Gary H

I'm glad you're enjoying the UX, @Booler1949. I had a 2020 '20' plate white F-Sport for three and a half years. A very good car indeed. Yes - great seats. I loved mine. No issues with power and like yourself, I think complaints about CVT gearboxes are over-exaggerated. Unless you're heavy on the throttle everywhere, I find it perfectly refined (and I come from having three Audi S-Tronic transmissions). You just adjust your driving style to suit - and I think that's where many CVT critics fall down. My only minor issue with quality on the UX was basically the door panels - which I felt needed more of the interior carried over to it, rather than it being mostly plastic. Other than that, a thumbs up for quality too. My brother has a BMW 3 Series (13 plate) and it does feel very 'low down' indeed when it comes to getting in and out of it! I suffer from arthritis and I've honestly struggled on the odd occasion with it in that respect! I'll happily stand corrected, but I *think* the only white available for the F-Sport model back then (and maybe now?) was 'F-Sport White'. That's what mine was and I'm reasonably sure it was the only white available for that model. The only real reason I changed from the UX to the NX was down to a lack of boot space. I knew it would be a bit of an issue when I bought the car but honestly thought I'd work my way around it. To be fair, during the working week, I did. It was absolutely fine. It just proved to be a little too small when it come to some weekends and trips away. If the boot was about 20% bigger, I'd have probably opted for another UX because otherwise it suited my needs perfectly.

I've got the options as per @Gaazzared and @hintonwood. The only thing it doesn't have is the option to pre-heat the rear seats, but I know I'm being a bit picky there! The only issue I have with it is that on mine it only works when it wants to - rather than it working when I want it to. I'd say seven or eight times out of ten it 'swirls' for a minute or so and eventually I get a 'There was an error whilst processing your request...' message. I did note this down when it went in for it's second key and locking wheel nuts. I was basically told "Yeah...they all do that. The app isn't very good". 🤷‍♂️

I've dealt with a number of dealers from different manufacturers over the years. Both professionally and privately. However, for the sake of time and to keep it on topic, I'll discuss my experiences with two different Lexus dealers. The difference between them have been not quite 'chalk and cheese' but the difference in service is very noticeable. Obviously for the sake of the people who work there, I'd rather not name either of them. Dealer One - Where my UX250h was purchased from in 2020. The dealership itself wasn't anything special. In an older, smaller showroom but spotlessly clean. A perfectly pleasant salesperson dealt with me and was active in looking for options within their network to locate a car for me. Sadly none could be found, but I took the car they had in the showroom as it was literally everything I wanted including the option packs. The only downside is that it wasn't my first choice in colour - but hey-ho. I could have ordered one from scratch - again basically the same car with the same options in a different exterior colour. However, it would have taken roughly sixteen weeks. I was quite happy to take the showroom car and the whole process from ordering to handover took about two weeks. I could have brought it forward a few days but due to work commitments I couldn't - but I could have had the car comfortably inside a fortnight had things worked out better at my end. Very good indeed. Handover was first class and in the handover room with all the fancy lighting. Fast, efficient and perfectly pleasant. Not the best handover experience I've ever had (Audi still retains that title on two separate counts), but would still come in a very respectable third. Service of the UX250h - Dealer one wasn't my nearest/local dealer, so I ended up taking the car to my nearest dealer when it came to servicing and it's first MOT. No real complaints. All services carried out efficiently and I found the staff friendly. The only negative mark I could give them was on it's third service - when they didn't reset the service indicator in the car. Just an oversight which can happen anywhere I suppose. Dealer Two - Already well documented on here if you want to go back over my earlier posts on this forum for the full story. Given the decent overall experience I had with the servicing I had on the UX, I decided that my second and current Lexus, the NX350h, would be ordered from my local dealer. At this time, dealer one was still in touch with me and were happy to do another deal with me. I should have taken it. Okay, I'll give you the positives over the ordering. A friendly and clearly knowledgeable salesperson. A painless experience in ordering and I was told it would take up to a year in terms of getting the car. Absolutely fine - I ordered well in advance knowing this fact. I was told I would receive semi-regular updates as to where we were up to with my order and to keep on checking my app. Again, no problem at all. This is where it all goes terribly wrong and I'll try and keep it brief. It took the full twelve months (almost to the day) before the dealer made their first contact with me - which didn't involve me contacting them first. It actually took an official complaint in order for them to do something...anything. In short, they still hadn't a clue when my car was going to be built. Also at this point, my app wasn't even showing I had this new car on order. Two months later I was basically "told off" by the salesperson because I'd been in touch with Lexus head office to try and find out an update on my car - when the said salesperson was clearly avoiding me who I tried contacting first. In the end it took 16 months to get the car (of which many fellow NX owners were getting theirs several months earlier having ordered at the same time, if not later than myself...). The app never shown my order, it being built, leaving Japan, arriving in the country, arriving at the dealer...nothing whatsoever. The dealer wouldn't tell me anything and Lexus head office just kept pointing me back to the dealer despite me telling them I was getting nowhere with them. I only got to find out the car was 'in production' when it was basically already at sea and the next thing I knew it was at the dealers. I was very much kept out of the loop unlike many other customers at the time who were having information back from their own dealers and were getting updates on their app. The handover experience? Well, given the non-existent service I had in the ordering process I didn't expect much and indeed, it wasn't. The car was left in the car park. No handover room and all the paperwork was done in the salesperson's office. It was very much like buying a used car despite handing them over £50k. I've had the car just over a year now and I'm still waiting for any customer survey form asking me about my car or dealer experience. Am I surprised? No. Actually - tell a lie. I actually received a form for a car I didn't own (it was another NX) about three months ago which I posted back to say this isn't my car to which I got a letter back about a fortnight later to basically tell me they have my correct information, it was a mistake at their end and no data protection rules have been broken. Did I subsequently receive the correct form? Nope. Nothing. A few weeks ago it went in for it's first service which I was absolutely dreading, but trusted it would be fine given the service side of the dealer was generally fine. I had the car collected and brought back to me because I have no intentions of ever setting foot in that place again. Fortunately it came back fine, although it took my app close to a week for it to acknowledge the car had actually been serviced...

