Loan CT200h while RX450h in Dealership

[olliesgrandad]

Well my  2015 Rx450h which I purchased 3 weeks ago has gone back to Lexus Derby to sort some minor paintwork  issues which weren't corrected when the car was prepared.

It will be with them for a week. The loan car they supplied is a 2018 CT200 luxury in Messa red which they registered only yesterday. It arrived with me today with 135 miles on the odometer.

As I drive around 500 miles a week it will be interesting to see how it performs compared to my previously owned 2014 IS300h fsport, GS300h luxury 2015 and my 2015 RX450h.

The first thing I noticed is how noisy the tyre's are . It is on the optional 17 inch wheels and is shod with Yokahoma tyres. A very firm ride and to my mind the 16 inch rims would probably be more comfortable. Within the first few miles i noticed that the speed limit detecting camera had missread a sign in a known 40mph limit and despite driving past several repeater speed limit signs it insisted on telling me I was exceeding a 30mph limit!

It certainly has plenty of power. I have refueled it and set the car up on my phone app in order to get some real world mpg figures.

[colin79666]

Interesting to hear you think it has sufficient power as quite a few people who have stepped into a CT courtesy car feel it is too slow.

The oem tyres are noisy but it is at least partially cured with a switch of rubber. With the engine being so quiet (unless you accelerate hard) road noise is more apparent and I don’t think the CT is as well sound proofed as more expensive models. 

Agree on the speed limit camera being useless. The F Sport I had when mine was in for servicing in February was complaint as soon as I drove out the dealer forecourt. Wish mine had the adaptive cruise control though!

[200h]

Lexus have made a quiet car and then put the noisiest tyres they can find on it

when i had mine i was glad to get rid of the yokahama's and replaced them with dunlops

the difference was incredible.

agree with colin most complain regarding the lack of power the Ct has.

[olliesgrandad]

My Gs300h was shod with Dunlops. I switched to michelin primacy 4 tyres and what a wonderful change that was. The Michelin is a new model claimed ot be as good in the wet when worn as new  and they are fabulous wet or dry. i did 6,000 miles before selling the car and it handled like it was on rails wet or dry.

[Odysseus]

I had a new CT200h when my GS450 was in for work recently and I didn’t think it was an impressive car in any regard. It actually felt inferior to my other car - a 2010 Toyota Prius. The CT has the same engine as my Prius so is no more economical nor quicker, and felt a lot more cramped than the Prius. The ‘sport’ affectations of the CT in the form of red hued dials etc were also a bit lame.


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[olliesgrandad]

Just refuelled and tankful to tankful over 300 miles was 53mpg. The computer said 57 so rather optimistic. Compared to 46mpg from my previous 2015 GS 3 weeks ago not an impressive figure. 

[ColinBarber]

11 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

Just refuelled and tankful to tankful over 300 miles was 53mpg. The computer said 57 so rather optimistic. Compared to 46mpg from my previous 2015 GS 3 weeks ago not an impressive figure. 

Once you get over 50 mpg, it takes a lot of engineering to make a significant difference. The biggest issue with the CT is that it is using a 2009 power plant and drivetrain which should have been retired two years ago when a much better alternative became available. Unfortunately the Auris, which is the development platform for the CT, hasn't been update either until this year.

[olliesgrandad]

Well hopefully my RX450h is coming home tomorrow after a full weeks absence. Looking forward to it.

The CT200h has been better than expected during a total of 624 miles covered in that period. I have refuelled fully 3 times and the average mpg has been 54.1. Yesterday saw a round trip of 240 miles to London so fuel consumption is not at all bad. I have got used to the hard ride and the seats are comfortable - more comfortable than my IS300h F sport , but not as good as my 2015 GS Luxury or my RX450h.

I have somewhat changed my mind on the performance. It is adequate in normal driving, but for overtaking rather sluggish. 

Why aren't the folding door mirrors automatically folding when locking the car?

The speed limit function from the camera is also random -often picking up the signs from side roads and missing the ones on the road you are driving along. This was especially noticeable in London (where you want it to be correct). Today on the motorway it showed me that the speed limit was 120mph......

Active cruise and lane assist are far superior to the offerings I had on a late 2014 mini cooper, but sometimes restting the cruise speed at the higher end would want to restrict me to 35mph (switch off and on cleared this).

All in all fine for a week, but wouldn't rush to buy one at this time.

[ColinBarber]

14 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

The speed limit function from the camera is also random -often picking up the signs from side roads and missing the ones on the road you are driving along. This was especially noticeable in London (where you want it to be correct). Today on the motorway it showed me that the speed limit was 120mph......

This isn't unique to the CT, all the current Lexus vehicles have the same system, and the same shortcomings. 😞

The 120 was probably due to a 120 km/h sign on the back of a lorry.

[olliesgrandad]

Pretty fed up at present. My car was due back with me at around 3pm so I arranged to work at home today. At 2.30 i had a call from the Sales manager at the garage to say that he wasn't happy with the quality of work done on my car and that he wanted it to go into their Lexus approved bodyshop rather than on site bodyshop  to ensure the job wasn't going to be rejected.

I then learn that they probably want it for another full week. He said that they had tried to buff out some of the scratches in the paintwork but they were still visible. I explained to him that My local 'smart repair' guy had told me that it needed a proper bodyshop repair and that I had explained that before the car went back to them. 

The Garage guy told me that one area of concern was the patch of corrosion on the tailgate and I again explained that I had been told it would need a bodyshop to blend it in properly.

I am supposed to be getting a call tomorrow to give me a timeline for the work.

Ah well -Back to the CT200h then 🙂

 

[Guest]

At least you will get a proper job done in the end and there’s worst cars to be left with than The CT.

Hope it all works out well.