dutchie01

How about a first gen RX? Its the one i like most due to the size of the car. If you can find a nice example it will do all you want?

I had a ES300h for the day with the e-mirrors and i just dont get the idea. You can see it on new trucks and that makes sense as those mirrors are huge so placing a camera will improve efficiency big time. But in a car? It felt unnatural and i constantly looked outside where of course there is no mirror. The small screens are just terrible and the execution is doubtful to say the least. Cheap hard plastics and not moveable. It does not work, nobody asked for it and does not solve a problem as there is no problem with normal mirrors. I always liked the big jap style mirrors on my IS250 so please lexus stop that non sense. Its a marketing gimmick nothing else. Better to improve material choice and up the quality in the cabin for the ES300H?

I heard they currently offer 120k p.a. for a truck driver? can that be true?

I have been following the daily youtube videoś of Dr John Campbell. He is my main source of information, a daily view since March last year! And, yes, in my opinion the outlook is not too positive for the short term, it could take more time than we all expect.

The South End airshow was always pretty special. The Harrier hovering over the small boats was great but the Usaf F18ś were king in the days. First flying at Max speed low over the crowd then returning at lowest speed possible and going vertical with full throttle and afterburners. The noise, the vibration in your chest just absolutely unbelievable! After all these years i still remember that. Must be a male thing i guess. Give me a map of a ghost drawing of a plane, submarine or even sky scraper and i am off for the next couple of hours!

Now That is a men with taste, respect to your father Paul!

Its quite simple with a CVT box. I propably owned the first generation as a student some 40 years ago with a DAF 44. ( with sunroof it was a Deluxe!). The car had a variomatic gearbox which basically was a CVT with rubber bands. Idea is the engine immediately climbs to the revs that give you the max torque at the lowest fuel consumption. Problem with the DAF was that the engine with less than 50 hp was so underpowered it was really revving its nuts off to simply move. I guess that car was running on full throttle for 80% of the time a very stressed engine indeed ( it blew up on the highway later..) Fast forward 30 years and start with the Prius Gen 1/2. Same problem. Underpowered engine thus revs needed to get torque. The IS 300H i owned with 220hp was a totally different experience as the engine is powerful enough to create torque at low revs, so revving its nuts off not needed just blip the throtthle and sail on making it a very relaxing and silent drive. The RX450H i once had as a loaner when my car was in service was even better. The sixpot sings in true Lexus style and although revving in my idea was not needed at all to propell the car i liked to do it for the symphonious sound alone! And no i do not miss the DAF..

Thereś another side to running a car until it literally stops. I grew up with the knowledge that engines would simply die after 100 to 150.000 km. That was it end of car, scrap it get another one. That is still in the back of my mind but i sometimes take taxis with 750.000 km same engine driver? yes sir... If we would stick with the car we have instead of trading it in like i do every x years the environment would benefit immensely. So buying a 6.2 ltr 8 cylinder 720 hp monster with horrific fuel consumption but keeping it for 20 years could be more environmentally friendly than running 7 electric cars in thesame time?

Malc, i was always under the impression that banks/bankers adviced everybody to lend spend all the money they wanted? Backed up by creative mathematical support programmes that gave clients full trust in the banks wisdom? So, 42 k will make sure you drive brandspanking new cars of your choice for 10 years. Thats a limited sum of just below 350 per month which is less than the family spends on shopping?

Paul, out of curiosity, can you fill up with the old non Vpower again and do thesame measurements? Will you feel a weaker motor with slower response?

The new Facelifted model arriving shortly, does anyone know what is different. Not talking about interior or lights etc but are there changes to chassis/drivetrain/steering/isolation/engine/battery?

Oh Kevin you really are one of a kind, buying cars faster than many of us can have breakfast! As a true petrolhead which undoubtedly you are, what are your thoughts about BEV s compared to Old School Big Engined petrols? Is it an alternative ( not talking about range but the car itselfe, handling, performance feel emotion) ? or is it convenient or?

I had thesame experience with an Audi Q4 Etron. Hard plastics everywhere and even questionnable fit and finish. Especially from Audi that has a stellar reputation for interior quality i found this incredible. That combined with a dull exterior and an inflated price compared to sister ID4 makes it is now off the list. The salesman nonsense about sustainable recyclable materials is what it is, nonsense. Just cost cutting. Thing is most people will not notice coming from other brands, but when you are used to Lexus buildquality it is something different isnt it?

