Gary H

@Juicedrinker - Indeed! I don't know what it is about the local dealer but they really are very 'funny' about brakes. Ask them to check them out, inspect e.t.c and they'll genuinely look at you with bemusement and have said along the lines of "Why? Are they working okay?". They're just don't want anything to do with them when it comes to maintenance. The next nearest Vauxhall dealer along (owned by the same company) aren't quite as aversive to servicing brakes, but still pretty bad. I'm just assuming it's a company-wide policy...and an incredibly odd/dangerous one to have in my opinion. Again, it's something they've always done for as long as my family have dealt with them. Barring this oddity, they're generally decent people to deal with and going back in time to when I had that handbrake issue with my Astra Sporthatch, the sales side was superb. They were actually embarrassed that I had to elevate my issue to the service manager before they reluctantly agreed there was a fault that needed to be addressed (one particular salesman knew our family on first-name terms - hence we always went to him). It's certainly one of the most surreal situations I've ever come across with one of my own personal cars, at least. It'll take some beating! That issue with your old Cavalier really is utterly bizarre! I can't say I've ever come across anything like that before. I wonder what that was?! It sounds like some sort of odd earthing issue but that really is hazarding a guess. @Linas.P - You're telling me! It was barely working anyway, so to make it useless altogether made no difference! I remember him putting the handbrake on and then pulling away in first. Very little resistance of course. He then changed up into second and tried to tug the handbrake harder and looked a little confused as to why the car was still accelerating - thinking he hadn't applied the handbrake...it was literally hard-on. It was only once he changed up again into third and could see my arms crossed and the slightly cheesed-off look on my face of "I told you the handbrake isn't working..." did he accept I had a point and they will actually have to do some work on brakes. Shock horror! I'm going back to late 2005 so I can't remember exactly what happened, but I remember it was in for a few days and I think they basically replaced the cable, linkage...everything. I remember after picking up the car, he said they'd sent off my old bits back to the factory (which is literally three miles up the road...) for evaluation for a potential recall of a whole batch of cars. I can only assume they found quite a major defect, or defects, in it. I never heard anything back after that. We all know new brake pads and discs require a little bedding in for sure. But a handbrake?! It's something I've never been told before or since.

I’m sorry to hear that @HGUS. I have multiple issues with my local Lexus dealer on the sales side (many of them I’ve discussed on the forum and some I’ve purposefully held back on discussing whilst I have an outstanding order), but the service side from my experience has been very good. They have once forgot to reset my oil service mileometer countdown but other than that, on the service side anyway, I’ve found them hard to fault. On the sales side at least, I’m more or less settled that I’ll never use them again once I collect my new car from them next month. In 20 years of ‘new car purchasing’, this, without doubt, has been the worst experience I’ve ever had...and by quite some considerable margin I’m sorry to say. The lack of communication and understanding has been astounding. I’ll likely continue to use them for servicing due to convenience and my previous experiences, but that’ll be it. Whether I’ll deal with Lexus again as a company beyond my upcoming new car is very much in the balance at the moment. This final month or so of my long wait will ultimately make my mind up. My outgoing UX was purchased from my ‘second nearest’ dealer and whilst the building is certainly an ‘older style’ Lexus dealer, the sales experience was significantly better. If I do decide to stick with the brand going forwards, I’ll likely go back to them instead. @Juicedrinker - You’ve reminded me about my local Vauxhall dealer when it comes to brakes. My family have been dealing with them, on and off, for over 25 years. Over that time I’ve seen some good work done by them and some ‘less than satisfactory’ efforts. Most of which rectified on a second visit, to be fair. However, one thing which have always let them down is that they simply will not touch brakes. If you ask them, they want to know why. On a service, they only ever give them a ‘visual’. You literally have to pay them extra to do something simple as a brake fluid change. I once had a new Astra Sporthatch from them which the handbrake was weak more or less from day one. I was told it would ‘take time’ to ‘bed in’. A month later, it had deteroriated to the point it was of no use. I was told the same thing again so I had to have the service manager out in the car with me so I could demonstrate to him how easily the car would drive forwards or backwards in the car park - with the handbrake fully on. We took it to what used to be a very quiet lane a few hundred yards away. He got in the drivers seat. Put the handbrake on and moved forwards. By the time we got up to almost 30mph with practically zero resistance and into third gear he accepted “Yeah...I think there might be a problem”.

