wharfhouse

Yes exactly - just do a normal start with the car in P and the engine will start up after a few seconds when it's cold. If you press the EV within that few seconds then it will stop the ICE starting though - in case you want to move the car on the drive for example without the ICE starting - but even then it will start the engine after a while anyway.

When it's cold the ICE will start to warm up on its own - takes a few seconds for it to kick in but as you turn things on don't worry it will start up. In warm weather it sometimes takes longer to kick in if that's what you are experiencing at the moment.

Must admit I tend to use Google maps on my phone most of the time now as the traffic and rerouting is so much better than anything else - I use a phone mount that plugs into the CD slot.

My Lexus Link app only shows where my phone is located but not the car

That is the case with the standard nav unfortunately

Non-premium nav (with the rotary dial) have no internet connection - there is RDS traffic information (through the radio) that issues alerts and is displayed on the maps.

Yes - been putting off a smart meter too... will probably have to give in to that one day but really don't see any benefit - certainly won't help me use any less gas/electricity...

It does say that "Owners will be able to override the preset times, to take account of night workers and people who have different schedules." although I'm not keen on someone else controlling when or if I might be able to charge if / when I ever go BEV...

Just driven 60 miles on mainly A roads so 40-60mph most of the way and a few miles through town. Onboard computer is showing 58mpg. My 60,000 mile (4 year) overall average is around 48mpg - that includes a complete mix of driving including a good percentage of motorway.

Interesting - Select is the used car programme and it always included a one year Extended Warranty if the car was more than 3 years old. It will be interesting to see if the clauses in that doc apply. My Lexus dealer told me that there would still be an Extended Warranty for when the car is outside Relax (so in my case under 10 years old but over 100k miles. I have renewed my Extended Warranty on the 2 for 1 deal and it was done through the dealer not on line - I will find out in November what is happening as my current Extended Warranty expires then.

Conversely my dealer (Jemca) told me (when I called them on just this) that there will be some form of Extended Warranty when a car is outside Relax period and also a lower cost servicing option. My current Extended Warranty expires in November and car is late 2014 build but now over 100k miles. Would be good if Lexus post something on their website.

Where did you see this if you are able to post a link I'd be grateful as this is something top of my mind.

Toyota offer exactly the same as well and so they should be able to answer for Lexus and Toyota.

You have summed up exactly my feelings. Sometimes a car is more than the sum of it's parts. I was reading some long term reviews of the IS 300h and it was interesting that after sometimes less than favourable initial impressions they found the car very much fit the world of driving most of us do on a day to day basis and it altered their perceptions accordingly. I have been delighted in my choice and after nearly 5 years and 60K+ miles in mine (it is a 2014 model and now has 104k miles on it) I still don't want to change it. Unfortunately one day I will have to - but to what I really don't know... As always YMMV.

Because some idiots decide to drive right up in one's boot despite the fact that one has a car directly in front that one cannot overtake until that car (and maybe others in front of that one) pull in - in order to avoid an accident one sometimes let's the idiots through as one wants a quiet and relaxing drive... so being pushed out of the outside lane.

All depends on how much you want the car and how much they want to sell it. Apparently good used cars are in short supply at the moment so maybe not so much leeway as in the past. When I purchased my IS 300h in 2016 it was a 2 year old car (2014) with 40k miles and I managed to negotiate a good deal as a lot of people don't want a car that's done 20k miles a year (didn't worry me and I got the car for a great price). My rule of thumb is to push three times for something more and after that accept the deal if it works for me. If there is anything of value to you that the dealer can give you (such as a service, accessories, protection etc.) then you are more likely to get that than simply money off (as it's probably worth double to you that what it costs the dealer).

The face-lift Executive has Tahara seats (simulated leather) - I don't believe it could be upgraded to leather. The earlier Executive (pre face-lift which I have) does have leather though as standard.

That will be a facelift model so I'm not best to advise as I have a 2014 model and looked at the differences for that one when I purchased. However, I think the best bet is still to look at each car on it's merits as many would have had options fitted anyway so selecting by a nominal "trim" level will be difficult.

