In HJ today.

[royoftherovers]

"PROFESSIONAL ADVICE"

I had a long talk with a taxi driver about his Lexus, IS300h, asking why he bought it, and its merits, if any. He told me his previous car had been a Mercedes C200 diesel and that, in his opinion, was nowhere near as good as the Lexus. I was fascinated by this. He claimed the Merc needed brake pads every 20,000 miles, the DPF had been a constant nightmare, eventually catching fire, the gearbox was never really smooth, though fuel consumption was ok, about the same as the Lexus, which he claimed was around 50mpg. The Lexus is petrol, of course, absolutely no comparison. In his opinion the Lexus gearbox was as smooth as it gets, his car had now done 103,000 miles, still with original brake pads, which for him was a revelation. Cheaper to service, even with Lexus Hybrid health check, for which he said they charged £60. Not the slightest problem with it since purchase. Quite an endorsement I think. Hope this might be of interest

PW, via email

No surprise at all. Toyota Prius and Auris hybrid taxis are regularly clocking up 400,000 miles plus with very little mechanical attention needed. I've never heard of any trouble at all with the epicyclic CVT that Toyota fits to Toyota and Lexus models.

 

[Jayw13702]

My 64 plate IS300h is at about 125,000 miles now and still going strong.

Mine is a taxi as well, it’s quiet, comfortable, the passengers love it and it’s far cheaper and far more reliable than say an insignia/mondeo/octavia.

I have run hybrids now for about 10 years as taxis, over the 5 of them that I’ve had I’m at close to 600,000 miles and to date I have never had a serious mechanical or electrical failure.

Would I go back to a “normal” car for taxi work............never


Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

[Vagtech]

The best car i have ever driven!

I have talked to a guy how works at the Dutch AA Roadside Assistance company.

He said he had never have to do something on a IS300h besides a flat tire or a empty 12VDC Battery.

He had seen IS300h with 350k

After that conversation i bought for mine a new 12VDC Battery for 50 euro and 4 run-flats Bridgestone driveguard.

So they will never see me 🙂 

 

[imgo]

I have a 2013 is300h Premier that I purchased from new, it really is the best car I have ever had, I regularly get around 30 to 35,000 miles from the tyres I had the front brake pads and discs changed for the first time since new at 140,000 miles and the current mileage is 154,000 miles still on the original brake pads and discs on the rear from new. Driving it normally I get between 48 and 54 miles per gallon. Also servicing costs are less than my old car which was a 4-wheel drive Nissan Qashqai.

After six years of very pleasurable driving it looks like new, it drives like new. Never let me down, love the Lexus brand and will not change to another manufacturer. Many thanks to Lexus Birmingham who have been excellent and serviced the car every 10000 miles since I purchased it from them in August 2013.

[BigChange]

Silly question maybe but what/where is HJ ?

All those mileage tales are happy reading.  Just need some stories of long owned hybrid batteries to complete the picture.  Not sure when Lexus first introduced these.

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, BigChange said:

Silly question maybe but what/where is HJ ?

All those mileage tales are happy reading.  Just need some stories of long owned hybrid batteries to complete the picture.  Not sure when Lexus first introduced these.

Sorry Peter.HJ is Honest John in The Daily Telegraph. The best Motoring Correspondence bar none.

Hybrid Batteries are now warranted for 15 years from manufacture by Lexus, subject to Annual Checks..

NonE OF THE VEHICLES REFERRED TO ABOVE HAVE HAD A FAILURE IN THE Hybrid Battery.

[Jayw13702]

Silly question maybe but what/where is HJ ?
All those mileage tales are happy reading.  Just need some stories of long owned hybrid batteries to complete the picture.  Not sure when Lexus first introduced these.

Ok, I have been using hybrids now for 10 years, my first car was a 2004 Prius, when I bought it the mileage was 114,000 when I sold it I was up about the 235,000 mark.
Today, it’s mileage is 330,000 miles, I know the owner, he bought it to use as a taxi, ran it for 6 months and then upgraded, he handed this one to his daughter who uses it for town running.
It has never had any replacement Battery cells, nor has the transmission given any issues, the car is 15 years old now and the owner does admit he doesn’t get the Battery performance that he used to he is still getting mid to late 40’s out of it.

I have never had to do anything to the batteries on any of my hybrids, IMO they will easily last the life of the vehicle


Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

[JeffL]

Royoftherovers beat me to it re H.J. I read about the Lexus Taxi on www.honestjohn.co.uk which I read late Friday or Saturday every week as I like to read the  'Honest John's Motoring Agony Column'. There's a Part 1 and a Part 2 which are dated for the Saturday but are often uploaded to the site late afternoon/evening each Friday. There's some useful/interesting information on there and as a Lexus owner it really makes me feel rather smug when I read the horror stories from owners of VAG Group cars and Mercedes and BMW😃. I too would never change from Lexus/Toyota. However, there is one thing that really annoys me about Honest John (and I'm not alone) and that is his insistence that an automatic should be driven two-footed. He reckons the only safe way to drive an auto is to use left-foot braking. I just don't get it. All my cars have been autos for about the last 40 years and I've always driven them right-footed. Apart from that the site is a good read. No doubt this will bring about a discussion on how to drive an auto? Feel Free!

