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hi John, This is my first time buying Lexus. I had been interested in Lexus previously, but ended up getting an Audi in 2018 as they offered a very good deal (effectively took the VAT off the RRP an A6 S-Line Diesel). I have to say it didn't age well. Also, in 2018 ES was not available immediately here in UK. On the A6, the door cards had developed a rattle in just about a month which the dealership could not locate and fix. The ride was a bit meh. Steering feel was anaesthetic and became wooly after I switched to all season tyres. Fuel economy was OK. I managed almost 64mpg in one instance on the motorway. All it did well was going fast in a straight line on the motorway. The worst part, the right hand drive version of the A6 has a very weird seating position and the seats in the S-Line are hard. I never was able to find a seating position which didn't give me a back ache or left lower leg aches. On the other hand, I have relatives in US who have had their Lexus GS for over ten years and almost 100k miles. I drove that car and that car felt nearly showroom fresh. No rattles, squeaks or other mechanical oddness. There was other wear and tear but on a blindfold, I couldn't have guessed the car was that old. That car was recently replaced with a newer GS. I don't think the same can be said about the Germans based on my personal experience. I am not surprised that your CT feels like new. That's the core value of Lexus. Cheers, --E

Agree with John, very nice and useful report that covered everything, almost. How is your fuel consumption and until what speed you can run EV mode?

Thanks Les, a nice informative and objective report. TOO much credence given to so called Motoring Journalists in my view.

A journey tonight of a quarter of a mile and starting out at 1200rpm by the time I had reached my destination it was 900rpm and the heater had kicked in. The temperature sensor had obviously been misreading for some time as I had always wondered why the heating took so long to turn on, and I am talking as long as I can remember and I have owned the car for nearly five years. My car has 216,000 miles on it so it could have been the original sensor but the point is if your car is staying at high revs too long or taking forever for the heating to turn on maybe it's time for a new original Lexus temperature sensor. As Paul says this is one of the most important sensors on your car and effects the running massively. A big thank you for all the help I have received for this and other problems I have encountered in the past. I had to drive my Mercedes C220 w124 from 1996 for the last week or so and all I can say is if that was the last well built Mercedes well I don't know! Getting back into the Lexus you actually realise why they invented the word 'Luxury' , which I believe came to be understood perfectly in 1989! I paid £800 for my armchair on wheels and I left the previous owner outside of his house with a look so forlorn I felt I should send a grief counsellor to him that very afternoon! The poor man was moving to some island in the middle of nowhere and had to part with his well loved conveyance. I will not tell you what I paid for the Mercedes as I may well need a counsellor of some denomination myself!

Here's my thoughts on the ES300h after almost a month of ownership. Two words sum it all up for me. It's special. And in case it helps someone who is shopping around, here's some pointers under different headings about the Lexus and other brands. I considered Audi A6, Merc E-Class... the usual suspects. Dodged that bullet - The Audi A6 I didn't end up buying. (Check audi-sport.net for reports of issues on the new A6s). Objectively speaking, NO ONE SHOULD EVEN GO NEAR THE A6. Not in the current generation. I paid the deposit as well but pulled out in time ! Audi offered a damn good deal tbh but I could not muster the courage to buy in to all the issues that were repeatedly reported. The E Class came pretty close too. But in the end the ES won me over. It is excellent value, lovely to drive and a beautiful looking car. - Topaz Brown interior: I was very keen on getting this but I saw one in real life and I think that interior colour combination will work in California but will be too drab here in U.K. due to the dark headliner. (This is subjective) - Takumi Spec : Too expensive for the drivetrain on offer. I wouldn't mind paying Takumi spec money for the V6 or at least the 250HP AWD Hybrid drivetrain (now available in UK in Toyota Highlander) Regrets - Not getting the Sandstone interior. The light interior does make it feel spacious. Now that I have the black on black I feel claustrophobic when I compare that to the spaciousness I felt in the test drive car which had Sandstone interior (but I guess it's less upkeep/maintenance) What could Lexus do better - Make the boot lid electric opening and closing. (Don't really care for the kick sensor, but give me a switch on the inside and the key to open/close the boot lid) - The semi-autonomous steering could be better. I find that it corrects the steering too many times at certain points. I have turned that off for now and only relying on lane departure steering correction. And the erratic (for me) behaviour is repeatable at exactly the same points on the same road. I think I should give Lexus the GPS coordinates of the locations and rest of the data Lexus can extract from my car's blackbox and see if they can fix it. - Too many lights and too many colours in the central display. The LCD display itself is very good. But lights around it are a bit "Christmassy" - Breaks. I didn't notice this on the test drive. But I have to be very deliberate with breaking or else it results very little breaking for the first 70% of break pedal travel and then a full on emergency breaking beyond that. The dealership has adjusted tyre pressures (I noted 2.9psi hot) and I am getting used to it. I guess it may be the pads bedding in. Thought I would regret but don't - The small screen. Not bad at all. It is a very good screen and has almost no glare and reflections. Get's very bright when needed and manages to remain vibrant enough and not appear washed out. - The standard audio system. IIRC is about 300W and 8-channel. I listen to MP3 mostly and for music I don't even bother pluging in for CarPlay. For me, it is totally perfectly OK. (Having tried various brands, I think it all boils down to having a balanced centre channel and a dedicated sub and a channel for the sub and the ES has it). Quite a lot of it will depend on the the MP3 compression but for MP3s I get from iTunes (actually AAC) I am happy. Pleasant Surprise - The ambient lighting in Premium Pack is pretty chill. It doesn't allow all the customizations the A6 would have but I have read that multi coloured lighting gets old pretty quickly. However for the sedate/soothing nature of the ES, the door card and footwell lighting is just ... soothing. - Drivetrain. Now, I did test drive for a few hours but I think something has changed for MY2021. The theoretical system torque is about 300Nm (221Nm just for the ICE) but my car doesn't feel all that weak when I compared to the 400Nm I remember from my previous diesel car. The test car felt more than adequate, but my car feels punchier than I remember the test car (or the engine is too "fresh" and not switching to Port Injectors yet) - The Howl. No, not the CVT howl. The electric howl under 20mph. I honestly don't remember that from the test drive and maybe it's a MY21 addition but I just love that sound. (Checkout savagegeese review of the ES300h on YouTube, the opening sound before the piano kicks in). It's out of this world. What the press got wrong. - CVT howl. Carwow, Carbuyer, WhatCar and Driving Electric all mention this. Total non-sense. Not in anyway as bad or annoying as the press report it. My friend's Range Rover Sport SDV6 makes a worse sound when pulling through in high gear. I remember my 318i to be much louder on kick down. Also, I test drove a Volvo V90 Petrol, that car makes a racket on kick down. Compared to my previous A6 diesel, I would say the ES is not any louder or "droney" than that. On the A6 in Economy mode, I could hear the very annoying valve chatter at low speeds on a quiet road. No quibbles what so ever on the ES. It's all good. - Lumpen drive. I don't understand the press' fascination with sporty/stiff suspension, disconnected steering, large wheels on a high-torque-at-low-rpm packages. It's great that Lexus made the ES the way it is. Works well on the emabarassment we have for roads here. The ES is such a departure from the staple and thankfully so. It's not a lumpen drive on the ES. It's comfortable, predictable, quiet, relaxing and safe. - The touch pad. It's not as annoying as the press make it sound. And many other brands are actually switching to touch pads. Mercedes and Acura(I don't we'll ever see one here in the U.K.) come to mind. Audi Haptic Touch MMI is a worse interface in my mind as it takes more attention and less likely to benefit from muscle memory.

I finally managed to have carplay installed yesterday at my Lexus dealer (Teesside). They had some issues with the install and had the car all day, but all in all a fantastic job done by them with a loan car thrown in, and all for £80 including VAT. A bargain in my view, particularly considering some of the horror stories I have read on here with people attempting self install with very mixed results, and at worst a system write off that is not covered by warranty. I have since married CarPlay to a Cplay2air wireless system and it is fantastic. Automatically connects when I get into the car and no wires required. Fantastic system and so easy to install. Highly recommended.

A Yuasa Silver was what I settled for a couple of days ago. 5 year warranty and higher capacity. Had to go for Halfords as they are the closest supplier to me. (1.5 miles). Fitter told me that they were running low on stock due to high sales volume and erratic supply chain. The old unit he was replacing had the positive terminal on the left hand side, but he had produced a battery with the positive on the right side. He turned the battery around and fitted it with no problems. The cables to the battery had enough movement to accommodate the terminals on the new unit although they were further away now. Not sure why old and new batteries were different. Car started immediately and with a lot more oomph!! All good now and bring on the next snow blizzard. (which only seems to be a few minutes away).

