Rabbers

Back in 2016 when I changed my IS300h for an RC300h and the touchpad was, of course, much more of a novelty, I posted the following comments (see RC300h v. IS300h New Car Choice-Part Two, RC Forum, 6 November 2016): "Although I am told most people disagree, I liked the touchpad and found it as easy and as instinctive to operate as the "mouse". Because my hand fell naturally on it, I did not need to consciously learn its position and keep glancing downwards as I feared. It did occur to me, however, that right-handed drivers in l-hd cars will always be favoured for longer tasks such as, for, example, the entering of satnav data with it." My opinion has not changed since that time, and I have noticed that the majority of negative comments over the years have continued to come from U.K. journalists whereas most continental European reviewers (in Italy and France, at least) tend to be neutral and rarely negative. This suggests that I may have been right about the touchpad being likely to find more immediate favour among owners of LHD cars.

After driving with a cracked boot-lid and a dented and pockmarked bumper for five months during which I averted my gaze every time I approached it from the rear, I have now had my RC back looking like new from a week in the body shop. In fact it felt as though I was taking delivery of a whole new car. Five months was what it took for my claim to be processed by insurance companies in two countries and their agents. That this was supposedly quite quick for this sort of claim was no consolation, and another month would have been added the process if my dealer had not agreed to order all the parts before the claim was formally settled. Anyway, the episode is now no more than a bad memory. For the record, the damage amounted to €3400 incl. VAT, about two-thirds of which was represented by a completely new boot-lid and bumper and the remainder by paintwork and ancillary parts.

Barry: To judge by your photo no fragments of leather appear to be missing within the damaged area, so it is possible that a skilled leatherworker, perhaps an upholsterer, could carry out a virtually invisible repair. But I certainly wouldn’t count on anybody in a car workshop having the necessary skill. Regardless of any solution you and your dealer work out, I would suggest you ask for at least a free service to compensate you for the irritation.

Before replacing my 2016 RC300h F-Sport with the 2019 model, I looked at the Mercedes C-class coupé and the Audi A5, test-driving the 200 EQ Sport and 40 TDI Quattro versions respectively. I fancied an E-class coupé more but the optionals took it well out of my price range. I did not consider BMW because the present cabin design is too austere for my taste. Frankly, I knew from the outset that I was unlikely to switch from Lexus. I was happy with the RC, and the longstanding good relationship with my dealer meant that negotiations for a new car would be quick, painless and satisfactory. While kidding myself that I was keeping an open mind about maybe buying one of their cars, my sniffing around Mercedes and Audi dealers was therefore really based on simple curiosity as to whether their grass might not be greener before I finally committed myself to a seventh consecutive Lexus. Of course, Lexus' subsequent range reduction means that my loyalty will not be as strong when I next come to think about a new car, probably in two years or so: the LC is outside my price range, I don't want an SUV, and I can't see myself being in the market for a largish family sedan like the ES (whose design I also find a bit naff in an Infiniti-ish sort of way). For what they are worth, my thoughts on the Mercedes and Audi coupés were the following. Both cars are highly pleasing in terms of aesthetics, build and materials quality and finish, inside and out, especially the A5, and although numbers on the road are too high for exclusivity, they are nevertheless each capable, as befits a coupé, of inspiring pride of ownership. Both are responsive, easy to drive, suited to everyday use in town or country and, no doubt, capable of long, fast and safe motorway runs. Leaving aside comparisons between declared top speeds and 0-100kmh figures, which in today's road and traffic conditions are not easily reproduced and are therefore of largely academic interest, I found no immediate differences in responsiveness and general driveability that led me to prefer either car to the 2016 RC, and I have since come to think that the 2019 RC, which I had not yet driven at the time, is probably more stable, corners better, and is more agile. Nor could I imagine that the others perform better on long motorway drives, for which the RC is superb. Also, having become accustomed to the perfect seamlessness of e-CVT, I did not particularly like the Audi or Mercedes boxes despite their undoubted excellence.

