dutchie01

i had a Honda Jazz Hybrid as a loaner for 2 wks 3 yrs ago and thought it was a fantastic car! practicle and due to the hybrid system very fast off the line as the car weighs next to nothing. but bragging about it? Maybe German Humour??

2 spring to mind. Many moons ago i brought my citroen 2cv to the local garage as it just would not start. electricity aplenty but no spark, we changed the plugs etc. Got a call a couple of hours later telling me in a very polite way that normally a car will not start without petrol sir... second is fitting a giant trunkspoiler to my ford mondeo diesel. what was i thinking??? ( spoiler the size of a coffee table!).

Wow John impressive observations. Ever thought about joining the policeforce? I think what it proves is that Lexus sales in the UK ( and Europe as well) are neglectable. It really is an exclusive brand!

Price will tell. Btw the new Camry is supposed to be a very good car a big jump compared to the previous one. Stylingwise in some versions it could be a Lexus? where does it leave the ES i have no idea.. when we know the price it will be more transparent but the car seems to be the odd one out. long and narrow, not so sure about the styling, no choice of engines. will it outsell the GS ? Only time will tell but i have my doubts

Will do

You teally seem a patient chap when did you start this, two years ago??

I had exactly thesame experience. The difference in quality is big. In the old car sound is juicy, deep, high, sharp just incredibly good even with the amp just open . The new car is much flatter and you have to crank it up to hear anything. I am no expert but the doors could play a role as well. Old car has heavy bankvault like doors and new one lighter ones. Anyway i would not recommend a ML system in the current IS

Main worry for toyota uk will be to prevent productionlines beeing shut down as parts will not be available. They propably need to overstock big time to prevent this from happening. car factory is based on just in time deliveries of parts from all over Europe. Just think about it if trucks are beeing stopped at the border. Less than 1 yr away and counting..

With the brandnew Camry and ES Hybrids where does that leave the IS ??

If only the GS got as much attention in the showroom as in this threat ey?

Interesting read i really wonder how the statistics will look if we include South America ( except Argentina) and southern part of China. Please note only salooncars over 1800 kg and male drivers over 90 kg can be included( provided they have their licence for 29 years or more. Can you please recalculate?

Given the electrification of cars that will come upon us with an ever increasing speed over the next 5 years i sometimes wonder what will be the future of motoring. When i was young my parents did not have a car and my first car was freedom, growth, future for me as it was for my friends. Youngsters nowadays seem to have a different opinion, most of them i know just dont care and are not interested at all. I was cleaning polishing changing oil looking for more powerful engines and so on. Now? they only look at maths in the sense that owning a car is too expensive, so better rent, private lease or use Uber. The average age of a new car buyer is now 55 years and increasing... ( i am 57). So, if i would be a car manufacturer what in heavens earth would i do to save my company?? How will the car market look in 10 - 15 years time? Wille we be collected from home in electric pods looking similar? Will traffic jams disappear as people will just not own a personal car anymore? Wil the neigbours talk about that strange fellow owning an RCF 8 cylinder further down the street? (black!). Will all cars be 100% electric by law so diesel and petrol will be banned? Will it be impossible to enter a city without a zero emission vehicle? Where do we go chaps? Will be interesting to hear your opinion!

Well, Lexus follows their own strategy which is completely different than the big Germans. The irony of course is that customers like Linas will fall overboard as vehicles they are looking for will not be developed or built by Lexus. As special part of the Toyota Group Lexus is not looking for volume, their aim is to grow 10% on global sales year on year. They furher want to become a connoiseurs brand chosen by customers that really want it for its styling, imge. TOver thenext couple of years the Lexus brand will be developed into an "international Urban Lifestyle"by adding airport lounges hotels restaurants. The productportfolio is in the middle of an overhaul and my personal guess is that in 2 yrs time it will be UX-NX-RX-LM( the big SUV no official name yet), the ES - LS and the LC. So it will turn into a SUV manufacturer with some other Halo like cars.( LCF or LS Hydro). main market states and China, europe not so relevant. and that is were it gets tough for existing loyal european customers looking for another lexus as like Linas the very limited range overhere makes it almost impossible to choose. The only option left is to buy another brand and leave lexusfor maybe in some years time when there are attractive models again. For info i am also in that position having owned an IS300 for 3 yesr and not wanting to leave Lexus drove an NX for a day did not really like it and then took spin in a Volvo XC40T5. I personally found the difference between these cars truly shockingly big. I could not believe how good the Volvo was after the Lexus. Forr me the NX just feels 2 generations old. I went for the Volvo..... anyway, just my opinion..

