Is the tech pack worth the premium

[dazed]

I'm thinking of switching to a CT and have noticed that cars with the Tech Pack seem to command a fairly hefty premium (up to £2K). Bearing in mind it seems to mainly consist of a slightly larger screen and LED headlights (neither of which will make much of a difference to my overall ownership experience) would I be best off ignoring them - or am I missing something significant about the package.

I don't mind paying extra, but I need convincing that it more than just clever marketing.

Any input from owners would be much appreciated.

[KingHal]

You don’t say whether you’re buying new or used. £2K imo is too much if used. 
Having said that I’d dearly love the premium infotainment system which will soon be upgradeable to apple CarPlay (and the Android one). But if you’re not going to use it you’ve answered the question already. 

[Beduffshirl]

I went for the Premium Tech Pack as the LED lights make such a difference. I didnt have them on my previous CT but my OH's Nissan did have them and the comparison driving both at night was stark.

Stereo gets extra oomph too and I do like the split screen  giving access to Nav and Radio at the same time.

Will my March 20 be upgradeable to apple CarPlay?

[BoutTime]

I'd pay the extra I reckon if I was buying again. The extra safety kit on the newer CTs plus the larger screen, better stereo, auto mirrors etc would be worth the extra cash to me. Although I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised by the halogen headlights on mine Not as good as the Xenons on my old Jaguar but miles better than my wife's BMW and my Dad's golf which are verging on dangerous

[Moleman]

4 hours ago, KingHal said:

You don’t say whether you’re buying new or used. £2K imo is too much if used. 
Having said that I’d dearly love the premium infotainment system which will soon be upgradeable to Apple CarPlay (and the Android one). But if you’re not going to use it you’ve answered the question already. 

I have been told by Lexus UK that the Premium System on the CT cannot be upgraded for Car Play or Android and never will be. 😠

[Moleman]

4 hours ago, dazed said:

I'm thinking of switching to a CT and have noticed that cars with the Tech Pack seem to command a fairly hefty premium (up to £2K). Bearing in mind it seems to mainly consist of a slightly larger screen and LED headlights (neither of which will make much of a difference to my overall ownership experience) would I be best off ignoring them - or am I missing something significant about the package.

I don't mind paying extra, but I need convincing that it more than just clever marketing.

Any input from owners would be much appreciated.

The tech pack is good and worth having, but agree a £2k premium second hand seems rather high.

[Moleman]

4 hours ago, Beduffshirl said:

Will my March 20 be upgradeable to Apple CarPlay?

I have been told No. Very disappointed.

[Moleman]

This is the response I had from Lexus UK

Thank you for your message.

We absolutely understand the convenience that apple CarPlay and Android Auto adds for some customers, but we have no plans to make this available for your CT. I appreciate this is frustrating, and apologise for the disappointment this is likely to cause.

The hardware in your CT doesn't support the necessary functionality to make this happen, so while we recognise the benefit and interest, it isn't technically possible.

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch.

 

 

[Beduffshirl]

To be honest I'm not too dissapointed. For the driving I'm doing most of the time now I'm happy with the radio, or a tiny 32gb usb that fits in and allows the "door" to be closed, and I'm not bothered about other features on phone while I'm driving. If I'm on a longer journey I can Bluetooth music.

[dazed]

Thanks for all your responses. I'd be looking at second hand, about a year old - don't see the point in paying the new car premium.

[Moleman]

Hove a look at the Lexus web site used cars, some nice cars out there, should find something for around £21/22K with tech pack and F Sport

[Damer]

I got an ex demo CT with Premium Tech Pack a month or so ago. I like the larger Nav Screen, but to be honest I haven't driven it as much as the Wife has. She doesn't like the screen, she finds it distracting, but likes the Bluetooth connectivity so she can listen to podcasts/audio books off her phone. 

Compared to previous cars I miss the full leather and electric memory seats, but like the MPG. I also miss the acceleration I had from previous cars but they all have much larger engines.

 

[KingHal]

8 hours ago, Moleman said:

I have been told by Lexus UK that the Premium System on the CT cannot be upgraded for Car Play or Android and never will be. 😠

That’s interesting, because I was told by Lexus Belfast that the Premium system is upgradeable. I wonder who’s right? Probably Lexus themselves. 

[Stompe]

Think it's a marketing move to get you to think about the UX, If they can upgrade other Premium Nav systems.... Why not the Ct? 

[dazed]

Just an update from me, the original poster.

I took a look at a CT with the tech pack and wasn't impressed with the user interface or the method of controlling it. The software had obviously been designed and written from the perspective of it being used in a touch screen environment. Lexus had then bolted on an Atari style joystick (in terms of capability - not appearance!) to navigate this interface. Scrolling down a list was awful. Once you had reached the bottom visible item you had to move the highlighted control to the down icon on the list box and 'touch' that to continue scrolling. Controlling it was hard enough in a showroom. I couldn't imagine using it while driving.

The final decision to rule out the CT was the boot. Although the volume was reasonable, the height (at just 13 inches) without releasing the parcel shelf was insufficient for my day to day needs.

