LexusIS300h

I have an amazon playlist of around 120 songs, 1960’s through to present day and no particular genre. Rock, pop, country, R&B, a bit of everything. The nice thing is I like them all and play them on shuffle, so they mix up quite well too and not in the order I added them.

Example:

Dire Straits - Walk of Life

Phil Collins - Easy Lover

Wham! - Club Tropicana

Adele - Hello

Lady Antebellum- Need you now

Roy Orbison - It’s Over

The Who - Pinball Wizard

Bee Gees - Stayin Alive

Tina Turner - Simply the Best

Ed Sheeran - Perfect

George Ezra - Budapest

Smokie - Mexican Girl

Toto - Africa

Coldplay - Viva la Vida

etc etc etc

I think they have applied the 3 months lost time due to COVID-19 to everyone. Mine was due mid April, but now I only have to renew mid July and I am covered if I need the assistance in between time

17 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

I think if you plough that particular furrow David, then by the time you are 71 you will be happily esconsed in an RX450H.

Whatever floats your boat, though !

By the time I reached the age to which you aspire, I had had my fill of German unreliability, German Dealerships and astronomical German repair costs.

Stop reading the glossy magazine and join  the relevant forums to discover what owners think about their German cars. 

Must be the impetuousness of youth sprouting up 🤣😂😅

This is an interesting subject and one I had also been giving some thought to as well. I have had the view of electric vehicles that the range had to be 400 miles (not Km’s) and then it made sense for me and would get rid of range anxiety. As of this year, the chances are that I will be fully retired, with COVID putting paid to many interim possibilities for me. Therefore a daily commute isn’t something to look at any more. What is likely to be more interesting are longer trips and this reinforces my view of a 400 mile range.

The only cars that gets close right now are the higher capacity Battery Tesla’s and I am with the OP on iffy quality of those cars. A future NX will also likely be a new RAV 4 engine and perhaps a plug in and again those don’t set me on fire wanting the next model. 
Out of curiosity I had a look at the Peugeot 3008 and it is an intriguing suv. Very sexy set up, but the hybrid models are expensive and not proven like Toyota or Lexus, so maybe not reliable.

My conclusion is that the wheels I would want are likely about 4 to 5 years away, by which time I might be more interested in mobility scooters than SUV’s 😂. This thought LED me to the realisation that my best driving days are behind me, great electric cars are likely to be around in the 2030’s and if I get that far, I probably would be banned from driving anyway. So I had an off the wall thought... why not go and get a used Diesel SUV and accept that I don’t really care about the depreciation, cost of diesel or the effect on the planet for the years I have left? ... and if I did get an SUV diesel, then which one? Well I came up with the Porsche Macan 3.0d and from what I have read about it and other reviewers comments it seems like the dogs wotsits...maybe I should celebrate my 70th with one of these?? A used one, about 3 years old should just about do it, comparable price to an NX.

Any thoughts on that?

41 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

Don’t want to upset you but my 2014 IS300h f sport was definitely better than the RX on petrol and my 2015 GS300h was better than the IS300h strangely.

 

It’s ok, I know the IS is better mpg, I had one before the NX and convinced myself the inferior mpg was a good trade off for the comfort and ride height of the NX. 

Thanks Ian, I saw that and will make enquiries nearer to home for installation 👍
 

The unit is now $359 

5 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

Between 250 to 600 miles a week. The last tankful was a 170 mile round trip to Shropshire including 100 miles of motorway

Thanks, that sort of fits in with my mpg at decent daily miles. The more you travel the better the mpg, up to a point. I did a trip to Surrey last year, over 100 miles each way and got over 38 on that tankful, but little trips kill my mpg.

Still, for the size of car, my 34mpg is acceptable. Your 38 on a larger car is brilliant 👍

This is just a general comment on apple CarPlay. Recently I hired a car in Cape Town, what we would know as a Vauxhall (badged Opel) Grandland X. 
The car was ok to drive, but I found out it had apple CarPlay / Android Auto. This is the first time I have used it and it is really cool, so much so that I want to put this in my 2016 Lexus NX, although the conversion seems pricy.

