Has it been a year already? Time clearly flies when you're enjoying yourself.
Betsy and I have covered 8,706 miles since October 20th last year at an average of 45mpg. Did I make the right decision to swap my IS300h for Betsy?
Let's start with the few things which I don't like:
the cover for the centre console cubby hole could do with being a little more solid.
The boot lid could be more rigid/heavier, but I guess this has been done for weight saving.
And some of the updates I'd make:
How about different warning sounds for front and rear parking sensors?
A socket in the roof to plug in a For Hire sign. Only joking.
And some of the things I haven't missed from the IS:
Rear wheel drive
The buttock unfriendly seats.
Now onto the things which I like:
She is supremely comfortable on long journeys, even as an F Sport with those big tyres
Fuel economy is great. I could get more if I was a little less heavy footed and prone to rushing on the A1
Performance is perfectly acceptable. There are none of the worries joining roundabouts which I had in the IS300h (rectified by putting it in Sport of course). She'll easily mix it with the Scheissewagens in lane 4 of the A1 between Huntingdon and Peterborough with no loss of face. Or should that be no loss of grille?
The boot is enormous and easily takes my big box of IT gubbins plus any shopping I might acquire on the return leg of an outing. My bass cabs fit with acres of room to spare.
Cabin noise is virtually non-existent. It does however help to run some of that Gummi stuff around the door seals every month or so to stop any creaking from the doors.
Android Auto - once I'd got the hang of it, and since AAWireless released a certain update, I love it. If you charge the phone on the Qi mat whilst using AA, it does get a bit warm and the power going in pretty much comes out immediately.
Servicing - nothing needed doing (apart from an upsell of four wheel alignment!). The brake disks still have 10mm on them so they're practically brand new.
Talking of brakes, the absence of brake dust on the wheels is great. Hopefully Betsy's wheels won't go the same way as my IS250's did. Three times.
Little things like a warning on the dash that a window is open and would I like to close it by clicking OK
Being able to check tyre pressures without using an app.
I used the memory seat function for the first time yesterday. The young lady who returned Betsy from the servicing area was quite petite. A quick stab on button 1 allowed me to get my less than svelte figure back behind the wheel.
Radar guided cruise control is a wonderful thing, especially on the A1 between Peterborough and Stamford while the invisible workforce does its job.
That lane assist/guide thing and going handsfree is fun, but only where conditions allow of course.
Adaptive lighting - on backroads this is great, although I did have someone flash me. They were probably thinking "nice car mate"
Talking of which, I have posted the tale of the young Asian chap who complimented Betsy at a local filling station. Several colleagues at work always insist on me driving if we go out together. They drive Schiessewagens.
I would always spec a car with a heated steering wheel from now on. I thought they were a gimmick. Not so.
As many have pointed out on here, automatic folding mirrors should be on all Lexi. It's a great way of checking she's locked as I walk away.
The auto hold. A colleague took me on a "short cut" back from Leicester to Bourne (it took twice as long as going the conventional route). We came to a crossroads which was uphill. "Have you got a good handbrake?" he asked, "as you'll need it here". He was right, although I was surprised that he'd not taken on board the lack of a visible handbrake. Betsy just stopped and then went when I pressed the accelerator. No slipping backwards or anything. Tick VG.
Fit and finish. You don't have to slam her doors like you do on a Scheissewagen. She doesn't creak like a Mercedes.
I'm sure that there are many things I've missed. Am I glad that Betsy and I met on the fateful day when I took my IS300h in for the fuel pump recall? Hell yes.
