lee789

From the video it seems that Top Gear might have fixed the drag race they had last week. The RCF is clearly ahead, although the M4 is catching up quickly. It either proves that what Clarkson says is biased tosh, or he can't drive.

Sport + not standard on F Sport though. Another £750 I believe. Forgot the Premier didn't get the paddle shifters. Silly that, it's hardly a feature confined to sports models nowadays, and the Premier is just as quick as the F Sport.

Haven't got Sports + mode on mine, only Eco, Normal and Sport. Think Sport + only comes with the variable suspension package doesn't it?

I've just been for a 50 mile run with the NX in Sports mode. Keeping the car in S1 and S2 for as long as possible certainly makes it shift. No delay in throttle response, and feels much much quicker than it's official figures. I know the 300H is supposed to be a couple of seconds slower to 60 than the 200, but I bet the hybrid is quicker to 40 than the 200 purely because of the torque from the hybrid system being fully available from standstill.. From 40-60 is probably where the petrol turbo makes up ground, and the hybrid starts to fade. I don't know what you guys think of the synthetic engine note when accelerating hard in Sports mode, and I know it has been panned by some motoring journalists, but I actually thought it sounded very good. I don't think driving constantly in Sport Mode will do the engine or box any harm at all. It certainly hasn't affected the consumption figures....they are still just as bad!!

I'd take the RFC over the M4 anyday. Whatever Clarkson says, the car looks stunning to me. Who cares if it doesn't handle like a racing car under harsh acceleration around a track. The M4 is a fine vehicle, but it's a BMW. Virtually everybody and his best mate owns a BMW, and they all look similar, and they all have virtually identical generic interiors. Boring. Aside from that, you can spend 20% or more of the basic cost of the car to get to a decent spec level. At least with Lexus you get an excellent amount of standard kit, fixed price servicing, reasonable extended warranty costs, and good parts availability. You are also driving something a bit special and much more individual.

The complaints about the Evoque are all over the internet, but it doesn't seem to have hindered sales. The electronics are definitely one of it's biggest problems. Nothing particularly major, but a series of annoying little faults that ruin the whole ownership experience, and may or may not render the car undriveable at times. The electronic handbrake issue has affected Jaguars for years, so no surprise it has found it's way into the company's Land Rover products. The Sat Nav & media software is positively antiquated, and I know of owners who have damaged the screens attempting to get the hard keys to respond to touch. It also has a nasty habit of shutting down completely, leaving a blank or blue screen, and no way of controlling many of the vehicles' functions. That particular type of issue is one to watch in the NX, as I have read a few reports of problems with the media/audio system locking up (requiring the car to be stopped and restarted), and a couple where the entire media/sat nav system refuses to boot up because the software potentially has a bug. I understand these may be linked to the pairing of a certain type of mobile phone to the vehicles' bluetooth. However, I have every confidence that Lexus are on top of such things, which is more than I could say if I owned a Jaguar or Land Rover product.

Anybody who thinks the BMW X3 is fashionable has no taste whatsoever, and needs an urgent appointment at Specsavers. It is marginally better to drive than the NX, but looks hideous, boxy and dated inside and out. The Evoque is a stunning looking car with a nice interior, and looks particularly good on the back of a breakdown truck as it disappears down the road. I would certainly recommend one over an NX if you value looks over quality, and want to form a deep meaningful relationship with all the Land Rover technicians at your local dealership.

If you haven't already tried it, I've found using the flappy paddles helps on steep inclines. Although it's a CVT box, changing down holds the revs at a predetermined rev limit, and helps a lot. Sorry to hear about the problem with the mirror, I hope it is sorted out soon. David, if you get to test drive the NX 300H I don't think you will be disappointed. Very little difference in performance vs the IS300H.

I agree, it's a stupid marketing mistake, and according to my local dealer it is putting potential buyers off. No doubt this will get back to Lexus and the situation regarding options is likely to change, but not soon enough for us. I have a feeling the new RX will be very similar to the NX (lots of creases and curves, a huge grille and protruding rear light clusters) but on a slightly bigger scale, and with a more satisfactory engine. The problem is that the Premier edition of the new RX is likely to be around £60k with a couple of options, and that's a big premium to pay on top of the price of an NX Premier for the larger engine and the extra space.

Yes, every Lexus dealer I have ever been to has been outstanding. Makes a change from some of the shoddy service I have had from the likes of BMW, Jaguar and (particularly) Jeep. Glad to hear you got the global opening and closing enabled, and that the handbooks are on order. Mine took about three weeks to come because they were on back order, but you may be lucky and get them sooner. Rather envious of the extra equipment you have in the Premier, and would have really liked the Head Up and Panoramic Cameras. I just couldn't bring myself to buy an NX model with the standard front grille though, preferring the more aggressive F Sport mesh grille. Nothing wrong with the standard grille at all, but after seeing the F Sport I had to have it. Apart from that I saved around £6k on the price they were asking for the Premier at the time.

I believe you have to hold the lock button for about 3 or 4 seconds and within a few feet of the car to globally close the windows remotely. This feature is common with many makes of car, but I've never read any complaints about owners coming back to cars full of rain. Quite amusing though, as long as it doesn't happen to me, or any owners club members of course!!