Anyway, it was good to be able to use Waze to find our way around (no Satnav  supplied in the hire car), make and take calls and play my music on my phone effortlessly. You don’t get to see all the apps on your phone but the ones you can see are useful.

 
Recall how to get satnav in your car, you have to upgrade ? You don’t need to with CarPlay, you just need a connection from your phone to the car. In the hire it was a USB cable, but others do this via Bluetooth, so no cables required.

This has now become one of my “must haves” in looking for a replacement vehicle in the future. It should be standard on all cars, but some manufacturers would prefer you spent loads on their systems. Not any more. 

13 hours ago, olliesgrandad said:

My advice is to view the Lexus YouTube video on driving hybrids. 

I always fill and check tankful to tankful. 

I have a phone app that records my figures. 

For sure the NX300h isn't as good on fuel as my RX450h but this is my 4th Lexus hybrid so I have plenty of practice driving economically. 

I refuelled today and my mpg was 36.6mpg. 

 

What mileage are you doing a week Les?

I also have a 2016 NX, but Premier, not F-Sport. My average is around 34mpg over the last 9 months since I bought the car. I fill brim to brim and log all my mileage too. I’ve had a Prius Gen II prior to that for 10 years and used to get just over 50mpg over its lifetime with me on a 10 mile commute.

One factor not fully explored is the length of your commute. Mine now is a 7 mile trip morning and evening on A roads, max 60mph, which I adhere to, using cruise control. It takes about 10 minutes and the car is probably warmed up 4 or 5 miles into it.

 I have tried all sorts of tricks to improve my fuel consumption, such as trying to hypermile it and switching to EV mode as soon as I got into a 30 mph zone. Results were minimal improvements and before winter I was getting 35 mpg.

Last fill up was just under 30 mpg, but the car only had very short (1 or 2 mile) trips.

I do notice though that on longer distances, I can get close to the mpg figures others have stated here. I tend to get 38 mpg on a 20 mile or so journey, some of which is motorways. 

Conclusion is I think, different strokes for different folks Short trips hammer mpg, longer ones improve it, provided you don’t thrash it on a motorway. 

Impressive once again, thanks for the link. 👍

Happy new car Steve, it looks good !

On 7/18/2019 at 11:04 AM, Andy B said:

(Now need to work out how to increase the volume of the speed camera alerts 😄)

 

 

You could link your phone to your car and use Waze on your phone instead of the built in Satnav. The speed camera alerts are loud enough to let you know one is coming up.

Congratulations Chris, nice colour too. I have the grey one, darker than sonic titanium, which I think also looks quite the cats whiskers 😹

I’m sure you will be happy with your wheels. I have had mine a couple of months now and no regrets at all.

A nice high driving position, easy to get in and out of and very comfortable. Wafting  along is a good description. I don’t get great mileage, at 32 to 35 mpg but my journeys are less than 7 miles in each direction on A roads at 60mph for most of it. We did do a longer 100 mile plus journey and return and got 38 mpg on the tank brim to brim so it can be done.

However I knew the mpg would not match the saloon IS and still bought it, the best car I have bought.

I don’t let car washers anywhere near it and am happy to wash and wax it myself, taking great pride in admiring my handiwork when it’s done 😊👍. It probably cost me over £150 to get all the gear including a jet washer but I will get that back by doing the job myself and it will be done properly too. 

What car did you get Paul?

1 minute ago, HMS said:

_{David, please can you share a link or some way of finding more information on it? Thanks}

 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904207165323

1 minute ago, royoftherovers said:

Link please.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904207165323

On 6/7/2019 at 8:37 PM, HMS said:

Hi all, After considering what to go for as my next car I have decided to go for a IS300h 2016 make. I am looking at some alternatives in 16/66 regs and there are thousands of pound difference in prices depending on iles on the clocks. This is normal and I want to know that I decided to save a little by going for say 50-60k miles instead of 30-40k, will I be losing out on a ot of things?