[royoftherovers]

3 hours ago, Jayw13702 said:

Ok, I have been using hybrids now for 10 years, my first car was a 2004 Prius, when I bought it the mileage was 114,000 when I sold it I was up about the 235,000 mark.
Today, it’s mileage is 330,000 miles, I know the owner, he bought it to use as a taxi, ran it for 6 months and then upgraded, he handed this one to his daughter who uses it for town running.
It has never had any replacement battery cells, nor has the transmission given any issues, the car is 15 years old now and the owner does admit he doesn’t get the battery performance that he used to he is still getting mid to late 40’s out of it.

I have never had to do anything to the batteries on any of my hybrids, IMO they will easily last the life of the vehicle


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Jason. Amazing information from the man in the street so to speak.

[JeffL]

Sorry John (royoftherovers) I gave Herbie the credit for this thread by mistake.☹️

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, JeffL said:

Herbie beat me to it re H.J. I read about the Lexus Taxi on www.honestjohn.co.uk which I read late Friday or Saturday every week as I like to read the  'Honest John's Motoring Agony Column'. There's a Part 1 and a Part 2 which are dated for the Saturday but are often uploaded to the site late afternoon/evening each Friday. There's some useful/interesting information on there and as a Lexus owner it really makes me feel rather smug when I read the horror stories from owners of VAG Group cars and Mercedes and BMW😃. I too would never change from Lexus/Toyota. However, there is one thing that really annoys me about Honest John (and I'm not alone) and that is his insistence that an automatic should be driven two-footed. He reckons the only safe way to drive an auto is to use left-foot braking. I just don't get it. All my cars have been autos for about the last 40 years and I've always driven them right-footed. Apart from that the site is a good read. No doubt this will bring about a discussion on how to drive an auto? Feel Free!

I am just as avid a reader too Jeff.

His view re left foot braking is his view which he holds for reasons which are good to him.

I tried it once.......and nearly broke my nose!!

[JeffL]

1 minute ago, royoftherovers said:

I am just as avid a reader too Jeff.

His view re left foot braking is his view which he holds for reasons which are good to him.

I tried it once.......and nearly broke my nose!!

I've corrected my error using the Edit button. Yes, I tried the left-foot braking after reading his suggestion a few years ago, just to keep an open mind, as you do, but no, not for me!

[MONTIMAR]

I agree the H J web site is the best by far. But left foot braking is not for me. I tried it for about 10 days and was a danger to myself and every other road user with 100 meters of my car.

[reeac]

I emailed HJ a while ago saying that I was firmly opposed to left foot braking (having tried it once and owning both auto and manual cars). He maintains that it's safer as your left foot has less distance to move to get onto the brake pedal. I think that that's outweighed by the advantage of your right foot having its position calibrated by the accelerator so that in an emergency you can be sure of moving it accurately onto the brake. There is the other aspect that if you drive both manual and automatics then your left foot is trained to use the clutch pedal which is a quite different action from the brake pedal.

[JeffL]

Another Plus for Toyota/Lexus (From this weeks Honest John).

Reader writes

I had my Prius serviced this week, and the service manager told me a woman had bought a new Yaris with a manual gearbox. Around 6 months later the clutch went, so she took it in for a replacement under warranty, was given a courtesy car and was told they would ring her the next day. They did, she was told they had checked for driver errors and there were none, but Toyota GB were apoplectic because the car had been fitted with an obviously faulty part, so would she mind continuing to use the courtesy car while Toyota sorted it out. Toyota then sent an engineer and translator from Japan to inspect the faulty part and oversee the fitting of the new one. Can you believe that? I thought it worth telling you because you have often commented on some manufacturers only warranting their clutches for 6 months. It would appear when it comes to Toyota there is some degree of integrity.

HJ's reply

That's a nice story. But it indicates to me that Toyota must have had several reports of failed clutches so that's why they wanted to get to the bottom of the reason why this one had failed. Your friend simply presented them with a live opportunity to find out what was wrong with it. But that's Toyota for you. I'm currently driving the new Camry hybrid. Excellent, sensible, big car, for sensible money, and 50+ mpg.

 

[royoftherovers]

We could make this(from HJ)? A REGULAR POST Jeff/

 

I see that he is now driving a Camry !!

[JeffL]

On 11/1/2019 at 7:59 PM, royoftherovers said:

We could make this(from HJ)? A REGULAR POST Jeff/

 

I see that he is now driving a Camry !!

John, yes I think a regular update is in order!

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, JeffL said:

John, yes I think a regular update is in order!

