First Drive In A Ct 200H

Rich2508 · June 15, 2013

Having whittled down the choice of my next company car to a Lexus CT200h Advance ,Merc B180 or BMW 116d, I have been looking on these pages the last week or so for some background info. To be honest the only thing that was drawing me to the car was the gorgeous Tan Tahara interior and the fact that the co. car tax being so low makes the total costs inc lease £100 pm cheaper.

Never having driven a hybrid before I was expecting to be disappointed with the noise when putting your foot down and the dreaded rock hard ride. A test drive was needed. The BM and Merc dealers were less than helpful when they found out that it would be a lease car and I could only ask if it could be sourced locally, not insist on it and suggested I went through the lease co for a test, never mind that they would be getting 100k miles of servicing over next 4yrs.

So, off to Lexus Derby where I had already been to sit in the car, thinking more of the same. How different it was, an immediate offer of a car for a couple of hours to take the family out in, brochures, advice, walk round of the features in the other models etc.

So, here are my thoughts and views following my first couple of hours with the car.

- engine noise at full throttle was really muted, not intrusive at all

- performance was fine, pace easily up with my 1.7 CDTI Astra, even when left in Eco mode

-ride was firm but not uncomfortable and I took it over some really poor roads, just felt solid, by the end of the test drive I was used to it, and the trip home in our Ford S max seemed worse.

- such a relaxing car to drive around in, loved the comfort of the seats and the lovely steering wheel.

- rear seat space is on par with an Astra or Golf, but our three girls 10-12 fitted in better than those as there is no transmission tunnel to get in the way of their feet.

-boot space is very shallow, will have to get some more luggage for my business trips.

-very good standard spec stereo, and Bluetooth pared easily to my Blackberry without resorting to the manual.

- parking brake bit awkward, would have thought it would be electric

- gear selection is counter intuitive as reverse you push lever forwards, and drive you pull back.

-parking sensors you can't hear over the reverse gear bleeping, but at least Advance will come with a camera as well.

Got back with the biggest smile on my face, could not believe how much better it was than I imagined and immediately decided to have one. Now just need to make my mind up on the very limited colour choice, as only Met Black or Grey comes with the tan interior.

Thanks to Lexus Derby - I know Lexus service is legendary but so far ahead of the opposition.

cadfile · June 15, 2013

Hi just had delivery of a new ct200h, coming from a Prius, on your comment about the reverse, having driven a lot of auto boxes, from neutral reverse is forward and drive is back the same as it is on the ct200h .I must say I would prefer it to be the other way round but I can see why it has been done.

ian103 · June 16, 2013

Good luck with your choice.

We choose a CT200 Fsport after our experience with a very helpful local dealer, the supplying dealer was the complete opposite - worst experience of a car dealer for a very long time (even worse than pushy secondhand car dealers). It was a lease car sourced via their preferred supplier, its a pity we can't feed back to Lexus.

We had the car towards the end of April, to be fair its saved a big chunk of money on comapny car tax, we wanted something anonymous but well put together, nicely equiped, low tax, automatic and easy to drive. The car also needed to have hill hold assist as we have a sloping drive to get on / off - the way its described in the manual is a faff but its proving very easy in use with only the occassional negligable roll back. To be fair the CT has provided most of what we were looking for in a car . We are still finding gadgets / gizmos that we didn't know the car had.

The downsides we have found have been minor really compared to the dealer experience-

yes it can be a bit noisy on rapid acceleration but you soon get used to it

its slower than a diesel but still quick enough in every day use

the sat nav is very good even round here - just complicated to set up.

we have the sensors fitted and it feels like there should be two extra in the middle on the front so you can park close to walls etc.

the parking brake is strange at first but after having an electronic one this feels better.

the boot is small but it stops you taking loads of stuff you don't need.

no power socket in the boot - would be useful

mpg - could be better 44mpg running locally and 46mpg on a run.

Would we pick it again - No due to the fact we can't choose who supplies the car. If the car proves ultra reliable over the 3 years and our local dealer proves to be brilliant then we may change our mind but as of today it would be a German made car next.

Rich2508 · June 22, 2013

Finally made my mind up and placed order. Having really wanted a metallic red one, I decided to upgrade from the Advance and go to a Luxury with Ivory leather, and then as the Navigation package despite costing £2000, was only another £20pm on lease costs, so that box ticked as well.

What amazed me was the overall cost of these cars as a company choice including the BIK tax - the 10% rate makes a huge difference at 40% tax. When running quotes through our supplier, any equivalent Astra,Golf,Focus, A3 etc equipped to same level was moving out at around £60pm more. Now just waiting to see how long the delivery time will be - anyone know on average?

ian103 · June 22, 2013

Like you I picked the Ct200 as a company car due to the tax advantages, car plus fuel card for less than the old car with no fuel card. Previous car was faster and certainly more stylish, and in my view better finished (maybe not so well built and definitely had reliabilty issues) but the significant economies (tax wise) of the CT plus it being a more compact car appealed. It makes a great choice for company car drivers.

