Rabbers

I am generally tempted to take part in such surveys, not from any belief in their practical value, but because I feel it would be curmudgeonly of me not to keep market researchers in work.

And was to remain an example of good quality coming at a high price. Before I took delivery of a new IS250 some years ago my dealer saw a scratch in the wood of the Yamaha-manufactured centre console and ordered a replacement. When I signed off on the warranty transaction a few weeks later I noticed, flicking through the dealer’s accompanying file, that the price of the replaced section was listed at €3900 excl. VAT.

Thanks for the lucid explanation, Paul. As I said, the unheralded appearance of a Gracenote image in place of the original album artwork offers a bit of variety and, as such, the effect of this particular bug is not necessarily unwelcome.

Almost as nice as the ES, in fact.

My music library consisting of CDs was originally synced complete with cover art to iTunes on my MacBook in the normal way and thence to my iPhone and iPod for playing in the car. The cover art always initially appears on the infotainment display even with Gracenote enabled, which is fine by me, especially as I can thereby get to “rediscover” the cover of an album I haven’t played for many years. What I find strange, however, is that when music restarts after having been interrupted when the hybrid system was switched off, it it is then accompanied by a Gracenote image and not by the cover art as before. Again, this is fine by me insofar as it provides a bit of variety, albeit unsolicited, but does anyone have an explanation for why it should happen?

I have had Dunlop SportMaxx as OEMs on both my RCs, switching to Pirelli when they were worn. Ride comfort is similar and equally good, but the Dunlops wear out a lot more quickly, especially and not unexpectedly the rears. I had Bridgestone RE050s as OEMs on an IS300h. They were satisfactory on most counts when new but became very noisy as they aged, which they also did quite quickly.

You were right to try changing the fob battery, which immediately solved a similar starting problem I once had, also, as it happens, with an IS300h. And, as you say, the need for a new battery would have been made clear one way or the other by using a second key. I think you are going to need to visit a Lexus dealer or an electronics specialist, but, before you do, I would check to see if your fob is perfectly clean with everything tight and in place inside and out.

The beam of the headlights of the ES that prompted my OP did not change in height or intensity during the time it was fully in my sight. It is possible that the headlights had been dipped manually or by conventional Auto High-Beam in anticipation of my approach but I think not. Given that I would have expected a flash in response to mine by way of demonstration that its lights were actually dipped, my pretty firm guess is that the ES was driving with an adaptive system enabled. Since I was ultimately not made dangerously uncomfortable by the beam but merely surprised by its strength, albeit sufficiently so as to be deceived into initially thinking it was erroneously set high, I can only conclude that whichever of the systems I encountered, AHS or Bladescan, meets Lexus' effectiveness claims.

I would agree that conventional padded or semi-padded covers may not be suited to the RC, largely because of the geometry of the doors and windows. I finally settled for the simple repurposing of an unlined lightweight pvc sunscreen of the type designed for external use with magnets inside the horizontal seams. The corners easily fold into position between the window-edges and door-linings so that the fabric is pulled flat and taut against the windscreen when the doors lock and the windows fully close. I find the screen satisfactorily protects against normal levels of frost and ice and a light layer of snow, the effects of which can be cleared with a simple good shake. And unlike its rigid and more cumbersome equivalents, it conveniently folds away into its own small pouch for easy storage inside the cabin. Mine is unbranded, so I can’t recommend a name, but I’m sure you’ll easily find one online or in specialist shops.

Glad to hear that. I was worried about being considered a lone flasher.

The other night I was driving along a familiar stretch of straight country road where oncoming headlights become fully visible at about 5-600m. Fearing that I was about to be dazzled by an approaching car with lights on full beam I instinctively flashed it a couple of times before realizing to my embarrassment that its lights were actually dipped. When the car passed I was amazed to see it was an ES !!!!

That is exactly the scenario that led me to buy my first Lexus. And it was Lexus rather than Toyota because the quality and “prestige” were closer to what company cars had accustomed me. I have been congratulating myself for the goodness of my choice ever since.

Unless I park on a hill, when I always use it, I apply the parking brake only in the warmer months and, as a general rule, not in winter, especially when leaving the car in the open overnight - or even for a few hours if there is a threat of ice.

Maybe he thought he was doing you a favour?

Exactly my own thought. I sometimes still get a twinge in my lumbar region which I blame on an aesthetically pleasing but not overly comfortable desk chair I should have thrown out years earlier than I finally did. The twinge immediately and thankfully goes away when I sit in my RC with the lumbar support function set to its maximum, which is where I permanently keep it.

Although a dealership’s obligations towards Lexus and Toyota will be contractually defined and subject to inspection, it is in practice unrealistic to expect no operational overlaps where premises are shared or in close proximity. Which reinforces the case for those who advocate a merging of the two marques.

Low European market shares should not be confused with any attempt by Lexus to cultivate a niche brand identity. Lexus unsuccessfully competes primarily with long-established German equivalents in terms of realistically achievable sales volumes but on at least an equal footing with them in terms of quality, technology and price. True niche products defined as self-contained units that have little or no competition outside of themselves and whose volume ambitions are limited by strategic choice rather than the pressure of competition are few in the car industry. Morgan springs to mind, Pagani, Maybach, Alpina, perhaps Lotus …..

