Stever750

Any views on the HID headlights? I have similar on my Superb, and they're inadequate for the performance of the car.

I thought I'd replied earlier, seems I haven't. Confusingly the Advance spec shows reversing camera and cooled leather electric seats. The first car had both. Second car has manual tahara seats so cannot be Advance spec, yet it has the reversing camera, which is only fitted to Advance and Premier, and is not available as an option on any other model. I did smile at the avalanche of typically Japanese acronyms for everything, but self healing paint is a new one on me. Back in the 2000s I worked for supplier of external painted trim parts to Toyota and pretty sure there wasn't anything specifically magical about the paint specs. Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow's edition of the automotive equivalent of meet the ancestors as I try to establish some more of the history of these two vehicles.

Both models are pre FL as indicated by the rotary infotainment controller, one is Advance and has leather heated and vented seats and electric adjust, the other one doesn't have that, they're manually adjusted so am presuming it's the fake leather. In any case, I'd likely fit decent seat covers onto the tahara version. Just obtained some insurance quotes, bl00dy hell it's expensive. Premium would increase form £43 pcm to £78. I could find several around £60pcm but there's a cancellation fee of some £90 from current provider (bank of Scotland). The entire business plan hangs on the top end HMRC advisory rate, if that took a dive I'd be left exposed!

Is it real leather in the advance trim?

Think I read it was tahara

Initial pics look good of the 69 plate, and of course a 4 year old car will have some degree of wear. How durable are the leather seats, only in this image the drivers bolster looks worryingly shiny? I'll be inspecting it tomorrow anyway in person.

Well that was an epic fail and made the mistake of getting impatient and buying used online. Went to collect the corolla and it was a bit of a shed so I declined the deal. Back to the drawing board, and will probably have a look at a 69 plate 300h in luxury trim with 30k for the same deal as previously. The fuel expenses benefit is massively attractive I have to admit.

Well, only just re did the Superb so already taken that hit!! Corolla hardly sporty so why the premium?

Appreciate the comments and having slept on it, decided to get the 2L Corolla. I got a good trade in for my Skoda, and the finance cost is lower than current, plus I have a Toyota dealer on my doorstep rather than a 2 hour drive away. Pick the car up tomorrow, and will baptise it by driving across mid wales en-route to Leeds. Somewhat frustratingly, my Lexus friend called me back and asked if i was interested in a "clean and tidy" (tidy has a much greater meaning here in South wales than simply of OD definition) 69 plate 300h. I would have been had I not literally finished sorting our the Toyota. Such is life. Rather bizarrely, my insurance premium has jumped up by a tenner a month, wasn't expecting that....

Mechanically it seems fine apart from the steering issue, which in fairness could be my slight ocd over it kicking in. The cosmetics can and would be corrected as part of the sale, that was made clear yesterday.

Thank you, that is the kind of detailed insight I was hoping for. As nice as a good audio system is, in truth like you I listen to the radio (4) for 90% of the time so I don't think it's a deal breaker. In truth I was surprised and disappointed how tatty looking the car was when presented to me, had the reparations been done before going on sale then I likely would have done the deal. Also, the fact that the sales guy clearly doesn't know much about the cars' spec doesn't help either. Thinking about the test drive, I did notice that I subconsciously was driving less aggressively as I might usually have done, as if the car makes relaxed driving more desirable than frustrating. I did find the seating position a bit cramped for me, the high centre console and shape of the floor meant I couldn't move my left leg around as much as I can in other cars. I also noticed that the steering wheel was not perfectly centred in the straight ahead, which suggests the alignment needs checking. My superb is the same and it constantly irritates me even after alignment has been redone. I suppose the ultimate test of satisfied ownership is whether you look back at the car after you've parked up and look forward to using it again. As I said earlier, an Alfa would absolutely tick that box, but would be a hopelessly impractical solution; my challenge at the moment is that neither of these sensible options do at the moment though at least the Corolla has 2024 convenience tech.

No 2L Corolla's locally when I started looking, but have found 2 this evening, both in GR Sport trim. Will travel tomorrow to look at one of them, and if OK then I think that's the deal. I was briefly distracted by a 2020 Alfa Giulia 280 veloce for the same monthly payments...but nearest dealer is 150 miles away and off my commute. I was a huge Alfa fan growing up in the 80s, first 2 cars were suds......

Briefly for about 30s after the test drive. It sounded OK, but I didn't test it properly. Bear in mind I am a registered audiofool in other hobbies, that said i don't listen to music that much when driving, usually just R4 and R6 occasionally. I'm under no illusion that the ML system is nothing like the real domestic audio kit they make. However, a rattling cardboard box sounds is reminiscent of my first Alfasud back in the 80s, where screaming was more hifi....

B*gger, that's exactly what it looks like. That's the 2nd vehicle I've had to walk away from in a week! Presumably then, FL versions have the joystick thing whatever the audio spec?

OK thank you. I've read about the audio system varying from rubbish to great. I have what I think is a pre FL car with the standard setup. Have asked seller to check (check there is audio coming out of the rear parcel shelf speaker grille) Aware parts and servicing is a premium, that bit is OK. Wasn't aware of tyre wear, that could be a red flag, I cover around 18k year so expect to get 20k per set minim, though that's for front WD rather than rear. Agreed on first point, being brutal this is not an emotional purchase, it's just a means to saving a lot of cash. If that was no issue, I prefer my Superb as a drivers car especially after upgrading the dampers, though the interior and "plushness" factor is higher on the Lexus.

apologies for resurrecting an old thread, trying to establish what spec is fitted to a car I'm considering purchasing. The one in question is an 18 plate Advance, but has a rotary adjuster for the ICE system. I'm unsure whether this means that it's a pre FL car, and therefore has the crappy audio system?

I've had a quick scan through the first few pages to look for the obvious answers, so apologies in advance if the answers are already posted somewhere, and happy to be directed. I've got an 18 plate Skoda Superb 220TSI Sportline that is proving a tad too expensive to run as a business car, so am looking seriously at either a nearly new 23 plat corolla GR Sport 1.8 hybrid, or an 18 plate IS300h with 25k on it, and FSDH. What attracts me to the Lexus is that it qualifies for the highest HMRC fuel advisory rate for co car owners (the rate that my employer uses for both co cars and cash for cars) which means i go from losing around £30-£40 a month on fuel costs to gaining £100+, so able to cover servicing costs as well as fuel. This is the primary reason for considering it. My wife is on her second Auris, so I know all about the hybrid driving experience, and generally not a fan, but the cost savings can't be ignored, plus it's actually a nice place to sit. I managed to get 43mpg on the dash computer on a 15 mile or so fairly spirited drive, so moments of full throttle in sport mode accelerating onto and on dual carriageway as well as some twisty B road sections, which was impressive, and above my target of 40mpg. Is this typical? I mostly commute from West wales to London so a trudge up and down the M4 with a few roundabouts in Bracknell thrown in; and then sometimes across mid wales if heading north or M4/M50 for the Midlands. The other Q I had was on the tech spec of the Advance trim, what is the audio like? I can see that car play and android auto didn't make it, but the system sounded OK on my quick demo of Radio 2.... Anything critical that is hould be aware of, consider, check with the seller before committing? My plan is to make a decision tomorrow (Sunday 18th) as there are some big costs looming on my Superb that I'd like to avoid by adding a ton of mileage next week. TIA for any usefuol / helpful info, and maybe look forward to joining this community - I was pretty active on Briskoda for years of owning multiple Octavia vRS's