Northern_Si

The issue is that most people want an SUV. Let’s be honest, the CT is now getting a little old and the natural replacement is the UX. The new NX will come next year and hopefully the 450h+ version will come as the engine 2.5L PHEV is already available in the RAV4 in the states and the model name has been copyrighted in Europe. The ES is a nice car but IMO underpowered but if they add a 450h+ version it will be attractive to GS450h owners. The RX needs a refresh so will be interesting what they do with that.

So you don’t need one with a sealant etc? I haven’t got around to doing the water test.

I really should take a picture. I've grabbed one off the internet to try to show the problem. (my seats are black) Basically the black dye has worn off on the side of the seat

So being a bit of a lardy arse, the side of driver seat is starting you be a little worn. Any advice on the easiest solution to fix it?

Then I would have to fit them. I'm afraid DIY isn't one of my strengths.

These are my first replacement discs and pads at 80K miles.

Interesting my local dealer has just come back to me with a discounted price of £305... normal price being £360.

Cheers.

So after 83K miles it is finally time to get some new discs and pads on the rear of the car. To be honest, it has been an amber on the Lexus Visual Inspection Report for the past 30K miles due to corrosion and on the 5th birthday MOT it was both listed as something to get fixed and now red on the inspection report. So the question... how much are Lexus charging these days? I'm sure all these prices use to be listed on the website.

Good motorway run .... Manchester to London... I will see around 50 MPG. Road trips across Europe, I'm getting about 42MPG. With a new job, my commute has changed to a 11 mile, 11 MPG average hour drive each way. I'm averaging just over 30MPG a day.

About 10 miles going down the St Bernard’s Pass a few months back. Usually about 1.5 miles ... longer if downhill.

If you look on Autotrader, it is easier to find a Ferrari post 2016 than a GS450h.

My understanding is that the 12v battery on the hybrid does little more than turn on the computers.

On a good run, I’m getting 600+ miles to a tank, although I tend not to play fuel tank bingo these days. If I’m doing a lot of mixed driving, i get about 540 miles.

With a bit of practice you should be able to get that up a little. Last few weeks I'm been travelling from Bolton to Stoke-on-Trent down the M6 and managing 50+MPG door to door. I guess with the M61 and M6 being 50MPH zones does help things a little.

I'm afraid this time I bombed it down the AP7 when I got into Spain as it was 900KM from Nice to my apartment. I have however taken the bendy road over the border from France into Spain on that coast and it is a run road. It was a few years back when I had my little BMW 1 series which was perfect for having some fun. Last time I did Sitges was in a hire car. I spent a few nights in Barcelona and then drove down along the coast, On other trips, I've gone via Andorra which is fun and also travelled from Biarritz to San Sebastian using the costal road. Christmas I'm considering getting the ferry to Bilbao, having a few nights in Bilbao before driving down to Madrid for a few nights. SW

This time I decided to take the 450h on a longer route to Spain. Bolton --> Maidstone (I like classy places) --> Troyes --> Evian --> Turin (via the St Bernard Pass) --> Monaco --> Nice --> Valencia (Spain) --> Orange (France) --> Reims --> Bolton. As usually, the car didn't miss a heartbeat. The only issue was leaving Reims, my tyre presses warning came on. Looks like driving at 140km/h in 30+ degrees heat and then parking overnight with temperatures dropping to 10 degrees caused the pressure to drop 0.4 bar on all tyres. Luckily I had my compressor in the car. My MPG over nearly 3,500 miles was an indicated 40.6. Considering the amount of miles I did driving at over 85MPH, going over the Alps (although going down the other side used very little fuel) and driving around cities... I am again impressed with the GS. No turbo = no noticeable loss of power at 2,500m up a mountain 🙂 Longest sprint was Nice to Valencia which was about 900KM and took 9 hours to complete. Parked up at the other end, a quick stretch and I was ready for a walk and some dinner. It is a shame the GS is no more as I would buy another. I am seriously considering buying my GS off Lexus in a few months at the end of my PCP and running it into the ground. The only other car which is currently interesting me is the RX450h. Whatever my next car is... it needs ventilated seats. Driving in 40 degrees heat and getting out without a sweaty back is lovely. SW.

