alpine

My light is on at the moment, though the pressures are OK so it must be a faulty sensor or connector somewhere. There is no chime, just the amber warning light.

Thanks for your comment. The Lexus centre actually touched this up for me this morning. But I might have another go.

I went to my Lexus centre on another matter and my chap showed me how the display is switched on. But it's actually a bug in the current version of the menu system (well, the one that's on my car). Whereas all the other settings operate so that clicking fields on the left change the boxes on the right, the parking assist set up screen doesn't currently work this way. You're supposed to click on the 'display off' box itself. It then puts a silly little green flash on the left hand side of the box, which STILL SAYS DISPLAY OFF. They clearly have further urgent work to do on the menus...

Not on mine. And there is a setting in the parking assist section 'display' but it is set to 'off', and the joystick cannot be used to select it 'on'. It just skips over that item.

Thanks, very annoyed. When I'm going backwards, the reverse camera display is like the GS with a small car in the top rhs which clearly shows which sensor is going off. But going forward, there is just the split display of the economy graph on the left and the map on the right. The car will bleep, and a diagram is displayed on the instrument panel, but I'm not used to looking there. There are also 2 settings for the proximity sensors. The dealer set them to the further one 'for safety', but actually it's worse since they go off too early and are on continuous beep most of the time when distances are in fact reasonable and Tesco parking place width. I've just changed mine to the closer setting so if they go off, they probably mean it. And there may be some setting for the display which does show the little car when going forward but I haven't found it so far... On the GS, the whole display changed to 'parking assist' when any of the sensors was fired.

Just a gimmick designed to appeal to the American Yoof market. Despite the fact that they don't sell the hybrid there... Since an Atkinson cycle engine is designed to operate in a very narrow rev band, I really don't see the point of them at all! But it does mean they can use the same parts through their range.

The title by the way is supposed to be 'Bugger, Bugger, Bugger II' not Ii, but you don't seem to be able to edit it... Oh dear. Unused to the parking warnings on my brand new IS, which do not appear to operate with quite the same range and directional sensitivities as the ones on my GS, I managed to gently hit a metal bar at the side of a very narrow space in a Tesco car park I don't usually use. This IS also doesn't appear to show the warnings on the centre console display like the GS did, only on the little display by the instruments. 50 Miles on the clock and this happens. Most of the scratch polished out, but 2 small chunks of paint, about 3mm diameter have come off near the top of the bumper and show black. I have one of the Real Lexus touchup kits that I bought for the GS and never needed. The silver is a close enough match for the moment, so I opened it up. Very odd this kit for water based paints. It has basecoat and clear bottles, and the top of the basecoat bottle has a soft, fine, plastic mesh pad on top. The basecoat has a strange bluish tint. The idea seems to be that you blob the paint on the problem area, let it dry for 10 mins and then wet the pad and go over the area. First time I tried this and waited 10mins, all the paint came straight off on to the pad again. 10minutes may be fine in California, but here it's not enough, even though the instructions say +5 to +35C. Applied again. Waited half an hour. Wet the mesh again and gently stroked across the blemish. This time it appeared to work in the intended manner. Most of the paint came off on to the pad, but it left a thin film exactly filling the blemish. Excellent... I was leaving it to dry to start the clear coat when it started raining... So I wiped it all off again and am waiting for the dry. Has anyone else used these kits? Do you agree that I have the right idea about the way it's used?. The reason is that the instructions are symbols only and I find step 7 on them a little incomprehensible. I *think* it's just about cleaning the pad after use, but I'm not sure. When you have the base coat sorted, you go through the same procedure with the clear coat, also water based...

One of the most hilarious things about the olde worlde motoring press in the UK and their down on hybrids is that most of them will be avid Formula One enthusiasts. And what's been happening in F1 for the last few years? KERS, that's what. And what's KERS: why, it's the same energy recovery system used in our Lexus hybrids. And next year... even more KERS for F1, the electric motor/generators get bigger... Mind you my nice new shiny IS300H hasn't, I admit, got DRS. But then a large flap on the roof going up and down all the time would be a bit untidy, wouldn't it!

I've just had another flyer from Lexus trying to persuade me to go and view the new GS. It's a number of cards and hilariously, one of them is about 'smelling amazing'. I quote: 'Not only does the leather upholstery look and feel fantastic, the leather smell has actually been REMOVED thanks to a unique process developed by Lexus engineers'! So you are left with just the usual plastic car smell. What is the point of having real leather upholstery if it doesn't smell like it!!? They really should try understanding the new car buyers in their market a little better.