What did you do with your previous car as this will be the main block for people not to buy a car on the internet?

Well said Phil. 2 examples first is a man in my village, very well off, buys a brandnew BMW every 2 years. Top end 7 series. He simply refuses to talk to anyone in the dealership except one person. " i dont like to talk and he knows exactly what i want". They sometimes meet at his home or in the village pub. Second example. Too smart dressed salesmen ( window puppets?) wearing thesame expensive tailormade suits, talking thesame talk walking around in their massive flashy dealer palaces thinking they own the place. Radiate arrogance and make you think you are privilidged to enter the building. Who is the real professional?

Its not only Lexus, i think it is fair to say that sales in the automotive world are not that professional.. Sales has been my profession for the last 40 years ( not cars) and every 3 years i am looking for a new company car and every 4 for a private car for my wife. I can write 10 pages about what is wrong and what should be better. BM, Merc, Audi et all they are all thesame. Sorry Sir we are busy now redecorating the showroom can you come back another time? ( can you p*** off ). You have to decide latest tomorrow otherwise they will be sold out, yes this is the old pre face lift model but nothing has changed, no sorry no testdrive unless you buy the car i am sure you understand? and so on and so on. Every time i buy a car i tell them i drive it for 3 years but why has nobody ever phoned me 2 years in to see if they can sell a new car in 1 years time? It seems its all short term interest and they need to reach the targets end year. When the sale is done you are yesterdays paper and another thing but maybe as i am getting older. Why are all sales people under 30? A young fella putting pressure on me well its not going to work for sure. If you find a reliable knowledgable ( 6 cars in the showroom and dont know the weight difference between an IS and GS250 for instance) relaxed salesman/woman that puts you first please remember them. Sometimes i think these all own village garages and realize their reputation is bringing in the money. It is no coincidence that sales are moving more and more away from dealers and towards the internet.

News from The Netherlands. The UX300E has been decreased in price by 11000 euro (!). pricing now starts at 40k going up to 52k. No further info available yet, not sure if same in Uk will happen.

over here the price for a litre of 95 is now almost 2.00 Euro per litre. About 70% of that is taxes. And over here is of course Holland.

The world has gone mad Dublet. You can buy a car for that money..

I dont think its really fair to compare dealer prices to internet offers from where ever. Dealers have a company to run with massive cost and are struggling to make money. If they return a profit it is at an all time low and the future is bleak. Change-over to BEV with less maintenance and no fluids like oil,cooling etc will create a dangerous environment. On top of that there is a trend that more cars are beeing sold on the internet ( Volvo sales 20% web based already). So, it could well be the dealer price is honest and that is what they need to cover cost and make a little money, that is different than ripping someone off. We are talking about car parts here but it is virtually thesame for all products. Buy designer jeans costing 250 pounds ( yes they exist!) or surf to Ali Express and buy one for 5 Pound? Thats produced, wrapped shipped to the other side of the world for 5 Pound. I guess we all know why this is so cheap dont we.

Accountants and car manufacturing is not a good combination John. They have been running GM Europe ( Opel-Vauxhall-Saab) for decades and never ever made money. Opel Germany alone racked up a whopping 20 billion Euro loss in 20years under GM rule. Their only answer was further cost reduction again and again until the endresult was an output of mediocre cars that were not competitive and nobody wanted. One year after the takeover by the French PSA Opel was profitable! This is seen as the turnaround of the decade. I always thoroughly check what my accountant has done for my personall stuff end more than once i find mistakes..

Hmmmm, not sure if there is much Royal in that Monegask family...

Great initiative Colin to reach out to your customers! Respect. I have always wondered where the dealers or marketingteams are on forums like this. It will give you tons of info on your customers. What is important for them, what frustrates, what is needed and what not. Great initiative, keep up the good work and please communicate as much as possible this will give you the info you maybe can feed back into your organisation.

I think we are overlooking the fact that nor Blair, Bush or Chirac owned a Lexus. Albert The Second, Price of Monaco does. So, What does this tell us?

And its rather expensive... Understated elegance and conservatively designed to radiate "power instead of wealth " . Cloth seaths, cotton to be precise, as this is more comfortable than leather. Old school curtains to black out the windows instead of tinting. I just love the philosophy behind this car, thesame that can be found in the Lexus DNA