The salesman explained that they would not retail a car over 10 years old as they could not offer a warranty. Bit strange that there is a 15 year old example at Lexus Sidcup for £15k. However, not exactly a hardship cruising around in the SC-when the weather picks up and we are all vaccinated of course!!

Totally off topic but if the family expands I can also recommend the built in booster seats in the Volvos, VWs, SEATs etc. Odd to recommend other brands on here but it really does surprise me that more manufacturers don't offer them. There are a million things recommended to new parents to make their lives easier but few are actually any use apart from Isofix Built in boosters nappy bins

Got you. If you have a new born an he/she is your first then trust me, get the Isofix base. You'll thank me the first time it's throwing it down with rain and you're trying to get the seat from the stroller and into the car! Takes seconds and all done with one click. We used it for all three of ours. I do remember something like this now you mention it. We used the feature in the Volvos when we had the next (non-Isofix) stage seats.

Hi red-lex i tried this years ago but i found it hard to engage the rachet in the seat belt reel i did manage to do it a couple of times but it i think it was luck that i managed it, you are meant to pull the belt out to its limits and then slowly release the belt and let it roll back in on the rachet. richard the method above is used so there isnt any slack in the belt thats holding a non isofix child seat in a car, so in the event of an emergency stop the rachet thats been engaged wont let the seat belt unwind and release the car child seat. it is quite an unknown feature of a seat belt

Have you seen this Les ? https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/lexus/es-2018/

It's been a while since I've been here in the RX section but I've had to post this video. It's the best one yet that I've seen. What a palaver to do but doable.

Our first Lexus is no disappointment either. Good you like the one you bought too. Sure, you will be happy with the car a long time as our car was bought 4-year-old and run as good as all the cars we have bought new. The gearbox in the CT is also much quieter than many reviews tell and that the CT is not a big car is easily shown, but for people on front seat not taller than 195cm room is excellent; 180cm tall persons go in rear seat as well without problems, so these journalists must be basketball player height or just writing what they have been told to write.

I've bought a few over the years. They're all much of a muchness but most recently this one. Works just fine in the V70. And alternative would be the GROM kit which is far superior. Guessing it's this.

I used to be on the LOC all the time with my Lexus IS200. Just wanted to say hi again after about 7 years off the forum and not owning a Lexus..anyway this is my new pride and joy which is same platform as RX300 but not sold in UK. 2002 Toyota Highlander

unlikely ...... I recently watched part of an episode and lo and behold ....... a simple shot of her at the steering wheel chatting to the mike and the boss on the steering wheel, well, you couldn't make it up .. was that of a Bentley guess she drives that ( her own ? ) car most of the time, the camper being for effect eh ! Malc

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tM9AiFGyXRLMAJiY6 https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZuV8f8VvbLpSXv7v7

Have you heard of SRD Tuning near Haywards Heath? Specialise in Japanese performance, including fast Lexus.

Last night whilst watching Susan Calman pootle around Wales in her camper van Helen, I thought "I wonder what the MOT history of Helen is?". So I checked. The failure history is epic. It has failed almost every year. Some years it does no miles between MOTs and still fails! Clocking? I do hope that Ms Calman doesn't die in a horrific head-on with a tractor in the final episode. I am very worried about her brakes....

The ls was 8 years older but actually a little lower miles. Ls was quieter and felt big .and had a few of the comon faults . The gs is little more bumpy on the rd and feels much quicker . The cvt box is brilliant. I think the gs has been maintained better even though its had a few owners. Id honestly say the gs is one if not the best car ive driven. And ive had probably in excess of 120 . The blue paint on it is probably the best ive seen. Far superior to the german cars ive had

Got SRD to change my radiator. I know James who works there. Lee had a hybrid LS as his own car last time I was there. Very good bunch of guys.

BUT he needs to unlock / realise his profit on the NX ! it's often a fine balancing act ( I know from my days as a car dealer many moons ago ) and in this lockdown climate the finer considerations are even finer to tune Malc

And once the engine doesn't need to run for other operational reasons (such as charging the hybrid battery, reaching operating temperature) you can start and stop the engine just by turning the climate control on and off.