I like my NX350h but I can relate to a few things you've said there. I would probably describe the build quality as 'sufficient' rather than towards the top end, if that makes sense. I haven't got any rattles with mine fortunately, but what I will say which makes me question it's longevity is that over some bumps, I notice my door mirror can wobble/vibrate in it's housing slightly. Not the passenger one, just the driver's. Also, the rear passenger doors don't shut with a reassuring thud. They sound quite 'lightweight' for what they are. Also, another very minor issue I have is that from new, the steering wheel is been ever so slightly 'off' to the left. It's going in for it's first service at the end of next week and I'm not mentioning the mirror or steering wheel. Why is that? I had such an unbelievably poor sales experience in getting the car (well documented on here) that I don't particularly want to deal with them again or want it in their hands for longer than necessary. I had a UX previously and they were alright on that side to be fair to them. It's the sales side which were poor, to put it as diplomatically as possible. Like yourself, I've previously owned an Audi Q5. A '66' plate special edition S-Line and one of the very last of the original models - so it was fully loaded. What a machine that was. Superb. I loved that car. Of course the NX350h I have now is better specced given the passage of time, but it doesn't really have a 'character' like the Q5 did. It feels more 'white goods' than something with a soul. As to whether I'd buy another Lexus is up for debate. I'll openly admit I'm still leaning towards "no" and that's after coming up for almost a year of 'recovery' since my frustrating buying experience after I said "never again" at the time.

I have the panoramic roof on my NX350h (Hazel leather). I'd imagine you loose an inch or so of headroom over one without but there's no one in excess of 6ft tall in our family, so it's not a problem! I can only agree with @Steve Oliver over it being a show stopper. I do love having a panoramic roof. I had one on my Audi Q5 and loved that too. I lost it when I had my UX250h (the car in-between them) and even though that did have the flame red leather, it did feel rather 'dark' going back to a full, standard steel roof again. As @Ken R says, it does make for a very bright interior. It feels incredibly airy when the blind is rolled back (which I tend to only do when I'm off work or over the weekend - during the week I close it off). I can't say I've noticed any weight issues when cornering e.t.c - although I've never driven an NX without one to compare. All I can say is it feels absolutely fine to me. Sure, it feels a more stocky thing than the UX, but for it's size I think it corners very competently indeed. Whether you go for the 350h or a 450h is entirely down to personal choice. I like the convenience of the self-charging hybrid and no cables (that I wouldn't have a clue what to do with...). It's also cheaper and lighter than the 450h. However yes, it's ability to run in electric is obviously much less. It'll happily potter at 20mph and 30mph on electric mode and with how I drive/feathering the throttle, it's easy enough to get it to switch between both engine and EV at faster speeds. I've never driven a 450h, but I will say if it's quicker than the 350h - that'll certainly be impressive. I find my 350h brisk enough from a standing start in Sport mode. It feels quite a bit quicker than my old UX did.

