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Time to update this thread... I test drove a lightly used CT200h at the nearest Lexus dealer at the start of the week. I had been interested in a brand new car and managed to find some great deals (albeit at dealers some distance away), but the convenience of being able to look locally at several different specs and colours together seemed like a good place to start. I spent about an hour driving a 2018 Sky Blue demonstrator, which I'd picked out on the basis of colour and spec (on a sunny day, the colour looked fabulous). I concentrated on driving around town and practicing things like reverse parking, rather than a more usual dual carriageway test route. This is the sort of use our cars get the most of, although I did also take in some higher speed driving. The overall impression was one of serenity. Most of the driving was done on battery power, with the engine cutting in an out peacefully - it really was a lovely experience for the sort of driving we mostly do. I will admit that I didn't drive the car hard and therefore suspect I drove around the common reviewer comments about a thrashy engine. I also suspect that if you drove a CT like an average German hatchback on the open road - burying the throttle from low revs once on the move, expecting a wave of turbo torque to arrive - it would seem rather different. I personally found the ride really quite fine, with the route including lots of broken and undulating roads. It certainly felt taut, but I was left a bit mystified about comments about harsh ride quality... maybe that's just my back-catalogue of performance cars. The drivers seat was really quite superb and I like the large wing mirrors, which partly offset the average rear visibility. Anyway, I like it enough to buy that very car! It's a 2018 SE model with 7k on the clock and the Plus pack, which as far as I can tell is the same spec as what is currently the 2019 base model - but in turn is quite well specified compared to the pre-2018 cars. The main option I wanted was the Lexus safety system, which is either an expensive option on most other compact cars and / or not available. There are some other options on the car, which I don't have to hand. I'm hopefully picking it up this weekend. Ordering a new CT in a colour I wanted would have meant waiting another 4 months, so the small but appreciable (10%) saving of buying a lightly used model against the very lowest broker offers on a new car seems worth it. I don't expect that wait and extra outlay would be worth it several years down the line. It's far from a perfect car and arguably a bit of a niche - but it's one that fits our requirements much better than many others out there. It makes ICE-only cars seem antiquated, even when it's an old-ish model in itself!

Ha, I can see a Scottish meet on the cards!

My wife isn't insured on my ISF or any of my previous cars. I thought this was standard behaviour among owners? 😁

This legislation is to make manufacturers fit appropriate electronics to new cars in preparation for road pricing using the EU Galileo GPS. This is to provide a source of future revenue when fuel tax begins to fall with the mandated introduction of electric vehicles in the future. It does not mean that the infrastructure to allow all this technology will be in place and working by 2022. The system will require the widespread us of 5G to allow realtime datacomms from vehicles and, as a secondary feature, will allow realtime monitoring of speeds etc. The big problem is that older vehicles without this technology will probably be around until 2042 and so a blanket system cannot be introduced for a long time. Another big issue is that technology is not perfect - Boeing 737 Max 8 anyone?

Never mind cleaning it. Go and get it dirty before the sun comes out as then you will want to use the SC. 😀

Im a expert at keeping black cars clean 😂 , i have two now and a few in the past

I would have less of an issue with this proposal if the following were true: a) Speedometers in this country actually reported accurate speeds like they do in the US, instead of over-reading by what is often a ridiculous margin. You can bet the limiter will operate at the speedometer reading not the real speed, meaning we'll all be doing 3-5mph less than the actual limit. b) Speed limits weren't set by local council morons who think the answer to 'road safety' is just to continually lower the limit on roads which are perfectly safe at the NSL if you actually drive with your eyes open and look at the road ahead. Yes, I'm bitter that half of my commute has just gone from NSL to 40 for no good reason whatsoever, but the point still stands. Too many limits are now simply too low. c) 'Road Sign Recognition' systems actually worked. Many are a complete joke that routinely report completely the wrong limit after missing or misreading signs. The Toyota one, which presumably will be similar to any Lexus system, is spectacularly hopeless. In principle, I have no problem with enforced limits of excessive speed. But unless the three things above change then I suspect we're all going to end up stuck behind the person in the brand new car who's forced to do 5mph below a limit that's been set 20mph too low in the first place. Or behind the Toyota still chuntering along at 30 because it failed to spot the NSL signs half a mile ago. At which point someone in a yet-to-be-limited car will get so fed up that they overtake desperately, misjudge their move and end up killing someone.