Hi @Deb. Obviously I can't speak for your dealer and I'm sure you're aware of the saga with mine, but from what I know the ETA given by the actual dealer is the date that the car is due to be arriving on site at the dealer, rather than docking at Avonmouth (Bristol). That's been my understanding. Obviously it's not the date of collection - it's the date it should be rolling off the transporter to the dealer. It wouldn't surprise me if our cars were on the same ship to be honest - given we both have very similar ETA's! 😄 Sadly, I have no ship information to give otherwise I'd have very happily cross-referenced with you and try to figure out something a little more 'certain'. If you're referring to the shipping website stating 25th August and Lexus as being 5th September - then yes, I'd suspect it'll be in dock on the 25th and at the dealers a week and a half (or so) later. Logistically, that sounds 'about right'. In my head at least! I would be genuinely surprised if you had to wait until 29th September to collect, if the dealers get it on the 5th. It certainly doesn't take more than three weeks to PDI a new car. Unless you want to get it on a specific date further down the line (in which case just about any dealer, Lexus or not) will hold onto your new car for you, something will have gone very wrong if they plan to sit on it for that length of time. I've already stated to my dealer that if it does indeed arrive this month, whatever they do, don't register it until the '73' plate next month. Waiting an additional few days, a week or whatever, on top of what will be a sixteen month wait will be neither here or there for me. Plus, as I've said before, I'd also feel incredibly 'cheated', especially after waiting this length of time, to collect a new car in late August...

I've noticed it's been creeping up again over the last 7/10 days. Literally a penny a day in some cases. Both Shell stations not too far from where I live (I have two which are literally a mile from one another) are up to £1.51 and £1.52 per litre respectively for petrol. The pair of them were £1.46 per litre the last time I passed them five days ago. The BP station down the road from me is currently at £1.47 per litre for petrol. I filled up there just over a week ago and that was at £1.41 per litre. The local Morrisons electronic sign has been conveniently 'broken' over the last week, but my father has informed me that's gone up 3p per litre over the last week.

My experience with Customer Relations isn't the best unfortunately. Cutting a long story short - my three separate e-mail to them has resulted in the following: 1st - No reply from them. Coincidentally the dealer got in touch a few days later to basically give me the same non-information I'd received previously - hence my e-mail to Customer Relations in the first place. 2nd - No reply at all. E-mail seemingly 'lost'. 3rd - A phone call basically confirming they'd received the second e-mail but for whatever reason it wasn't acted upon. I did get an apology for that. Also, confirmation that my first e-mail was simply forwarded to the dealer...only for them to tell me the same 'nothing' as before. (More did happen following this, but out of decency and respect, I'd rather not discuss that publicly whilst my order remains outstanding). So from my experience, they seem to just pass it straight back to the dealer rather than taking things 'higher up' - which, yes, if you read my previous posts you'll know the saga. Obviously this has nothing to do with customers like ourselves, but my gut feeling is that this is pretty much what has been happening with new NX builds for some time. Just reading through this thread (and a few others), it's clear that some cars have been coming in notably quicker than others and there are some out there, like myself, who are seeing orders fulfilled some two, three, four months younger than our own (sometimes beyond that...). It would be interesting to see how they do actually decide what's to be built and what's left, if that isn't happening. This is something I'm thinking of how to constructively discuss with the dealer when it comes to sorting the finance/trade-in of my existing UX. Maybe on collection day. I've not decided yet. I'll just play it by here and see how they deal with me after what's likely to be a sixteen month wait first. I'm not happy with the waiting time at all, especially when I was told that twelve months would be the worst case scenario. The general 'silence' from then and seeing younger orders completed sooner has just added fuel to the fire for the 'left behind', (dare I say this) 'non-priority' customers like myself and a few others on here. It's very much an issue Lexus need to front-up and actively address with NX customers who have waited comfortably over twelve months in my opinion. Especially if they want to stand a chance of repairing their reputation and securing any future business. Not in my case, unfortunately Ken. I've just been told it's..."at sea"...and that it's on..."a ship". If I'm honest, given my experiences over the last fifteen months, I'm a little surprised they knew even that much...

