Stever750

Back to the OP; I have been chatting with some business contacts in the accident repair market for around 3 years or so now, and they have been increasingly concerned about the challenges of safely and effectively repairing EV's or anything with a battery pack. Same goes for the autonomous features, eg lane departure, ACC etc etc. These technologies are simply too complex for the majority of workshops to handle properly, let alone back street independants. The upshot is that entire battery modules are being replaced rather than being repaired and individual cells being replaced. Sure, over time designs will evolve to make these repairs easier and lower cost, but that's not always the case right now. Personally, I was somewhat surprised that my annual premium doubled when I jumped from my 2.0TSI Skoda into a much more sedate hybrid. My wife runs an Auris hybrid, and the premium isn't especially high, so it can't just be the hybrid / battery repair / replacement cost consideration. I've started reading about the spate of thefts of lexus generally, and subsequent stories that LV will no longer provide cover to RX owners

Mine has some cheapo tyres fitted, plus the steering wheel is slightly off centre at the straight ahead, so I've already planned to have the tracking checked; that said i can definitely feel the motor cogging effects. I used to work for a steering system manufacturer, so probably far ore sensitised to this than the average owner. Will be filling up with Tesco E5 later this week. DAB definitely a job for the dealer when I get a chance to call by next week.

Thought I'd give an update after 2 weeks of so of ownership. I've done a mostly motorway journey, and a cross country journey this weekend just gone. Mpg for latter trip was 47.9, I've decided I leave it in standard, and flick into sport when I plan to overtake traffic in front, which I did multiple times, so that's an impressive return. I'm the fuelio app, and the first brim to brim was within 0.2mpg of the display, so that's good news. I'm also quite impressed with the handling, I had to fit koni uprated dampers to my superb to stop it wallowing around like a boat at sea, and the lexus had comparable body control. Grip is surprisingly high, and the RWD means turn in and front wheel grip is good too. It's not a sports car, and won't make you grin much, but you can lean on it and it's predictable. However, the steering is pretty dire, the on-centre feel is pretty poor. At high speed it feels like it's wandering slightly, as if it's following ruts in the road. Maybe I was spoiled by German designs that are set up for high speed autobahn driving. I think I found the climate control issue, it seems in the settings that the aircon is always on, so I've deactivated that to manual control. Biggest gripe so far is that DAB radio is dead radio. I've tried it in multiple locations between south Wales and the Midlands and all I get is no signal. No amount of fiddling in the menu has woken it up, so welcome any trouble shooting suggestions. Otherwise I'm pretty contented with it, it's quiet, comfortable and a relaxing drive for long distances. The only thing left to evaluate is whether there is a benefit to using 99RON instead of E10. I got a net benefit of using it with the Skoda, and the Facebook IS300h users group thinks it does. It's not a stressed engine, no turbo so in theory it's not going to be so sensitive.

OK, so the CC worked fine as explained, though it will work in AC mode at whatever speed you set it at, but then jumps to nearest 5mph increment if you use the lever to adjust it. Other observations, the cabin temp settings, are way off. I had mine set to 24C and it was still slightly chilly. There's an annoying cool blast from the side window demist vent on the dash, which 8s fixed by switching from auto (A/C off though) to air up and down. Even so, it seems to run cool unless it's a symptom of an underlying fault? On a positive note, I managed 47mpg from west Wales to Birmingham this afternoon, using M4 and M50 route. Mostly cruising at an indicated 80 which is 75 gps on E10. The display average eco though seemed a bit odd, I stopped at Monmouth for a coffee, and the average shot up after starting off again as if it had been reset (it hadn't). In any case, at thd end of the journey the since reset and since refuel were close, as I reset it not long after filling it up. I'll try to remember doing a brim to brim to check the accuracy. The DAB part of the radio isn't, so had to rely on FM, not sure why that wouldn't work.

It's the 5mph increments that I struggled with, and couldn't figure out how to increase the resolution.

Cruise Control. I mastered the other cc before I left!

I picked it up earlier and just got home so a 95 mile trip, mostly M4 and DC and a bit of A trunk. 44.5 mpg is welcome, that's cruising at an indicated 80 which is 75gps. Headlights are fine, better than I expected and a lot better than the Skoda. Took me a while to find a comfy seat position, but the Skoda vrs sports, seat are excellent in that respect so difficult to equal the let alone better them. Biggest gripe is on-centre steering feel. One of the worst I've tried in years tbh. I am a bit sensitised to steering feel as I worked for a steering and suspension tier 1 some years ago, and spent a lot of time analysing it. Wife's auris is similar, new corolla I tried was much better. Otherwise happy with it, managed to work out the major controls without too much difficulty, though trying the learn how to operate the CC whilst driving wasn't quite as successful.