I have one if anyone is interested. PM me for link

What Car have announced that 2009 to present Lexus RX450h is the 6th most reliable car. No 1is Toyota Yaris and No2 is Lexus CT200h.

Why thank you Sir. The thought was to trade in mine for a younger 430 with half the mileage, as I am determined to be driving an LS430 for at least the next decade . . . Jon

This is detailed safety stuffs you just posted. Nice. I must say that if we are going to carry on with all these new safety features and keep on adding whatever we may find in the near future to reach zero fatality, very soon, we are all going to rediscover to what it will be like seating in the back seat of any new intelligent cars - which would guarantee the zero fatality (providing all vehicles are fitted with the same common technology). I would not be surprised if this happens sooner than later, we will be driven from A to B with AI technology - we would just have to say where we want to go and seat in the back only with our seat belts on (of course) - The future could be: own a car that speaks the voice you wish to live with ie New BMW self driven car with the voice of 'J-LO' or Ferrari with the voice of Schumacher or Lexus with the voice of Kylie Minogue? Our grand kids would then want to hear stories about us 'what was it like driving a car before AI took over?'... Driving a vehicle for the cheer pleasure may only be allowed on tracks... This is perhaps a bit too far fetched but a possibility.

This was also mentioned at the same time as the speed limiters and how effective it will be in keeping insurance companies in the wealth to which they have become accustomed. Just for a second think if you had one installed on your car (not that it will be optional). Any time you decide to have a little blast, it’s recorded. The thing about data is if there’s a record it can be read and with the internet of things already happening, it doesn’t take too much imagination for that little indiscretion to be sent as a data file to interested parties, such as police and insurance companies. One or both have then got a really good future revenue stream in fines and increased premiums. I hope this takes another 10 to 15 years to happen though, because after that I won’t give a monkeys....

Ohhh Aberdeenshire just down the road from me... minutes in fact if i drive the F lol 😂

The power steering is electric and after alignment or battery disconnect you should get the sensors reset. I've had the 12v battery disconnected several times without adversely affecting steering but since 4 wheel alignment the steering wheel had tugged a little on turns, across camber. All sorted now tho. While over in Sheffield I dropped into Lexus for a hybrid health check, at 115k miles and 11 years old. She passed and the traction battery now has another years warranty [emoji41]

I wonder how many 4 litre Soarers there are left in UK. (stop being lazy-look it up, Chris!) I've got them on my Watchlist, though I may be a bit old fashioned, as stuff gets sold on Twitter, or whatever, these days, it seems! I'd love a good 4 litre Auto car to do w/end drives in my dotage! Miss that engine!

An easy way to rule out the belt is to spray silicone on it as it runs, actually, even spraying water on will be almost as good. If the noise goes immediately you know it's likely to be the belt.

Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence. It varies the valve opening timing and valve open duration depending on a whole variety of variables controlled by a computer. Essentially it gives you an engine optimised for torque at low RPM and an engine optimised for power at high RPM. Results are better drive-ability and better fuel economy. VVT-iW (W for Wide) on the 460 also added a lot more power (90Bhp more than the 430 motor).

Stuart. I thought it might be the serpentine. I had it replaced about 4 years ago. I am going to try another indie and see what he says. I am too old to go fiddling about in the engine compartment. I have used the car almost every day for the last nine years and have looked after it. George. If it is the lifter is that a huge job. i.e. would it be worth it ?

Nothing wrong with a mid life crisis as my wife is happy to remind me every time she sees me roof off in the 911! I think that's a great stable you have there and I'm still hoping to own both of those at some point plus a 600h and then an LC, hoping I live long enough and have enough money to do all that! Enjoy

Congratulations Basil and welcome to the World of Lexus motoring. Let`s have some piccies when available please. You can extend the Warranty (for 7 years) after the Manufacturers Warranty has expired and you can obtain a Warranty for the Hybrid Battery ( for 15 years) free of charge so long as Lexus carry out the annual service. Enjoy.

Thanks! Is yours also on the 17"s? Don't see many of them... 😎 I expect I'll extend the warranty by another two years too... I've been doing most of my driving in a Saab for the last couple of years, so I'm a reformed character, honest guv!