I’ll be interested to see how quickly it does come if they've stated six months to you. Please keep us informed. I remember when I placed my order I was told I would be looking at twelve months "worst case scenario" with it likely to be a little sooner. I'm now at 15 months and it's currently at sea - not even in the UK yet...that I’m aware of, anyway. I have no information what ship it's on, so I can't even track it. The last time I looked at the Lexus website with regards to NX orders (maybe two-ish months ago? I can’t remember exactly), the message was something along the lines of deliveries placed at that point, don’t expect delivery until Q1/Q2 of 2024. Obviously if that’s no longer there, that would indicate an improvement. We’ll just have to wait and see. Obviously, it’s not really much of a consolation for those like myself who are still waiting for their May 2022 order to be fulfilled. The next month/six weeks or so will be vital to me with regards to me dealing with Lexus going forward once I receive my NX. All I’ll say at the moment is that it'll take something along the lines of pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the hat if the company would like future business from me after the last 15 months. I came across from 'the Germans' in 2020 after being with them since 2008, thinking I'd see exceptional customer service that has Lexus been famed for over the decades. I did get a taste of that back in 2020 to be fair. They were very good for sure - but I wouldn't say exceptional. Since then, it seems to have gone downhill. Quickly. I'm more than willing to accept it might be just a case that my local dealer isn’t a great one (my outgoing UX wasn’t bought from there...) and that in hindsight I should have gone back to that dealer to order instead. All I can say is that this long-term experience/outstanding order with my local dealer really has put me off the company. Again, whatever happens in the remaining time until I collect my new NX, and probably for a week or two afterwards until I get a proper feel for it, will give me my final verdict on whether I deal with the company again or not.

You’d think so, yes. Honestly Len, the difference between both sides of my local dealer is like chalk and cheese. I don’t recall any Lexus dealer officially coming forward making themselves known to this forum. Not during my time here at least. One of the reasons why I have yet to name the specific dealer I’ve been having ongoing issues with is for a few reasons. Firstly, I’m fully aware they have the right to defend themselves, although in my particular case I think that would be hard for them to do. Secondly as I’ve said in the past, we do have a former member here (no longer with us) who I know looking through the ‘search’ function seemed to be quite fond of them and our experiences are wildly different. Thirdly, this is purposefully a little vague, but there has been two very specific situations where I’ve posted about something and then, literally, within 48 hours something has happened to change what I’ve said - which leads me to believe the dealer may not be posting here, but are at least ‘aware’. I generally don’t like coincidences. I’m into year 20 of buying new cars. My very first salesman was someone who I’d known for several years prior, as he’d also dealt with my father on several occasions. An excellent salesman with genuine knowledge, not pushy and an all-round friendly, approachable person. He retired ten years ago now, but I said to him before he retired I’d happily take him with me to any dealer I’d subsequently deal with to buy cars from. I do really miss him. Since then, I can truthfully say there has only been one other who I feel has been close to his standard. I still remember his name and his enthusiasm was clear. I’d have very happily dealt with him again but it turned out he returned back to another car manufacturer he was selling for about 18 months later. He was still there when I took the car in for it’s first service and fair play to him, he remembered me well. Sadly, that was the last time I saw him. He’d gone by the time it come to change and I whilst I stuck with the manufacturer, I ended up buying from another dealer as his replacement wasn’t interested in deals. It was buy at full list price or nothing - so I walked away. As for the rest? A few I’ve completely forgotten about (couldn’t tell you their names or what they even looked like) as whilst they were pleasant enough, left no lasting impression on me at all. One was incredibly miserable and gave the impression he was truly fed up with his job. To be fair, he must have been nearing retirement age. Whilst it comes as no consolation at all, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels similarly. There does seem to be quite a marked difference in some new car ordering/sales-side experiences. For instance, I currently have an NX on order and barring the last few months (and even then, detail is incredibly scant), have had literally no communication at all with the dealer. Whereas there are others who have been kept up to date quite regularly with what's going on...and those who have such information seem to be getting their cars notably more quickly too. It's as if some dealers seem to have more influence over the company than others. I have genuinely been shocked at how 'left out in the cold' I have been.