When you consider the new Volvo S60 coming out next year and the performance of the petrol engines... the ES is too slow

I think 5th gear tried to power slide it in their review a few years back.

I still feel very smug overtaking on the motorway on the decent of a hill with the ICE turned off. When VW/Audi drivers talk about their valve deactivation technology, I do like to point out mine has similar technology and shuts down all 6 when not required.

So why did I buy a Lexus GS? My previous car was a Mercedes W212 E-350CDI Sport. It was mostly a cracking car. Fast (6 seconds 0-60MPH), huge amounts of torque, economical (I once managed 60MPG on a trip from Bolton to Gosport ... but it wasn't difficult on a motorway run to get late 40's early 50's MPG), comfortable (I once did Bolton to Dijon only stopping for the tunnel) and it looked quite aggressive. However it wasn't without fault... when I was changing it (4.5 years old, 85K Miles), it had a leak on the turbo seals and the DPF kept playing up and sending the car in limp mode. On top of that it was in negative equity and MB customer service can be awful. So, when I looked for a new car.... I considered downsizing to the MB C-Class but the sales staff at MB didn't have a clue. BMW ignored me when I visited a showroom (Quite liked the 5 series at the time), Audi are just too expensive and Infinity had fantastic customer service but was let down by the product. Lexus offered the best complete experience. I wanted a car with similar characteristics to my E-Class but a bit different. I looked at the 300H but felt it was too slow for me... a drop from 6 seconds to 9 second 0-60 was just too much when I'm spending £30k on a secondhand car. The 450H offered the right balance of performance, economy, comfort while also being a little bit an alternative choice from the German marques. Also being rare is a benefit to me. So the ES ... for me the FWD/RWD argument is not as much of a problem these days. Do I prefer to be pushed rather than pull round a bendy road... of course RWD is better. But with all the modern electronics which are used o FWD cars these days I don't think the gap is that huge. Saying that, Audi do go AWD on their more powerful models. The problem for me is the engine size. The 300H is just not powerful enough for a car which is supposed to be a direct replacement for the GS (Quoting Lexus). I don't want to go back to diesel and the competitors non hybrid petrols are a little thirsty for the same performance. Will my next car be a BMW/MB/Audi Hybrid... nope. My understanding is that on paper they look great but with the 46L petrol tank and a massive drop in MPG when they charge the batteries on the move (I drive 20K miles a year) make them less economical to me than my 450H. Also if I remember right, the 1.4T used in the Audi has insufficient power to charge the batteries on the move. So either I will keep my GS for a few years or look at the RX450H.

So this might be a daft question. If the 3.5L V6 fits in the ES (for our cousins across the pond), I wonder if a ES450H is planned. An ES450H with little torque steer might be in interesting replacement for my GS450H in a year or so.

From my own experience, it just seems to affect my hybrid more. I guess the more resistance the less the car can use the electric motors to supplement the power at a constant speed. I always find it interesting to watch the how the electric motor kicks in on slight inclines to stop the need for increased revs.

You need to learn to drive a hybrid on the motorway. Aggressive driving and the heavy use of the loud peddle will cause the MPG to plummet. Large gaps and gentle use of the brakes are your friend for decent MPG. Also sunny days help as for some reason, it doesn't like the rain.

47MPG was the indicated consumption when I filled it up after 550 miles. Depending on the kind of driving I'm doing, I'm averaging about 42 to 47MPG a tank. If you can find me a 3L, 260BHP diesel which can easily do 70+MPG on the motorway, I'll be really impressed. From my own experience of touring France and Spain (averaging 5k miles a year) in my previous MB E350CDI and my current GS450h... the MB only did about 2MPG better overall than my Lexus. I guess my driving style is suited to a hybrid. Just for comparison. These are the figures from the Honest John 'Real MPG' statistics. BMW 5 Series F10 (2010-2017) 530D Auto - 39.2MPG Audi A6 (2011 on) A6 3.0TDI 245BHP - 40.4MPG Jaguar XF (2008 - 2015) V6D - 36MPG Mercedes E-Class W212 (2009 - 2016) E350 CDI - 36.9MPG Lexus GS (2012 on) GS450h - 39.1 MPG