Steve44

lol, yes I know, I'd be tempted to put my Dad on the insurance so he could chauffeur me! Though come to think of it, I wouldn't be able to prise him out of the heated rear seats!

I also popped into Newcastle branch today to check out the ES models. As Habu said they have a Takumi in I think Silver with Cream/Brown leather, an basic ES in Sonic Titanium with Sandstone and an FSport model with takumi pack in Graphite black with black leather. The FSport and base ES are registered as demos. The Takumi is showroom only for now, apparently Newcastle is one of the few dealers in the UK with a Takumi model. Cars are very nice, shape is better in the flesh, but they are big cars, bigger than a GS on the outside, but not that big interior wise. For instance the boot is just 4 litres bigger than a IS, yet the car is 1foot longer and this is depsite it being front wheel drive and the batteries under the rear seats!. Rear head room is better than IS, despite coupe shape. Acres of rear legroom, this seems to be where the extra length has been used. Tech fest indeed, takumi's rear button panel for the seats, infotainment and climate in the centre armrest is great, the leather smells and feels fabulous, but the plastiky brown wood trim on the steering wheel, dash and doors put me right off and there sin't another option other than black trim in same places! FSport looks good, bodykit suits it, 19" alloys in a dark metallic grey now, so possibilities of easier kerbing repairs (here's hoping!), seats are great, very comfortable, look superb but not leather, instruments a step up from IS FSport. HUD looks good too. Negatives for me - weird spec choices as standard, car isn't actually that big inside despite large external dimensions, FSport interior is very gloomy, even with a sunroof. Its black leather, black headliner, black trim and darkened rear windows. Red trim would be a must really imo. Still some odd and very small button placements. The Engine start/stop button is quite small and mounted low down on the left of the steering wheel for instance. Will look at a 24hr test drive in the coming months.

Full brochure now available for download https://forms.lexus.co.uk/EBrochures/Lexus_ES_e-brochure.pdf some real oddities in the spec. No Carplay as suspected. Nav is the same system as in the RX I think. F-Sport trim is confirmed as Tahara only, no leather even as an option. But a base ES with premium pack gets Smooth Leather?!? Takumi trim is semi-aniline. Premium Pack on base ES also gets Blind Spot and Rear Cross traffic, but its not part of the Takumi pack on the FSport. You get a card key with the Takumi pack on FSport which isn't mentioned, but is in the spec list. 360 deg camera (part of the Premier/Takumi packon on NX) is Takumi trim only in ES. Its a real hotchpotch!

If you turn off the nav spoken instructions (turn volume to 0) then the beep will go too. I have mine turned off, as its too annoying.

seems to be a false alarm as others have said, all working today, so appears to be server end. Thanks

Got a new message today flash up in a top bar intermittently on the Sat nav screen, saying connection not possible, system requires software upgrade, see Lexus portal for more info. I can’t get traffic or parking data, but can still access google, petrol prices and weather. If I try a forced connection, I get Id=d4 error. No info I can find on the Lexus sites about it. Hoping it is a temp glitch, but anyone got any other ideas or info??

Mine is set to Eco and doesn’t switch often between outside and recirculated air. I’ve only seen it do it in the summer when it tries to cool the car quickly and switches to recirc to do so. On cold mornings it doesn’t do likewise to warm faster. I’ve never seen it change according to pollution levels.

Yep, I’m still interested but will need a longer test drive if a FSport model to convince I can live with different drive style and engine noise before purchase. card key is just a key shaped like a credit card you can leave in your wallet/bag

Probably has a fuse for the cooling fan etc, make sure they are still good.

Did you know if you press and hold the cruise button in for a few secs, it will revert to normal cruise control (not speed adaptive).......

Further confirmation and details from the Lexus Blog - https://blog.lexus.co.uk/2019-lexus-nx-revised-grades-and-specifications/ Unless the dealer has something in writing from Lexus themselves, it looks like the F-Sport & takumi pack does not feature vented seats, heated rear seats or card key, you need to choose the Takumi spec model instead. This is the same as the current F-Sport/Premier model differences. Its pretty much as is, just a mild change and name change. Plus the inevitable price increase!

Aha! Confirmed specs https://media.lexus.co.uk/2018/12/lexus-launches-revised-rx-rx-l-and-nx-suv-ranges-for-2019/

In the infotainment settings there is a setting in the Vehicle settings menu to change the aircon/fan between fast/medium/soft and eco on/off. I’ve set mine to soft and eco on. Have you got yours set to Fast by chance?? I also don’t get a cold blast in morning, usually takes about 5 mins before the fan speed increases on auto, as car warms up, temp set to 21-23deg. You can also shutdown the vents independently of the auto setting.

Until you've mentioned it, I didn't even know it was changing, but it makes sense, aligns with the other models, however, there is nothing on the Lexus press site, the blog, the brochure or the website, nothing in the press either. I can't imagine the changes will be dramatic. Current (Sept 2018) brochure is here https://forms.lexus.co.uk/EBrochures/Lexus_NX_e-brochure.pdf The F-Sport has had Red leather of a different style for a while now on the NX. Can you let us know what the Takumi pack contains pls?

Very interested in your experience of this as I am also considering changing to a NX in similar spec. Also wanting to see the ES, but think the boot and aperture will still be too small and NX practicalities will be better. i did have a test in a NX luxury at last service however and wasn’t immediately drawn to the experience.

as above, brochure available to download now and configurator on the Lexus UK website is now up. Brochure is only a teaser, nothing of substance, mpg etc is all in l/km not mpg and nothing confirmed subject to WLTP homologation. FSport trim only available with Tahara upholstery??? Not leather and no option. Surely not? Takumi wood trim looks 🤢

Lol! The satnav and general infotainment system is an acquired taste, but most of the features are there, just looks like it was designed by 5 different teams using tools from about 5yrs who and not allowed to talk to each other! To be honest if the SatNav is your only gripe, you are doing great. I guess the main issues that most of the so called expert journalists aren’t an issue?? CVT box, noisy active noise system(you can turn it off), ride a bit jittery etc. Be interested in your thoughts on ride, steering, comfort etc compared to the so called ultimate driving machine! bTW 49mpg is fantastic but don’t get too excited. My current is about 40mpg which is much more realistic for an FSport and the trip comp overeads by at least 10%. Is the 49mpg, after reset, after refuel or after start??

You might find it worthwhile to have a quick perusal of the pdf owners manuals. https://www.lexus.co.uk/forms/manuals/owners-manual?value01=C7208E02

Snap on spec! Pretty much fully loaded. from memory I think you can adjust the cruise control setting in the menu on the speedo display. You need to have the car “ready” (effectively ‘engine’ running mode) but stopped. Then use the steering wheel 4 way, go to the settings menu and there are a variety of options to adjust cruise, lane departure, speedo display etc. If you are moving these settings are greyed out. if you long press the cruise button on the stalk it will move into regular cruise control mode too, rather than adaptive.

Click destination, then move to page 2 on the input page, the icon is there

I've noticed if the sun shines in and the cabin temp starts to rise, the auto climate alogorithm seems to blow cold air on the face vents, rather than try to mix it out. I usually just close down the dash vents slightly to stop it feeling like someone is blowing an icy fan in my face. Some of the other comments have made me think what BMW offer which i wish Lexus did in the IS, here is my starter for 10 1. Adaptive headlamps, the BMW ones are pretty trick. It is being offered now on NX, RX etc, but the BMW system is superior. 2. 360deg surround view. With F Sport alloys this should be standard fit! 3. Folding rear head rests - (i'm scraping the barrel now!) Maybe/hopefully all will be in the new IS version?!?

I haven’t owned a BMW, but have been in and driven a few journeys in one. Have run a 1st Gen IS300h Fsport as a company car for 3 yrs 80k miles and then opted out and bought a facelift one with my own money, 18mths and 31k in. Have loved both cars. Looks, style, interior, drive, ride, performance and economy are all great IMHO. You will be an oddity, you will see only a couple of Lexus a day if you’re lucky, rather than a few hundred 420’s! Yes the infotainment maybe isn’t as slick, but with an iPhone it all works fine. You don’t get as many fancy gadgets as you Can option on a BMW, but spec a BMW 3 series to the same spec as an FSport IS and see the cost difference! The chassis on an IS is really pretty good, yes it’s not as a powerful as a 330, but it is more than capable of hustling on a A or B road. FSport alloys are a weakness, they are soft, the tyres offer no protection, and the paint colour can’t be matched (it’s a kind of smoked grey) my advice, buy alloy insurance as you will kerb them. Also if the std F sport suspension seems too stiff, then spec the Adaptive suspension, it softens it slightly to similar to standard cars and also gives you a customisable drive mode as a bonus! FSport leather is a must and the quality is a step ahead of BMW Daytona hippo hide! Enjoy the test ride, hope the car meets the expectations. We would be interested in your thoughts post....

1st IS300h, rear Adaptive dampers (shocks) were weeping and replaced under warranty. Dealer noticed at service. Had a noisy whirring noise when it was cold from in the dash (heater, CD player, something else) never found out or fixed it, wasn’t too much of an issue. 80k miles of otherwise trouble free motoring. 2nd IS300h, front parking sensor controller failed and was replaced under warranty after a bit of investigation. have a little rattle From the trim around the mouse controller, but it is intermittent and not an issue really. Again 31k miles so far and enjoying car.

You can also set the distance to start beeping near/far and some other configurations in the setup menu in the satnav/radio settings, at least you can if you have premium Mac, the one with the mouse rather than the knob.

If you can get more than about a mile or so on battery or EV running you’re doing well. The battery is large but not powerful. if you want to extend EV running turn off the AC and fans and keep the heated seats on to keep warm, or windows down to cool down Leaving the climate control on, especially if it is cold, will push the engine to run to keep the air blowers hot. Remember virtually all the systems in the car are powered from the traction battery rather than the 12v battery on a normal car. Finally, it is fun to try and keep the battery full on a long downhill or to run as far as possible just on EV, but ultimately as others have said, the car will do it’s own thing as it thinks it needs to and it is fine. Don’t sweat it, I think there has been only a couple of battery failures ever on on a Lexus or Toyota and if it happens to you you will have been extremely unlucky and probably nothing you’ve done will have caused it. Enjoy the silence and of creeping up on unsuspecting pedestrians in car parks!