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For Linas I think the Kia 3.3 Stinger - it’s very much on my radar too Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And nothing will change but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t change. Lexus market share is bigger in the US not because they’re so different to us - but the range is more diverse over there. Lexus want to be taken seriously and that means in the premium car market offering a range of engines within a model. The RC is crying out for something in between the 300h and F - be that a more powerful 200t, a 350 or a 450h - and maybe a manual transmission offering. The 200t engine is a little behind on the power/economy curve but with a little development it could be a very credible offering in a junior performance offering - a bit like a c43/S5 etc - or a turbo V6 or the engine from the upcoming supra. Why they have not done an ISF defies logic and why that car - as it’s class leading in other regards hasn’t seen a 350 or improved 200t seems most odd. The RX is crying out for a non hybrid as is the NX. Perhaps if the CT had been offered as a non hybrid more would have found homes. It’s not such a bad car - just hopelessly different and out of touch with most buyers wants and needs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Transverse engine. Yuck. Bmw 140i :) Or get a gs450h or GSF/RCF. Fast and properly nice car. I still think not doing the 350 engine in the RC and IS is a mistake. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe because I do what I do for a living but I’m on the roads in the middle of the night, small hours and early to mid morning and driving fast is easy, and good and right to do. Up in the NW of Scotland the opportunity to drive and enjoying driving is alive and well and the GS250 is a great car to have, but I wish I had the GSF. One day maybe :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I too think it’ll be too slow. It’s fine for a Camry because that’s just a big family motor but something that’s got pretence at being a luxury/premium product needs to have a bit more go in it - if only to give a more effortless wafty drive. At least it’ll be refined. A 520d is remarkably unrefined, you’d excuse it in a car like a Superb, or Mondeo but not in an expensive/premium product. The ES will have a big advantage in its segment as most PCP/company car pay monthly pilots buy these cars with the most dreadful engine type to ever grace a car - the 4 cylinder diesel - and I should know I stupidly bought two 4 pot diesel high end cars only to have a fright when my next door neighbors avensis 1.8 petrol was considerably more refined Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Reread it - both times solenoid replacement didn’t fix it and replacing the box was needed. I wouldn’t put in a part from a breakage yard as the part might not last that much longer. I recall a Volvo I owned had a faulty gearbox, it was 56k miles old and 4.5 years old - the repair was quoted at 3k and a new one at 5k. Put some new fluid in and it was fine for 2k mikes then started misbehaving- I ended up selling it. Had it been a manual it just wouldn’t have happened and a new clutch a few hundred. I’d keep mine longer if it was an MT. I’m going to change it earlier due to worries over the AT ATs are nice but I don’t have an huge objection to changing gear myself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-3rd-gen-2006-2011/801228-lexus-lawsuit-transmission-vsc-p2757-issues.html 5100 usd. So not far off £5000 And another....several with issues. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/799041-replace-or-try-to-fix-transmission.html Ok - I stand by my comment that as a car gets on a MT isn’t a bad thing. Re customisation Lexus do the old age trick of just giving you pretty much everything as standard which works well. I have a GS with no options and spec wise it’s comparable to a standard S class. I cannot think of anything I don’t have in the car I don’t want other than a clutch pedal and I’ll live with it because the car will be gone before 100k - a bit before the a960e goes bang Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Google a960e failure. You’ll see several threads about is250s with gearboxes that have gone bang. It’s not common but not super rare either. Never driven aa80e but heard it’s a good box and tends to be quite reliable. I’m not against automatics - I wouldn’t have owned 7 over the last 10 years if I was but I do like choice and if I was choosing the car from new I might not tick the AT box and I think premium makers should give you that choice. Off topic I went to buy a new Mercedes E class - I thought about running one as a company car through my business - but it didn’t work out but the premium maker had a few issues. If you wanted the v6 diesel you had to have air suspension, if you wanted a sunroof you had to add a premium pack bringing an expensive stereo (I don’t care much for music so it seemed pointless). If you wanted the sports seats with the thigh extenders - that was ok so long as you chose black for the seats and headliner. If you wanted a petrol engine it had to be the AMG model which meant air suspension which I don’t like. I didn’t feel the car was that “customisable” and the whole buying process put me off. I feel a premium car should allow you to fully customise the car to your exact tastes and offer you to make it yours. Some would chose the manual option. In the end I didn’t go down the “company car” route and that was that Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If your car had the A960E auto box like mine and it crapped out replacement would be closer to £5000 - they have been known to let go closer to 140k miles which isn’t ideal. And yes, I do enjoy changing the gears in a manual car. I find it rewarding and it makes driving the car more “fun”. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To be fair not that I’ve heard. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Only for a bad driver - a good driver chooses the gears correctly. Autos can slip, not always locking the TC up - my GS is quite prone to this - more even than the Mercedes 5spd. Gives very smooth progress but I’m not sure I like it. I prefer a more direct drive where the revs fall and rise as you accelerate without this “slip” that it does. I often knock it into manual mode to get the direct drive lock up of the TC :) I have another car which is manual - driving it is no hardship and in sometimes preferable. For my main big car I could go back to a manual but I understand if others don’t. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MT gives you greater control of the car and as the car gets older the repair costs are less. A new clutch is a few hundred quid, diagnosing and repairing/replacing automatic gearboxes can run into the thousands. And MT is not difficult to use, it’s just an extra pedal and lever in the car. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Also as the car gets older an automatic gearbox poses a potential bigger bill. With a manual you can put in a new clutch and off it’ll will go for another 100k for a few hundred quid - with an automatic replacing most if not all the transmission at several thousand pounds is the only way. Id be happier in many ways with a manual and changing the gears myself. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good design and engineering and using good quality components ensures reliability and durability. Time is the test but certain makers have a knack for making reliable cars and others don’t. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would think so. Premium is about want rather than need. It should be more durable and reliable, faster and/or quieter etc as you’re paying more for it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree but mini would be seen as premium. The price tag relative to the size of the car positions it as a “premium” product in the sense that it costs a good chunk more than most mass market small cars. A mini tends to be good do drive, and you can option in some nice stuff. I don’t like small cars particularly but it’s the sort of car a well to do family would buy for their daughter going to uni or a graduate trainee might buy as opposed to a Dacia. Me, I’d rather drive what I drive than a mini. I used my RAV4 to go to the shops today but then went for a longer run out in the Lexus. The GS is absolutely a premium product. The Toyota I have is much older, but more functional and it does everything you need but it’s not a car you could ever want. The Lexus absolutely is and that is something that makes a car premium. It’s about want rather than need, it’s about form as well as function. I don’t need a car as fast, refined or comfortable as the Lexus but I sure as hell want to have one and as soon as “want” as opposed to “need” enters the equation it becomes a premium product and that’s more subtle than badge appeal. A Kia Stinger is a premium product - it’s a car you buy because you want one. An Optima is a car you buy because you need one for the space. A little like Fillet beef. Burgers do the job but why eat burger when you can have fillet of beef. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I get your point but not in the case of new cars. Ferrari now even offer the ability to extend the warranty and breakdown cover to 7 years as even the top 1% don’t like breakdowns and unexpected bills. Mercedes marketed themselves on a maker of premium cars that would give their owners a hassle free long service life due to their superior build. I got the car(s) thinking I was getting a superior product that would give me not only a nicer car but also something that would give me more hassle free motoring compared to a non premium make- not less hassle free. I drive on rural bumpy roads and do a big mileage - robust build is a must. I’d expect it from a Mercedes less so a Ford. They trade off that reputation now but selling Renault engine transverse mounted crap won’t do them any favours long term - neither will building their cars using poor components either - people will catch on Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don’t agree. A premium car should be A) more reliable B) last longer and have a longer service life. One of my gripes with the Mercedes I’ve owned is how poorly made the car was - from rusting at 4.5 years old, to off rattles, to injectors and manifolds needing changed at little over 5 years old and leaking steering racks and random engine faults. Yes the cars were “nice” but they were also **** **** that shattered the illusion you owned a premium product that was worth paying a premium for. If a car is worth a premium it is because it’s appeal lasts beyond having the latest reg and that it’ll give its owner faithful service long after the new car buzz has worn off. A car is no good if it’s unreliable - and nothing takes the sheen off a car than seeing it rust when it’s new and watching it disappear onto a low loader as it’s failed to proceed. Toyota reliability should be a given in any upmarket car, not a USP - which it appears to be. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes 328i is a fair bit faster and kind on the fuel but the engines barely last 60k miles - poor timing gear being a culprit. Tech specs from auto trader have the 200t at 7 secs with a top speed of 143mph. I wouldn’t say it’s a slow car but hardly a ball of fire. It’s a bit disappointing the car won’t crack 150mph (a speed I do drive at when I go to Germany) and the 0-60 isn’t in the sixes or high 5s...but it’s not so off the pace to be ruled out. I reckon I drive 140mph plus a handful of times a year and if I find my gs250 good enough for overtaking (and working/living in NW Scotland I do that a lot) in confident an IS200T would be ok. I still think the 350 should be offered in the GS and IS. 310bhp is very premium I drive a rav4 also a lot - and one of the things I like about it is that it has a manual box - I wonder if Lexus missed a trick there too and it would make it a more interesting alternative to a 300h. The 2005 RAV is about as unpremium as it gets but as a winter run about and going to the shops it’s refreshingly basic and fit for purpose. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes 2 of them. An R and a 1.6tdi. Didn’t rate either but the R did go very well. I found the E90 3 series better than the F30 but would take either over a golf and they seemed a good bit quieter too Import an IS350 from Europe? The 220t looks interesting with the 8speed box - the 250 has the old 6speed and it my experience (gs250) it isn’t the best., IS300h on paper looks great to run but I do worry it might be a little bit slow. At least they’re reliable though and with modern cars that is not a given Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep. Imho 4 clyinder engined don’t belong in cars as big as the GS. In a small car like an IS they’re almost acceptable but not in a large upscale saloon. I’d take a 4 pot Camry because it’s not a premium car nor is it pretending to be one. The Americans get much better GS options with the 350 and AWD option and the 250 I have is lovely but I’d much rather have the 3.5, 4.6 or 5.0 as that’s really the sort of engine size a premium large car has. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A BMW 3 series is miles more refined than a Golf. A Skoda Octavia is the same car underneath the skin and bar being a bit longer competes with the golf within the same family car segment. I've sampled many Golfs - they aren't great cars IMHO. I agree the A class, 1 series etc are too cheap and diluting the marques - I'd say that offering 4 clyinder engines in mid size cars like the 5 series was the beginning of the end...

A Skoda Octavia does a far better job than a Golf for less. I've sampled the range from R to GTi to 1.6Tdi and 2.0Tdi. I really don't get the fuss, not that refined, lacking space, not special feeling but costs a fair bit. To be fair I'd apply that to most hatches though. A Focus, Civic, Auris all do the same as the Golf for less. I wouldn't have another Merc, out of 4 two have been pretty unreliable and my fathers 6yr S class throws up more faults than a pals 12 yr old Range Rover. At the least the 1 has a north south engine and rear drive with ZF 8speed box so it has drive trains associated with more upscale cars, particularly the 3 litre options which are the only worth while 1 series to have. A Kia Stinger is a premium vehicle, in trim, drive train, size and price and segment positioning. It doesn't need the BMW badge to be premium

A golf isn’t a premium vehicle either. They’re such over hyped cars it’s unreal. You can see the door paint on the door frame inside the car in both an A class and Golf. Audi at least put some plastic trim on the door frame so you don’t see the paint inside their equivalent car. I’d argue with cabin materials and trim a high spec a3 is worthy of being considered premium but a Golf and A class aren’t and are driven by £300pm hire car pilots. Probably so is the a3 but it’s the nicer car at least Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kia Stinger 3.3 is on my radar after the GS. I could take an IS300h but would rather have an IS200t (for the performance) but fear it might be a whisker too small a car - the GS is more than big enough but the Stinger bridges the size gap perfectly and keeps me in a six. Because of its positioning in the range I’d expect it to have premium car NVH etc and be a good credible alternative Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk