Rabbers

Exactly my own thought. I sometimes still get a twinge in my lumbar region which I blame on an aesthetically pleasing but not overly comfortable desk chair I should have thrown out years earlier than I finally did. The twinge immediately and thankfully goes away when I sit in my RC with the lumbar support function set to its maximum, which is where I permanently keep it.

Although a dealership’s obligations towards Lexus and Toyota will be contractually defined and subject to inspection, it is in practice unrealistic to expect no operational overlaps where premises are shared or in close proximity. Which reinforces the case for those who advocate a merging of the two marques.

Low European market shares should not be confused with any attempt by Lexus to cultivate a niche brand identity. Lexus unsuccessfully competes primarily with long-established German equivalents in terms of realistically achievable sales volumes but on at least an equal footing with them in terms of quality, technology and price. True niche products defined as self-contained units that have little or no competition outside of themselves and whose volume ambitions are limited by strategic choice rather than the pressure of competition are few in the car industry. Morgan springs to mind, Pagani, Maybach, Alpina, perhaps Lotus …..

Seeing that a good number of LOC members post about possible choices between a least two dealers for their servicing needs, it would appear that the Lexus network in the UK as it presently stands is capable of adequately catering for its national customer base - probably more so than its equivalents in some other large European countries. Nevertheless, it would be surprising if Toyota's corporate management is not studying the prospective financial benefits of merging Lexus and Toyota dealerships world-wide where it has not already happened. The days when the risk of tarnishing Lexus' image by visibly associating it with Toyota have disappeared apace with the narrowing of the quality, price and technological gaps. And whereas the economic value of exclusivity is difficult to calculate, the direct and immediate benefits of rationalisation are not. My own experience as a long-standing Lexus customer in Italy of a joint dealership with Toyota for new car purchases and servicing is good. My complaints have been few. The showrooms and workshops are separate, and although two mechanics (originally there was only one) are Lexus-specific, they occasionally help their Toyota colleagues at busy times and vice-versa. Which, of course, raises the question of why Lexus' displayed service prices over the years have been around 10% higher than Toyota's. The dealership's answer is that, similarly to some spare parts, the differences are imposed by the two principals - obviously at the behest of the parent corporation - in order to support Lexus' higher per-car marketing costs. Were the two ranges to be merged within the dealership and the relative operating costs shared, the expectation for Lexus owners would be cheaper servicing (though this would remain to be seen) in a context of longer booking times, less welcoming premises and personnel and, speaking purely for myself, a significant but not catastrophic weakening of my pride in owning a Lexus. By and large, life holds greater terrors.

That happened in Denmark about ten years ago. Lexus was sold and serviced almost as a sideline by Toyota from two or three locations before being shut down because of unsatisfactory sales or, to put it another way, because the cost of doing Lexus business was too high. A couple of years ago Lexus re-opened with a single stand-alone sales and service business it calls a "Brand Store" in Copenhagen. It operates independently of Toyota but there is probably some kind of background management control. The main promotional activity apparently consists of regularly organised roadshows whereby individual models are exhibited in various towns around the country. Namely, instead of waiting for prospective customers to come and view the cars at the Store the cars are taken to prospective customers in the provinces who can book test-drives beforehand. It will be interesting to see if the business survives, which, if overheads tailored to fit a small-country scenario can be maintained, it very well might.

I'm not sure that a financial comparison between Lexus and most other premium car manufacturers is particularly instructive. Lexus' penetrations of individual markets and the speeds of their achievement have, with the arguable exception of the U.S., never been spectacular but, despite slow progress in important areas such as Europe, the Lexus division reportedly continues to punch well above its weight within Toyota in terms of profitability, i.e. its percentage contribution to corporate profits far exceeds that of its sales. As long as this situation prevails, it can be imagined that the corporate management will continue to tolerate levels and rates of achievement for Lexus in some markets that would be considered unsatisfactory by competitors.

Not too distant from Epicurus’ belief that happiness lies in the absence of pain. Or something like that. Not sure he made any distinction between women and men in this regard, though. Perhaps Phil can enlighten us.

What I want in 2023, in addition to everything in Bernard’s list, is a return to the days when I didn’t want to turn off the TV News immediately after it starts.

During a stay in Venice over the Christmas weekend I was reminded, albeit in a completely different context, of the mention of "designated Lexus parking bays" in the above post. Chatting with a local resident who liked my RC, I heard how Lexus is allocated several rows of reserved spaces, some of which it annoyingly leaves empty, in one of the city's main access car-parks during the annual Film Festival. As the official transport sponsor and with the NX and the ES much in evidence last year, Lexus gets a good deal of national media visibility by carrying stars and other VIPs around during this prestigious event. However, because parking spaces are so extremely scarce even at the best of times, this preferential treatment extending to several days before and after the Festival itself has regrettably but perhaps not wholly unexpectedly made Lexus the marque most hated by the local population. My reaction on hearing this was to worry for the rest of our stay about my unattended RC being vandalised by some vengeful local citizen, but I'm glad to report that the Yuletide spirit prevailed and it didn't happen.

