ganzoom

I very nearly put down a £4K deposit on a Model X, but after seeing one in the metal in LA last month found it quite underwhelming. As a SUV the RX is probably the most pleasing on the eye compared to most other competitors. The problem for me is now I'm hooked on the EV drive train, the sub 80 mile range of the Leaf is good enough for me 90% of the time so the 200 miles+ range of the S is fine for my use. But going back to a combustion car would be like asking me to swap my current iPhone for a old Nokia. It wouldn't kill me, life would carry on, but I just cannot bring my self to do it.....The really sad thing is despite the Model S been on the market since 2012 the nearest competitors from VW group/BMW etc are probably not due for another 4-5 years. It's even more frustrating that Toyota/Lexus are not even bothering to look at battery EVs. So like an addict with no choice, when the time comes to shift the Leaf on, the option on the table for me is a Model S.

I'm now just the opposite, but wouldn't it be boring if we all liked the same thing. Apparently a 100kWh battery pack is on the way for the Model S which should equate to about 300 miles of real life range on a 90% charge which means for my usage I'll only have to charge up overnight two/three times a month. Not sure I'll be able to resist ordering one. If Lexus did an full electric drive-train for the GS for £70K I'll buy one tomorrow, but sadly the only company that sells a full battery EV with decent performance that can be used a full combustion car replacement at the moment is Tesla. There really isn't anything on the horizon for the UK till 2018-2020, and that just far too long for me to wait.

Funny enough the most interesting car they had at the dealership was the new GS-F, have to say it's a very nice bit of metal, 12 months ago I would have been drooling over it.

Fuel costs aren't a concern to me, I use to have a 335i that struggled to hit 25mpg around town. It's the antiquailty of the combustion engine that I just cannot get use to anymore. The IS300H is my wife's car so it's mainly her choice, but for me, sorry just cannot bring my self to buy another combustion powered car again. For what it's worth the RX was nicer than the Juke loaner I got from Nissan when the Leaf went in for its £99 dealer stamp :).

I had the chance to spend 24hrs in a RX hybrid recently. Now I thought our IS300H felt luxurious, this thing took it to the next level. Everything was soft touch materials, there was a stupidly big 10inch sat nav screen, panoramic roof, lane keep assist the list was pretty endless…. To be honest it felt great, and I was starting to see why the RX is Lexus’s biggest seller, the list price is high £50K, but I suspect with a bit of bartering you could get that down to £45K without too much trouble….and for the amount of stuff you get it’s not a bad deal. Even my wife was starting to ask about prices etc….Until we pressed the ‘on’ button and the combustion engine kicked in. Any illusion this ‘hybrid’ was any different to any other large petrol guzzling SUV evaporated almost straight away. I suspect because the RX is massive the combustion engine kicks in pretty much all the time. At least the IS300H can play at been a fake EV car a few miles on flat roads and rolling traffic. So instead of thinking about discount/prices the thought quickly turned to… ’For the same money we can get a Model S’. A quick glance at the trip computer was the final nail in the coffin, 26mpg.…That’s M3/M5, so why would anyone with buy this thing over a Tesla Model S or X. The same type of trips in our IS300H returns 40mpg+. The Toyota hybrid system was cutting edge back in the late 1990's, but now it's about as relevant as mini-discs were in a world that had been introduced to MP3 player. If Lexus puts a full EV drivetrain in their cars I'll buy one without a second thought, but until than the IS300H is likely to be the first and last Lexus/Toyota we ever buy.

Try a full electric drivetrain car. The difference is like going from a rotary dial phone to a current gen smart phone.

You have to be catch the deals at the right time, and actually it's likely the same car could than be bought to own for cheap. So effectively it's like going to the supermarket and limiting your shop to items that are been discounted because they are approaching their sell-by-date. The only way lease companies can offers cheap deals is with significant manfacutres discounts. Look at lease costs for a Tesla Model S, the prices are more expensive than buying outright and than selling after 3 years. This is because there is discount from Tesla for anyone. Lease companies aren't mirical workers.