I would like to know from you guys what is maintenance cost for this car and do you save in road tax? 

And, finally, in your expereince do you think that the dealership would negotiate on the display price?

Thanks

I don’t know if you’re interested in this, but my 66 IS300h is up for sale on Auto Trader with a genuine sub 10k Miles, not shabby for a car that will be 3 years old in October. I promise you it is immaculate inside and out and we only parted company with it because my wife and I had difficulty getting out of it with poorly knees 🤔. FP66EEB 

It’s not with  a main dealer although it has full Lexus service history, so you might get something off it if you negotiate

Nice one Vlady ! Looks good 👍

Happy new car! Let’s see some pics 👍👍

On 5/25/2019 at 8:07 PM, Cactus said:

I can tell you I regret getting the Nx300h, after a long debate between a used rx vs nx. If i have the chance to do it again,  I would have gotten an older generation rx450 with air suspension. Much better ride comfort/quieter cabin. I dun think abt performance with this type of car, its a hybrid, drive it as what it sets out to do. 

The reason I didn’t get the rx450 was only simply down to the fact that my wife couldn’t live with the looks (i am referring to the pre facelift models (<2015), which I admit, the nx has a much more palatable styling and interior. 

Another question to ask yourself is do you really need an SUV/ over like a saloon or estate. I find my gs450h just as functional as the nx, carrying a family of 4 with babies.

 

My wife and I have got to that age where getting in and out of it is a key requirement when looking at a car. SUV height is great for us now. I had an IS300h for 9 months before I bought the NX and absolutely loved it, apart from getting out of it. All cars from now on will have to be high seated.

On 5/25/2019 at 8:24 PM, Cactus said:

I have both an Nx300h (my wife drives it now predominantly) and Gs450h. I can tell you I regret getting the Nx300h.i was in a similar situation to you last year, with a budget just under 30k debating between a used rx and nx. If i have the chance to do it again,  I would have gotten an older generation rx450 with air suspension. Much better ride comfort/quieter cabin, during the test drive. I can’t comment on the fuel economy difference between the rx and the nx. However, between the Gs450h and the nx300h, the nx was better averaging about 38-40mpg compared to early thirties in the Gs. 

The reason I didn’t get the rx450 was only simply down to the fact that my wife couldn’t live with the looks (i am referring to the pre facelift models (<2015), which I admit, the nx has a much more palatable styling and interior. 

hope it helps. 

 

Thanks for the info Ka, as you will have noticed I went for the NX after all. I’m really happy with it, despite the poor mpg I get, low 30’s.

The mpg was the reason I didn’t get it after a test drive last year, but as I only do 7k miles a year, it’s not a deal breaker really and I just have to suck it up until a decent electric vehicle comes along.

My son in law also has an NX and his got pronged by a bolt on the A1 last week, right through the Battery radiator. He was able to get a hire car from Lexus although it was an F Pace Jag. He brought it round for a look see and I have to say that for the money it is built terrible. The Battery is in the boot (no problem with that’s) and it has small bolts through the  bodywork holding it in place and unfinished paintwork around it. Out of sight, out of mind. I can see that Battery dropping through the floor in 5 years, if the car is still running. What a shocker in terms of quality, nowhere near a Lexus. 

On 5/26/2019 at 9:18 AM, Herbie said:

If you lot think the 2012-15 RX is ugly then you don't know the meaning of the word - this LX570 thing fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down!

Whoa that sure is one fugly car, would never buy that 🤮

8 hours ago, olliesgrandad said:

You use a piece of clay bar and a lubricant. Rubbing it on the paintwork like an eraser it lifts out contaminants. It leaves a really smooth finish. Plenty of videos on YouTube showing its use. 

Thanks Les, I’ll try that next time 👍