Wass

That's useful to know Seth. I had wrongly assumed that any Lexus with a screen in the front would incorporate all the touch screen controls/rearview camera/parking aid/phone directory etc which i have in my poorer and more primative relative, 2007 prius. So the sat nav is just a Sat Nav? hmmm the CT still seems to have fallen victim to cost engineering.

Sorry to mislead you Paul, we both drove the cars on demo I wasnt referring to owning the merc, I now own a CT and my dad now owns a Yaris. The A class merc we both drove was wearing a "11" plate at the time and neither of us was overly impressed enough to find out whether is was an up to date model or not.

My Dad and I drove them both quite by coincidence. I ended up with the CT however, my Dad preferred the Merc because it is easier to get in and out. However, he ended up with a 1.4 petrol cvt Yaris Spirit with all the wistles and bells.

Dont have an advance, dont have sat nav, sorry Paul. cant answer.

I can only answer your questions 1 and 3 since I have an early car and specifications seem to have changed over the short life of the CT. ( blame Kylie) I also never use the hill start facility since I use the foot operated parking brake for hill starts.The foot operated parking brake has been very common in american vehicles for decades and i learnt how to use one many years ago whilst working abroad. B brings in engine braking in a lower gear. Without the B you would apply the brake which could charge up the battery until it was fully charged and then would use your conventional brakes instead. Using B helps keep the load off the braking system and instead of the car coasting with minor resistance as it would do normally, the valve gear operates without letting in fuel and you coast against the compression of the engine instead. If you are travelling down a long steep hill in cruise control, the car can gain speed over the set speed since it doesnt apply the brakes ( electrical or conventional) in cruise control. I try to anticipate the speed to be gained on the descent of a hill by checking that there is no-one following me and cancel the cruise control a long way before the hill and lose speed through coasting before building up speed on the hill.The trick is to judge the hill just right so that I dont need to use the brakes at all whilst arriving at the bottom of the hill within the speed limit. This will not work at all if there is anyone following you since you will not show any brake lights to indicate that you are slowing down and they will find your lack of speed and sudden increase in speed somewhat unexpected and infuriating.

I think I know what you mean. I live close to Lexus Cambridge and a visit to them almost convinced me that I didnt want anything to do with a Lexus if this was the type of treatment I would receive. The next nearest Lexus dealers are quite a distance away but I happened to be taking my wife on one of her shopping expeditions to the Galleria in Hatfield so i popped into Lexus Hatfield only to find a level of service at the top end of the scale. Even though it was a weekend and they were running with a reduced level of staff they strove to answer all of my questions with patience, politeness and enthusiasm. I can see that there just aren't any Lexus dealers in Cornwall at all with all enquiries being dealt with in Devon at Exeter or Plymouth so if you are stuck with a "cambridge" Type Lexus dealer you dont have much choice other than to drive something else. I hope that delivery of the car makes up for the shortfalls you have witnessed to date Ian.

Thanks Seth, I have the base model and therefore use a garmin sat nav so quite a lot of the options are dealer only, however, even on the base model, a reduced number of the options can be reached via the fuel computer.

I bought a space saver and decided to take out the under floor box completely,save it along with all of the goo kit and sell the car with it ( when I sell the car) in the same way which the car was sold when new.I will keep the sapce saver either for my next CT, Prius etc or sell it on ebay for a huge sum :D

Yes, there is a tray which fits over the space saver spare tyre; I believe that the use of this tray has to be accompanied by the use of a new tray cover since the original non space saver carpeted cover allows the cover to sit proud of the surface. I believe that the part number for the new tray is E64993-76030 . These parts are fitted as standard to american market cars. Maybe it is because of weight saving in order to improve the published co2 figures, maybe it is because of penny pinching that UK CTs use goo instead of spare wheels. Apparently, once used, the goo replacement cost is high and so too is the cost of replacing the tyre since most repairers will not repair tyres which have been "goo'd". I had read on the prius forum that the cost of genuine Toyota replacement goo is in excess of £100 which, coupled with the cost of a replacement tyre plus fitting tipe the total cost well over £200 per puncutre. At least with a space saver there is a chance that the puncture may be repaired and therefore the payback will be relatively quick. As an owner option , it begins to make sense to instist upon the new car being sold with a space saver tyre at the very least.

It is quite normal for professional auto refinishing paint suppliers to have access to manufacturers paint codes and make up details. Halfords have some details of some paints but on the whole Halfords are lightweights in the field of auto body refinishing. A lot of the trade auto refinishers would go to companies like Hex holdings ltd or Q paints ltd. I would expect that these companies would be able to provide you with an answer as to what the precise diference is between the two paint codes.

The hill start facility is whatever you want to make of it. I have used it once just to prove that it works, however, I have driven quite a number of the older american cars in the past and am quite accustomed to using the foot operated parking brake with an automatic gear box. I once had a Chevrolet K5 blazer with a manual gearbox and foot operated parking brake, hill starts were quite tricky until I had mastered a style of heel and toe in order to hold the car on the foot brake while I released the parking brake. The main advantage of using the parking brake is that I dont dazzle the drivers behind me with brake lights when I would prefer that they were paying attention to whatever indicators I may be operating.