I've been to four or five of the annual Classic Cars shows at the NEC. I have to admit I've not been since 2019, though... My opinion overall? Excellent. Incredibly comprehensive. Plenty to see and if truth be told, there's genuinely too much to see if you're only going for a single day. It can be done, but if you're like me you'll end up rushing around a bit or missing out the odd section. In terms of indoor classic car shows, it's by far the best I know of. Any hints or tips? Take your own food and drink. Of course there's several places to go in the venue itself but you can probably predict prices/portion sizes. The downsides? Well, the fact that I've not been for getting on for five years tells a story and not just to do with what happened over Covid when it didn't go ahead. It's very expensive and getting the point for me - prohibitively so. Then there's the cost of the parking. If it's something you've never been to before, then I would say it's worth it. As I said, the show itself is excellent. It just got a little bit repetitive for me and there wasn't enough difference from one year to the next to justify the drive and the ticket/parking prices. I would like to go again at some point in the future. After all it's been a while now, but have too much going on for the remainder of this year.

Do you know where I can find/implement this feature in the settings? I gave up looking after a while...

I used mine when I had my UX - just for an added bit of 'security' from prying eyes, despite tinted windows. I don't know - but driving without it in place made the car seem a bit 'incomplete' to me. The only time it ever came out was when I carried the odd bulky load. I do complete agree with comments suggesting it's useless and flimsy. I didn't personally like it, but felt it was 'better than nothing'. I couldn't be bothered folding it up on the few occasions it came out. When I tried attempting, it simply sprang back straight back into shape, almost taking an eye out! I think it was designed to be little more than fabric, in order for it to be able to 'bulge' upwards due to the notable shallowness of the boot (by far my biggest complaint I had with the UX). The one in the NX is a little better - in that it offers more structure to it but the majority is still that stretchy fabric material which means anything not secured in the boot can be heard shifting around... May I ask if you purchased it from a Lexus main dealer? If so, I'm rather surprised they've supplied the car without a replacement parcel shelf (assuming you're meaning the fabric one we're on about...). I know this is a long shot and it's something you've probably already done, but check underneath the false boot floor. I know that's where mine was when I bought mine new.

Given people are now generally passing their tests later (which is a subject in itself worthy of bringing up some day), I'm inclined to agree. I think I come across a couple only yesterday on a 'B' road as it entered into a village. On the approach, there's three or four build-outs, which one side of the road has to give way first, followed by the other and so forth. Traffic calming without the speed bumps, basically. Anyway, the motorists respected this as I'd expected. However, when I had right of way and the other side of the road had to stop - two cyclists riding abreast just kept on coming through around the build-out - over the painted give-way markings on their side of the road. Fortunately I could foresee what was happening knowing how entitled cyclists act these days and basically stopped dead despite having right of way - whilst they swerved out around the build out on their side of the road and would have been over my bonnet had I not stopped.

It's one of the biggest 'foibles' of the NX in my opinion. It's easy to get out of the car for the driver after a drive, but a bit of a fiddle for passengers. For the driver, it's a case of come to a halt, put it into park and push in the lever to open the door - as you'd suspect. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the passenger. Pushing in the handle does nothing in the same circumstance. The doors remain locked. They have to physically press the unlock button and then push in the lever. It's a two-step process. The only way I've ever got around this is if I put the car into park, turn the car off and make sure my door is open first. Only when my door is open will it unlock the other doors. It does still catch-out the parents on occasion, whenever they're out with me in the car, some ten months on! I believe there is a way to disable this somewhere deep within the settings, but when I fiddled around with it myself a while ago, all I could get the car to do was automatically unlock the doors when stationary regardless if was at the end of a journey or not. This in turn threw up a warning message every single time I stopped at traffic lights, a junction, a roundabout e.t.c...! It would then lock again as soon as I pulled away. I reverted it back to factory settings within an hour! The constant messages flashing up annoyed me! I never did find out how to simply make sure the doors unlocked themselves when I put it onto park. I thought I read somewhere (again - I'm going back quite some time) that this is possible. I can confirm that self-parking is certainly a feature of my Takumi spec model.