Thanks. You too! I’ve not long been told mine is now en-route to the UK, but unfortunately I’ve no idea which one. So, it should be arriving in Derby in the next few weeks, I’d imagine. Indeed, I’ve reiterated to the dealer if it turns up with them before 1st September (which there is now a slight possibility), do not register it until the plate change. Waiting a few more days on top of what will be the best part of sixteen months is neither here nor there for me.

Speaking of Christmas cards, that reminds me that the Christmas before last, I did have a card turn up at the end of the following February. I was quite taken aback by that, but as for that one in June - crikey! I wonder where that one was lurking away for six months?! 😳 I recently found out that the warehouse which my father worked at for over 30 years has not long been demolished. It’s being replaced by another very similar warehouse on the same footprint (answers on a postcard as to why the old one had to come down). It was quite a characterful building, as far as warehouses go and I believe dated back to around the 1930s. The reason I’m sad to see it go is because I spent countless Saturday mornings there as a child - opening the place up with my father (he was the manager there for about 12 of those 30-odd years) so we often were there alone. I used to enjoy walking around, looking at all the odd individual rooms within it, the tools, the lorry parked up e.t.c... Some proper characters worked there over the years too - a few of which my father still knows to this day (and he left there circa 1997/8). Now it’s all gone and another remaining fragment of my childhood with it . Despite most of those years being quite positive there for my father, and he too is a little reminiscent about the old place, he’s not been anywhere near as bothered about it as me! Obviously, I’m seeing it through childhood rose-tinted spectacles and I'm just too soft for my own good!

I must say the service department of my local dealer is very good indeed - almost the complete opposite of the sales side. I’ve used them three times and barring forgetting to reset the oil change indicator on my last service (which I must admit did annoy me but managed to reset it myself the following day), I can’t say I’ve had any issues. They’ve been perfectly polite and very much efficient. I will certainly give credit where credit is due.

A little bit of positive news for today, folks. I've been informed that my car has now ‘completed build’ and been put on ‘a ship’. I’ve no idea which one. As usual, being what I consider to be a 'non-priority' customer, no information was given. I can only assume either my car was pushed to the back of the queue again and wasn’t built in June as advised (and of course, wasn’t informed) or it’s sat in Japan for over a month. Either way, it’s just another point to add to many to raise on the day. The initial estimated date at the dealer of 4th September has been brought slightly forward to 31st August. Obviously, that could vary by a few days which I completely understand (having dealt with logistics myself - both past and present) but the dealer is confident that there will be no issues for me with regards to collecting in September, for the ‘73’ plate, sounding quite relieved themselves - probably given my ridiculous extended wait. It’s just a pity that after my experience, I can't help but lack confidence in what they say. Again, the finance details and trade-in value has still yet to be sorted out - which I honestly thought I’d be getting called in for by now. It seems this will be done a little too ‘last minute’ for my own liking. I don’t think it’s ever run this close to collection on any vehicle I’ve bought new in the past. I’m reasonably sure they’ve all been done a few months in advance. I was hoping the dealer would give me the trade-in value and then I’d see if I could better it by a worthwhile amount elsewhere. As time is becoming short, I’m going to have to do this the other way around. Indeed Deb. As I'm sure you know, we're in the same boat. My order dates back to May 2022 - so I'm now into month 15. It's literally only in the last month/six weeks or so, I've finally been starting to get basic details back over my order. Until that point, like yourself, it seems the company has gone to quite some length to avoid contact. It took three complaints to Customer Relations before a 'build month' was acknowledged...and at that time I was a full year into waiting. Zero information was supplied until that one year anniversary. I don't feel I've been exactly 'impatient' or unfair. In the same amount of time, plenty of other NX orders had already been built, shipped and delivered. It really, really doesn't leave me with a good impression with the company as a whole and as a customer, yes, you feel completely unimportant. It's quite clear, in my humble opinion anyway, they've been rather picky over what cars they build. They don't seem to understand customers who are waiting notably longer are more than just 'a little frustrated'. Answers and solutions are needed. Especially if they would like future business. They really have messed up big time with NX orders. I know we're told production is ramping up, lead times are improving e.t.c... but it's funny how it seems to be the same long-standing orders/customers who seem to be waiting extraordinary lengths of time, are facing the same issues and the same lack of communication/updates. Our own 'waiting stories' haven't been a pleasant experience and far cry from what Lexus is supposed to represent in terms of customer service. If supply/lead times really are improving, then why have the likes of our orders seemingly been excluded from that? Again, these are points I will be constructively raising. Do they plan on making amends with those who have been left behind and let down, or will they merely 'shrug their shoulders'? As for the app? Well, I know that my NX is now believed to be at sea. According to my own app, the new car or indeed the order doesn't even exist. It never has from day one. It shows the UX I own now...and that's all it's ever shown. We'll get there in the end (by that I mean getting the car...). We've hung out for this long...! What I've said before and what I'll say again now is that I fear the damage has already been done between the customer and the company. I don't want it to be that way, but I have to be completely honest. Only time will tell, but at the moment... <slowly shakes my head>.