I agree completely. You can spend hours reading about this on the the USA club forum but will come to the same conclusion.

QUOTE: Probably not a good idea to stick anything on the airbag - unless you want a new pair of wooden eyebrows if you stack it! You are right, David, I took them off the following day for that reason. Already have Denis Healeys, so don't need a top up!

When I was a young Police Officer I was told that there are two things that you can't tell a man, a) His wife is ugly, and b) He is a bad driver

" I wonder what the Government will do to make up the shortfall in speeding fines though? " I guess they are hoping that a drop in fatal accidents, with their cost to emergency services and the economy will make up the shortfall

Welcome Ziggy. A beautiful motor is that..........just like mine. The Hybrid Battery can now be warranted for 15 years,so long as you have it checked annually by Lexus. Just do not bring BMW road manners to your new world of Lexus mototing (lol) Regards John

Probably not a good idea to stick anything on the airbag - unless you want a new pair of wooden eyebrows if you stack it!

There are cheap key programmers on ebay that claim to work in the event that all keys are lost: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Lexus-All-in-1-Key-Programmer-VIA-OBD-II-4D-4C-Chip-Smart-Key-USA-Seller/233096860376?hash=item3645a7d2d8:g:1vwAAOSwEJ1cPzSi

I personally didnt need a big family car, as mrs has that covered now, plus i said to myself 4yrs ago when these came out “I WANT-ONE OF THESE” said the same about LS600hL when they came out and true to my word i got one Said this about LC so watch this space in 4yrs time lol and i generally only keep a car for 4 yrs but LS had stretched me to 5yrs ownership... lovely car and loved every minute of it Also mid life crisis 😂 hence 2 coupes now

Once had a rubbing noise that was a stone caught between the backing plate and brake disc.... Had a rubbing noise on A BMW Z3 that was the entire brake pad parted from the backing on a rear brake caliper, fortunately it didn't fall out or that might have been a little entertaining. It was a genuine BMW part.

Does your insurance cover for lost keys? Many policies do so it is worth checking. John.

Hi Walter, to answer a few of your questions.. Eurocar parts will stock most of parts you will need for servicing. Ebay also has some good sellers for parts and tyres. in terms of playing DVD my previous 2.4 Accord could play DVD's but i haven't tried it in the GS yet but i see no reason why it wouldn't play. worth you just testing it out if you have a DVD disc. recommended Oil is fully synthetic 5W-30 any fully synthetic which has API-SN, SL, ACEA A3,B3 or C3 , A5 will do so long as its fully synthetic 5W-30 in terms of brand Castrol, Mobil, Shell, Petronas are all good brands which i prefer. you can pick up 5L Shell 5w-30 on ebay for less than £20 but you need 6.3 litres for a service. tires pressure i run 37 psi front and 38 rear and rides nice and comfortable. in terms of brands i prefer mid range like Kumho, Falken and Yokohamas as the GS is not a sports car so i don't personally feel the need to go for high performance ones like Pirelli's, Bridgestones and Michelin's but each to their own. infsct i'm currenlty looking at abrand called Landsail LS588 I have been reading some good reviews and are reasonably priced on Ebay. https://www.landsailtires.com/tires/ls588/

I was at my Saab garage the other day and there was a 9-3 on the ramp and one of the guys was working under it. But every second or two the rear number plate lights flashed on and off. They said he'd fitted some "daft LEDs". I've a feeling the ignition wasn't even on. Is that what you mean? No, I was talking about the indicators because that's what the OP mentioned. Indicator bulbs are 21W so front and back makes 42W, plus about 5W for the side repeaters and a little for the dash telltale, so for ease of explanation we'll say 50W in total, which would equate to a current draw of 4.17A. A 'traditional' flasher unit uses a bimetallic strip to flash the indicator lights by way of the fact that current flowing in a circuit creates heat. The bimetallic strip is designed such that a current flow of 4.17A will make it get hot and bend, thereby cutting off the supply to the bulbs. As there is then no current flowing the strip cools down and bends back to make contact again, thereby restoring the current flow, which is how we get the flashing sequence, and to pass an MOT they must flash between 60 and 120 times per minute. As I said, a normal indicator bulb is 21W but an LED is rated much, much less and draws only a fraction of the current, so the bimetallic strip never gets hot because there isn't enough current draw. The CANBUS system sees this as a fault and makes the indicators flash at a much higher rate - known as 'hyperflashing' - to draw our attention to the supposed 'fault'. This is the reason why you have to put load resistors in the circuit - to make the circuit draw the correct amount of current to make the bimetallic strip do its job. Or you could change to a proper LED flasher unit that uses electronics rather than a bimetallic strip. As to the other lights, such as number plate, side and tail etc., they should work perfectly well as long as you replace them with LEDs that are specifically described as 'CANBUS aware' or 'No CANBUS errors'.