Didnt fit any yet, Survived so far without them. I was thinking about getting a set of steel wheels to carry winter tyres rather than faffing about fitting and refitting tyres. That would also go a long way towards carrying a worthwhile spare tyre too... just pop an off season wheel into the boot to act as a spare? So long as the rolling diameter is the same Its got to be at least as safe as a space saver hasnt it?.

"Any thoughts or has anyone done this? " I have done it with another vehicle and had to change the indicator relay since the LEDs draw less current than the old fashioned indicator relay was designed for. I am not sure which type of relay is used in the Lexus CT and so I dont know whether a change of flasher relay would be required. "Also may change the footwell bulbs for blue LED as I think this would go well with the cup holder light?" Yep! right on there! "Why do you think that an Eco car doesn't come with a full LED kit?" Its the demon bean counters dictating engineering issues again... pure economics, I suspect.. despite theoretically being able to use thinner cables to feed the circuits, I suspect that the tiny little LED running currents require such thin cables that the mechanical strength of the cable and its resistance to vibration comes into consideration. In other words, they have to run relatively thick cables so that they dont fracture with the vibration and so they might as well stick incandescent lamps on the ends of the cables because the lamps cost less than LED options. Seth

"All road reports slag the CT200h off as slow of mark (I though handled well especially with those batteries in the back) and not reaching its quoted mpg (but which one does?) but looking on reviews and forums such as this most seem to be happy with it." I have read reports and comments which are critical of the acceleration, the road holding, the ride quality,price, the outright top speed of the CT. The car is what it is. I enjoy my car, I know that i can buy a less economical car which accelerates better, and i know i can buy a more expensive car which handles much better. The ride ride quality isnt something which I have noted as being an issue however there are other cars in the Lexus range itself which cost nearly twice the price and have ( understandably) a better ride quality. I see my CT as a very comfortable, good looking, nicely bolted together, more expensive version of the Prius and the Auris but most importantly, I like it very much. Other people have other expectations of cars: Caterham owners for example, prefer to have, a car with tremendous acceleration (due to a phenomenal power to weight ratio) and very little potential to keep its occupants warm and dry or to store the weekly shopping and yet the bottom of the range Caterham is priced in the same region as the bottom of the range CT200H. It seems somewhat irrational for anyone to draw comparisons between the two cars but it woud seem that some individuals would be only too happy to bemoan that the CT is slow or doesnt handle as well. Please yourself, first and foremost, take the car as you find it and see the assessment of others in the light of your own experience and expectations.

Yes, it is possible. There are however, a myriad of different ways of achieving the end result.Firstly, you have to decide whether or not you want to risk flattening your battery ( a straight forward decision, do you wish for the socket to remain live when the car is not active and parked?). If you are willing to accept this risk, the work to install an auxillary fused, suitably sized and safely routed line straight off the 12 volt battery is very simple. If you wish for the new socket to be powered from a circuit which is only made live when the car is in its running state similar to the existing power socket, the solution could be as simple as simply removing the socket from its current location and extending the feed cable to the boot location. Alternatively, an auxilary relay could be fitted in order to ensure that the new socket would be powered up only at the appropriate time ( ie when the car is running). The solutions can be as simple or as complex as you need. However, as with every electrical item ever used, there is a potential for danger from incorrect sizing, or fitting of electrical cables, fuses or devices. By far the simplest and cheapest method of achieving the end result is to purchase a 3 metre coiled extension lead (fused at 5 amp) from kenable.co.uk or someone similar for around £3.The more complex options will require increased skill and experience levels and the costs will inevitably rise accordingly. Although I have sufficient experience to carry out the full installation myself to engineering standards which equal or exceed those of the original wiring sytems within the car, I took the view that i will use my own cool box in the boot just once or twice per year and therefore I use the 5 amp fused extension lead since I can use it in both our cars ( and potentially, future cars too). Hope this helps. Regards, Geof In Car Power Cigar Lighter £2.99 kenable.co.uk

We have an early model SEi base model with unheated fabric seats and have, (very occasionally,) missed the heated seats which our previous car have had. The base model seats are hardly deck chairs though and are in the most part completely adequate for short or long journeys. Lexus Hatfield...... excellent dealership.

Looking at your location, would i be correct in thinking that you obtained your car at Hatfield Lexus? I am a big fan of them and consider them to be the best dealer in the area. They have been most helpful in obtaining optional parts such as a spare wheel and associated fittings. I have bypassed Cambridge Lexus outlet since their level of service didnt seem to be consistant with the excellence of the products they were offering.

Your car does not have a temperature gauge which is visable but surprisingly , it does actually have all the where with all to show the engine temperature. In order to access engine temperature along with a lot of other potentially useful stuff, one has to purchase and fit a device called a scangauge II. They are relatively simple little gadgets which plug into the car on board data socket and come with instructions which are certainly easy enough for me to follow.Fitting can be as simple as connecting up and ipod or a sat nav with no need for cutting or drilling holes into the dashboard of your recently obtained pride and joy.