I won't waffle on too much as it's genuinely a subject I really could moan on about all day. Cutting a long story short - I'm not a fan of the modern cyclist. At all. I know others will disagree and that's absolutely fine. In my opinion it should be seasoned cyclists who should be put behind the wheel of a car. Preferably along a lengthy country lane or dense urban road (it's got to be at least a few miles long), in which they'll have a variety of cyclists in front of them. One cycling in the middle of the left hand lane (despite there being no potholes or debris towards the kerb), similarly one doing this despite there being an empty combined cycle/pavement there that's significantly narrowed the road (i.e - what I come across going to work, most days), one that's constantly weaving for no clear reason and the classic - riding two abreast without a care in the world. To add in a bit of realism, perhaps set them a time limit in order to get along this road - for instance to simulate an appointment or time they're due into work for example. I would like them to do this, twice daily (during rush hour) over the course of a week. I'm hoping that may teach them why motorists get frustrated and what they could do to minimise that impact. No doubt people will ask me "are you a cyclist?" and/or "do you cycle?". My honest answer? No. I haven't cycled since I was about twelve. I didn't like it even as a child. I preferred walking. I passed my driving test when I was 17, got a car and therefore any need for an outdated mode of transport such as a pedal bike became redundant. Plus dealing with arthritis in several joints (and from a young age) has always meant cycling equals 'pain' to me.

Unfortunately I've never had the chance to work from home. Even during Covid. My job does require me to basically be at the workplace - but a lot of the people I do work with, due to different positions, had that chance to work from home. Most of them still do - with three days at home and two in the office. If I did have the chance at some point in the future, it's something I'd love to give a try. In my existing job, it would certainly save me the best part of an hour's commuting a day and all the annoyance of typical rush-hour traffic. Then there's of course not having to deal with or being in the company with certain irritable people (putting it politely), if you know where I'm coming from...

It's very hit and miss in my NX too. It started out quite well - picking up most "Hey Lexus" commands. Now? Maybe one in three or one in four works... Here's something which is rather irritating. It's never once worked (honestly) when I've been showing the car to someone... "Hey Lexus..." I shout. Silence. Nothing at all. I repeat it. The same thing again. Drive away after trying to show the person this feature, I again say "Hey Lexus"... Moments later - "How can I help (you)?" 🤦‍♂️😄 Obviously without a handbook or anything which shows me the commands - there's probably lots I don't know. I know it doesn't recognise Greatest Hits Radio and when I ask it to change the temperature - it only adjusts my side and not the passengers. I generally don't bother with it now. I'd rather push buttons and twist dials than sit there shouting into thin air! The voice activated text-message thingy is clever, but unfortunately it's 50/50 whether it actually sends. Usually when I really do need it to work, it often tells me "working on it" after a long period of silence, followed by it can't send it at this time (words to that effect...).

I come across this article last week too. It was good to hear our choice has been justified! 😄 A very good car indeed. If we ignore the dodgy app which, for me, pretty much never works, I have little in the way of complaint. It does the jobs I ask of it. I shall gloss over the 16 month wait, poor (near non-existent) dealer communication throughout and just focus on the actual car. A class leader? Well, the only competition I have experience of is the Audi Q5 - which I very much loved owning. We can only talk about our own individual experiences.

My bolts were supplied at the same time as the second key (about six months after collection), although it initially went into the dealer just for the key. I'm glad they fitted them when they did because I was literally just about to order a suitable aftermarket set as I had no faith I'd ever see them. I'm of similar mindset after my experience with the whole fiasco of getting this car (also my second Lexus). It still annoys me some ten months after I collected it.