raining, sure, the mess will be washed off but what if it is bone dry outside (sunny or not) - one is compelled to wash the mess off oneself or take the car to the car wash, unless one is ok with a messy looking car. This is quite annoying if this happens frequently as it does in the rainy season.

Glad that it wasn't a bang on the driver's door, girl! Not long after I got this car, I thought that I went into an intersection on a green ... and a car that came through three lanes hit on the driver's side ... but back at the back tire area. I was ... substantially ... very substantially ... thankful! It seemed to be the general concensus that I'd run a red light ... but I figure that he ran a yellow, as when my car had been turned around about 180 degrees - there, staring at me through the windsheld, was a green light, in the same direction that I'd been travelling ... and if I'd run a red light, it should have been red! Anyway - I also like to pick spaces in parking lots where I can drive out (but must confess to being a bit too lazy/(mis-guided?) to back into empty spaces). I hear that a bit of a longer walk is good for one's constitution? By the way ... did you say that the grandkid is wanting a car? Hhm-mm-mm-m! Hope that the rest of your weekend goes better. I, too, value my wheels ... and one needs be extra careful around here, for if one in 70s or higher is in a fender-bender or two, one is liable to get a letter from the Ministry of Transportation to say that they are cancelling one's driving permit. We have a discussion session of about an hour and a half with about a dozen others, with a test of knowledge and signs, with some being selected for a driving test, every two years after age 80. ole joyful P.S. As I was fairly sure that there were still quite a few good miles in that little 20-year-old Mazda that I'd bought only a few months earlier, after the accident I chose to repair it, at a cost larger than I'd paid for it ... partly for environmental reasons, as it costs a great deal of scarce and precious fuel to dig iron ore from the ground, smelt it, then carry it through all of the manufacturing operations ... plus add quite a lot of petroleum-based plastic, to build a new one, but repair is mainly a lot of work. In addition to the amount that's added to global warming ... and pollution. o j

Olychick, unfortunately, it appears that John Wilson, who wrote the article to which you've provided the link, is also guilty of giving incorrect information. Although I have not yet gone through the entire owners manual for the 2013 RX350, I have seen enough to show that he misunderstood the Lexus spokesperson. John Wilson wrote, "If you lock your RX with the key fob, then approach it and auto unlock it by opening the door or rear hatch, then close the car and walk away, the car will relock automatically — as long as it senses the key fob has also left the proximity of the car." The owners manual on page 77 (5th bullet point down from the top of the page) states, "Back door operation "The back door can be opened even if it is locked. Lock the back door again when you leave the vehicle. The back door will not lock automatically after it has been opened and then closed." [emphasis added] What the Lexus spokesperson undoubtedly told Mr. Wilson is as I've already stated -- if the vehicle is locked and you unlock it using the key fob but don't open a door within the specified number of seconds (default is 60 seconds but you can customize to 30 seconds or to 120 seconds), the doors will automatically relock. The features customization section begins on page 980 of the owners manual. Anything having to do with locking/unlocking the 2013 RX350 (that can be customized) is listed on pages 983-985. And nowhere does it say what Mr. Wilson claims he was told. And I do not believe that Lexus would have the features as Mr. Wilson states without it being in the manual, because that feature would be a biggie.