DanD

It depends how you look at it: people found it too intrusive and found that it interrupted their listening to news bulletin or other radio programs. You can now hear both simultaneously and can adjust the volume of one to be higher than the other if required.

I recently replaced my Latitude Tour HP with the newer Latitude Sport. Very good tyres, although maybe a little more noisy. I hear that the Cross Climate (also Michelin) are excellent, but they are still very new and expensive.

After washing my car late one afternoon last week, I noticed that one of the headlights had stopped working. Since I was travelling to the continent the following day at 5am, I had no choice but to live with it. However, the following morning, I found that the light was working again... and it has not failed since. Not sure what happened, although I suspect water may have something to do with it. Somehow. My car is a SE-I. HID low beam with halogen high beam. The bulb that (temporarily) failed was the HID. My questions are as follows: - What is the life expectancy of HID bulbs (my car is a 2009 with 105,000 miles)? - Are replacements a DYI or dealer job? - How much are replacement bulbs?

Excellent comments from all of you, thank you. I have some time before I make a decision, but will bare your feedback in mind. I have to say that I am not sold on going for a IS250 though. Maybe a 200T may make more sense as I expect the 4 cyl would be cheaper to run than the 6 cyl version. However, I would think that insurance and road tax may be high. I also believe that the 200T is pretty difficult to find these days, and it could be that rarity pushes the prices up. Thanks again.

I am thinking of buying a 2/3 year old CT for my daily commute, which varies between 80 and 100 miles each day, 70-75% of this being on motorways. I appreciate that hybrids make more sense in town, but on the other hand, I do not want to buy a diesel... and would like to stick to the Lexus brand. Having driven a CT many a time as courtesy cars, I am not too concerned about the performance - I would be on my own in the car most of the time - or about the firm suspension. I am, however, more concerned about the road noise. Would CT owners recommend it for this type of commute? Would I be better off with an older IS of similar value? (bear in mind that I like my toys and would go for a F-Sport or possibly a Premier for the better audio and premium navigation) Do running costs vary greatly between the CT and the IS? Thank you.

I think that if you have an older car, the extended warranty does make a lot of sense. It also means that you get minor aggravations sorted, when otherwise you might decide to live with them because of the cost. I had an issue with the audio system that would turn itself on or off at random. It probably only happened once per week, although when it came on it was on full volume. I mentioned it to my local dealer and 2 days later got a call advising me that the whole audio unit would be replaced. I seem to recall that the cost was near £1500.

Leather seats are not popular in Japan because the high humidity levels make them uncomfortable. Personally, I find the perforated leather less sticky and more comfortable.

Parking sensors on the RX400h did not come as standard: they were a dealer fit option. On the other hand they came as standard on the RX450h... and the switch enables/disables both front and back sensors. Peter, are you able to post a link for the car you are looking at?

Note that the AFS is speed dependent: for instance it does not work when the car is stationary. Note also that the lights swivel further to the left than the right, which is why you should probably switch the AFS off when driving on the continent so that you do not blind oncoming traffic.

So does Beyoncé, but I still like it.

From my own experience of having lived in Germany for 9 years: Together with the warm coat: wellies or walking boots, gloves and hat. A soft brush (the type you get with a dustpan). Much better than a scraper for removing snow. Torch and spare batteries. Spare phone charger (I recommend Anker ones, they're good). A bag of salt or grit. (Sprouts with no salt taste foul) Don't over-inflate your tyres: you want as much contact with the road as safely possible. A cloth of sorts or tissues to keep you lights clean back and front. You want to see, but more to the point you want to be seen. When you park up, stick you wipers up so they don't stick to the glass Lubricate the door rubber seals with silicone. A flask. With schnapps. (Coffee will eventually get cold!) One thing we used to do - and I don't know if you can do that with a Lexus or a car with key less ignition, was to start the car, lock it with the spare key, and go and have breakfast. The car would be nice and warm by the time you'd be ready to go :-)))

The boot in the CT is much shallower. Other things to consider, is that the car is low... very low: it is very easy to scrape the bottom of the front bumper and that of the doors. The NX is much closer in size to the old RX. Its main advantage is that it is narrower, which makes parking easier.

Yes, I agree. I swapped to the Bosch and regretted it ever since, although they work fine on my the car. Will be going back to the Denso ones.