It seems to me that due to the fashionable lack of ' technical expertise ' ( used to be known as common sense) amongst owners of most modern devices, such labelling and warnings have to be fitted by manufacturers in order to protect themselves from hefty legal claims. I once noticed a label attached to a motorcycle chain guard which informed the all and sundry that it would be dangerous to touch the chain whilst the rear wheel was in motion. This appears to be the manufacturers reasoning behind having to show a warning lamp for the passenger air bag being enabled meaning that parents fitting a child seat in the front passenger seat without disabling the airbag could theoretically be held responsible for any loss or injury caused by the activation of an airbag. The ambulance chasing legal culture seems to have been a major contributor to the gradual diappearance of common sense and an endorsement of the old saying that the 'law is an *****'.

Assuming that you got a bit mixed up with your figures, are you saying that generally, you are down by 5 mpg? This is a typical seasonal fall which is experienced by many drivers and not just hybrid drivers. Cooler weather means it takes longer for the car to warm through when you first start and therefore you use more fuel. An alternative reason also relates to seasonal effects: your brakes are more worn than last year and therefore the brake pistons are sticking further out of the calipers than last year and are more prone to picking up dirt, salt and resultant corrosion causing slight brake binding. An easy way to spot brake binding is to gently touch the wheel hub centres with the back of your hand after a journey involving very little braking. A hub which is hot or warm to the touch more than likely has a binding brake which is responsible for generating the heat.

I have the smaller diameter wheel/ larger sidewall section tyre option and have no issue at all with ride quality. I also have a space saver spare which a sharp dealing punter would negotiate into the price of the new car...ie no space saver spare... no deal... buy another Honda or an Auris. Power mirrors? did you mean self folding or power adjustable?Power adjustable is standard across the range and self folding is available on the later, more expensive models. "handbrake" is a seperate pedal operated by the left foot and since the gearbox is automatic, its as simple as using a clutch on a hill start with the advantage that you have both hands on the steering wheel instead of one hand yanking on the handbrake. If you could be bothered , they all have an electronic hill start facility anyway..apparently...personally I have never found it because I dislike people dazzling me with bake lights and assume that other drivers dont like to be dazzled by my brake lights either. Give one of the higher spec cars a try and ask them to fit it with the smaller diameter wheels. The other great advantage of the smaller diameter wheels is that replacement tyres are far cheaper than the low profile larger diameter variants.All in all, with the benefit of hindsight would i buy another CT? I think that the top of the range Toyota Auris hybrid with all the options is a much better value for money package on paper and is also a similar size with less evident penny pinching; however, I have yet to drive one.

The ash tray has gone the same way as a lot of the convenient storage opportunitites one would find in other vehicles. There are no under-seat trays. There are cup holders which are of no use to the driver in this country unless the vehicle is stopped and parked since drinking whilst in charge of the vehicle is illegal...one assumes that english passengers like to have 2 cups on hand in order to steady their nerves:).

I have read A lot of Kingo's comments and what is said is based on fact. However, I also find that some of Kingo's comments are very much along the lines of ' if you arent in the motor trade you therefore know nothing' and I do not just blindly believe everything which comes from a trade which is so obviously defensive. In the case of fitting a tow bar to a vehicle which is not type approved for such a device, there is a case for getting insurance approval first, as one should do when insuring a pre-type approval classic vehicle fitted with a tow bar. If the insurers do not approve, then simply dont do it since insurance is a must to remain legal. There is the potential to damage the transmission due to excessive dynamic loading which is why one should temper the fitting of a towbar with sensible limitations which would restrict the dynamic loading on the chassis to acceptable parameters. When encountering transmission faults with most vehicles with a tow bar, many manufacturers have reservations about warranty repairs since there really is no way for them to deturmine how great a stress has been placed upon the vehicle or in what circumstances the tow bar has been used irrespective of whether the vehicle has type approval for using a tow bar. So hybrid vehicles arent the only ones with the potential for manufacturer related towing issues despite some manufacturers going so far as to market their own towing accessories. My father discovered this when asking about a faulty Volvo clutch release bearing on his two year old 12,000 mile car.

The manufacturers do not recommend towing... I seem to remember reading that somewhere in the owners manual. I think that is correct. In instances where the vehicle would be towing a light load which would represent significantly less load than four passengers with all their luggage ( which the car is designed to carry) , I think that common sense should prevail. Granted, the manufacturers would seize upon the fitted tow bar not to honour any warranty claim, however, my personal view is that towing a light weight trailer lightly loaded for short journeys is well within the limits of the vehicle. Towing other vehicles/ touring caravans/horse boxes would represent a higher dynamic loading than the four adult passengers and I wouldnt even think about it.

In his last movie, Steve McQueen said,"new things are no good". Quality seems to be as good as they find that they can get away with. Sad but true. Generation 2 prius were better build engineered than generation3 prius despite the generation 3 exhibiting better fuel economy figures. No spare tyre means corner cut by the uk importers in order to maintain their competativeness.