Jeremy Clarkson hates most cars that costs less than £100k, especially if they have a Lexus badge. Apart from the LFA, I don't think he has ever had anything nice to say about the brand. Top Gear is utter contrived rubbish now, and last night I found myself hoping that Hammond would get mauled by a grizzly, and Clarkson and May would get marooned in a snow drift, and perish from hypothermia. The show now has very little to do with cars, and more to do with three middle aged men acting like silly schoolboys, obsessed with their own genitalia. My money is on Clarkson making more inappropriate comments, and being sacked before too long. As cars are the second biggest purchase most of us make, there really should be a decent weekly TV show that looks at ORDINARY cars in a sensible and informative way.

Nothing really major that I can think of, but you might want to ask them to configure the windows to close automatically when you hold the lock button on the door/key fob lock button. For some reason Lexus have made this feature a dealer only configuration, and by default it is set to off. You might also want to ask them to provide an Owners Manual and Satellite Navigation Manual free of charge, because the small book that comes with the car doesn't cover all the functions, and the on-line manuals that Lexus have provided as a substitute for the real thing are a nightmare to navigate through. The full manuals normally cost around £80 for the pair, but as you will have them on the spot at handover it is definitely worth pushing to get them. If you have no luck then call Lexus Customer Services and ask them for free copies to be ordered in through your local parts department. They did this for me, so I think they accept some owners want them. I really hope the handover goes well, and that you enjoy your new NX. Do post some photos and let us know what you think.

One can only assume that to get to 56 MPG as claimed by Lexus, they drove down a mountain road to sea level, coasting most of the way. Either that or the figures are entirely fictional. You could accept a reasonable deviation in the official figures of 10 -20%, but 40%?? That's the stuff that Class Legal Actions in the States are made of. As for the ride, the FSport is a bit on the firm side. I didn't option the variable suspension, because on the test car I drove I didn't feel it made much difference, and certainly not enough to justify £750. At £40k it should be standard anyway.

The Pioneer system has surround too. Lexus have made a point of saying that the ML system in the NX features new technology which improves the quality of MP3 music files, although apparently the Pioneer system has similar, but not identical technology. Not sure how that works, or if it even does.

Yes,, bizarre launching the 200T in FSport guise only, along with the same options limitations. I think the panoramic glass roof is available as £1000 option (far too expensive for a fixed piece of glass), but none the other items you mention. Actually, the 8 speaker Pioneer system that comes with the Premium Nav upgrade sounds extremely good, and I wouldn't pay to upgrade to the ML even if it was available.

I would consider another NX, but only if they introduce a sensible options list, with items available to order across the model range. The other requirement would be more engine choices that offer better performance and fuel economy.

The looks were what attracted me to the Evoque, but having driven both diesel and petrol versions, I was not terribly impressed. The final nail in the coffin was the sheer number of owner complaints, all of which sounded ominously similar to the issues I had experienced with my Jaguar XF's. Not surprising I suppose when they share so much of the same technology and components. You are right about Lexus not being good at marketing. The lack of a sensible options list for lower spec models of the NX proves that.

True, but I suppose it depends on whether the NX becomes the desirable vehicle to be seen in, much as the Evoque has been. I was interested in an Evoque, and may well have gone for one if it wasn't for the poor reliability reports, and the ridiculous prices dealers ask for even 2-3 year old cars with average mileage. I see the NX as being in the same class as the Evoque, with similar cutting edge "love it or hate it" looks, but with much better build quality. If that's the case, and it becomes a "fashion statement", perhaps prices will hold up well. Who knows. I intend to keep my NX for several years, so residuals aren't so important to me.

There used to be 2 ISF's in my road, but I sold mine a couple of years ago. The other one got written off when the owner lost the back end and slammed into a wall. Quite easy to do in that car if you can't handle the power, particularly on wet roads. Also quite a few ISF's around my town, but this is Essex, and there are a lot of boy racers with plenty of cash.

Yes I agree. Some of these dealers have them up for more than the cost of a new one. With considerable waiting times for a new NX, and people not prepared to pay silly prices for secondhand models, that's probably why I haven't seen another one on the road yet.

There are quite a few used and ex demo NX's for sale on the Lexus Used website, and most of those cars have been hanging around for weeks, or even months. Is it that people don't really like them, or perhaps the prices being asked are so close to the original RRP that customers would rather wait a few months to get a new car? Asking over £39k for a six month old car that's done a few thousand miles does seem a bit optimistic/greedy, when a new one is only a few hundred pounds more.

Michael, when you have you test drive, have a play with the little ODOMETER button to the right of the steering wheel just above the drivers footwell. This will confirm the consumption figures. I don't think the 2.5L 2AR-FXE engine was a good choice for the European version of the NX Hybrid - under powered and over thirsty.

33.2 is very poor. I think I would have preferred the new 2.0L Turbo engine mated with a hybrid than this 2.5 lump. Although fuel figures might have been slightly lower, the 280 odd bhp would have more than made up for that, As it is we have an uneconomical car with rather underwhelming performance.

No problem. I'm going to get the global window shutting enabled next time I'm at the dealer, but I bet they charge if the car isn't already in for a service, or other work. Good luck getting the Nav sorted out.