peniole

I think the sound deadening comparison between the merc and the honda would be a joke 😆. I'm hoping the amount of sound deadening/road noise reduction in the ES will produce a similar results to your merc now on the ES. I've had Michelin Pilots before on our Accord, they lasted a long time but got noisy. I'm thinking sound insulation plays a big role once the tyres get older.

I have the crossclimate+ on the ES now. Still early days, but much quieter than the OEM Dunlops, but it's a quiet car to begin with. I've had them on my Honda civic 4 door 1.5T MT since Feb. 2018 and for 78k+ Km (~48k miles). They have performed superbly in all conditions, and still have 4+mm on all 4 corners. They especially handle the dry no worse than a dedicated summer tyre (confirmed in the review John linked above). That Honda loves to corner, and they didn't disappoint. They handle the wet very well, and good enough in the snow that I've driven through snowstorms in Germany on my 50+ mile each way commute without batting an eye. At the time I put them on the Honda it was them and the Goodyear. Conti hadn't come out with theirs. But on balance, since most of our driving is summer/wet with some cold snow thrown in. I'd still pick them based on that review and prior experience. One caveat though, they do get noisy as they age, but show me a tyre that lasts to 50k and stays quiet and I'll buy it. Also, 4 of the same on all 4 corners. To avoid this problem in the future, make sure your rotate your tyres at least every service (in the case of the CC+ only front to back). This will also prevent the sawtoothing/stepping that is common with all season tread designs.

Still waiting to try out either card as they haven't arrived yet, will update once I do. Ordered my gold membership on 27.06, haven't received anything in the mail yet. I've sent a message on support, waiting to hear back. How long did it take your packets to arrive?

When inputting addresses the default input method is a QWERTY keyboard, but you can select handwriting input which I find to be faster and more intuitive (no, I'm not a leftie). I've read the manuals cover to cover and I'm missing how to set handwriting as the default input method. Anyone know how?

While bluetooth can easily handle 16bit/48kHz (CD quality) with the right codec, for the 24bit/96kHz FLACs it'll compress (rendering FLAC pointless). Also, according to the manual the car only supports A2DP (no AptxHD or LDAC codecs, limiting you to one third the bandwidth required for CD quality audio). When in doubt wired connections for me.

CDs accumulated for the last 3 decades. Started in the early 90's. Encoded them into VBR or 320kbps MP3s, they need a 64Gb USB stick. Extrapolate from there to FLAC. I've got a little portable SSD that I'm thinking of using if I am able to hear a difference between the MP3s and a CD in car. Tiny little thing, but should get a 90 degree USB cable if I go down that route.

Vlad has a point. Here's an excerpt from the lexus terms/privacy: We will collect and use the following Personal Data: - Identity information (e.g. title, family and first name, mother tongue); - Contact information (e.g. mobile number, email address, postal address); - If you have a Lexus vehicle with an on-board Internet connectivity functionality, identification information requested by the ECS Provider which provides the Internet access service (e.g. copy of ID documents, debit/credit card details); - MyLexus account related information (e.g. preferred contact method, subscription information, communication language preference, Authorised Retailer/Repairer preference); - Geolocation information linked to your Lexus vehicle and/or your smartphone (e.g. geolocation of your vehicle (longitude and latitude), planned destination); - Driving behaviour (e.g. driving logs, journey logs, driving speed, acceleration and brake speed); - Emergency contact information (if you have provided such information on your MyLexus account); - Journey information; - We may use your social media ID to allow you to share the location of your Lexus vehicle with others (e.g. with respect to those Services which allow you to share the location of your Lexus vehicle with others via social media of your choice); - Customer segment; - Vehicle identification data (e.g. vehicle registration plate, vehicle identification number, date of purchase of the vehicle); - Technical vehicle data (e.g. mileage, fuel consumption, warnings) and diagnostic data; - Current and historical vehicle-related data (e.g. accessories, tyres, finance, insurance, warranty-related information, if applicable); - Data relating to invoices and payments for the Services (e.g. history of your payments for the Services, invoices, VAT number, if applicable); and - Interaction history (e.g. planned maintenance and service bookings).