Indeed. I’ve noticed during the course of this week that prices are creeping up again. My father said he knows of two petrol stations which he passed on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Overnight, the pair of them went up 3p per litre for both petrol and diesel. The cheapest petrol in my immediate area, that I know of anyway, is 141.9p per litre.

Try not to be too hard on yourself @Mr Vlad. We’re merely human beings at the end of the day. Mistakes happen – frustrating as some can be. I remember being gutted when I had a bump in my Audi A4 some 11 years ago – which ended up needing a new passenger side headlamp, wing and bumper. The accident was deemed to be a ‘50/50 fault’, which I chose not to contest as I had protected no claims, a lot going on in life at the time and just wanted it over and done with. Fortunately, it was all superficial and fully repaired but it was always something that was in the back of my mind for the remaining eighteen months/two years or so that I owned the car afterwards. I loved that car but psychologically, it never quite felt like ‘mine’ or ‘the same’ again. The only way I could really get it out of my mind was to change the car – which I ultimately did when I had the funds. It sounds like your insurers may have had previous experience with people contesting the value they give – if they’re readily providing details like that without too much of a fuss. As I explained in my last post with a written-off Sprinter van at work we’re contesting the value they’ve offered, they’ve not supplied any such evidence as of yet (it has been asked for, I believe). All has fallen quiet on that front. I wish you well with your temporary Focus replacement. It’s a perfectly decent car. I’d very much be checking that oil filler cap every few thousand miles though. Fortunately it’s the ‘lesser problematic’ 1.5 variant of the Ecoboost. Not bad value at all if it’s in decent condition too. Please do keep in touch as you’re very much part of the Lexus family! I wish you well.

That does sound a little odd, I have to say. 🤔 I will admit I’ve not gone out of the way to smell the dipstick in my UX, but I don’t recall ever getting a whiff of petrol from it whenever I’ve done my semi-regular checks. I can only assume mine either doesn’t or my sense of smell isn’t what it once was!

I’ve got two identical faraday pouches for my UX, which are a rubber-like material on the outside and a fabric-like silver material on the inside. They don’t have a zip, but a simple fold-over velcro flap. Unfortunately as I have a few keys on the keyring, I can only hold it over if I really squeeze them in and then, there’s gaps left either side of the velcro. I’ve always been a bit wary of that. Whenever I’ve been away from home overnight (i.e - visiting my brother who lives in a flat) and had to leave my car in the residents car park, I’ve basically left them not only in the faraday pouch, but also in his microwave overnight. I can’t comment on how effective that is - only I’ve heard what plenty of others have said over the likes of a microwave working in this regard. I’m contemplating buying a new faraday pouch when I finally collect my NX350h next month (...hopefully), so many thanks for the link. I do like the look of that one and certainly more substantial looking than what I have now. I will be doing some shopping around over the course of this month, I’d imagine.

A good point on indicators earlier. One of the things which very much puts me off the more recent crop of Hyundai/Kia cars are that their SUV’s have a habit of putting the indicators low down in the rear bumper. Why do they do this? It makes no sense to put them in a place where they have a higher chance of getting damaged, a higher chance of getting covered in dirt and getting obscured with road spray on the likes of motorways and dual carriageways. I suppose the argument for this is they can be driven with their tailgates open. However, on my old Audi Q5, the indicators where you’d expect them to be (i.e - in the light cluster), then an ‘emergency’ set in the bumpers which only operate if the tailgate is open. If that costs too much to do for them, then surely it’s best to design their lights properly in the first place? On a similar note as @Cotswold Pete put earlier, I have also need that the sizes of indicators themselves, most notably on the rear, seem to be reducing in size. They seem to be nothing more than bright, little twinkle-lights on Teslas. I haven’t quite reached the age where modern, bright car headlamps have started affecting me when it comes to driving at night (the odd one does - granted), it’s very much put my father off driving in the dark, now. Whilst he will still drive in the dark if he has to, it’s something he’s actively avoided for at least the last five, maybe six years.

