Dan.Scott

The modern (dare I say fake) leather I think is brilliant when done well - easy to clean and doesn't crease and crack like you see on some older CT's (drivers seat bolster...). I had to buy some special leather cleaner for my 530e when it was new owing to almost white leather and a new pair of jeans.... I can thoroughly recommend Dr Leather spray though - got my seats back to new condition again and me breathing a sigh of relief!!!

No leather sadly - I can't wrap my head around a Lexus with velour seats... (sorry, vain I know)

good point Colin and yes I imagine any car that's had too much salty air will have dreaded rust issues. Also a very good point about the pre-facelifts getting on a bit. The 2016 Luxury with 75k could well be a more sensible option, essentially £2k extra for a 4 year younger, face lifted car. Can anyone tell I'm going round in circles!!! also doesn't help that all are a fair trek away from me so makes test drives quite the commitment..

Cheers James, one of the older SE-L Premier's I've shortlisted is from a dealer (not Lexus, but the group has a Lexus dealer in it), the car itself has a FSH all from Lexus main dealers. The facelift car I think would be my preference to have the newer sat-nav (although reviews here are still critical of the 2014- premium nav, so it may not really matter and I end up using my phone more anyway). Lexus main dealer would be preferable, it's just finding the right example.... that said the SE-L Premier I've seen is very tempting as the service history is good... too many choices I think!

Thanks Trunkz that's great to know. I spend an inordinate amount of time yesterday going through what felt like every used car ad in the UK ;-). On one had there's something like this - facelift, leather, premium nav are all on my want list, however the mileage is quite high (78k) and once the car goes over 100k it'll take a big hit in depreciation. Also this from Lexus Derby which again is luxury trim with premium nav, albeit older than the example above and with higher mileage again (88k) On the other hand there a are a number of pre-facelift SE-L Premier's available, some with lower mileage than the above and under or around £10k Annoyingly everything I shortlist is miles away from me, so just popping over to have a look is a challenge.... Facelift with higher miles and lower, but still good spec, or older with all the toys.... no idea!

Thank you for the replies. Looking at the pre-facelift models, there's a significant price saving and some still have really low mileage. Stormchaser, from your experience with both pre and post facelift, did the ride quality improve significantly post the facelift? Reviews say it was great softened, but then that could also be what was written in the press pack for the new model 😉

Hi All, I currently have a BMW 530e as a company car that's due to go back in later this year. I've all but decided that I'm going to opt out of the company car scheme and instead run my own car. I've liked the look of the CT 200h for a few years and looked at one before I got my last company car (Outlander PHEV), but discounted the CT as I found it a bit lacking in performance - jumping in a hybrid from a turbo-diesel 3 series at the time was of course a bit odd. This time around my criteria is very different, I'd rather opt comfort and reliability, I like the creature comforts in my 530e - great climate control and heated seats especially. However with the UK economy in the state it's in and now I've all but decided to buy my own car, I'd rather go for something a. lower in cost but retaining creature comforts and b. with greater reliability - hence I keep coming back to the CT. My daily commute is approx 35 miles each way - 10 miles of B road and 25 of motorway, so economy is important to me also - an IS250 would drive well I'm sure, but I'd be best friends with the local BP garage team. I've searched high and low, had a video of one CT sent to me by a Lexus dealer and driven one used example that wasn't quite right ('d hoped the cream leather was more white that it turned out to be). I have however found online a 2016, CT 200h Luxury with premium nav (it's got the mouse controller and second screen next to the speedometer), with 75k on the clock, 1 owner (leased), with full Lexus service history. The asking price is £12k... (not from a Lexus main dealer unfortunately). What do people think of that price vs the spec and mileage? I've looked at the CT 200h Premium models, but they command a large, well, premium for the not huge increase in spec over the Luxury - the Levinson stereo would be very nice to have, but for the money I'd be looking at a pre-2014 facelift CT to get a Premium model, and the owners reports seem to suggest that the 2014 ride and handling upgrade was a significant one. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Rillo, much appreciated B)

Hi Damer, Thanks for the reply, I'd be a bit worried that the trick suspension could land me in with a big repair bill (My folks have had Range Rovers with air suspension problems and the bills were huge!) So you know when the RX300 became the MkII? I think from my research it's 2004 as on the Lexus website in the used section the cars that are pre-2004 have a 4 speed gearbox listed that I take is a MkI. Petrol - yeah that's a worry, most of my driving is motorway mileage so hopefully I could achieve nearer 30mpg but to be honest the difference between say an RX doing 30 and something else doing 35mpg isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. It's a shame Lexus don't offer a diesel RX but then it might encroach on Landcruiser sales I guess? The Landcruiser is another one in the running but reading the owners club website some of the D4D diesel engines are going bang because of bad fuel injectors!! That's very worrying to say the least! Thanks, Dan

Hi Everyone, I've currently got a company car (Audi A3 Sportback) that I'm giving back in order to swap onto a car allowance scheme. As such I'm looking for a car I'd actually choose rather than one I'm given! I've always been a fan of SUV's - the Range Rover in particular but I can't afford one that won't be a complete lemon and cost a fortune to keep on the road (Read - any more than 6 months old lol) My research has led me to a few candidates, one of which is the Lexus RX. I really like the specification (The more toys the better!) and the luxurious cabin/ride - if I go for an SUV I'd take comfort over off-road ability any day. Today my wife and I went out for a road trip to look at some cars - not with a view to purchase yet, just to sit in an example of the model and give it the initial thumbs up/down. The Lexus was definitely one of the hits of the day along with (Very suprisingly) and 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland which was also a very pleasant cabin although not as luxurious as the Lexus (Also I'd question the Jeep's reliability in the long term) So we know that the RX is definitely on the short-list so now it's down to the nitty-gritty. Which ones to avoid and which ones to look out for. From reading here I see there are 2 versions of the RX300 MK1 and MK2 - can anyone tell me what year the switch happened as I have read about gearbox problems on the MK1 and am obviously keen to avoid that. Next up RX300 or RX350... there few thousand pounds between them and I don't know it's worthwhile. The only real factor for me is reliability - am I better off sticking to the 350 over say a '55 / '06 / '56 RX300? Also SE or SE-L - from what I've read the major differences are air suspension (Which can be expensive) Mark Levinson CD-Player (Which can be expensive) and automatic tailgate (Which is just plain cool!) so is it a safer bet do we think going for an SE? It's the 300 vs 350 bit that's got me stumped - do all 300's have gearbox issues or just the MK1 and if so when did they change over to the MK2. I'm sure I'll have loads of questions and thank-you in advance for all your help! Cheers, Dan