Need advice on buying Lexus

internalaudit

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That's likely true because the single major complaint about the 3rd gen Prius or CT200h is the EGR valve/intake manifold/head gasket issue due to carbon build up.

I tried doing CC at 70 km/h and surprised EV mode wasn't activated even if I decreased my CC speed to 63. Then when I turned CC off, the EV mode kicked in.

I think the B gear is to be used when coasting downhill. I had time to read parts of the manual, particularly placement of the 12V battery, fluids and customiz-able settigs.
 

Sulu

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@Sulu , 6L/100km at what kind of speeds? It's quite a big car, full of people with luggage, it's quite good! Don't know if a 520d or a E220CDI would do better. But given it was his first time with it and everyone gets carried away the first times, it has performed technical inspections, cold weather... Everything takes some fuel.

I have a 2015 ES 300h. I averaged about 6L/100km last summer while on a 2000km road trip, with a mix of urban and highway driving (but more steady-speed highway driving, maximizing use of cruise control).

In similar road trips (similar mix of urban and highway driving), I have averaged 5.7L/100km with only 3 people aboard in an autumn road trip; and averaged about 7L/100km with 3 people aboard but in a winter road trip.

I find that I cannot match published urban fuel efficiency numbers, probably because in stop-and-go stoplight driving, it is hard to maintain EV mode for long (quite difficult to drive away from a stoplight in EV mode); I also find that the car will switch out of EV mode at about 70 to 75 km/h, due to the mechanical gearing of the PSD that turns on the engine at that speed (look up WeberAuto videos on the Toyota hybrid system on YouTube).
 

internalaudit

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That's impressive especially with just regular driving. After yesterday's fill up, got 18.2 km per liter driving almost 300 km today, which is around 42 MPG. 80/20 highway to city driving. 110 mostly on the highway but some over taking at 120. This is km/h of course.

It is powerful enough but I guess past reviewers are used to much more powerful cars. There's that eCVT droning but hey I prefer simplicity over complex and less reliable transmissions.

Picked up my 17" Konig Hypergram wheels with some Hankook summer tires from a distant city lol. Much cheaper than buying new wheels, mounting and balancing them.
 

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Will1991

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From 6.1L\100km to 5.5L\100km right?

It's a nice improvement!

Your CT has around the same mileage as my sister Auris with the same drivetrain, some 190.000km.

Maybe it's a known tool, but I try to track down my fuel economy with SpritMonitor ( https://www.spritmonitor.de/en/detail/775403.html) has my Avensis doesn't have a board computer, it helps me keep some record of how much I spent on fuel and general maintenance.

After this bigger trip, what's your opinion on comfort and NVH? Similar to your RAV4?
 

internalaudit

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Yes. 5.5L /100 km. Ride comfort is much better on the CT, even with the short wheelbase. The rear suspension on our 16 RAV4H is jarring. Haven't sat in the rear of the CT though.

NVH on the CT is okay though I have to crank the volume up from 30 to 40 on the radio while BT streaming. Not a lot of vibration and idling is smooth until engine shuts down. No rattles inside the CT except driver side mirror casing/mirror rattles when door is shut close but no vibration while driving on the highway.

No droning sound from the RAV4H transmission according to my wife but of course that's because it has a 2.5L vs the CT's 1.8L.

My wife drove it tonight for around 10 km and so far she has good impressions though she noticed the radio and instrumentation is much older technology.
 

Will1991

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For me it’s one of those cars that simply doesn’t show how old they’re. It’s aging quite well!
Now it’s a bit an older model, but generally still has a nice value for the money (even new).

Your version is the one with a small infotainment screen right? Because some lesser models here in Portugal had so few extras that was sold without a screen on top of the dash.
 

internalaudit

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For me it’s one of those cars that simply doesn’t show how old they’re. It’s aging quite well!
Now it’s a bit an older model, but generally still has a nice value for the money (even new).

Your version is the one with a small infotainment screen right? Because some lesser models here in Portugal had so few extras that was sold without a screen on top of the dash.

No. The one I bought is only base plus the touring package, which only includes a moon roof and 17" wheels.

Actually like it that the car doesn't have that extra screen on the dash so I can put in a bulky 12V dual cigarette port adapter to power our smartphones and a Garmin dash cam. Silly dashcam seller didn't have the original cigarette plug power adapter so I just used a 2.4A USB port. I always prefer to have our smartphones mounted in the center and in the line of sight. It's quite ugly for many I guess but practical since I want the least bit of head shaking to follow navigation directions.

It's a mess with the cables and all but I don't notice that compartment mess when I am driving. Also just stuck a smartphone mount right in front of it since it works well for smaller and larger phones like the 11 Max Pro and S10+.
 

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