Habu

Isn’t there one in the centre cubby?

Ordered this morning. Showing as early July, currently. I can see that date going back a bit. I’ll get a Lexus dash cam fitted too. Will need to order a 90 degree USB / iPhone cable so I can plug in the phone but close the cover.

Two ES Takumis getting picked up this morning at Lexus Leeds. Several more Takumis getting prepped to go too. Deep blue one getting handed over whilst I was there was rich cream / matt bamboo so presumably another early order before the UK trim was finalised.

Got a good deal from my local Centre, Lexus Teesside so I’ll be ordering a deep blue / rich cream ES Takumi tomorrow for September.👍

Mmmm, nothing offered by Ian at Leeds. PCP for 3 years / 10,000 miles was over £800 per month.

Lexus_ES_e-brochure.pdf

Hi, has anyone found a link to the ES owners e-manual? I’ve tried my usual places but haven’t found one yet. cheers Habu

dutchie01, you're right. Advancements in chassis and suspension development have come on leaps and bounds over the years. Take your FWD 250hp Volvo, for example. Also, if I'm not mistaken the Civic Type R is FWD and there is seriously nothing wrong with that. I think too many people get hung up on RWD or a car having too little hp. The ES, I believe, isn't designed to be a 5 Series slayer, its raison detra is to deliver a smooth, efficient drive in comfort with enough power to make reasonable progress. I've driven the ES for 2 hours on a mix of dual carriageways, single carriage A roads and town driving and it's very nice. Much smoother, quieter and more grunt than my 2018 NX - maybe not surprising - plus a real world mid 50's to the gallon on a car with only a 1000 miles on the clock and in cold weather, too. For me, it's spot on (bar lack of CarPlay) and with enough gadgets to entertain me. I'm absolutely fine with it not being for everyone for many, many reasons but some people just continue droning on - it's boring.

Not sure why your obsessed with RWD, Linas? I don’t know about where you live but up here in Yorkshire I’m governed by either the speed of the road or the volume of traffic on it and I’m pretty sure at 60 or 70 mph I’m not discerning that the car is FWD. Sure, wringing the cars neck around a track (yes, I do track days) I’d be wanting more grunt and AWD or RWD but driving normally within the volume of traffic we have on the roads, who cares, as it’s more than up to the job of being smooth, quiet and comfortable. Yes, we all get it - you hate it but please stop droning on.

Lexus have replied advising that customers who pre-ordered their ES last October did so before the UK trim level was finalised and so have ended up with vehicles which may differ to what is now confirmed. The confirmed colour combo now (excluding black, sandstone and topaz) is rich cream leather and brown Shimamoku wood - as per the website and e-brochure.

Will do. Cheers Habu

I was surprised at the long lead in time but I’m now being quoted at July / August if I order first week in March. Just need to go to Lexus Leeds this Friday and I’ll have 3 illustrations - assuming Lexus Teesside get a wriggle on. Cheers Habu

Lexus UK have just replied to me. The only option (excluding black, sandstone and topaz) is rich cream with brown Shimamoku. This is as per the website and e-brochure. They (Lexus) are going to now check with product development as the two ES Takumis I described don’t match the UK trim options.🙄 Might be some explaining to do this Friday with the two customers as to why both don’t have what they ordered unless Lexus Newcastle has access to more trim options than Lexus UK thought were available. (Where’s that popcorn emoji?) Cheers Peter

Been looking at an ES again today in Newcastle (specifically to review HUD and ML audio) as my nearest Centre doesn’t have an ES available with those options. One thing I noticed with 2 Takumis in the compound was that one had ivory leather and brown wood whilst another had rich cream leather with bamboo. The differing wood extend to the steering wheel and USB cover, etc. The brochure and web colour state the trim is rich cream and brown wood which appears not to be actually available. I was going for rich cream and brown wood but now it’s going to be ivory and brown wood. The bamboo (assuming it is bamboo) is too light for my taste. The bamboo is my NX is more of a honey colour. Other observation is that there is no parking sensor on light at all - that little green ‘P’ on the dash. The only light now is parking sensor off light. Strange to omit the P on light.

I’ll find out tomorrow when my cover is replaced. I believe some just pop on and off whilst others are mechanical fixed in. I’m hoping the NX is the former. Habu

£50 inc VAT from Lexus. 👍 Cheers Colin for the heads up as I didn’t know such things existed. Habu

My previous Toyotas have chipped terribly. Hopefully, the RAVs shape may keep some chips away from painted areas.

Wow, $45 is cheap. I’ll check with my local centre what the price is - assuming said part is available in the UK. Thanks. Habu

I’ve got a couple of small chips on my offside door mirror. I’ve tried touching them up but it’s not looking good so I’m going to get it repainted. I’ve had a rough estimate and it’s not too bad. Question: can the painted part of the door mirror be removed for painting or is it best to leave it insitu and mask off the non-painted parts? cheers habu

I had dust under the lacquer on the nearside C pillar. Didn’t notice it at first and after 2 weeks saw what I thought was a small stone chip. Lexus body shop knew straight away what it was - even before seeing the car. The Takumi paint shop staff must have had the day off when mine went through the factory. Naturally, Lexus GB warrantied the work which meant removing the small pane of glass just forward of the C pillar in order to do it properly rather than just taping the glass edge. New glass was on backorder for almost 4 weeks. Car now perfect and you’d never know. Body shop even sanded the new paint back to a mirror finish to match.

I know what you mean about the USB location. On the Takumi spec the USB and cup holder is covered by a piece of polished wood. I’d want the wood on show (😃) so I’d have to run my iPhone cable to a rear port. I’d make an exception if Apple CarPlay ever comes to Lexus UK. It’s a pity there’s no USB port in the central cubby.

Yes, there it is albeit unlit so your parking sensors must be turned off. In fact it looks like all your safety systems are turned off such as RCTA. Keep posting pics.👍 Habu

Looks fab. Good to see the seat memory settings are lit. Can you confirm that there is a lit parking sensors light on the dash. All my Lexus’ have had the green coloured P symbol on the dash but I couldn’t find it on the ES.

My former GS.