Toyota seems to be successfully generating a lot of pre-launch interest for the 2023 2L/233bhp Prius in the main European markets. Limiting this drivetrain in the UK to the Corolla and not making it available for the Prius might therefore appear an odd decision. So odd, in fact, that one is left wondering if the move is not simply intended to protect and hopefully boost Toyota’s mainly Corolla-based UK manufacturing investment. Toyota’s explanation that it prefers to focus on SUVs and crossovers because the UK market is increasingly oriented towards them is not entirely convincing since much the same trend is visible throughout Europe. That sales of the hitherto ugly and boring Prius have been dwindling faster in the UK (albeit probably not by much) than elsewhere may be true, but isn’t this the trend that Toyota is intending to reverse globally with the completely redesigned and very significantly pepped-up new model?

Never used waterless coolant, but I once picked up an advertising leaflet from a display (?-Evans) and seem to remember they supply a reminder sticker for the reservoir cap.

I think the 2023 Prius with the 2.0 L engine due for launch in continental Europe around April will attract a closer look from a good number of present IS, RC, and maybe CT owners whose size and price requirements are no longer catered to in the Lexus range. The body design, with a 5cm lower roof and 2cm greater width than the current model objectively looks good, especially with 19” rims as standard; 223bhp and a 0-100kmh acceleration of 6.7’ sounds excellent, as does the rumored top speed of 200kmh; the availability (?-optional) of a solar roof that recharges the battery during parking and supplies auxiliary power for the air conditioning and other accessories during driving also sounds interesting. Prices are not known at present, but it would be logical to expect increases that broadly reflect the improvements in performance. The materials and build quality will probably fall short of Lexus standards, and unless there are some optionals capable of improving cabin appearance and comfort, this is the area where Lexus owners are likeliest to be disappointed.

What’s guaranteed to put me in a good mood, especially when faced with the prospect of heavy-duty shopping, is the chance to drive through the first of two empty vertical spaces and occupy the second as though I’d reversed in. Of such small things is happiness made.

So was I, and I have habitually done so ever since, even if it sometimes means momentarily blocking other cars - and despite being aware that people’s definitions of “momentarily” are highly variable.

The consoling thing about the sort of embarrassment Antony describes is that for most people it becomes a distant memory after a couple of minutes or less.

Too cramped. Even for the living.

Yes, I hear it's to die for.

Spotted these the other day. Looks like a perfect choice for getting to your final destination quickly and in style. Never seen one before, but a quick online search shows the marque to have a significant presence in this line of business. No doubt profitability compensates for any negative impact on the house image.

Believe me, Bernard, it takes a lot more than this to keep me awake at night, especially as true philosophising is something I am perfectly happy to leave to others. I will add, though, that it would be legitimate, after falling asleep, to dream of a systems check that gives advance warning of a possible malfunction so that you could contact an “authorised Lexus repairer or other reliable repairer” in your own good time and not as a matter of urgency or with a stopped car.

Do you mean it’s technically not feasible or that its prospective usefulness by way of forewarning would be dubious?

When, ignition ON, the icons in the instrument cluster light up, they all do so simultaneously. But then, once the system check is complete, they disappear in a process that is too quick for the eye to fully register but is clearly sequential and not simultaneous. My only certainty is that the last icon to disappear is the Airbags (SRS) one. Although I am now on my second RC300h F-Sport, I frankly can’t remember if the sequence was the same when the cars were new, but my suspicion is that it might have changed in both cars. Is it possible that the system check reflects, or is perhaps programmed to simulate, the extent of age-related wear and tear on the individual functions so that the last icons to go out represent the likeliest (though hopefully still improbable) malfunctions within the system?

Don’t know how John manages it but I would recommend getting a sporty-ish but well-behaved car like the RC. Works for me.

When the requirement for yellow headlamps on French-registered cars was lifted, sometime in the early 90s as I recall, more than a few people were angry to learn that studies refuting long-held official claims that yellow was less dazzling and made cars more visible had for several decades been kept locked in a drawer at the Ministry of Transport. This meant, somewhat embarrassingly, that well-founded lobbying by foreign car manufacturers as well as much of the motoring press had long been unjustifiably and inexplicably ignored. Personally, I never met a Frenchman who actually believed that yellow headlamps were better, and when the subject came up in conversation, as it quite often did, the explanation offered mainly in jest but not without a hint of earnestness was that it was perfectly normal for things to be done differently in France.

I don’t mean to alarm anybody but weaker night vision and a tendency to be troubled by headlights are symptoms of cataracts, which is itself a condition that becomes more common with age. If the symptoms become more marked and perhaps accompanied by others such as seeing halos around lights it would be a good idea to have a retinal test.

Just noticed from an earlier post of yours that your RC has non-standard exhausts. Are you sure they were properly installed?