Yeah, that can happen if you fit LEDs to a car that is supposed to have halogen bulbs. The computer detects bulb failures by periodically sending a pulse to the bulb and checking the resistance across it. Because halogen bulbs take a second to light up you don't notice anything, but with LEDs they are instant so you see it flashing.

I was at my Saab garage the other day and there was a 9-3 on the ramp and one of the guys was working under it. But every second or two the rear number plate lights flashed on and off. They said he'd fitted some "daft LEDs". I've a feeling the ignition wasn't even on. Is that what you mean?

I've done this recently. In the past I've had two LS400s. Both lovely and bought for less than £1k each. Drove both for around 3 years with must normal servicing and the odd extra bill. The first one was LPG and sadly the VVTI unit when bang travelling along a local bypass. I put it down to poor servicing prior to my ownership. The second car I ending up selling for a small profit. I really enjoyed both the LS400 but the family didn't like them much. They were a bit too dated in style (they have no taste!). I loved the history behind the car and researched that quite a bit at the time. I'm not a mechanic and I've not got any particular interest in learning how to do anything more complex than changing oil, etc. So, my view is that it would probably be good to have more skill than me to keep these things going on the road as they get older. It could be an expensive game to be in if you are paying independent mechanics fees for jobs on these cars on a more regular basis. Anyway, move forward to last year (and following two years in a lovely Honda Accord 3.0 Coupe), I bought my current car - a 2008 LS600 from Lexus Stoke. Just over 100k and they included a full three year warranty in the sale. I've now done just over 15k in the car. Immaculate service history, all Lexus, from day one. It will continue to be that way. I've put a private plate on it and it is often mistaken for a new car by those who know nothing about these things :) I love this car. The family love it too. It is so quiet, refined, luxurious and has enough bells and whistles to keep everyone engaged. The quality of the workmanship throughout is astonishingly good. I have the 'poverty' spec by choice (no reclining rear seats) but I can put a digital piano on the back seat when needed for work. It is super quiet on the motorway, loads of power, and is a fabulous place to be. I regularly get just over 30mpg which isn't bad for such a big car imho. I look at the newer LS range and I like the dynamic styling etc. But I also really love the look of my car too. I can honestly say that there is another car that I'd rather own at the moment that this LS600. Whilst I genuinely loved both of my LS400 and was really sad to see them go, given the choice I'd go for the LS600 every day of the week. It is an amazing bit of engineering in every respect. The only issue is what on earth am I going to replace this amazing car with around the summer of 2021?

Hi Nick, go for it, you won't regret it. Have gone through the range of LS's over the past 17 years; 95 mark 3 400; Owned for 3 years, bought with 150k miles, replaced front suspension (£700 ish) 99 mark 4 400 DHP; Owned for 4 years, 65k miles to 100k, can't remember any major issues. 2006 430; Bought at 2 years old with 130k, no major problems, sold only because I fell in love with the 460. 2007 460 SE-L; 60k, kept for 4 years, sold at 102k, no problems at all. 2009 600HL RSR; Bought at 3 years old 70k miles. Sold after 5 years of ownership, 115k on the clock and running perfectly. and presently a 2013 600 HL. I think after every change, I've wondered if I've done the right thing. Each one is different and after a few weeks of getting used to it you realise you have. I'm pretty sure that each model I've had, the costs have been about the same to keep on the road. MPG is about 25, Insurance is roughly the same, VED is cheaper, being a hybrid. Some nice examples for sale at the moment, to suit all budgets. Good Luck, Graham.