Sadly, Lexus don't seem to have a car to suit my wishes or needs - it's SUV or bust with them now.

After 14 years I think a Mazda 3 beckons. It isn't perfect, but it does tick more boxes for me than anything else . Failing that a mk7 Golf.

BTW if anyone is thinking of buying a new CT, then my advice is haggle and haggle hard. They clearly intend to shift the remaining UK stock ASAP.

[Linas.P]

The techpack includes premium sat-nav and 10 speakers audio, the standard one has sat-nav from 2003 and 6 speaker stereo which is just awful. That said £2000 is hefty price to pay, but if you at all care about the music then it is necessary, if however you only listen to the radio in the car probably not so much of an issue.

Separately, I don't want to talk you out of CT ownership but model is EOD, it is 9 years old and clearly have been replaced by UX in Lexus view. When you go from CT to UX it is like day and night, UX has all the latest tech and feels much never car. Just to weeks ago I had both as courtesy cars (long story with the RC brakes) and there is no comparison between the two. e.g. both have LSS, but only UX have full speed cruise and full stop, on CT is older system which disengages below ~30MPH. Overall, ~£3k difference between CT and UX is well worth it, much more than £2k for tech-pack.

If SUV is not for you (although UX is hardly an SUV and feels about the same size when driving as CT, just much better by being fundamentally much newer), then my suggestion would be to go for Toyota Corolla or used Auris, rather than CT.

[dazed]

3 hours ago, Linas.P said:

The techpack includes premium sat-nav and 10 speakers audio, the standard one has sat-nav from 2003 and 6 speaker stereo which is just awful. That said £2000 is hefty price to pay, but if you at all care about the music then it is necessary, if however you only listen to the radio in the car probably not so much of an issue.

Separately, I don't want to talk you out of CT ownership but model is EOD, it is 9 years old and clearly have been replaced by UX in Lexus view. When you go from CT to UX it is like day and night, UX has all the latest tech and feels much never car. Just to weeks ago I had both as courtesy cars (long story with the RC brakes) and there is no comparison between the two. e.g. both have LSS, but only UX have full speed cruise and full stop, on CT is older system which disengages below ~30MPH. Overall, ~£3k difference between CT and UX is well worth it, much more than £2k for tech-pack.

If SUV is not for you (although UX is hardly an SUV and feels about the same size when driving as CT, just much better by being fundamentally much newer), then my suggestion would be to go for Toyota Corolla or used Auris, rather than CT.

I do care about music, but not in a car.

I don't need talking out of CT ownership - I've already decided it's not for me. The fact that it's EOD is neither here nor there to me. Old models have their upsides - no nasty surprises and attractively priced deals. The UX just left me totally stumped. Much more expensive, less economical, an even smaller boot (despite not even having a spare wheel). Definitely not for me.

I did look at the Corolla, but the 1.8 seemed under powered and the whole interior felt a little Fisher-Price to me. The touch screen was also very sluggish to the point of being unusable (IMHO). The 2.0 version was better bet powerwise, but the boot was too compromised by the Battery to make it useful, plus I felt it was too expensive.

[Beduffshirl]

3 hours ago, dazed said:

Just an update from me, the original poster.

I took a look at a CT with the tech pack and wasn't impressed with the user interface or the method of controlling it. The software had obviously been designed and written from the perspective of it being used in a touch screen environment. Lexus had then bolted on an Atari style joystick (in terms of capability - not appearance!) to navigate this interface. Scrolling down a list was awful. Once you had reached the bottom visible item you had to move the highlighted control to the down icon on the list box and 'touch' that to continue scrolling. Controlling it was hard enough in a showroom. I couldn't imagine using it while driving.

The final decision to rule out the CT was the boot. Although the volume was reasonable, the height (at just 13 inches) without releasing the parcel shelf was insufficient for my day to day needs.

Sadly, Lexus don't seem to have a car to suit my wishes or needs - it's SUV or bust with them now.

After 14 years I think a Mazda 3 beckons. It isn't perfect, but it does tick more boxes for me than anything else . Failing that a mk7 Golf.

BTW if anyone is thinking of buying a new CT, then my advice is haggle and haggle hard. They clearly intend to shift the remaining UK stock ASAP.

Might that be the case for the IS too - anyone had any success who has brought one of these recently?

[Damer]

Agree with the comment about the boot. First World Problem, but Waitrose shopping bags don't fit under the parcel shelf.

[Beduffshirl]

I've only had a little look at the boot in the showroom but has it a cover "flap" like in the CT that you can create more height with?

[dazed]

4 hours ago, Damer said:

Agree with the comment about the boot. First World Problem, but Waitrose shopping bags don't fit under the parcel shelf.

Exactly. Didn’t Lexus think to measure a box of Cornflakes (14 inches) when designing the car. if it can’t even handle the weekly shopping run what’s the point of it? 🙂 

Rolling back the cover every time I want to use the boot doesn’t seem like a very good start when evaluating a potential replacement car, particularly when my wife’s car (a small supermini) has 18 inches of clearance.