Lexus appears to be re-assessing several of its European operations. It had, for example, quit the Danish market five or six years ago because of low sales but is now rumoured to be planning to open up again, supposedly with its own showrooms but with servicing shared with Toyota.

You’re probably right insofar as the crack doesn’t go all the way through to the inside of the boot-lid. More information to come when I get home and speak to my (and my insurance company’s) trusty body shop.

I attach a photo of a crack in the lower panel of my boot-lid. This is the result of my being rear-ended by a van at a zebra crossing in Copenhagen after I chose not to mow down a lady with a pram whose peripheral vision was arguably not improved by her hijab. I thought I'd post the photo to show that the panel is plastic like the bumper and not, as I previously thought, metal like the rest of the boot-lid. I'm not sure if cracked plastic is preferable to crumpled metal, but my first reaction was to think the damage could have been a lot worse. Only the panel in question needs replacing, with visible damage to the bumper being limited to the paintwork.

Anyone with a taste for vintage rock could do worse than build a playlist around a few of Chuck Berry’s car-related originals like, for example, Nadine, No Money Down, Jaguar and the Thunderbird, Maybellene, My Mustang Ford, You Can’t Catch Me, Run Rudolph Run, Down The Road A Piece, Driving Along In My Automobile, No Particular Place To Go ... and there are probably others I can’t think of right now.

I once left an IS300h (2013 Premier spec) parked in the open at an airport for close to a month in winter, with the alarm on. I left the foot brake off but wedged the rear tyres with stones. I presumed the battery to have been fully charged after a long motorway drive. The car started at the first attempt, and the only problem was a marked loss of pressure in all four tyres, so I would suggest you over-inflate before leaving the car.

I can't recommend any specific brand since the logo puddle-lights I had on my 2016 RC were a gift and I threw away the packaging, but I wouldn't imagine there are significant quality differences between generic manufacturers. I left them on the car when I sold it having found them disappointing insofar as the logo projection had become blurred and faded, maybe because of deterioration of the plastic or maybe because moisture and dirt had got inside. The blurring issue over time also affected earlier plain-colour ones I had on an IS300h. Incidentally, my eye tells me that the size and shape of the lights on the 2019 RC may be slightly different, so check before you order for the 2016 model.

... and as a result prospectively generate income from fines.

It would be hard to beat Angelwax Elixir, which not only gives tyres a durable natural-looking gloss but is also excellent on all rubber surfaces with or without minor scuffs.

When I originally complained about the non-availability of flaps for my new RC, my Lexus mechanic, who was as surprised as I was, offered to talk with his colleagues in the body shop about possibly fitting and/or modifying ones from other marques and models besides Lexus itself. Toyota, Subaru and the KIA dealership next door were mentioned. He called me few days later after concluding that the idea was unworkable - or not recommended - because of a series of practical factors including attachment reliability and possible functional ineffectiveness besides aesthetic appearance.

So am I. Were I to have started this thread in relation to the 2019 model I would have called it All-Over Filth. I don’t recall the 2016 model’s front tyres throwing up as much dirt before the mud-flaps were fitted, and I can only explain the difference in terms of the changed aerodynamics, minor as they are.

Recent damp weather combined with dirty road surfaces after several rain-free weeks is making me seriously yearn for mud-flaps. There is no news regarding their future availability for the 2019 RC in Italy and I have been told the same by dealers in CH and F. Is there any news in the UK?

I've experienced similar scoring when roads have been been heavily spread with mixtures of salt and grit. If the problem persists try aiming a jetwash directly at the discs repeating for two or three wheel-lengths, ideally with someone driving backward and forward. Re the screen wash tablets, I have been using a brand called KINDAX handed out as samples at a service station back in the summer. They work OK, one per 4 litres water, and are clearly excellent from a space-saving standpoint, but I've not seen them on sale anywhere since. The size and function is closer to Alka-Seltzer than any mint I've personally ever consumed.

A wholly admirable principle. I only wish I could always live up to it.

