New member. Old Lexus.

Las Palmas · November 10, 2020

Hello to you all wherever you are,

Nice website.

Was searching for info about a Lexus CT200H 2016 that has all the extras possible, I think, my wife has just bought. Search and you shall find and I found you. Outside and inside the car looks just like new. Sure, she could have had a new entry model Auris for the same amount but automatic seats, one with memory, cruise-control with radar braking if getting too close to the car in front of us, sun-roof, which Lexus calls moon-roof, parking assistant, navigation, leather seats, that are not sticky and warm as the leather seats I had in cars many years ago and stopped me liking leather seats. And then there is in the car a sound system. Have never before heard a car music system that can reproduce the sound from a double bass and at the same time reproduces the sound from when the bassist moves his fingers on the fret clearly, and that great sound is on both front seats; really well made Lexus/Mark Levison. Neither Mercedes nor VW have sound systems that can that, not even in their top models.

People with so much knowledge about Lexus as the folks in this club have must know the answers to the questions I can come up with.

One of the things I would like that is not on the car is high beam LED.

Low beam bulbs are LED, but High beam are not. Why? They are not emitting so much heat and besides they use less power. Not legal? The yellow colour from the Halogen is not really appealing.

Coming from Denmark we are used to a 24-hour clock, and instead of seeing 6 - 7 and 8 twice a day and, if still sleepy, not knowing if it is morning or evening. Cannot find out how to fix that clock.

There probably will come more questions later, but having been driving the CT a couple of days I find it is really a nice car. Comfortably bringing us from where we were to where we are and the CT is really nice looking. I first thought Lexus was a reliable car and nothing more. Learned something.

royoftherovers · November 10, 2020

Welcome LP.Good to hear from you. Any photographs to show us?

Las Palmas · November 12, 2020

On 11/10/2020 at 7:13 PM, royoftherovers said:

Welcome LP.Good to hear from you. Any photographs to show us?

Thank you.

Pretty busy right now. Will send some pictures later.

No knowledge how to set the clock to 24hour instead of AM/PM? Also, when air-condition is on it seems not possible to get fresh air in from outside, only recirculated air. It may be cleaned but not good for longer tours. Oxygen level will sooner or later be pretty low with recirculated air, at least if the car is as closed as the ole VW bobbles.

Seems as if the club is friendly, what I have read so far is only friendly communication.

Have a nice day

royoftherovers · November 12, 2020

Hi LP, Thanks for posting.

If you have a Manual, you can probably find answers to both questions in it.

If you do not have a Manual, then go to Lexus.co.uk and look under "my Lexus" for your Manual.

I`m sorry but I do not own a CT and therefore cannot answer your 2 questions myself.

Good luck.

steve2006 · November 12, 2020

Hi John and welcome to the LOC.

The clock question has been asked several times in the past and unless there has been a very recent change the answer I’m afraid is no there is no option to change it to the 24 clock. Given it is a Lexus it is additionally surprising that there is also no am/pm indication.

Regarding the high beam LEDs there will no doubt be aftermarket options available although the legality of these is questionable.

The link below may provide some ideas regarding a conversion.

https://www.xenondepot.com/2017-ct200h-led-headlight-kit-review

Vlady · November 12, 2020

Welcome John, it is nice to hear from another happy owner of the Lexus! Congratulations on a new car.

Las Palmas, is it not a capital of Gran Canaria? 🙂 In old days (BC i.e before corona) we loved going to Gran Canaria! 🙂

Las Palmas · November 13, 2020

Correct Vlad and thank you.

Nobody seems to know when the islands will be open again, had it opened for flights from mainland Spain a short while, but now closed again.

Maybe good for all here not living from tourists as we have all needed masks since March and we may be the place in Spain with least virus problems.

When we get a vaccine that function and is available to all we can travel again.

steve2006 · November 13, 2020

Please say Ola to the staff at the Rio Palace Maspalomas, we normally stay there over Christmas and New Year but it looks like this year is out.

Las Palmas · November 13, 2020

On 11/12/2020 at 1:11 PM, royoftherovers said:

Hi LP, Thanks for posting.

If you have a Manual, you can probably find answers to both questions in it.

If you do not have a Manual, then go to Lexus.co.uk and look under "my Lexus" for your Manual.

I`m sorry but I do not own a CT and therefore cannot answer your 2 questions myself.

Good luck.

Thank you John,

Have the manual but sorry to say that the clock is silly enough not possible to get to 24 hour clock. I knew that in the US they have AM/PM and nobody have been able to enlighten me how to use that. Military in US use 24 hour clock. Airplane traffic is also regulated with 24 hour clock so why Lexus think a 12 hour clock is the best is impossible for me to understand.

About high beam lamp it seems I will have to find a Halogen with white light as maybe LED is not permitted, though low beam and fog lamps are LED from factory.

Las Palmas · November 13, 2020

4 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Please say Ola to the staff at the Rio Palace Maspalomas, we normally stay there over Christmas and New Year but it looks like this year is out.

Hi Steve,

I do not come near such expensive places like Riu Palace. They charge more for a not very good pizza than a good local restaurant charge for a solomillo de ternera con papas.

It looks nice from afar.

Do you know of a Halogen H9 with white light as that may be what I settle for?