Could the new ES be the perfect taxi? not being sarcastic here but reliability plus 4 cyl hybrid plus massive room in the back plus comfort... depends a bit on the purchaseprice but it will transport its cutomers in style!

How about an 130i manual. 320 horses straight six and they are up for grabs. If youre driving it you dont see the outside so dies this tick your box?

You guys are forgetting the most important topic in push or pull namely Headwind or Tailwind. with a hurricane force tailwind blowing at the trunk one does not need to apply the gaspedal as the push effect can be enormous on topic the salesfigures are not really impressive in europe are they.. the more i think about it the more it starts to make sense replace the gs and is by the es and develop more 🚙 in all sizes. If that is what the market asks that is what it gets!

Saying neither as i dont know dont work with lexus product development so i dont know their plan But i would not be surprised if the IS will be phased out as well. if the ES will be priced just above hmmm... By the way i dont think the ES will sell in numbers outside of the states

Productplanning in automotive is at least 6 years ahead so if the saloonmarket keeps disappearing i sould not be surprised if they let it run out and thats it

Its just feeding the trolls..

the GS was rwd and a salesflop

Google MotomanTV - Lexus and you will find an interesting tech review of the new car. i still have to get used to it, dont know... long overhangs theres a bit of citroen DS in the front from an angle all very slippery. to me it looks long and narrow maybe i need to see it in the flesh.

the laws of supply and demand im afraid. no demand means low price.... such a shame, seems the GS was never understood, a very underrated car in my opinion.

my previous car was a bmw 3 series and in my opinion the is300h chassis is right up there. neutral balance and it can handle many more horses. in 3 years driving i never managed to slide or even drift through a corner as the grip is too much or the power too little. anyway, as it is anew car my suggestion would be to go back to where you bought it and let them sort it out, something sounds wrong here.

It has been thesame pattern in multiple threads over time. Linass writes down a polarized opinion, other readers react to this and The Linas Conflict is born, he seems to thrive on conflict and hijacks the thread with a constant agressive and sometimes offending diarrhea of opinions. As long as others bite he will continue. i have been reading this blog less and less over time and that is the reason why. On topic i drove a 250 for 4 years and a 300 for 3. Both great cars in my opinion. 250 more refined and 300 more modern. 250 - buttersmooth engine but a little too weak for a six, not enough torque below 4000rpm, chassis a bit choppy and when really pushing the car it starts to fall through, steering too slow and brakes too weak, but a great cruiser with bankvault like buildquality. The 300 is newer and has a better overall package, roomier. Chassis lightyears better can handle many more horses. accelleration from standstill to some 40mph is way faster than the 250, above that it starts to slip. Both enjoyable but heavy drives . you cant go wrong with either of them really.

And then there is the self driving car... Curious to hear your opinion about it but personally i cannot wait, just bring it on! Enter where you have to go and presto! EVś will change motoring but the introduction of autonomous cars ( that are EV as well ) will even have a bigger impact i think. What will be the future of motoring? Owning a car is not someting youngsters want nowadays whilst for my generation it meant freedom ( and getting away from you parents haha). Just bringing the following scenario to the discussion; No need to personally own a car as you simply order an Uber/Lyft it drives up and whisks you away for a couple of pounds, way cheaper than owning a car yourself. Will this form a new way of public/private transport? will it substantially reduce the number of cars in our streets, will inner cities only be allowed for these? Will youngsters ever own a drivinglicence? I do believe this will come sooner than later give it another decade. For me it means not having to pay attention in trafficjams, going from red light to red light etc. And in the weekend i will take my own hobbycar from the seventies and drive the wheels off!