Vince Donald

Crikey, seemed to have kicked off a diplomatic incident 😜 Usual German biased crowd don't interest me - which is why I used to drive a Lexus (and previously 3 Saabs) rather than a BMW or Audi, the only BMW I ever considered was a 5 series. The German cars that the Stinger "competes with" are about £6-10k more expensive BEFORE speccing up, probably in the region of £25-30k more by the time you've added the same kit. I only mentioned the toys as stepping out of the IS into this and it is quite striking, it did take me about a week to get to know how all the toys work there are that many. And the quality feels good too, many of the German biased reviews talk about "better quality plastic" - but the plastics in here are a match for anything I've seen in a Lexus (I have driven IS, CT & NX and sat in a UX). But never mind plastic, the centre console here is clad in brushed aluminium - actual metal, it does feel a better cabin than the Lexus I've had and as good as any I've been in. Never had so many people talk to me about my car before, and heads turning, even had a group of Mums walking their kids to school this morning craning round as they crossed over the zebra crossing 😁 Vince

I've seen criticism of the fake vents, mainly those on the bonnet, doesn't detract the looks IMHO if anything it breaks up the huge bonnet. The other obvious vents around the front wheels are there to do some work. Obviously the smoothness of the auto box can never match the Lexus due to how the Lexus works but it is a good 8 speed box. 0-60 is supposed to be 4.7s and the few times I've planted my foot, I can very well believe it, its quite staggering how fast it pulls. 365bhp & 376lb-ft (about 510Nm) so it pulls just the same to overtake something as well, really gonna have to take it steady to keep a points free license. But it is set up as a Grand Tourer, only after lockdown end will I find out how good it is at munching the miles, something the Lexus was extremely good at. Vince

Well 4 years with my Mesa Red IS300h and I've now move on to this.. Er, its a Kia.... Stinger 3.3 Twin turbo. Must say that the amount of toys this thing has makes the Lexus look a little poor by comparison. Quality wise. I'm impressed, and this thing is seriously fast. Vince

I've noticed that the rear window takes a long time to clear in the colder winter months. I had the AC setting where it disables the rear vents, but have found the system runs better in winter if this is set so the rear vents are active. Vince

I think its just the base model of IS which doesn't have folding rear seats, I know mine does. Vince

I had water ingress issue in my Skoda Superb Mk1, even back then this was described as the typical VAG car water ingress issue, which was good in 1 respect - sorted in a matter of hours - except for the drying process. Vince

Isn't the top speed on an NX 112mph? Questioning the consumption at the top speed is erm questionable. Vince

No it was a petrol, 1.4 I think, at the time we couldn't afford to do anything about it, eventually it got scrapped as cost more to fix than it was worth and her parents bought her a car to replace it, this was tell help her as she needed a car to start a new job. Now several years later she's driving a Toyota Yaris, its a great car. Vince

Quite a few miles on the clock so could be something worn but don't discount the people who say it could be the tyres. Low profile tyres when cold especially often cause this, had it on several cars, noticed it more in the cold when I used to set off for work at 6.30 in a morning in past years. Must say that it is quite noticeable on the IS, and as for only on the passenger side, on full lock, the inside and outside wheels will be doing completely different things, ie try it full lock one way then the other, you may find the sound moves to the other side. Vince

My wife had a Nissan Micra with a stretched chain at less than 40,000 miles, when looking into it seems not that uncommon unfortunately. Vince

I know where you mean I think, just behind the rotary knob for the Infotainment system is a small "tray" which is about right for your keys. My phone doesn't fit there, I have placed it there but its kinda resting in one one edge, it comes out when driving, its not wide enough. My phone sits in front of the Infotainment system screen as it angles downwards, but in strong sunshine it goes under the armrest which is handy for charging and it keeps cool with the air con as the rear vents are fed underneath this. Vince

I've put one in my IS300h and to be honest its a bit of a pain, as you can see in the photos above of an NX, it impedes the gearstick, on an IS it also impedes your view of some of the audio and climate controls. I'm going to remove it and only put it in when I really need it. Vince

You've done what I did many years ago,I went to my local Saab dealer to test drive a 9-3 having previously had a 900, the car was out on a test drive, but as I was looking at a 9-5 they offered me a drive in one of those "while I was waiting", which I did, then I drove the 9-3. Both cars had the same engine spec so the 9-3 was definitely faster, I bought a 9-5, not the one I drove, I wanted a blue one but the same spec, and a few years later I got a 9-5 Aero (the faster one). I currently have an IS300h, cracking car, but I bet the GS will be even quieter and smoother as was the 9-5 vs 9-3, also the extra space inside would fell more luxurious too. When I bought my IS, I too considered a GS, though my choice of spec and colour was out of my financial reach, I would say that if you prefer the GS go for it. Vince