This is the best advice. For a new-born, get an isofix base that lets you, ideally, unclip the babyseat from the pushchair and then in the car slot it into the clips on the isofix base. I spent a couple of years using a baby seat without an isofix base and the problem was that when you put the baby carrier on the car seat, you then have to strap the seatbelt over and round the seat and baby, who is already strapped into the seat. At the destination, you then have to unclip and rewind the seat belt. Much easier just to press a button and lift the seat and baby straight out. Having said that, if you don't want to buy the base, from the safety point of view I always assumed that although the seatbelt doesn't hold the baby seat rigidly, all the seatbelts would lock in a crash, securing the baby seat as effectively as a it would secure a seated passenger. I've never heard of seatbelts that can lock round a baby seat though looking on the internet, there seem to be some examples on older cars. When you get to the next stage, if you can afford it, it's safest to get a child seat that allows the child to face backwards up to the age of four. The Britax one swivels and can face backwards or forwards. The problem with small children facing forwards is that in a crash their head is thrown forward and it represents a lot of the child's total weight, proportional to its body. This can cause damage to the neck and spine, I think. Facing backwards, this doesn't happen, so it's much safer.

Another brilliant contribution. Herbie, does your CV mention the fact that you were part of the Back Up Team which brought Apollo13 home safely ?

Congrats John for a great car! These cars are great machines, the only thing I can complain about mine is the rattling dashboard. But that is it.

Thanks John, yes I have seen that 🙂 I'd be over the moon if I get 50mpg consistently 🤩 Cheers, --E

Hi Richard, I am attaching a Maxi-Cosi Pebble-pro seat... which will be for a new born. I’ve fitted the seat as per the instruction using a belt, but it just doesn’t seem secure to me as you can move the seat left to right very easily. I’m sure in the demonstration, the belt locked when it was pulled all the way out. Some car belts have a ratchet feature that engages, purely to fit seats.

hi Vlad, I haven't reset the computer since delivery and have yet to do a full-to-full comparison. Having said that, the current consumption over approx 350 miles is just over 40mpg. The best I have seen recorded in Lexus Link is over 50mpg. Have been on the motorway maybe three or four times so far and I do notice the EV light coming on even on the motorway for short periods of time. Last evening on return from the grocery run, it was running on EV for about 46% of the time and 44% of the distance. I will try a full-to-full next time I refuel. I will be a happy bunny if this land yacht can show anything over 45mpg on petrol ! Cheers, --E

jeez, can't begin to think the servicing and maintenance £££££ you've spent with Lexus ............ £2900 wot a dopey valn. for trade-in Lexus should be ashamed of themselves 😲 Malc

Yes I think with the cost of simple technology being cheap now it should be made mandatory that All new cars be fitted with dash cams and also that all used cars have then fitted too, maybe a pre requisite of insurance.

Good morning all, I did indeed view this, and take the advice offered.. As the ISF as a model appears to be appreciating, and it had been my dream car for as long I had had known about them, I thought now was about the right time to buy. The choices at the time for about this price were this for 22k (2012 48k miles), a titanium with white interior for 23.5k (2012, 58k miles) or a 2010 in black for 22k (32k miles). I saw this red and loved it. All the work mentioned previously had been remedied, and I bought it with a bit of a discount, a Lexus service and delivery thrown in. I have also got a service plan and a Lexus warranty(unlikely to be used I believe, but you never know!) Once I got car back, and had it ceramically coated (at Fresh layers in Chichester, if you're interested to know) you can see the results for yourself below! An amazing car to drive, and I've had a few admiring comments already... I really love the Q car, and love that not many people know what it actually is!! My DD is a LS430, so I get the best of both worlds... long live the Lexus V8!

Was just about to post that all my imports are insured via Adrian Flux, found them very straightforward and easy to deal with compared to some of the other specialists for import insurance. As for the speedo conversion I wouldn't bother. Have always preferred to keep mine in KM without muddying the waters with miles involved but that's probably just me.

There is no setting to enable auto locking when leaving the vehicle. Period.

No, you're right, that's correct. I do this when I'm cleaning it too.

Pretty sure there is one in my shed stock, getting dark now but will forage tomorrow.