The acutal navigation software is very good. I find it easier to follow and more accurate than the CIC Nav I had in my old BMW. Its just a shame Lexus haven't put more effort into the user interface and given options to change road colours etc...

The sat Nav is functional, but the interface is very very dated. Compared to other interfaces it's like something from the dial up modem/Netscape time frame.

^^ I suspect that's why manfacutres rather offer 'discounts' than lower the official list price. It makes selling the car easier because the buyer feels like they are getting a bargain and the allows for cheap PCP/Lease deals. Our IS300H had an official list price of over £41k we paid barely more than £35k. The only car company I know that never offers any discounts off the list price is Tesla and maybe Porsche?? Which is why lease prices on both are high compared to the likes of BMW/Audi where the list price has no real life meaning to anyone.

Whilst out in my Leaf last night i noticed some idiot darting in/out of traffic behind me, assumed it was a BMW/Audi. At the set of lights the said car ended up pulling next to me....I was shocked to see it was a IS300H :( The Leaf isn't quick to 60 (10 seconds), but given we were in a 30 zone I thought let's see what happens when the lights go green...To my susprise (and probably the idiot next to me), the Leaf pulled a car length ahead up till about 30, at which point I slowed down. I was genuinely amazed the Leaf could beat a car rated at 200bhp off the line....Next time I'm in the IS must try to check the 0-30 times, as I would have thought the initial pick up would be good given the boost from the electric motor?? Still just goes to show the advantage of having access to 100% of the torque at 0rpm...Cannot wait to try the same thing in a quicker EV :).

Yes the main button. You only have press and hold to activate Siri, once done that's it. No fully 'hands free' but it's as close your get. I'm just thankful Apple has kept at least on physical button on the phone.

Hold down the "Home" button, and than you can "talk" to Siri using hands free. Actually using it a lot (not just in the Lexus). It's even pretty good at replying txt messages when hands free. The most used phrase I use is "send a message to my wife", followed by "ok"....No point in saying anything else really, regardless of the content of the txt

^^ Have you tried Siri with Apple Music?? You literally just have to hold down the button for Siri and say what song you want to play and off it goes. No fiddling around, no need to store music, it's just by far the best music solution I've come across. All you have to do I have the phone hocked up the car. I'm on 3, and the reception is surprisingly good. I only pay about £13/month for 2.5 Gig of data which is just about enough for my streaming needs. I wouldn't hold your breath for a software update. Even the new RX has the same system.

^^ That's why I shop in Aldi and Asda. Tesco prices is now creeping up to Sainsbury levels :)

In other words people are been ripped off by 'Premium' brands ;)

DAB is dead end tech. Why go with an audio source with such low quality sound - often in mono, and <100kbps, when there is now so much FREE streaming choices likes Spotify and if want just radio Tune In Radio. With the IS300H, intergration with your phone isn't hard. Even Siri works ok. I cannot remember the last time I used DAB or even FM. I pay <£10/month for 2 gig of data on my phone, most of which is used up for audio streaming through a combination of Spotify/iTunes match. This gives me access to pretty much any music genre I can think off, 100% of the time.

Just done 160 miles in probably the worst road conditions apart from snow. A mixture of unlit dual carriageway roads, exposed M ways with heavy wind gusts and plenty of standing water.... The IS300H behaved perfectly, got to my destination just as quick as normal, not problems at all. Just the right amount of feedback from the car to tell you when your going that little bit too quick for the conditions, so you know when to back off :).

Don't forget no one in ther right mind would have paid the 'list price'. We got our car for £5k less than list price, add on deprecation for first 12 month and I wouldn't be surprised if our car is now some £10-12k below the list price.