I was advised that with certain models some of the extras were really advantageous to have - sat nav, reversing sensors and a metalic / pearl paint and in fairness adding them had little effect on the monthly lease cost. The sat nav is proving to be very good so far, its found some pretty out of the way down here in deepest Cornwall - just a bit fiddley to use.

When we spoke to our local dealer they were saying 3 months in October last year. It was ordered at the end of October for delivery beginning of March 13 as that was when the lease ran out on the previous car. It actually turned up late April via the lease companies preferred supplying dealer [can't understand why as they clearly demonstrated that they have no interest in customer (driver) satisfaction so it can only be cost ie cheapest]. Neighbours friend has a CT and that was souced via a local dealer and it was about 3 months (July / August time last year)

cadfile · June 23, 2013

hi I ordered a red ct200h luxury, from date of order to delivery was 6 weeks having come from Gen 3 Prius it is in my opinion a far superior car in all ways I thought I would miss the HUD more than I have. On the first tank of fuel using the computer I am getting 62.4 working it out full tank to full tank 62.7 one happy bunny. Ps 464 miles in and got a crack on the screen from a stone what rotten luck.

Barnfather · July 9, 2013

I have recently (in the last 2 weeks) taken delivery of a re-allocated company CT200h. I am entering the company car scheme and was poised to order a brand new Advance model however was offered a crazy deal on a 1yr old model already in the fleet, which turned out to be a no-brainer financially.

It is a 2012-plate SE-L with Leather, but no navigation in Arctic Pearl.

First impression was really good. My previous car (Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi SUV) was white and I was unsure about having another ‘white’ car, however when you are vaguely close to the Lexus, especially in bright sunlight which we have thankfully been blessed with over the last week, it really shows off the pearlescent colour and several people have remarked to me how ‘it looks like a sweet/candy’. Very eye catching and suits the large wheels.

Prior to getting the car, I read just about every review online and in print and I must say that some of the main reasons the car has been criticised I have found to simply be NOT the case at all. Number one criticism seems to be about the ride quality – I have found this no problem whatsoever. It’s not as soft as an SUV of course, but I would say it is comparable if not better than my old Civic Type-S and under most road conditions the ride is extremely comfortable. I’m sure given the short wheelbase, large wheels and fairly firm suspension that some of the worse pot holed roads won’t be brilliant to drive on, but that would apply to most cars in this class anyway.

The second regular review criticism is the noisy, unrefined engine. So far, I have found this to be perplexing also. Of course, around town the car is quiet and almost silent mostly, but even at legal motorway speeds I find the car hushed and refined. Accelerating very hard will cause some engine straining of course, but unless you drive like a lunatic these occurances will be few and far between. The car is certainly quieter and smoother than my Ford Kuga.

A third regular review criticism is the lack of performance. Well, I agree that it isn’t a sports car, and you won’t want to be taking this car on track days, but pound-for-pound it has similar performance to my Kuga and that is more than enough for regular driving. The difference between Eco/Normal and Sport mode is also marked, primarily on throttle response and I’ve found that my usual use of this is when approaching a roundabout or junction, I will just twist the controller to ‘Sport’ allowing a very sharp, rapid acceleration from the junction and once I’m past it I just tap the controller back into Normal mode. Compared to all the manual stick waggling I have been used to for years, it is easy and I am never left feeling that I don’t have enough power when I need it.

A fourth regular review criticism is the quoted economy figures. Ok, so they are a bit misleading but the CT200h is far from thirsty. Granted the weather here has been hot which apparently helps MPG numbers, but in the two weeks I’ve had it I am averaging 60mpg which is without trying to drive ‘too’ economically. I am sure that if your journeys are very stop/start or town/city based mainly, you would beat this number.

So I love the car. It has the understated looks and interior feel of an Audi, feels different enough with the hybrid powertrain and exceeds all my refinement worries.

My criticisms of the car are hardly that – and were all things I knew about before I got one. Firstly, my car doesn’t have the sat nav, and the head-unit does look dated compared to other cars in the class. Having said that, it has full Bluetooth Phone and Audio capability and once you adjust the balance and audio settings, the quality of the speakers in the standard models show as being very good. Secondly, the cup holders in the centre console do not have any foam or rubber in them, so bottles being stored there can vibrate at times. I understand the fix is to, erm, put some foam in – so will be doing this. It’s an odd design flaw though.

Given the company car tax benefits of this car, I am surprised there are not even more of these on the road. Absolutely loving mine.

Rich2508 · July 9, 2013

Great to hear you are loving yours Barnfather, mine should be along in a couple of weeks, but we are away on holiday, so hopefully get it by first week in August. Went to a local car show at weekend and Lexus had a stand there, just sat in the CT200h and remembered straight away why I chose it - such a comfortable fit.