Las Palmas

Ask manufacturers if products they make are good? What answer do you expect? That they tell us about all the little problems that exist like the infotainment sucks? I believe they will tell us about the good things, and there are many. Lexus make fine cars. Not perfect. But in the highest part of what is made. A RollsRoyce is not perfect and a Bugatti probably not either. Audi, Honda, MB, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota have been around for years and are among the more reliable cars, lately Hyundai has come to be among the best. Want to know if a car is good, ask the forums – not the company that make it.

Here Santa does not deliver cars as presents, so maybe cars could be a bit cheaper in this time where everybody are busy buying other things. The big centres here that are selling all we need and a lot we do not need are having new shining cars on display at reduced costs according to the labels on them.

If I want to update nav map I would buy one of these: https://www.ebay.de/itm/114871187679?epid=15037773983&hash=item1abedb38df:g:yAkAAOSwNIJglWeF instead of paying a fortune for a map from Lexus (which probably is identical).

150€ plus a waiting time more than a month to get the micro-SD-card from Japan with snail mail. Lexus/Toyota here used to be a Japanese company with super service; extra charge if you wanted service outside normally open hours, express service possible. Now the company is private, Spanish owned and nothing to write home about.

I have the 2021 map from Lexus and it tried to lead me into a one-way-street - wrong direction. Thought that Google maps also warn about traffic jams from various reasons. Pot holes? Our cars have excellent light for night driving and in days we should be able to see holes and avoid them. My old Garmin Nüvi with free lifetime update of maps warn about too much to my liking, but it sure does function.

Seems as bad as service here.

Do not know about Waze (never heard of it before, Googled and found out) but when my phone (Android) is connected via Bluetooth and Google maps are on, instructions come from speakers. You can have navigation in car on, and see the map while driving, so you do not need to look at the phone. Sure, the mouse controller in our cars is not functioning well. Some must have different feelings about it as it seems not to bother that many here on the forum.

Many powerful cars with rear wheel drive were like that. Do not know much about new cars as I have time enough to drive a slow front wheel drive car now.

4-wheel drive. 1 electric motor in each wheel. Powered by fuel cells. That will come. And be enough. More than enough for most people. Probably also expensive enough to only be available for the few that cannot live without. Now, that it seems as A-powered electricity plants are no longer prohibited to talk about, it will be no problem to make green – really green hydrogen for fuel cells. EV battery powered cars are a disaster promoted by stupid politicians and accepted by fools. The earth does not have material enough to make the batteries needed for all kind of transportation. In my eyes the main problem with A-power is, that storing the waste has not yet been made a priority, and just leaving the problems to our children, is not morally acceptable. Wishing that some genius will come up with an idea how to reuse the waste is maybe overoptimistic.

Zero tax is beautiful. Have been told the car is a 2017, but registered in October 2016 could be the reason for not having paid tax so far.

Welcome to the forum. When the Avensis came they were among the cars that was worth looking at. If you want something beautiful the GS is something that please my eyes. If you also want about the best music in your next car, the Mark Levinson in the various Lexus cars is hard to better. I have installed audio in cars for competition and though they were all having several times the output power, none of them were better when coming to sound pureness. The hybrids from Lexus are all so quiet that sound power is not at all something to look for, unless the car is supposed to be a rolling disco. Enjoy your next Lexus.

A GS is a beautiful car.

Do not think UK has highest tax burden. In Denmark you pay the car and then the government add to the price 180%. EV were tax free a short while, but believe that is not going to continue. That is the reason why you in Denmark can buy cars with less equipment than in many other countries (and why many cars are being exported from Denmark).

Whosoever trust the government has a short memory. Governments (politicians' lye and cheat - that is why they are politicians) and need to get money so the government can give long holydays and pay their employed well for doing nothing or very little. No matter what they promise, you cannot hold it against them. Why? You did elect them.

So you have had it done every year since 2016? Never happened here. Our car is from October 2016.

How often is this fuel treatment supposed to happen? As far as I have seen on the invoices it never has been written on any ot those for our car.