It does come with AA/CP, neither choice is particularly appealing to me. Especially as using a connected phone has two caveats. One, I know AA has the same privacy invading malarchy as described above, haven't read the CP terms but then again I don't have an apple product. Two, using one USB port disables the second port being read by the car's audio system. I don't have enough space on my phone even with an extension microSD to hold my whole collection, especially not in FLAC, which our cars can read. The 10 speaker pioneer system sounds pretty good. It's no ML system, but far superior than most. Plus the car is quiet enough that there's a small chance one might hear the difference between FLAC and well encoded MP3. Haven't tested that theory out yet.

Received with 9miles on the odo. Near perfect dealer prep from Lexus Preston. Relaxing drive as promised. Inputting addresses into satnav also sucks as promised. Trying to do it on Lexus link/my lexus online forces saving of a route rather than a favourite/POI which is not what I was looking for. The connected services give away too much information including telematics on how you drive. Did not agree to that invasion of privacy. I now have a set of Dunlop Sport maxx 050 OEM 235 45 R18 94Y tyres stored at the dealer. Does anyone know of someone looking for an OEM set. Dealer is limited as to who they can sell to, so I'm asking as well. Will get pictures on here of the car once I've finished my own prep.

Thanks. I haven't but I've read some of his posts. I've especially been watching the Relax Warranty thread. When I ordered mine, I wanted to purchase the 2-4-1. Sales actually advised not to (Relax wasn't announced yet). With the exception of the multimedia exclusion, looks like a good deal to someone who already does all their servicing at the dealer. Anyway, tangential, sorry. Yes, I read manuals cover to cover and all fine print. So if you need another obsessor on the forum, I'm your man.

Hence why I quoted the base prices. The specs for the base are nearly the same (with the exception of heated seats being an option on the base in the US), US, UK and German specs are the same (engine/transmission, safety kit all have LSS+ with ACC and LTA, sensors and reversing camera, two zone climate, and 17" alloys). The upgrade packages have different names and contents after that making that comparison impossible. Yes I checked, Yes I'm that obsessive.

I'm with you on that one, car prices here are ridiculously out of step with the US. With one exception, the ES300h. Prices are about on par with the US market when you take into account VAT (US car prices are advertised without VAT, so ~29.7kGBP for the base pre-VAT, which is on average about 10% over there and you get ~32.7kGBP for the base which is within the 10% VAT difference between the two countries, add another 10% and you have the UK starting price). They're being aggressive with the pricing of that one model here in the UK. Have a look at the starting price for an ES in Germany (49.4k EUR), that's 42.4kGBP at current exchange rates.

Wanted all seasons (Michelin cross climate+), not summer tyres. I'm not making that mistake in the UK ever again. In 2010 I was back from a long stint in the states, and bought a new car in Scotland. Stupidly assuming, like the US market, it would have all season tyres on it as standard. First winter I was slipping and sliding even without snow. Took a look at the tyres and to my horror realized that high performance summers were on the car, which means below 7C the rubber gets hard and below 4 you might as well be driving on plastic food trays. Did the whole summer winter tyre dance for a few years, not fun. So started paying attention to what tyres come on the cars I order and having them replaced at hand over. Have had the cross climates for 4 years, and they wear hard, are excellent in summer and winter. They do get noisy as they age though. Thank you both for the replies on internet traffic alerts, will set my phone to turn on hotspot when it detects the car bluetooth and set the car up accordingly.

As you can see you can choose TMC or internet to receive traffic updates. The latter needing hotspot from your mobile. The question, has anyone tried the two and found one to be superior? Cheers Mine has arrived at dealer, in preparation and their changing the tyres tomorrow. Should be able to receive next week.

Thanks for the answers and insight.

I have brake hold on my current non-Lexus car (Honda). While I like the feature idea it's incomplete, I don't use it and end up using the EPB once a car is behind me. Annoyingly when stopped at a traffic light, Honda brake hold keeps the brake lights on, which when they're LED especially can be annoying to the person behind you. Is it the same on the Lexus system? Or is it smart enough to detect a car behind you and turn off the brake lights? After all it has the sensors to detect a car behind. In addition to being common courtesy "The Highway Code says that in stationary queues of traffic, you should apply the parking brake and, once the following traffic has stopped, take your foot off the foot brake to deactivate the brake lights and minimise glare to road users behind until the traffic moves again."

