Royal Enfield

Unfortunately the timing is not quite right, but Cross Climates are definitely on the list. Having spent a significant sum I am not going to spoil the party for the sake of a set of tyres, but a few more miles to go yet.

I do have a lot of sympathy with the view about matching the set of tyres. Once the Yokohamas need replacing then a matched set of preferably Michelin CCs will be fitted, or failing that the Continental equivalent. A good friend is a director of a well known tyre company in the commercial sector, and former Michelin employee, and a sound source of advice. The dash cam was easily fitted, I reckon to fit them in less than an hour but was stumped by the fact that the NX uses mini fuses rather than the standard blade type. Amazon rapidly provided the necessary components to finish the job. There was an impressive amount of sound deadening material behind the glove box and even the horizontal finish plate below the fuse box had foam fitted around the catch to prevent chatter. Having returned from our trip of around 600 miles I was (even more) impressed with the car. It returned low 40s mpg with a 50/50 mix of A road, motorway/ country lanes, tootling about. Surprisingly better than I would have expected from my previous Avensis 1.8 petrol auto estate.I live with the controller and sat nav, a disappointing dogs breakfast and Lexota can and should have done better. Not sure about the audio quality but with two hearing aids I don’t have Bang and Olufsen ears. I do not drive on the edge so ultimate cornering ability etc beloved by the critics is not an issue for me. It stops, starts and goes round corners with quiet aplomb and suits me fine. 70 mph was easily maintained and the radar cruise control was very effective. I did pull out onto a main road when a car appeared in my mirror at rapid pace, this suggested flooring the pedal for the first time in anger as it were. I was anticipating the engine roar talked of so much by the scribblers. Let’s just say had you experienced driving my old 07reg Prius you would really wonder what the fuss was about. Performance, for me anyway, was more than adequate throughout the trip. Comfort? We drove for nearly four hours non-stop, I can’t remember when we last did that. Every time we get in the car management says “ this car is so comfortable” and then falls asleep!

Thank you for your replies. I prefer to use the tunnel for channel crossings, and haven't used the ferries for many years. Mid week travel and possibly at unpopular hours might well help. Management will not tolerate failure, as we are going to a family wedding in the Dordogne, plan B will be to fly. I have been sensitised to the CVT roar issue having had an 07 Prius. Very economical, my commute was a round trip of 112 miles most days, but gutless and noisy when acceleration was required. I cant think the NX is anywhere near as bad, and certainly is so much more comfortable. The Prius had to go at 110k as I simply could not live with the awful seat and discomfort any longer. I recently renewed my phone contract and switched from a 2 yr contract with Vodafone to a monthly one with Voxi. This gave me a lower price, more data and is owned by - Vodafone! The idea being that I can also use Waze or similar if necessary instead of the Garmin. Looking forward to more hints and tips from the forum.