Different cars, different needs for tyres. Different drivers, different skills, different preferences, different countries. Canada / North Scandinavia – South Italy / Spain. Same tyres? A CT is for comfort and does not need super tyres for anything but comfort and durability. A GT86 is a different thing and though I have never been in one I had a new Supra 3L which was a no-good piece of s**t. Same year in a MR2 with about half the power, Toyota had a sports car. The Supra had power enough to be a funny car but handling was so loose and imprecise that it was right out - no good. A Lancia Delta EVO need tyres for off-road with big knobs if used for rally (think we had Goodrich on the one we had), noisy and no good on paved roads, but if the car is to be used for streets, I doubt nothing would fit the car better than what Continental make. But who would buy a Delta EVO or Peugeot Turbo 16 EVO or Renault Turbo 1 for driving on streets and daily use? Not me. A MB 300SEL 6.3 is good for all kind of roads and with Continental (standard from factory) no problem with unpaved mountain trails or smooth German Autobahn. A Lexus V8 will not be possible to drive to the limits with same tyres as the most comfortable tyres for a CT. What is good for one is far from that for another. Car and driver. So, are we choosing what is rational for our cars and driving style? Anybody can answer that?

Are the tires noisy?

Everybody’s right. In something – maybe. Keeping your old car going is in the short run making sure you are not helping the industry to make a new. Driving something that pollute less is definitely better in densely populated areas. Riding a bicycle and walking pollute less than driving a supercharged polluting machine. Yes, we all have a point. We also all have a moral obligation to do our best to hand the world we got from our ancestors to our children in as good a condition as we can.

I have been driving many places in many cars. From Denmark to Turkey on the way to the far east, but returned due to car broke down and no place to repair. From Germany to Algiers touring Sahara and returning with tyres almost slicks to Trondheim up and down mountains and in snowstorm in an old VW Beetle bought cheap in Germany. Yes, have been lucky. Later been driving long distance – North Europe, Italy, Spain, Africa visiting family. Family spread to many countries. Do I consider myself an expert in tyres: No. Never bought low quality tyres, always quality Continental. May be more expensive, but mostly I consider that you get what you pay for. If something is too good (or cheap) to be true, then that is what it is. May be wrong. Have been that before. The CT is the first car I consider buying something else. Looking for the best summer tyre 215/45-17. Low noise is the one quality regarded highest for the first time. May end up buying Continental again, though I want low noise as first and durability second quality.

As no-one have answered the question of this thread I will try: No. They have never been the best so they cannot not "still be the best". They may be the best compromise as they have some good things from best summer tyres as well as some good things from best "almost winter tyres". Winter can be snow on the roads and also, in some countries, ice on the road. If ice on the roads is winter then "all season" tyres are no good for winter, making them a soft compromise and "all season tyres" have never been best summer tyres. A compromise is = a compromise. And the Michelin may be one of the best in their class.

No! Never saw this before. The white stuff that was falling from the sky when we were younger. Now it seems to be liquid and not really beautiful like the crystals. When taking the high road from Oslo to Trondheim there were tall sticks on the sides of the road and as long as you were between them there was a paved road below the snow.

Welcome Matt. The clutch foot will get used to it. The smooth ride of the CVT is something no other automatic gear system has. Problem when resting and doing nothing on long tours, left leg will be a bit more "sleepy" than right foot.

You mean we can no longer see snow on TV? I was living in Trondheim in 1970 something. Bedroom in ground floor. One morning it was not morning - no light through the windows. We had to go upstairs to get out of the house, through the windows. No more snow?

I have used Continental many many years because they always lasted a lot longer than I kept a car and were good in rain and shine. The CT came with Pirelli, but do not know what will come on when they in a not distant future need to be replaced. Looking for quiet tyres that handles reasonably well (a CT is not a racing machine but has excellent steering, almost as good as a Smart Roadster Coupé, which is a go-kart). Summer tyres are most interesting as rain is as seldom as it is common in UK and snow is something we see on TV.