Glad you enjoyed the test drive. We bought new because I simply couldn't find the spec/colour my wife wanted - I really wanted the 'safety pack' for adaptive curise and pre-crash braking. Have never bought new before and doubt we will do it again. The IS is my wife car and she keept her last two cars lasted for 7 and 8 years, so deprecation isn't much of a concern. When it comes to changing my own car end of this year will be 100% going down the used route- Gives me an excuse to change the car sooner too :)

Not to confuse you, but there are some good lease deals on the new BMW 330e. Standard equipment is good, and with a 20 mile EV range, if your daily commute is short it'll work out to be much cheaper to run compared to the IS300H. The boot is small though if that's important. Initial reviews are positive but that may be because of inherent Germany bias in some of the car reviewers. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=247&t=1562704&p=5

Running cost wise interms of mpg our IS300H is a bit more economical than our old diesel Civic, but unless your doing 20k per year 5 mpg difference here and there is not really noticeable. I also did a lot of research before deciding to go for the IS300H over a C class / XE / XF. Under the skin it's running Toyota Priuis tech which is about as reliable as you can get. Taxi drivers don't tend to use unreliable/uneconomical cars. Lexus servicing is expensive, but no more so than BMW etc. However I'll using our local independent, who charges about 1/2 of what a Lexus main dealer will quote you :).

Even the base spec cars are well equipped compared to BMWs. We only went for the top spec because the car is for my wife and she keeps her cars for nearly 10 years at a time, so it was worth spending the extra £££. One feature which I really think Lexus should make 'standard' is the pre-crash alert system. It's now available on even a Fiesta, and standard on the C-class and A4, but to get it on the IS300H you have to order the top spec car. Its come on once in our car, and boy does it warn you about a potential crash. I was distracted by the satnav whilst in slow moving traffic and took my eyes off the car in front for only a few seconds, in that time the car in front suddenly stopped, and the dash board on the IS lite up like a X mas tree, without even realising what was going on I stamped the brake and the car stopped well in time of any potential impact. This kind of kit needs to be standard in ALL cars. I know I get distracted whilst driving and I'm pretty sure 100% of other road users too. These systems can only help reduce the incidence of accidents. I suspect Lexus will wait till the IS300H is facelifted before making the kit standard....No signs of them doing it for the MY16 cars :(

My last car was a E90 335i, retrofitted with BMW's CIC sat nav - it's not the latest but functionally not far off the current NBT system. The user interface on the iDrive system on the BMW is much better than the Lexus. The Lexus system had all the functionally (You CAN do full 7 digit post code searching), but it's presented in a horrible way. But interms of actual gadgets the IS300H is stuffed full, ours has everything from auto folding mirrors to adaptive cruise control, auto highly beam...There's almost too many toys :) The suspension/handling of the IS300H is also much better than my old E90. The body roll is well controlled but it's the damping that's really effective. You can go over speed bumps much quicker than the M-sport set up in BMWs. Rather than getting a spine shattering thud, all you get is a graceful body control regardless of road conditions. Infact the standard suspension set up on the IS300H is just as good as the £1000+ Bilstein Birds B3 kit I had fitted to the E90. Powertrain wise it's unfair to compare the IS300H to the 335i. One is setup to cruise using tried and tested Toyota hybrid tech the other is the best it gets interms of turbo charged petrol tech. Overall I would say the IS300H is a much better car than my old E90 BMW. Just bare in mind I haven't driven the F30 cars, but all the reviews suggest the F30 isn't that much better than the E90, if anything the steering feel of the E90 is better.

Sorry but that's just utter RUBBISH!! Ofcourse speed kills, kinetic energy squares with speed. If you crash as 100 mph per hour your basically dead, where as at 50 mph you have half a chance. I enjoy a bit of speed as much as anyone else but I'm not stupid enough to believe that speeding isn't dangerous. Why do you think people auqapalne?? The faster you drive the more chance of aquaplaning, the less reaction time you have, and more chance your die, or worse kill some one else. Next your be arguing that F1 cars generate more grip the faster they go around a corner, therefore road cars should be allowed to do the same.....But just remember F1 car generates aero grip, where as road cars generate lift ;) With attitude like yours I cannot wait till legislation comes along that forces automated driving on M-ways, or at the very least limit the speed. If you want to speed go to a track.