That's excellent subha. My MPG isn't as good as that but it did improve with the cross climates. And the car is so much quieter now

When I wash my car, I always unlock it, open and close one of the doors and then put the key on the shelf at the back-end of the garage and then no problems. if I just unlock it without opening a door, then it will lock itself again. I'm pretty sure that my car won't lock itself again if I have opened and closed one of the doors. I would have to physically do it myself.

Great news, get a project thread going and unlock that 2jz full potential

I actually got her back the day before Yesterday! Have been busy trying to get the GROM VLINE2 unit to work in the car, no such luck yet but the garage did a wonderful job and a nice polish and she's looking the best she ever has!

Yes, turning thoughts and ideas into costs. Started looking for a new rear bumper to be rid of the quads too.🙂 I was looking at the rear light arrangement after reading something on the US forum and was surprised to learn that the tail-lights are only fitted to the outer lens clusters and not both. Am I permitted a subtle rear spoiler? @Thomas, you can have the 55 people who accidentally subscribed to my channel if that would help? I say 'channel' but it was just a vid. I was trying to think of a new idea or angle on reviewing for you but there are so many reviewers out there already, all trying to carve more than their share. There's one in the US with lots of followers and he's hopeless with the facts and objective views but still gets a good response. Perhaps you could review a car whilst detailing it or visiting well known Scottish landmarks. I'm not suggesting you resort to performing cartwheels in a kilt while playing the bagpipes (that could go viral) but a review with some new or slightly different insight to draw people in with the promise of the next intriguing installment would be good. Maybe you could host a live Lexus webchat session occasionally. Plenty of hot topics like cat convertor theft, infotainment help required, wheel ideas, paint correction or even simple purchasing advice.

Can't comment Dave, he was buying them cheap but not sure if they were cheap because they are used Premium Tyres or used and budget tyres. I do not see logic in it as I think this is your and your family safety. I think I could go used tire but only as a temporary solution, like until I get a proper tire delivered and then fitted.

Yeah I am happy to help any way that I can, and thanks for watching it too! (appreciate it - my goal is to try get to 1k subs)

Had a UX as a loan car, and while I quite liked it - especially the responsive 2-litre hybrid system - I was disappointed by the poor cabin quality compared with the NX, the claustrophobic rear seats, and the tiny boot. It's clearly a more modern design, but the NX still looks fresh, and in my view is much better value for money.

I have just removed the Dunlops from the rear and had Michelin Cross climates and i have Cross Climates on the front too, i have noticed that the mpg has gone up to 45mpg

Had an offer to change from 2018 nx to 2020 model; before I did I tried a UX250h (also have had one as a courtesy car). UX has better performance and a great hybrid system. Did the figures for roughly similar spec vehicles, on PCP - UX with a few option packs came out as around £40 month more a month than NX300h Premium sport. NX in my view was better, bigger (but not excessively so), obviously more roomy, higher driving position for better visibility, 4 wheel drive (ux quote was for 2 wheel drive version, 4 wheel drive version bumps price even more) and in my opinion a better interior. Went for the the NX. Hope they fit RAV 4 engine in the next NX release as even though there is nothing wrong with the existing engine it does feel behind the latest generation hydrid units that Toyota/ Lexus are using. NX is a lovely place to be when driving, fit Michelin across Climates to improve ride, and gives you genuine all weather ability. MPG from 38 - 42 mpg over 9500 miles the UX will be better than this. Try them both at your nearest dealership and then decide, everyone has different requirements

Well, I have read pages 84 to 88 and 116 onwards in the manual and I don't understand it. The alarm does set 30 seconds after you lock the car. The car does automatically lock after 30 seconds if you unlock it and don't open a door but what it does not do is lock itself and arm the alarm if you get out and walk away leaving it unlocked. Can you indicate where this is expressed in the manual. I have washed the car many times leaving it unlocked on the drive with the key well away from the car.

If you want to clean it you need something like a toothbrush to get underneath but I never did this in fear of damaging the paint. They annoyed me and I found it a genuine PITA to clean them as much as possible so just removed them - looks much cleaner IMO And no stone chips on this area after 4 years by the way - Im very very skeptical about this little piece of PPF - the place that really needs PPF is probably the front bumper than this area. Additionally, this particular car was bought from Lexus Chester - cant complain with the service I got, and the deal on the vehicle too.