I've only visited France a few times, yes their driving is as you say "interesting". Agreed German road infrastructure is much better than the UK. However, if you want to see really pristine motorway infrastructure cross the border into Holland. Those guys know what they're doing. Green roads, proper drainage, incredibly smooth tarmac. Was driving in a downpour once close to the border, lots of spray from vehicles in front. Crossed the border into Holland, spay gone, tyre roar gone. It was still raining heavily, it's just they've been replacing a lot of their roads with ones that drain through the surface aka green roads. Add to that very calm and civilized driving, one of the most relaxed driving experiences of my life.

I lived/worked there for the past few years. Had a 45 mile commute each way, my wife had a 40 mile commute each way in the opposite direction. We've both found German drivers to be much worse than UK drivers. Driving here is downright civilized in comparison (London in the naughties, Scotland in the early 10's, and now Lancashire). Germans hardly ever indicate, constantly tailgate, are chronic speeders and are clueless when it comes to roundabouts. Very aggressive drivers. A lot of them treat every motorway as if it's a no speed limit autobahn. Their insurance premiums tell the story. No way will you be able to get the equivalent of 240 pounds for a premium (my last premium before I moved to Germany). My Uncle who's been there for donkey years still pays 600EUR+ a year on a fiesta (perfect driving and claims record). My last premium was just under the 800EUR mark for a Diesel Honda Civic Hatch. When it comes to speeding, the fines are a joke and used be as low as 10EUR with no points, now 20 EUR oooh (Link), so everyone is doing 10+kph. Roundabouts ha. We had a horrible 4 way intersection in Bonn, constant traffic gridlock. They put in a huge roundabout, multiple accidents later they put back the traffic lights on top of the roundabout. They never indicate when they leave the roundabout, so good luck merging into a busy roundabout when you can't tell if the moron coming towards you is leaving at your exit or continuing round. Unless there's a speed camera in a construction zone, no-one does the reduced limit. God forbid you do and it's a single lane construction. Staying in the left lane (right lane here) till the last moment to jump in front of a line of cars exiting the motorway...I've got endless stories of German road stupidity. I really don't know where they get the reputation of being good drivers. Frankly I'd take the Yanks over the Germans when it comes to daily driving. Sorry rant over

Noticed the tester had dunlops sport maxx 050 on it (they are high performance summer tyres and awful in the damp/wet). Told them I want them replaced on PDI to Michelin cross climate plus. I've had those on my current car for 3 seasons. They work just as well in the wet as the do in the dry, and can handle snow. They do get noisier as they age, but what tyre doesn't. I've had them on for 78k km and they're still at ~4mm, mostly highway. Stepping is not unusual for rear tyres on a FWD car if you haven't roated tyres front to back. Same thing happened with the Michelins, but I heard the difference early and had them do a rotation. I normally rotate every service, but my last dealer seemed to think that wasn't necessary. Admitted he was wrong when we found the stepping on the rears only.

Very fine. Mine was an '05 with the 2.4L and a manual transmission. One of only two cars I've ever regretted selling.

Just ordered The rubber front floor mats. Some of the online prices are exorbitant! Called Inchcape Lexus in Guilford, they quoted be 74 before tax and shipping (92.70 all in). Still high for rubber mats, and only the front set, but compared to even their own online price, it was the best I found. Apparently Lexus do not make rear rubber mats 🤷‍♂️

Thanks. That's why I chose it. Very quiet and relaxed, especially on B roads. Road noise is inevitable though on some of the motorways around here (very rough surfaces). Asked them to put cross climate plus tyres on it, slightly softer compound compared to the Dunlops it comes with, so that should help.

Went for the Premium edition. Even the 18" wheels are a bit of a compromise on ride quality. I would image in the 17" would be better, but they do look smallish for the wheel arch size/car size.

Thank you. That's my old 2 door Accord when I was stateside.

Thank you! I'm also an obsessive compulsive detailer OCD 😀. Which you can see in my profile pic.