Have you searched this forum? - I know this has been addressed previously, with someone posting a PDF with details of each version... (sorry no time to search right now)

What colour combination have you gone for? Q1: It's a pain to get to! - Lift the centre armrest and pull out the storage unit. It should just lift up. There is 1 (could be 2, can't remember) USB connector, a cigar lighter type connector, and I think there is also an audio connector. Your best bet is to leave your charging cables plugged in at all times, because having to pull out the storage unit each time soon becomes a pain. To the front of the storage unit, next to the seat heater switches, there is a small slider that you can push to the side to allow the cables to poke out for easy access if so you wish. Q2: You have to be within a couple of feet of the door handle. You need to place your fingers/hand in the gap between the body of the car and the door handle for it to unlock. in effect, it means that the car unlocks itself as you pull the handle to open the door. To lock the car, there is a groove on top of the door handle. One tap to lock. Two taps to double lock. You will notice that the interior lights will come on (as well as the puddle lights under the mirrors) as you get near the car, but also that they get brighter when you open one of the doors and then dim slightly when you close the door. Another little thing I like - I know, it's a bit nerdy - is that the "mouse" re-position itself each time you switch the ignition on/off. Oh, and there is a little light hidden next to the interior light at the front that gently illuminates the centre console (only really useful when it's pitch black, but a nice touch nonetheless).

Not for me. They spoil the looks in my opinion.

There are now 3 blues: azure, sky and deep blue (for the F Sport). Azure is not available on the other grades. I am a bit confused: I am sure that when I looked yesterday I saw an interior option that was black tahara with orange accents (bolsters and door trims) but I can no longer see it. Doh.

Details of the "new" CT are now available from the revamped Lexus website. Looks like there are a few new colours, some available with/without a black roof on the F Sport, and a wider selection of interior colours. Unfortunately, while it looks like all grades get the revamped rear lights with sequential indicators, it would seem that only the F-Sport and Premier versions get the new headlights. Also looks like the Premier gets fog lights, but the F-Sport does not... which is the shame and spoils the looks in my opinion.

Short journeys: little benefit from the hybrid system, especially in cold weather, as the car will let the petrol engine run until it has reached its normal operating temperature before going into "full hybrid" mode. The hybrid system does work well on country lanes, (Regeneration starts as soon as you lift off the gas), however, if you live in a hilly area, you will rely on the petrol engine a lot more and therefore use more petrol. Motorway journeys are not great for economy if you have a heavy foot. Based on my own experience of a similar mix, expect around 28-29MPG. Sure, the 400h is more expensive to buy than the 300/350, but there is more choice and road tax is much cheaper. I would also say that it is generally quieter and more refined, but not all will agree on that. Whatever you look at it, you will be buying a car that is around 10 years old, if not older. The cars are extremely reliable, but at that age some components will start to fail through wear and tear, and parts are not cheap. For instance a replacement side mirror will cost you around £450, fitted by a dealer. If you can, try and find one of the outgoing cars labelled EXECUTIVE LIMITED EDITION... they have all the extras with the exception of the rear DVD system.

Thanks for this. I like the larger screen and the rocker switches for the climate control/ I also like the new red: I wonder if this might be the sonic red already available on other models in the UK range.

Going back to the original post... How many miles will you be doing, and on what type of roads?

I stopped at the Infinity dealership in Reading some months ago as I was driving past it. While Lexus cars are all about creases and sharp lines, Infinity cars are all about curves and bulges. Personally, I much prefer the Lexus approach: To me, Infinity cars, especially the saloons, are too bland and anonymous. As for interior, they are not a patch on Lexus. The quality an plushness simply isn't there. It all feels a lot more plasticky and less durable. I did not have time for a test drive, so cannot comment on what the cars feel on the road.

Try and retune from different locations ...

Apparently, this functionality was discontinued with the RX300/350/400h in response to customer demand. I missed it when I moved from the RX400h to the RX450h... but not for long...

When I got to drive a CT for a week while my RX was in the bodyshop, I got frustrated with the DAB only finding a handful of stations. I tried to retune it several times from home, but it would not even pick up the BBC stations. However, I tried retuning the DAB from work, 40 miles away, and it then picked up a whole host of different stations and "ensembles" including the BBC ones. I was expecting to "loose" these additional stations when driving back home, but they remained available, without a drop in sound quality. I would therefore suggest that you try and retune from different locations