Yes, I almost always have had. I once had 16" winter tyres and 17" OEMs on an IS200, but although I was generally aware that different tyre sizes can have a quite dramatic effect on speedometer accuracy, I must say that my perception of it was minimal. The 2019 RC is the only car I've ever owned or (I think) driven that comes anywhere close to 10% speedometer overstatement, certainly in the case of a Lexus, half that figure being closer to my experience. I seem to recall that my last BMW, a 2001 328ix, deviated by no more than 3-4%. Like you, I based my estimates on comparisons with roadside courtesy speed warnings, placing my greatest reliance, as for most things requiring precision, on Swiss ones, though I have occasionally ventured into mental arithmetic by way of relieving boredom on long drives.

According to the readings provided by the GPS-based Coyote alert system, which I take to be highly accurate, my speedometer overstates actual speeds by as much as 11% at lower speeds, with 9% as a general average. Comparisons are as follows: 50kmh, actual 45kmh ... 90kmh, actual 82kmh ... 110kmh, actual 101kmh ... 130kmh, actual 120kmh ... 150kmh, actual 139kmh The differences are significantly high than the 6-7% I estimated for my 2016 RC, which I took to be the norm for Lexus speedometers insofar as they were closely similar to the figures for the three generations of the IS I previously drove. As a result I long ago acquired the habit of increasing my indicated speeds accordingly, secure in the knowledge that there was no risk of getting a speeding ticket. Even though the higher deviations from actual speeds I am seeing in the 2019 RC offer a higher and theoretically more welcome protective margin against speeding, I must say I find them irritatingly excessive. I now often find myself accelerating in order to bring my actual speeds up to what the limits are, usually to no good purpose whatsoever. In other words, I feel as though I'm going too slow and needing to remedy the fact. Perhaps this is some kind of personal protest against what I see as an excess of nannying on Lexus' part?

Nice-looking item (but maybe a bit big for Espresso). Did it come with an Owner's Manual? Tips for optimal Lips Placement? Left-hand Grip Adaptability? Care & Maintenance? Best washed with (premium) Car Shampoo? My (belated) Compliments of the Season to you. R.

That's certainly possible. No - at least not in my case. I am comparing like with like. My 2019 car came with the same OEM Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2s as I had on its 2016 counterpart. I then did only 800km before putting them to bed for the winter in favour of Pirelli Sottozero 2s, which is also the same brand and model as I had before (and which I would thoroughly recommend in terms of performance and durability though maybe not price to anybody with a need for winter tyres).

Having now experienced 5000km with the 2019 RC, I think the "orange pack" may well be better than the brakes on the earlier model, albeit marginally. Initially, when my memory of the previous car was fresher, I thought the firmer and maybe shorter pedal action, and the slightly delayed need to brake on the approach to familiar red lights and junctions etc., might simply have been due to the newness of the pads/discs and tyres. However, these characteristics have persisted to the point where I now take them for granted. Braking scenarios at higher speeds present so many more variables that I am unable to pinpoint any differences with the earlier system, but I am sometimes somewhat startled by the quick response when merely touching the pedal at motorway speeds, say 130-150> kmh. Whether distances are any shorter when coming to a stop from these speeds is impossible for me to say, but the impression of controlled deceleration is at least as good as it ever was.

Bernard: As a matter of fact that's precisely what I often do, sharpening the eye and mellowing the judgement. But I find the view from an upstairs window to be almost as pleasing even without a glass in the hand ...😍

The add-location button consisting of an icon of a camera with a plus symbol is present when the Coyote is not activated and is replaced by the latter system’s logo when it is. Before adopting the Coyote - or knowing that Lexus was going to make it available - I too had been wondering if Lexus’ own standard offering registers new camera locations within a community-based system or merely stores them within one’s own. I haven’t used the button but would suspect the latter is more likely. Maybe the Nav manual will tell us something.

It will be interesting to hear in due course if use of the HSW is able to counteract and delay the development of the customary unavoidable shine on the wheel leather by reducing the surface moisture.