Northern_Si

Also annoying is if you make a phone call, it will automatically revert back to the map when you hang up. I love my lexus except for the sat nav.

With the good weather, I'm getting an indicated 46MPG a tank in my 450h :-)

My record in my 450h is 52mpg on the run from Bolton to Blackpool. My tip is stick to the speed limit, use premium unleaded and drive defensively.

My final encounter with MB was a moan about the negative equity in my E350cdi while stood next to a car with a banner which mentioned a £2k dealer contribution on 2nd hand cars which the salesman didnt mention. I stood there thinking I left an open goal for them to get my repeat business. One thing I like about Lexus is the 36 month limit on PCPs which gives them a better estimate on the future value. At them moment, the balloon figure on my 14 plate in 18 months time with 80k on the clock will be £9k. Unless I find a serious alternative to the 450h, this will be the first PCP that I actually buy at the end of the term. It is just a shame Lexus servicing is a little in the high side and they make you pay for map updates in the first few years of ownership. For a car which spends most of the time on the motorway a 10k mile interval on the servicing is a little excessive.

I've just read the review of the new BMW 530e on Auto Express (http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/bmw/5-series/99297/new-bmw-530e-iperformance-hybrid-2017-review) and noticed in the actual real world test the reporter managed 37mpg which is less than I achieve in my GS450h. So although the Lexus technology is slightly behind the innovation curve, for those who need do longer journeys, the GS is still the best alternative to a diesel.

The dealer experience was one of the reasons I bought a Lexus. MB I found arrogant and rude with a trade in value for my E-class which could only be called an insult. BMW ignored me when I walked around the dealer and although Jaguar was an ok experience, I didn't fit in the XE. MB even said to me that the only important thing is the car and the dealer experience important When buying a car which was close to £50k new, how I'm treated by the dealer is very important to me. The only one which came close was Infinity but the cars just didn't do it for me and they didn't do things like service plans. Lexus made me feel like a customer. I liked the way I was offered coffee before any business was discussed. I also like the way they are more honest on the future value on their PCPs.... something the Germans are not.

Silly question, you have your seats set to Auto?

In the current GS we do get a rev counter when we switch to Sports mode. Still trying to work out the purpose of manual mode and have never noticed the 6 step programmed gear thing. Saying that, it goes like stink in auto mode. I do use the paddles for engine braking as it allows me to control my speed down hills.

I have a 450h. Currently averaging about 43mpg going from Bolton to my client near Blackpool every day. That is about 8 miles town traffic to the motorway, about 30 odd miles on the motorway sitting at 70 and then another 6 miles of 50/30/20 mph roads to the site (each way). Best I've managed going is 52mpg. Driving to Spain and back, averaged about 40 over 2k miles including sat at 90 on french toll roads. Worse case my 450h is about 10% worse than my old E350cdi.

52MPG this morning on my 39 mile comute with the a/c on, car in normal mode and sticking to the speed limits.

I've read you don't buy the 450h for the mpg.... I have to disagree. This weekend I drove from Bolton to Ware (Hertfordshire) and back and managed an indicated 47.4mpg. During the week, I'm driving from Bolton to my client just outside Blackpool and managing 49mpg outbound and averaging 45mpg on the return journey. This is equal to what I managed in my MB E350cdi and to be very honest the Lexus is a much better car.

Hi, As the title says, what is the best technique or regenerative braking? A. Foot off the gas pedal early and slow down on engine braking. B. Progressive braking with the needle just balancing slightly above the bottom on the charge section. C. Strong braking with the needle firmly on the bottom of the charge section. I read somewhere that when in the most efficient regeneration zone it feels a little like when you ABS kicks in. interested in what everyone's opinion is SW

How many normal people would take a BMW 5 series, Jaguar XF or Mercedes E-Class onto a track? This is the problem with the 5th gear review. In normal driving, the only think you notice about the CVT is the smoothness.

Was actually thinking about this today when driving down some fast bendy country lanes. If you floor the gas peddle, the revs do race and when doing 0 to 90 (but not in the uk), it is quite noisy but when doing every day driving it is no different than a normal automatic. How often when having a spirited drive are you actually accelerating more then 30mph at a time? In the UK, I'm more interested in keeping the speed through the bends and I would say the GS is better than my previous E-Class sport.

I'm guessing the improvements made to the newer GS450h are quite huge. I'm current averaging 43 MPG according to the trip computer (so about 39mpg). Going from Bolton to Blackpool daily I'm getting an indicated 45 to 48MPG. This drops to 40 to 44 MPG coming home (I guess it is up hill!!). Going down to London and back I got 44MPG indicated. Over Christmas I drove to Spain and back and including quite a lot of 90mph on the toll roads I managed an overall average of 40MPG indicated. I'm well happy with this and is within 10% of what I was managing in my previous MB e350cdi.

Hi, I'm either missing the obvious or going blind. How do you switch on the a Extended Voice Commands? I've looked in Settings --> Voice but it seems to be missing. When did Siri Eyes Free mode arrive? Additionally, does the Sat Nav have an automatic night mode switching the colour scheme to something a little less bright? My previous MB just did this automatically.... thinking about it my previous TomTom from years back to this. Thanks SW

DAB reception seems okay to me.

It seems to go up to 7 ...think I need 11 :) or maybe now I drive a Lexus I should change my music tastes.

This already has a 12 inch screen, so rather not have another large screen in the car. Also prefer built in Sat Nav. The maps are only a year out of date so in the spring I think I will pay for the upgrade. This version does full postcode and I think you can enter Lat/long. Only issue is that the voice prompts are not as loud as the ones in Mercedes especially when you are enjoying some nice music.

£150 is affordable.... this has the Mark Levinson upgrade so it is all HDD based so I believe has to be done at the dealer.

Thanks guys for all your help. It was so useful that I bought myself a GS450h. Shame I've been a little ill since buying it so haven't had the opportunity to really enjoy it. My first impression is that I prefer it to my old Mercedes E350CDI and the fuel consumption is only about 10% down. Only issue, I'm going to need to update the sat nav maps ... how much is this going to hurt? Thanks again, SW

It seems in the UK the servicing costs for the GS hybrid is the same across the range. Therefore the only extra cost is insurance (a 1 year old GS450h is actually cheaper the insure than my 5 year old Mercedes E350cdi) and fuel. Most of my milage is business milage and easily covers the MPG of the 450h. This is the reason I've bought a 450h

Considering I got over 60k miles out of the front discs and pads on my Mercedes, I guess I might not require to replace them on the Lexus for quite a while.

Asked the dealer and was told it was specially for the IS on fleet purchases. Wasn't a showstopper in my purchase but does mean my servicing costs will be a bit more than my current Mercedes... and it will be in the workshop more often. Do you get a discount if you get a service plan or is it simply a way of spreading the cost?

6ft4 here and I must be a strange shape. With the IS, my head is touching the roof, even with the seat on the lowest setting. Seems to be a problem I have with a lot of cars. I'm looking at replacing my E-Class which I fit in easily with a GS. I guess I will have to put up with servicing the car every 5 months if I get a GS and swallow the cost. I'm expecting it will make my MB servicing seem cheap.