Similar location to every VAG I've owned, except for the TPMS which was in the infotainment! I think so. If I'm honest I've not been impressed with lexus Cardiff. They're not as organised and knowledgeable as either Capitol Skoda in Newport or Fred Rees in Haverfordwest (my home town). Latter know the history of all of their used stock mostly because Pembrokeshire is a circular automotive economy. I don't have much confidence in the lexus used approved or "select" scheme from what I've seen. No one knows the provenance of these cars as I suspect they view a 20k used sale as relatively low priority, and the two guys showing me the cars were amazed that I'd suspected at least one (maybe all tbh) have been taxis. Anyway, I'm trusting the fabled lexus reliability that I haven't bought a complete dog, and that anything with select used approved means a warranty reset.

Sorry more questions. Not sure this will work given the ventilation system, though I never used heated seats on any car I've had with the fitted, but I'd like to fit seat covers. Though given the amount of wear on the drivers seat it seem a bit pointless, but I know it makes a big difference to the next owners having a clean interior; and I use my car as a mobile office. Again any recommendations? I will also look at the prices from the company that supplied the Superb covers which were for the money excellent quality. I have to say, this is one of the most helpful forums that I've participated in, even better than the Briskoda forums which are very good. It's nice to see helpful patience and thoughtful comments, a rarity on social media. Maybe a reflection of the users demograph.

Thanks I have a pass through with 3 usb ports and a voltage display (so I could check initially what the dashcam was doing. On the Superb I plugged both front and rear cams into a switchable ODB2 plug and then ran all of the cables in the trim. Depending on where it is on the IS assuming there even is one I'll do the same.

I used the 12V socket on the Superb to power a second phone, and a cable for my wife's iPhone and for my Garmin watch. I'll need one of the sockets to power a Garmin dashcam too. Sounds like plenty of options.

OK thanks for the info and advice. Conclusion is I'll probably stick with my phone.

Any recommendations or links? How difficult is it to install?

This will be one of the first things I'll do, use brighter HID replacements. How, easy are they to change? The Superb I've just pxed was a pig to change as you had to remove wheel arch trim.

The first challenge to overcome is sat nav. I'd really prefer not use maps on my phone as it buggers the screen with burn after a while, so am thinking of using a tablet mounted somewhere on the dash. Wonder if anyone has already come up with a workable solution.

One of the reasons I bought it was that it has just had a new battery fitted. I will be adding between 16 and 18k a year so unlikely to be a issue for me

OK 3 to choose from and decided to go with the first I saw, an 18 plate advance with 25k. The 69 plater has clearly been used as a taxi as the shiny rear seats testify so that's off my list, plus it has only 1 recorded service at 30k (the 40+ interval) so missing some history. They had another 68 plate Advance in red looked clean but has no dealer history at all and is practically sold, also mileage higher at 40k. Without dealer history not sure I'd want it. Either way, looks like I'll be staying in Club Lexus for a while now.

I don't know, I'm not sure when and what the FL changes were. There are three to choose from though, two 2018 plates (an 18 and a 68) and a 69 plate. All are between 25 and 30k miles. One is marked Select, but doesn't appear in the used approved list when you filter nationally. I can't check the spec of the 69 plate online as they've taken it off sale until I view it later today. The first one I saw and drove appeals because I know it's Advance, plus it's just had an MoT and service, I don't think the 69 plate has been serviced in the last 6 months, but it does have 4 new Falkens fitted to it. Sometimes there can be too much choice

Any views on the HID headlights? I have similar on my Superb, and they're inadequate for the performance of the car.

I thought I'd replied earlier, seems I haven't. Confusingly the Advance spec shows reversing camera and cooled leather electric seats. The first car had both. Second car has manual tahara seats so cannot be Advance spec, yet it has the reversing camera, which is only fitted to Advance and Premier, and is not available as an option on any other model. I did smile at the avalanche of typically Japanese acronyms for everything, but self healing paint is a new one on me. Back in the 2000s I worked for supplier of external painted trim parts to Toyota and pretty sure there wasn't anything specifically magical about the paint specs. Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow's edition of the automotive equivalent of meet the ancestors as I try to establish some more of the history of these two vehicles.

Both models are pre FL as indicated by the rotary infotainment controller, one is Advance and has leather heated and vented seats and electric adjust, the other one doesn't have that, they're manually adjusted so am presuming it's the fake leather. In any case, I'd likely fit decent seat covers onto the tahara version. Just obtained some insurance quotes, bl00dy hell it's expensive. Premium would increase form £43 pcm to £78. I could find several around £60pcm but there's a cancellation fee of some £90 from current provider (bank of Scotland). The entire business plan hangs on the top end HMRC advisory rate, if that took a dive I'd be left exposed!

Is it real leather in the advance trim?

Think I read it was tahara

Initial pics look good of the 69 plate, and of course a 4 year old car will have some degree of wear. How durable are the leather seats, only in this image the drivers bolster looks worryingly shiny? I'll be inspecting it tomorrow anyway in person.

Well that was an epic fail and made the mistake of getting impatient and buying used online. Went to collect the corolla and it was a bit of a shed so I declined the deal. Back to the drawing board, and will probably have a look at a 69 plate 300h in luxury trim with 30k for the same deal as previously. The fuel expenses benefit is massively attractive I have to admit.