First to read will make the entry then under "IN HJ TODAY"

[Klakson]

Hi Guys, this is absolutely fascinating to know. When I was looking for a replacement car (from my BMW320dGT) I too looked at the C class. It was nowhere near as comfortable as the IS300H and definitely not as good looking. So, great to know that there will be no serious problem with it in the long run 🙂 I do about 20k miles per year so hope to get decent economy out of this beauty. Thanks for the info!

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, Klakson said:

Hi Guys, this is absolutely fascinating to know. When I was looking for a replacement car (from my BMW320dGT) I too looked at the C class. It was nowhere near as comfortable as the IS300H and definitely not as good looking. So, great to know that there will be no serious problem with it in the long run 🙂 I do about 20k miles per year so hope to get decent economy out of this beauty. Thanks for the info!

HJ on German quality today  

Check the good/bad sections for every model in http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar and you will see that German makes and models generate the highest number of complaints. VW Golfs feature strongly, yet Brits still convince themselves that they are buying German quality.

and

 

Honda offers the CR-V with its clever i-MMD hybrid system, explained here: /road-tests/honda/honda-cr-v-hybrid-2019-road-test/ There will be a new Jazz at the beginning of next year also with the i-MMD system and possibly (but not definitely) an HR-V i-MMD. There is also a new Toyota Yaris hybrid on the way. Generally, Toyota's self-charging hybrid systems have proven to be the most robust, with Prius taxis reaching 400,000 miles with little trouble and very low maintenance costs, largely due to their planetary epicyclic CVT transmissions. I have just driven 650 miles in the new Toyota Camry hybrid (a big car) and averaged 54.7mpg.

[royoftherovers]

IN HJ TODAY

 

Hyped breed?

I really don’t see the point of self-charging hybrids, unless you want to creep up on old people. It’s going to take the same amount of energy to move a vehicle from A to B whether it’s electric, petrol or diesel. If a self-charging hybrid only charges the Battery from the engine, where’s the gain? It seems to me all you are doing is moving the pollution from one place to another. Or have I missed something?

WJ, via email

If you "don't see the point", read this road test: https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/toyota/toyota-camry-hybrid-2019-road-test/ Then tell me which other car the size of the Toyota Camry hybrid does 54.7mpg on petrol (which can be 10p a litre cheaper than diesel).

[Dealkent]

On 11/9/2019 at 10:27 AM, royoftherovers said:

HJ on German quality today  

Check the good/bad sections for every model in http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar and you will see that German makes and models generate the highest number of complaints. VW Golfs feature strongly, yet Brits still convince themselves that they are buying German quality.

and

Gone are the days of reliable german cars . I had several BMWs And  the last one was was a disaster . Years ago german cars were reliable because they were so basic , no gadgets to go wrong , now that Merc s and BMWs now have lots of electronic goodies they  Now  suffer lots of issues . AVOID! 

[Britprius]

18 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Hyped breed?

I really don’t see the point of self-charging hybrids, unless you want to creep up on old people. It’s going to take the same amount of energy to move a vehicle from A to B whether it’s electric, petrol or diesel. If a self-charging hybrid only charges the battery from the engine, where’s the gain? It seems to me all you are doing is moving the pollution from one place to another. Or have I missed something?

Apologies to John "royoftherovers" as I did not include the "18 hours ago" title above in my quote from his post. This was added by the system, but was only quoting "Hyped breed".

Who ever wrote this obviously knows nothing about hybrids. While it is true all the energy comes from the fuel used. On a normal car energy "and hence fuel" is wasted every time you take your foot off the accelerator or put your foot on the brake. This is because the engine is pushed round at speed slowing the car down or the brakes produce heat that is discarded again to slow the vehicle. 
With a hybrid much of this energy is recovered for re use helping accelerating the vehicle away from rest. or climbing a hill. This is the time normal cars use the most fuel. Maintaining cruising at speed generally takes much less fuel.

John

[royoftherovers]

I doubt if anyone knows as much as you do John

.Your contributions are invaluable.Thanks.

[OldTrout]

On 11/9/2019 at 10:27 AM, royoftherovers said:

HJ on German quality today  

Check the good/bad sections for every model in http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar and you will see that German makes and models generate the highest number of complaints. VW Golfs feature strongly, yet Brits still convince themselves that they are buying German quality.

 

I have recently been looking at storage heaters. Two salesmen I spoke to repeatedly told me the heaters were German made. I found that rather insulting.

 

21 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Hyped breed?

I really don’t see the point of self-charging hybrids, unless you want to creep up on old people. It’s going to take the same amount of energy to move a vehicle from A to B whether it’s electric, petrol or diesel. If a self-charging hybrid only charges the battery from the engine, where’s the gain? It seems to me all you are doing is moving the pollution from one place to another. Or have I missed something?

 

Yes he is missing something. Well two things. One the hybrid reclaims the energy otherwise lost in braking, and two, adding the electric drive motor enables a more efficient Atkinson cycle engine which otherwise would have inadequate mid-range torque.

John