As I've said before, I'll judge it better once I see and feel one but based purely on pictures and the odd video I've seen, I'm really not impressed by it. It's not something I'd personally consider and whilst I know I'm likely showing bias here as an outgoing UX owner, I'd rather wait for whenever the second generation UX comes out if I was looking for a small(ish) hatchback. I understand Lexus want to look at attracting a younger demographic, but at the same time this is very much going to be 'de-valuing' the brand in my opinion. You just know these will be what Lexus will use en-masse as courtesy cars, regardless of what car you’ve taken in to them. 😕 I hope to be pleasantly surprised by it, but I'm just not feeling the LBX at all at the moment.

I’m sorry to hear about that valuation, @Mr Vlad. Insurance companies are notorious for giving rather...’interesting’...valuations, lets just say. Where I work, we’ve had a 22 plate Mercedes Sprinter van recently written off, as someone ran into the offside rear quarter of it at a junction. It was hit hard enough to actually take out the rear axle too. Anyway, they’ve given us a value of literally half it’s list price only 14-odd months ago. It’s a one year old van that was basically spotless before the accident, driven by one of the drivers who does genuinely look after his van. Negotiations are ongoing. My thoughts exactly on small turbo-charged engines @H3XME. I think anything smaller than around 1400cc just aren’t really suitable to be turbo-charged. The blocks are too small and will be put under a considerable amount of stress. They’ll be great for the first 40/50,000 miles but then they’re basically a ticking time-bomb. I’m much rather have a naturally aspirated 1400/1600cc than a turbo charged one-litre if push came to shove. I too will be interested in the 1.5 three cylinder LBX - when it comes to refinement e.t.c... I just can’t see it being a suitable power plant for a Lexus branded product at all, but I’ll happily be proven wrong on that when the time comes if necessary. I wasn’t overly convinced by my own two litre in the UX, which is basically a mildly worked over C-HR engine - but it’s very refined for a four cylinder engine, providing it’s not pushed hard. I can imagine the LBX would be broadly similar in nature, but I have my doubts given the characteristics of three cylinder engines.

Indeed. One of the reasons why I have yet to say what dealer I have ongoing issues with is because we do have a former prominent member of this forum, who I’ve seen from the search function, has mentioned my dealer (quite positively it seems) on a number of occasions. Unfortunately, my experiences with this particular dealer, on the sales side anyway, is the mirror opposite. The general opinions of them on online reviews are also positive and it’s only the likes of Trustpilot where they start, at least in part, to align more towards my own experience. I strongly suspect if I shared the same positive experiences others have had with them, I wouldn't be here.

Yes, delivery dates do seem to be all over the place, still. Judging from this thread, we’re seeing some NX’s come through relatively ‘quickly’ (i.e -8-12 months) and those like myself and a few others here at the opposite end of the scale looking at 16-18 months for fundamentally the same car. It's that which bothers me - especially as it feels to be the case of the longer you wait, the less information/thought/updates you're given. It's something I’ll openly admit to being something which I’m struggling to justify in my own head - obviously not in every case, but how some customers are being treated notably differently. So, we're now getting towards the end of July and I can pretty much copy and paste my post from exactly a month ago. Just to recap - at the end of May, I was told that my NX had a build date of 'June' and expected to be at the dealer on or around 4th September. That was the last piece of progressive news I heard on my order. Since then, it's reverted back to type... So... Has it been delayed again? I don't know (Will my fifth estimated date still stand?). Is it being built as we speak? I don't know. Has it completed build? I don't know. Has it left the factory? I don't know. Has it been put onto a ship? I don't know. I'm now at the point I have to advise Lexus Finance what to do with regards to my current contract on my UX which ends in early September. Do I basically not extend it and risk having no car indefinitely (having to borrow my father's - fortunately who is retired) as neither the dealer or the Lexus the company will keep me updated as they happily do with other customers (for whatever reason, I’ve very much been one of the few exceptions to the rule throughout this whole fiasco) or extend it for one month to cover me for September in the 'hope' my new NX might just...'materialise'...at the dealer one day. So, onwards into the 15th month of this tedious saga I go... 😕 It really isn’t good, is it? If it comes as any scant consolation to you, I had to wait a full twelve months (I think it was twelve months and three days to be exact) before I was told I finally had a build month. That was the very first piece of news I had on my order. A full year on. I can't remember the exact wording, but I was told by the dealer that they had a 'notice of intent to build' or 'signal of intent to build' to get my order built. I felt like replying “Oh...thanks. Thank them for considering me worthy enough to begin considering building a car I ordered twelve months ago”. 🙄 It felt as if I’d better be grateful that they were finally dusting off my order form, along with the few others left continually at the bottom of the pile, whilst others had their NX’s built, shipped and delivered in that timeframe.