Yes, I'm getting these invitations too. But I've just extended the warranty on my GS300 for another 2 years. I don't like the clunky joystick MFD control they're fitting to the current generation of cars compared to my nice touch screen. It seems a highly regressive development in these days of smart phones and tablets. And it's an inch wider still when car parks keep getting smaller... I did have a CT200 on order for last summer, but I cancelled after trying a demo car. I'm afraid it just didn't feel like a Lexus after my GS, it was clearly built down to a cost rather than up to a spec!.

"Could it be that regenerative braking means that rear brakes not applied often enough (if you drive with fuel economy in mind, which I usually do) which increases probability of caliper seizure? What do people think?" Mine's a 2008 GS300, so no regenerative braking, but this problem was identified at the last service. There is a Lexus TSB on this, SSC9LB JAN 09, so I don't expect to have to pay for a fix. It was identified as an issue 2 years ago, and I'll be asking for it to be sorted at the next annual service. In my case, it shows up as a sqeaking noise from the near side rear, but only when reversing.</p>

No nice wood and one of those damn fool clumsy joystick screens, just as the world moves to touch screens everywhere else. Glad I have my third generation one! Time to buy my extended warranty since mine's coming up to 3 years...

A demo car I tried this afternoon, with 2000miles of demo work under its bonnet, showed an overall average of 52.9mpg, with 49mpg on its current tankful. I don't think it's a question of 'getting away' with the figures mfrs quote, they have to use the strict government test configs which are supposed to represent the real world but don't. But that's what they have to quote. All manufacturers have to do the same. It is possible to exceed standard test results in both directions, given differing driving styles.

It will be to do with the claims/loss ratio associated with each vehicle. But there aren't any. It was only released in the UK a couple of weeks ago.

Thank you for your comment but I don't see that your comments are material to my post. The factors you mention affect all 3 car specs. equally.

http://www.lexusgb-press.co.uk/protected/releases/2011/63388lex.htm SE-I, SE-L Insurance group 15E SE-L Premier Insurance group 17E It's the same group as my GS300! Why? All the ct200s have the same power, same body. Audio is completely integrated with the car and not nickable... In fact the SE-L has the reversing camera and therefore is arguably less prone to parking damage. I don't understand...

Yes, ultra blue is very ordinary. This one looked much more interesting.

I note that the flyer that came with the Sunday papers, the Kylie Minogue one, appears to show a car in a new colour, a sort of dark greeny blue. It doesn't seem to appear anywhere else so far.

You also have to consider that an equivilent diesel car will have a turbo that may have to be change every 3 or 4 years, which hits the ecconomy quite hard. And that modern diesels use an awful lot of technology to try to get their emissions down to even currently acceptable levels.

You have to remember motoring journalists live in the past. They haven't quite understood yet where road transport is headed.

I think the rev counter is missing as it's a bit pointless, with a CVT it's just going to be sitting at one level anyway.......... I've never driven a car with a CVT, but it is a petrol engine, so will have a torque curve and I would have thought the controller would be watching a lot of elements to choose the correct ratio. If the pedal is floored, for example, it would not be maintaining an identical engine programme compared to just trickling along. I think things have moved on a bit since the DAF. Of course they'll never get up to the standards of the De Rooy's 1970's rallycross cars with their centrally mounted Ford Twincams! I recall looking at one, no protection for the driver at all, the spinning cones and belt fully exposed alongside the driver...Very brave!

You can also see them in the brochure, which can be downloaded from the Lexus Europe website: http://www.lexus.eu/Images/CT-200h-Brochure_tcm584-1003502.pdf I found the interior fabric colours particularly interesting. Abyss blue and Lava red! That brochure also shows the dash in its different modes. You only get a rev counter in 'sport' mode, in the others you get the silly eco dial. But sport mode switches the suspension to stiffer etc. It's not a sporty car, so why this silly business. I can see that I would want to use normal softer modes, but also want to see the rev counter rather than the Morris Minor economy dial...

And a reversing camera thank goodness, no doubt with parking assistance like my GS. And meanwhile, in another part of town (well the US!): http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/01/autos/2025_fuel_economy/index.htm?hpt=T1

I hope it is just pre-delivery glitches. Why do Lexus hand these cars out when they're not performing at their best? Undermines the brand in my opinion. Will definitely be taking one out in the spring when they arrive in the showrooms. Have to say, the cardboard cut-out thing is a bit pathetic. They're obviously desperate to pull people in. Dealership was like a ghost town when I had my IS serviced last month! It may well be because of the 'sporty' image they're trying to capture in the US market. Don't forget the IS was aimed at the rich college kid group over there. I think the Lexus market is somewhat different over here.

I'm afraid the old dinosaur car mags, still living in the petrol head era, are going to have to come to terms with the new century at some time. Rather like those in another part of this board who glorified the LF-A or whatever it was called! It does sound as though the ride may need tweaking, but they could have had it on 'sports', and in any case it will have been a very early car.