Steve - unless you drive everywhere at max throttle then in normal day to day driving you will get high 40's from an IS 300h. I have now done over 60k miles in mine (purchased when it had 40K on it and has now done 103K miles) and my average over this time on the trip computer is around 48mpg. That is a good mix of driving with probably 50% being motorway and the rest split between A roads and towns/local. Looking at some details: - Motorways - driving at an indicated 75 - 85mph (not harsh acceleration but keeping up with sensible flow of faster traffic) I achieve between 45 and 52 mpg (air temp and how many passengers/luggage I have) - also given the propensity of speed limited sections and road works on the motorways then mpg only gets better in these sections whereas with most ICE only cars it gets worse! Just been up to Oban, Scotland (from Berkshire) and back with two passengers and a lot of luggage - there on one tank of fuel, refilled and back on one tank of fuel - avg mpg an indicated 46mpg. - A Roads - fast free flowing often will see over 50mpg if you "carry speed" and avoid too much harsh braking and acceleration - can often be more when speeds are in the 40 - 50 mph range (I've seen 60mpg at times over quite a few tens of miles) - Local and around town - can see easily 50mpg+ if avoiding too much braking and acceleration Regards air temperatures this has quite an impact on mpg. In winter mpg is always the worst and in very hot weather (with air con working hard) it can drop too. Best mpg is achieved when air temp around 20C as battery is working well, engine temp maintained without heating cabin and air con not having to cool. Regards how the car drives, then the only way to assess if it suits your needs/style is a test drive as it is different to a normal ICE/auto box. Personally I find it suits my needs perfectly for the sort of journeys I do but YMMV as some others have found.

There are quite a few differences depending on the year of manufacture (specs changed pretty much each year and there was a facelift in 2017) - so there are some things the Executive has that the Advance doesn't and vice-versa all depending on the year. It's also complicated by the fact that options may be fitted too. Your best bet is to decide what is important to you as a minimum and then look for the car that has that spec that meets your year/mileage/budget - whether Executive, Advance, Luxury, Premier, F-Sport etc.

I posted it rather tongue in cheek - it was a lot of words and so-called findings which basically boiled down to if you (significantly) reduce cars on roads the number of casualties will be less... Wow - a revelation - another in-depth study to tell us something that is as clear as the nose on our face!

Latest findings - how to significantly reduce road injuries without 20mph limits: The Guardian: Low-traffic schemes halve number of road injuries, study shows. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/23/low-traffic-schemes-halve-number-of-road-injuries-study-shows Wow - wonder how they came up with that 🤔

I fully understand your comments as that was what I thought too. I read this though following through to Operation Snap that Len pointed out. WHY DO I HAVE TO BE WILLING TO GO TO COURT TO GIVE EVIDENCE?OPEN OR CLOSE On average only 1 to 2% of all reported SNAP offences result in a Court appearance. There are other disposal methods available such as attendance on a driver improvement course or the acceptance of a fixed penalty notice. The police may not be able to prosecute the offence without you being willing to attend court. If however on the very rare occasion the offence which you report does require a court appearance, then you will be fully supported through the process. The video alone is not enough, the driver has to give a witness statement as to the offence the other driver has committed and give the video evidence to the police. They must also be willing to go to court. I don't doubt that you were willing to do all of that and I am still not sure all police forces will follow up on most of the submissions, but I suppose if just a few start to get prosecuted it might start and change something...

Thanks for this Len - I appreciate the original idea of the dash cam was aimed at insurance claims. I have thought long and hard about fitting one, though it goes against my principles of recording everything that goes on. That said, a couple of years ago one of our family was run off the road by an SUV on a single track road near a marina. The other car did not even stop. Our car was a write off (though was quite an old car). The only car that could have run our car off the road was recorded leaving the marina gates on their CCTV. The marina were happy to release the CCTV to our insurer and police (for data protection purposes not to us which is understandable), but when we discussed with the insurer they weren't interested and so all we could do was claim off our own insurance for the write off and the police weren't at all interested. If the car had a dash cam maybe that could have been different, but I will never know. I am interested to hear that the police are following up on dash cam footage submitted to them and operation Snap - my own knowledge was out of date as I was under the impression that an actual prosecution (or penalty) could not be issued on the strength of this, just a caution. Having read the links you have posted I can see that the police can actually proceed to a penalty / prosecution based on the web cam footage and the drivers personal statement. It will be interesting to see how this shapes up going forward but good to hear that in your personal experience the effort was indeed put in to follow up on the report and footage. Based on what I have learnt from your post I will be now considering dash cams for our cars. I don't believe that the insurance premium savings are significant from what I have checked so not worried about that, but for our own self interest in the event of an insurance claim or recording clearly dangerous and reckless driving that can be submitted to the police then the cost/benefit ratio is certainly swinging in their favour. Like you said, I am actually surprised they are not a factory option on new cars, though I understand there are issues with using them in some other countries (personal liberties or whatever) so maybe the manufacturers don't want to get embroiled in all of that.

I think we will have to agree to disagree over some of the data - there are lies, damn lies and statistics as the saying goes and vested interests will prove whatever they want. I am not against strategic speed cameras at proven accident black spots and when they first appeared the initial data I am sure backed up a reduction in fatalities - but we all know where this led to as the quangos took control and lost the plot. The end game if one follows these arguments is back to the man with the flag in front of each car - and even some of those will get run down as someone's foot slips on the accelerator! As I said when I first commented on this thread after many years and hundreds of thousands of miles of driving I've given up with trying to reason with the unreasonable and given up enjoying driving like I used to (which was always safely and considerately) which means the car industry has lost my money and I take my enjoyment now from other activities (and spending my money there instead).