No problem! I did hear elsewhere on the forum that whilst at Derby (and this includes Lexus) they'll fit things such as the protection pack and towbars there... I'm assuming in situations where those who opted for them and stock wasn't available, that this would subsequently be carried out by the supplying dealer. I’d imagine it’s just easier (logistically) for them to all go to Derby after leaving port, to hazard a guess. I’ve not opted any extras/packs to go on my own NX, but I'm fully expecting it to find it's way to Derby.

Welcome to the forum! This is something I’d also like to know as I'd imagine my new NX will be sitting there, or at least getting there this time next month if all remains the same (hmmm….😕 That's a sore point with me at the moment.) I was always under the impression that a PDI inspection is carried out by the supplying dealer, but I'll happily stand corrected on that if need be. Maybe it's to save on storage costs at Portbury/Avonmouth e.t.c, if they use their own land instead…? I used to work directly opposite a compound where Vauxhall used to store Astras and Astra vans – unsurprising given the factory was literally the next junction up the motorway. As far as I could see, nothing happened to them there. They literally just sat for up to a couple of months at a time before a batch or two at a time got loaded onto transporters and taken away. Barring security doing the odd walk around as you'd expect, the vehicles just sat there.

A good point over modern paints. They are indeed incredibly soft compared to what we saw even as recently as 20/25 years ago. I'm someone who's fussy when it comes to car cleanliness (I've admitted that before) and not someone who tailgates. Not only because of the dangers, but I don't want either stone chips or dirt flicking up front the vehicle in front! Despite how careful I've been with it, I've got two stone chips on the front bumper of my UX. One of them appeared literally a month after I bought the car. It hadn't even done a 1000 miles at that point! I was annoyed at that. The second one is much more recent addition and annoyingly, it's almost a mirror image - located in the same area on the opposite side of the bumper. They just look like tiny, remote pinpricks of tar. I also have a small chip on the leading edge of the bonnet, right in the middle above the Lexus Badge.

It’s a shame the lighter headlining is more limited now – as I do feel as it makes the interior feel 'airier' than what it is. It can feel a bit 'confined' (certainly in the rear) with the black headlining like I have in the F-Sport – but I did opt for the red leather in mine to brighten it up. I'd have to see what the hazel would look like with black headlining to make a fairer judgement, but I'd imagine the contrast would be a bit too much.

I'm glad you’re not considering a 1.0 Ecoboost, Vlad. I've heard multiple horror stories about the Ecoboost – and I'd say over half of them are from the one litre. I questioned the longevity of such an engine and the stress they’d be under amongst a few friends shortly after they were launched. In short, I was basically told I don't know what I was on about and that they’re "all tested". I left it at that as I was simply outnumbered. Fast forward several years and it seems most of the concerns I had about them have become true… I'll respect those who may have had good experiences with them (there's always good and bad in everything). However, it's one of a couple of modern engines which I wouldn't personally go anywhere near. I did briefly consider changing my UX for a GS before I decided on ordering an NX, but yes, it's simply too big (or 'long' rather) for my own needs. A lovely car without doubt, but not really suitable when the majority of time the passengers I carry in the car are my aging parents who need height/ease of access.