Seeing that a good number of LOC members post about possible choices between a least two dealers for their servicing needs, it would appear that the Lexus network in the UK as it presently stands is capable of adequately catering for its national customer base - probably more so than its equivalents in some other large European countries. Nevertheless, it would be surprising if Toyota's corporate management is not studying the prospective financial benefits of merging Lexus and Toyota dealerships world-wide where it has not already happened. The days when the risk of tarnishing Lexus' image by visibly associating it with Toyota have disappeared apace with the narrowing of the quality, price and technological gaps. And whereas the economic value of exclusivity is difficult to calculate, the direct and immediate benefits of rationalisation are not. My own experience as a long-standing Lexus customer in Italy of a joint dealership with Toyota for new car purchases and servicing is good. My complaints have been few. The showrooms and workshops are separate, and although two mechanics (originally there was only one) are Lexus-specific, they occasionally help their Toyota colleagues at busy times and vice-versa. Which, of course, raises the question of why Lexus' displayed service prices over the years have been around 10% higher than Toyota's. The dealership's answer is that, similarly to some spare parts, the differences are imposed by the two principals - obviously at the behest of the parent corporation - in order to support Lexus' higher per-car marketing costs. Were the two ranges to be merged within the dealership and the relative operating costs shared, the expectation for Lexus owners would be cheaper servicing (though this would remain to be seen) in a context of longer booking times, less welcoming premises and personnel and, speaking purely for myself, a significant but not catastrophic weakening of my pride in owning a Lexus. By and large, life holds greater terrors.

That happened in Denmark about ten years ago. Lexus was sold and serviced almost as a sideline by Toyota from two or three locations before being shut down because of unsatisfactory sales or, to put it another way, because the cost of doing Lexus business was too high. A couple of years ago Lexus re-opened with a single stand-alone sales and service business it calls a "Brand Store" in Copenhagen. It operates independently of Toyota but there is probably some kind of background management control. The main promotional activity apparently consists of regularly organised roadshows whereby individual models are exhibited in various towns around the country. Namely, instead of waiting for prospective customers to come and view the cars at the Store the cars are taken to prospective customers in the provinces who can book test-drives beforehand. It will be interesting to see if the business survives, which, if overheads tailored to fit a small-country scenario can be maintained, it very well might.

I'm not sure that a financial comparison between Lexus and most other premium car manufacturers is particularly instructive. Lexus' penetrations of individual markets and the speeds of their achievement have, with the arguable exception of the U.S., never been spectacular but, despite slow progress in important areas such as Europe, the Lexus division reportedly continues to punch well above its weight within Toyota in terms of profitability, i.e. its percentage contribution to corporate profits far exceeds that of its sales. As long as this situation prevails, it can be imagined that the corporate management will continue to tolerate levels and rates of achievement for Lexus in some markets that would be considered unsatisfactory by competitors.

Not too distant from Epicurus’ belief that happiness lies in the absence of pain. Or something like that. Not sure he made any distinction between women and men in this regard, though. Perhaps Phil can enlighten us.

What I want in 2023, in addition to everything in Bernard’s list, is a return to the days when I didn’t want to turn off the TV News immediately after it starts.

During a stay in Venice over the Christmas weekend I was reminded, albeit in a completely different context, of the mention of "designated Lexus parking bays" in the above post. Chatting with a local resident who liked my RC, I heard how Lexus is allocated several rows of reserved spaces, some of which it annoyingly leaves empty, in one of the city's main access car-parks during the annual Film Festival. As the official transport sponsor and with the NX and the ES much in evidence last year, Lexus gets a good deal of national media visibility by carrying stars and other VIPs around during this prestigious event. However, because parking spaces are so extremely scarce even at the best of times, this preferential treatment extending to several days before and after the Festival itself has regrettably but perhaps not wholly unexpectedly made Lexus the marque most hated by the local population. My reaction on hearing this was to worry for the rest of our stay about my unattended RC being vandalised by some vengeful local citizen, but I'm glad to report that the Yuletide spirit prevailed and it didn't happen.

Toyota seems to be successfully generating a lot of pre-launch interest for the 2023 2L/233bhp Prius in the main European markets. Limiting this drivetrain in the UK to the Corolla and not making it available for the Prius might therefore appear an odd decision. So odd, in fact, that one is left wondering if the move is not simply intended to protect and hopefully boost Toyota’s mainly Corolla-based UK manufacturing investment. Toyota’s explanation that it prefers to focus on SUVs and crossovers because the UK market is increasingly oriented towards them is not entirely convincing since much the same trend is visible throughout Europe. That sales of the hitherto ugly and boring Prius have been dwindling faster in the UK (albeit probably not by much) than elsewhere may be true, but isn’t this the trend that Toyota is intending to reverse globally with the completely redesigned and very significantly pepped-up new model?

Never used waterless coolant, but I once picked up an advertising leaflet from a display (?-Evans) and seem to remember they supply a reminder sticker for the reservoir cap.