I use a bit of software called MP3Tag to modify the metadata, you can edit say the Album name or Artist for the entire Album at once, you just need a bit of patience I'm afraid if you have a lot of files, I've got a 32Gb thumb drive and its physically tiny, when plugged in theres only a few of mm visible. Vince

That sticker is a good idea, I had no idea you could disable it in the car settings, been doing the 2 press thing on the remote myself. Vince

I've given up trying to work out why the engine runs when I think it shouldn't, after a run on the motorway maybe it runs to run the water pump and oil pump to cool the engine down a little. I assume you've not used the "flappy padles" as I've noticed that the ICE stays on if you try to use them to slow down rather than the brake pedal. I just leave the AC on constantly, always have in all cars I've had with AC. I think you tend to overdo the efficiency by trying too hard, been there, done that. Two and a half years in I still occasionally try things, but for the main just let the car do what it needs to do, Toyota / Lexus have been at this game for a few decades now. Relaxing driving aids mpg, but the occasional quick getaway is fun. Vince

Crikey, this was an old thread resurrected. I had something similar on my 2015 IS300h a few weeks back. Got home from work, parked and locked up, around 9.15pm, alarm goes off, so I reset it check everything, about half an hour later it goes off again, and then again about another 20 minutes. I disabled the interior sensor, never went off again. Next day I find an insect in the car, about 2cm long like a small cricket or grasshopper, something I see many of when cutting the lawns, so that was the culprit. A couple of nights later it happened again, this time as I got in to disable the sensor I saw a moth flying inside, left it disabled, would have only got more in if I tried to get it out in the dark. Next day was really hot, think it may have finished the moth off, never gone off since. In over 30 years of driving, I've never had a car where an insect set off the alarm, these Lexus have damn sensitive alarms 😁 Vince

Don't know why people say you shouldn't use ECO all the time, I'm sure I've seen Lexus suggest it would be fine, in fact, if you are in ECO mode when you switch off, the car comes back on in ECO mode, the same is not true for Sport mode. As for Spotify, I haven't used it but I have seen the display to be hit and miss regarding showing the name of the podcast I am listening to, so it probably uses the same protocols. You say that you notice the engine starting up sometimes from a standing start, this is quite normal, the system has decided that instantly you are asking for more acceleration than the electric motor will give so it starts the ICE, now there is no starter motor, it starts by adjusting the speed of the 2nd electric motor, thus momentarily reducing actual acceleration which you notice, there are several videos online which show how all this works. I find it most noticeable in Sport mode, if you bury the accelerator then there is a delay whilst the system starts the ICE, then you get very brisk acceleration. These cars are so smooth that you end up "looking" for any imperfection, had mine for two and a half years, still love driving it. Vince

My wife had a similar issue when she recently got a Toyota Yaris. On your phone, go to Bluetooth settings and look for your cars connection entry, theres a "Gear" symbol next to it, tap that. Now you should see a list of what options are available ie Phone Calls, Media Audio etc You need to enable Contact Sharing, some devices may then get you to re-pair as they have enabled a different connection protocol which wasn't standard. Vince

Hopefully your fears about CVT boxes have diminished somewhat. The video posted by Herbie showing how the Prius gearbox works simply shows how it all works. Yes the engine will rev if you "floor it", but in every day use, the revs lift a bit then fall back, I even had the engine revs drop whilst accelerating very hard up a very steep hill to overtake a group of cyclists, it does feel most odd, you need to remember that the electric motor speed is tied to the road speed, all the revs from the engine are doing is adding to the electric motor as you are asking for a lot of acceleration. When cruising along a motorway you will often see that your petrol engine may only be doing 1200rpm, the system varies the speed to optimise the efficiency depending on the current conditions, i.e up/down hill etc. If you have a relaxed style of driving, you will find it even more relaxing with an eCVT. Vince

You'll know when you find it, I had mine over a year before it was described to me, explains why sometimes acceleration can be better than other time when setting off, you have to "bury" the throttle :-) Vince

Automatics or manual, most cars will move with the handbrake on which is why most have a warning beeper to tell you. The footbrake is just the same as a handbrake in other cars, to put it on hard you need to press it down hard just like you would pull a handbrake up hard. As someone else has alreay pointed out, when in "Park", the gearbox will lock anyway. Vince

I remember seeing Bob's review of the GS450 and he was raving about how quick the acceleration was. I think his review is quite fair overall, I follow him on YouTube, his reviews are a breath of fresh air. Vince

Wow,can only assume a jealous response there. I used to do a commute of about 84km each way in my 230BHP Saab, smooth relaxed drive. Vince

IIRC the Lexus one is something ridiculous like £40, I got one off Ebay for something like £3. It's not perfect as its a little narrow at the top but I put some foam on it to stop it moving, but hey it was £3 Vince