It was last June when I posted a question about buying an NX, for which I received some useful advice from both respondents and the forum in general. Some time has passed since then, thanks to some family issues that came up and one or two other things. I had also thought about the Corolla Cross Hybrid that was announced last year but my local Toyota dealer seems genuinely clueless as to when one might be available and whilst I am a dedicated Lexota buyer, time to move on from my previous Toyota and not delay further. To cut the story short I now have a 17 reg NX sitting outside, with which I am very pleased. I did think about the 2018+ model upgrade but my criteria were for a full Lexus history and sufficient miles relative to age to cover me for the remaining Relax warranty period. 18+ models tended to be rather miley relative to my budget and I was bearing in mind the advice that the upgrade was relatively minor so went for condition rather than age as a priority. I have a 17 reg plate Luxury with a fully stamped and documented service book and 27k miles on the clock. Plenty of headroom for the next five and half years of the warranty. I did look in the showroom of the local dealer on several occasions, but the last time I visited the salesman suggested I look at a particular car that he thought fitted my wants, and I was shocked to see it had a small dent and scratch in the roof just behind the windscreen. I was profusely assured that this would be resolved as I am sure it would be, but I am amazed that it made it into the showroom without being attended to first. Consequently my search widened and I found a good quality dealer trading in high end cars who had the vehicle I wanted. A few minor issues of course. The 90 mile ride home was bone jarring, but then with the tyres pressures at around 40psi I guess it would be! Now set at 32 it is much more magic carpet and corners well with very little roll. The front tyres are Yokohama, and I think that accounts for the tyre roar I can hear on poorer surfaces. The back tyres are that well known brand of Chinese ditch finders, Farroad. They are new, and this particular version has reasonable reviews, not that I would ever have chosen them. Now at the correct pressure they seem much quieter but my experience with cheaper tyres is that as they wear then noise increases disproportionately. I plan to have them swapped to the front at the next service and when the Yokos have had it replace all four with Michelin cross climates, as recommended by several others. The boot is on the compact side but I can cope with that. What I am having great difficulty coping with is the remote controller knob device. I feel I should wear my flowery shirt and flares when using it so that we are all back in the 1980s complete with gauche graphics. If kit like this cant be used intuitively without needing a thick manual then it is not good enough. I had a 65 reg Toyota before and that was much easier to use than this. At one point I wish I had gone for the refreshed model if only to get Apple CarPlay. Since then I have sat in the car and played with it and am beginning to make some sense of it and to find my way around. However it bluetooths my music, the phone works and I have a Garmin satnav if all else fails. I am just fitting my Dashcam and then look forward to plain sailing. Overall, I am very pleased with the car. I have yet to experience the scream of the engine when accelerating, obviously not trying hard enough, but it has simply not been necessary to floor the pedal and the acceleration and cruise seems absolutely fine for everyday use. The sound system is better than I thought, and I have now learnt to cope with the disconnect between the screen and the dash info panel. In fact it makes it easier to use the radio etc on the move using the steering wheel controls. The seats are very comfortable and management in the passenger seat is very happy, its like driving an armchair with the benefit of no neck strain and much easier entry/exit compared to previous experience. I did try one with the pano rood but found that stole a little headroom in the back seat and as a family of beanpoles that would not have been helpful. All in all very happy with my choice and looking forward to many miles of trouble free motoring. A long trip away next week, and motoring holidays in June and then in France in August to get more in depth experience. Tally ho!

We have one of our bank accounts with Nationwide Flexplus. OK, you have to pay a fee of £13 a month, but do get modest interest on the balance that helps to offset this. In return we both get breakdown insurance, travel insurance and it covers our mobile phones too. Depending on your circumstances it might be worth checking out?

Thank you all for your comments, and welcome George to the discussion. I am old enough to remember the original Daf cars that had CVT and I think did indeed have rubber/ steel bands. On the Prius forum there was discussion at one time about the potential CVT issue of the lack of relationship of engine speed and noise to road speed and acceleration, known by some as the rubber band effect. I understand that the current set up is a planetary design and both simple and extremely reliable. My current Avensis has a CVT box with seven fixed ratios and drives beautifully, none of the roaring engine and sluggishness of the under powered Prius, just smooth, quiet and acceptably rapid. I think I need to consider carefully the age of the vehicle with respect to facelift or otherwise, tax and associated gadgets. The pano roof is even more optional as I envisage a roof box may occasionally be useful. Very good to know that there are no obvious red flags. Any other thoughts and comments are very welcome. It will be an interesting balance between age/facelift, mileage, price and the implications for the, potentially, ten year warranty. I aim to optimise each of these as far as possible. thank you all.

Good evening, firstly apologies for treading what is no doubt a well beaten path. I am a happy and committed Toyota owner (can I say that here?) looking to upgrade my current vehicle to an NX300h. The excellent Toyota dealer is co-located with Lexus immediately adjacent. Extensive happy experience and reputation together with the new 10 year warranty arrangement suggests an upgrade is opportune. I am thinking of a vehicle in the £20-25k range, 2016/7, Luxury spec and mileage ideally no more than 40k. I could be tempted by an older/ milier Premier. I would plan to buy from a Lexus dealer rather than an independent. I am reasonably knowledgeable about cars and my brother ran his own car business for many years and is a further source of advice. Therefore I am reasonably clued up on all the usual wear items, body etc and what to check for. I am particularly interested in any specific Lexus/NX issues - particular wear items and points to check, spec items ideally I should have, things to avoid and any experience that would impact my decision? I did have a Prius at one time and did over 100k miles in it before the terrible, shoulder wrenching, neck breaking driving position and screaming, elastic band style engine performance finally got to me. Reviews I have read tell me that comfort is not an issue but the elastic band effect is noticeable. I am not a fast driver and expect to check this on a test drive. My local dealer has offered a vehicle for a day. Also the corners seem remarkably well hidden, but parking sensors and reverse cam will help. Boot space looks OK, and it does have a spare. I don’t necessarily value a pano roof. I dislike all black interiors and would look for suitable trim. Any comments on these points would be welcome too. If you are not asleep by now (!) Many thanks, Royal Enfield (a Classic 500 currently occupies my garage)