Las Palmas · November 23, 2020

Do not know how factory get the super fuel consumption data, but having only had the CT200H very short time I have seen that in normal city driving with knob set to ECO it does not consume much less than my old VW 2.0 TDI DSG Golf, when driving as economic as I can in both cars, so I suppose that it is more up to the drivers to get a superb mileage on gas, than it is to the car. Now, I told you I am not a super skilled driver. No, the diesel engine is not perfect. It is collecting much dirt in exhaust system when driven economically. The faithful TDI needs to have exhaust cleaned before getting the approval for driving another year and cleaning the exhaust system is done by driving the engine with high revolutions and if looking in the rear view mirror and seeing the thick black smoke that come out behind the car for several kilometres you’ll know that the car is not at all environment-friendly.

There have been several super polluters among the cars we have had *). We have polluted without thinking about it. 20 years ago, not one, of the people I know, were thinking of pollution from cars. But climate change is happening. Maybe cars are not a major part in that, but if we do not change the way we pollute in everything we do, many countries will lose a lot of land as icebergs are melting, water level is rising, land just above sea level will be expensive to keep dry; so, polluting as little as possible, is one of the good reasons for buying a hybrid.

Why not a fully electric car? Power must be made first, and as long as most electricity comes from burning fossil fuel, difference between a hybrid and an electric car may not be very big and if electricity come from burning coal, hybrid may be a far better choice. When (if ever) all electricity come from wind or sun or other non-polluting sources, the ever-changing tides have so much power that if converted to electricity no other source would be needed and though that idea is more than hundred years old nobody has still bothered to find out how to use it. Electric cars would be good if it was not that making the items that make electricity from wind or sun is polluting a lot, and the leftovers from these machines will be impossible to reuse/recircle. Windmills wings made from fibres and plastics and resin are extremely durable materials, and when they can no longer be used for the purpose they were built to; they are impossible to recircle with technology we have today. Burning them will need filter not available due to the cost of the filter; burning without filter will release a lot of toxic smoke. The pile of stored no longer useable windmill wings is growing. Making solar cells and getting rid of the left overs when they no longer work well are polluting more than atomic energy it is said. Atomic waste is not really a great thing either.

Storing electricity is another problem that today can only happen with losing so much energy that it is not really useful. Transporting electricity over large distance is another way of losing energy.

Hydrogen in fuel cells is talked about, but so far making the cells takes much more energy than will be in the final product to put in a car, and though pure water from the exhaust system sounds nice, it is not really something that is coming in the near future.

Maybe hybrid is the best choice today. That is what I told my wife. She surprised me buying a Lexus.

*) MB 300SEL-6.9, Peugeot 604, Rover 1982, MB 250S, Ford Capri 2.8, MB 350SE, Datsun 280ZX, Nissan 300ZX, Toyota Supra, Lancia Delta EVO 2, Honda Accord Coupé. These super polluters I remember we have had; some I may have forgotten.

We had some not so polluting cars as well: Austin/Morris 1100, Dyane 6, Honda Civic, some of them were fun to drive: Matra Baghera, Toyota MR2 1986, Honda CRX 1987, Toyota MR2 Roadster 2000 plus a Smart Roadster Coupé that is almost a go-kart.

Now I think, the Lexus CT200H is not so bad when a car is best option for transportation.

Las Palmas · November 24, 2020

Forgot Opel GT 1970. Beautiful car.

Must be getting old.

Las Palmas · January 15, 2021

Hi John,

you asked me to send pictures.

One of them is showing that I am not a good CT driver. Seems I am using more fuel than I did on the old Golf 2.0tdi DSG and I am driving the same way (5L/100km). Gasoline is more expensive than Diesel.

Still the CT is a really nice car and I am sure that it is polluting less than the old diesel and that is the real purpose for a hybrid (for me at least), and all the luxury like no need to use the remote, just touch the handle and the car unlock or lock, automatic adjustment of seat; silent driving in garages and all the other comfort gadgets. If it also is as reliable as I have heard then it is close to the perfect car.

Dipped beam is giving so much light that high beam is very seldom needed, and that is a good thing as high beam is a yellowish tint from a halogen while the dipped is clear white LED light.

Do I recommend Lexus: YES!

royoftherovers · January 15, 2021

42 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Hi John,

you asked me to send pictures.

One of them is showing that I am not a good CT driver. Seems I am using more fuel than I did on the old Golf 2.0tdi DSG and I am driving the same way (5L/100km). Gasoline is more expensive than Diesel.

Still the CT is a really nice car and I am sure that it is polluting less and that is the real purpose for a hybrid (for me at least), and all the luxury like no need to use the remote, just touch the handle and the car unlock or lock, automatic adjustment of seat; silent driving in garages and all the other comfort gadgets. If it also is as reliable as I have heard then it is close to the perfect car.

Dipped beam is giving so much light that high beam is very seldom needed, and that is a good thing as high beam is a yellowish tint from a halogen while the dipped is clear white LED light.

Dop I recommend Lexus: YES!

Many thanks L.P. it was good of you to remember to send the photos. We need one of you and the car now against a background of a wonderful bright blue sky !

Glad you are enjoying the CT. It is a wonderful car that continues to be wonderful notwithstanding the accumulation of miles and years.

My GS is now 10 years of age, but I still continue to enjoy its unblemished hybrid values.

Take care of yourself and family, stay well and do contribute to the Forum.

Las Palmas · January 15, 2021

52 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Many thanks L.P. it was good of you to remember to send the photos. We need one of you and the car now against a background of a wonderful bright blue sky !

I think this is better than a picture of me. No reason to scare the readers.