olliesgrandad

Well this evening we decided to take the XV for a good test around some of the Cotswold backroads I know. Well I'm very impressed. The only thing I'm not enamoured with is the grip of the factory fit Bridgestone Duellers - but I felt the same when I had them on my Lexus RX450h. I think I may be replacing them with Michelin cross climates sooner rather than later. Certainly I don't understand the Road test reports saying that the cars are sluggish, as the mid range acceleration I think is extremely good. As an aside whilst the car was at the Dealer's having the battery changed they attempted to change the lock settings to open all the doors. Apparently they could get through most of the process but then the program kept falling over. They think the problem might be with their equipment so I'll just have to put up with it for now. Basically at this time I'm very glad to have made the switch. The dealer has made up a pair of number plates ready drilled to fit my private plate as soon as I get the V5c back (DVLA website shows it was issued on Saturday) so hopefully tomorrow will be the day for me to do the switch. Very pleased

Hurrah, Car now back with new battery fitted. Hurrah! I have just checked the new battery which is a yuasa stop start version . It is rated at 65ah which I am pretty certain is 5ah more than the factory fit, so hopefully will be most resistant to failure.

They were the last time I drove that way, but to be truthfull the travellers site up that lane puts me off using it these days as they are always careering through there.

Interesting point about Mitsubishi. i had 2 Lancers around 2009 -2011. The first one was a great car - ex Mitsubishi Head Office, but the 2nd one which was an ex demonstrator had a notchy gearbox and often it was impossible to engage 6th gear without double de-clutching. Mitsubishi insisted this was acceptable when clearly it wasn't. The dealer network certainly left a lot to be desired. I traded the car for a almost new Fiat Punto diesel in Leicester ( reliable little carv with amazing mpg). My old Mitsubishi was next on the forecourt of my local Mitsubishi dealer for more than I'd paid for it 18 months previously !!!

The Dealer has picked the car up and left me with a 20 plate Forester Hybrid. When they arrived to take my car the battery was totally broken again, so fortunately a starter pack they brought got it going. Hopefully my own car will be back tomorrow. In fairness they have been extremely good and the Forester is full of petrol for me to use- sadly I'm short of time to go and enjoy it :(

The car is only 18 months old and besides it is also under the 30 day approved return policy so I will expect the garage to sort things out pronto as I'm too scared to move it now as 4 hours parked to a fully flat battery is not good. The battery is definitely U/S as I have a copy of the AA test report on it which states it needs replacement. I have a busy work week, as well as lots of child minding so could well do without this annoyance.

Well my 2nd full day of Subaru ownership went a little awry. Took the grandchildren on a 90 mile jaunt to Porthcawl today. All went well - car performing nicely and was then left parked for a few hours in the seafront car park. Upon return it wouldn't start. Everything working on the dashboard , but just a click from the starter. Fortunately I had put the Subaru Rescue details on my mobile and made sure the card was in the glovebox - perhaps a premonition. Anyway the AA were super efficient and a patrol was with us in less than half an hour from my initial call. Kevin the patrolman confirmed that the battery was the issue and when he charged and tested it, it showed it was only operating at 75% efficiency and his diagnostics confirmed that it needed replacement. Now call me old fahioned, but i know the car had been at the dealers since the early part of the year and when we test drove it the salesman had left the engine runnig so clearly being stood around has goosed the battery. Shame they didn't check it on Thursday when they serviced it! I think i may be having a very interesting conversation tomorrow morning with the salesman which may involve pointing out the 30 day return policy..............certainly I daren't use the car as I don't want to get stuck again. No doubt the AA would want to charge under such circumstances as they have diagnosed the broken battery.

Well Mark from Unity in Balsall Common delivered my 2019 XV yesterday afternoon. The car was beautifully prepared and had almost a full tank of petrol. How does it compare to Lexus ? Well very well. The paintwork is beautifully smooth and panel fit is if anything better than any of the 4 Lexus I've owned. My only issue is the complexity of all the safety systems, but the active cruise control is far superior to Lexus and being able to set it to 20mph is a real winner with so many low speed areas appearing (Lexus minimum is 28mph). I think the trim fit and finish is superb for a car at the price and when I checked under the bonnet it was nice to see many areas were coated in a protectant ( The ABS braking unit which on Lexus is left bare was nice coated with some sort of waxy coating). The isofix is one of the easiest I've encountered and getting my grandaughter's Recaro Monza seat in was a doddle. She loves the interior and describes it as 'cosy'. In fact this afternoon she came out with me to collect a parcel and soon fell asleep.. The stereo needs to be studied as it never seems to turn off completely. I noticed after playing media when I turned the car off the radio came on. no doubt i'll work it out when I have time to study the hundreds of pages in the 3 manuals. so far i'm extremely pleased with the car and of course am used to the CVT from my Lexus experience. I toppe the petrol up today so my phone app can now work out some true mpg figures. Happy days

Sorry I didn't realise your car was a PHEV, I wrongly assumed it was the usual Lexus self charging hybrid. Just for interest I wanted to put a set of Cross Climates on my current RX, but Michelin don't do any tyres in that particular 20"rim size. I did some research and found the Yokahama Geolander G058 which was launched last year as an all season tyre. Although it is according to a lot of tyre sites a summer tyre it is in fact mud & snow rated and there are some very good videos of it in action in snow. That is what i have fitted and the cost was marginally less than the OE Bridgestones. I have to say the car is much quieter and in the few snaps of cold weather and flooded roads back in March / April they coped very well and if I couldn't fit Cross Climates would certainly buy them again. Like you the thought of a full EV fills me with dread. A local Council I used to visit before lockdown has a fleet of EV's and they were always sitting in the yard because people forgot to charge them..... Personally I couldn't be bothered with the effort even of a plug in as I'm sure my grandchildren would soon be switching the power off or tripping over the cable in my car port..... BTW I am a memberr of ther Lexus forum and as a gold member (£60 for 2 years) there are plenty of discounts.I suspect there may be a Toyota forum that does the same. My Lexus dealer gives me 15% off everything including the cost of MOT's so with Lexus service costes I very quickly recovered the cost when I was having 3 services a year. Over £110 saving on a big service.

Hi Ernie, I can only relay to you what the experienced staff at my Lexus dealership have imparted to me over the last 5 years. I certainly have got very good mpg whilst enjoying the cars I've owned- my first IS300h f sport was previously owned by Geoff Hurst and that car always returned in excess of 40mpg in very mixed driving, the larger GS300h I bought after that surprisingly was better on fuel with the same running gear and didn't feel any slower. I've then owned a 2015 RX450h gen 3 and now a RX450h Premier. My current car has often exceeded 40mpg and that is withn the 3.5 litre V6. I have covered in excess of 130,00 miles with these cars and have always found the m to be great drives when in normal or sport mode. In Eco the pick up is so badly hampered and personally I don't want to be always driving to maximise mpg at the cost of being able to safely accellerate out of a hazrdous situation- especially when I'm driving a luxury car that cost in excess of £61k new. Fully laden in the Scottish highland last year I recorded almost 38mpg with my current RX which is a real world figure, not one from the computer. I always use the radar cruise and I agree early braking does boost the batteries. I do advise however to occassionally do a few hard stops so that 'the real brakes' cut in as they do have a nasty habit of graunching if not used enough. Your car as it is the very latest incarnation of the hybrid system should be very economical as you should be able to rune electric much faster than my car (28mph is where mone fires up the petrol engine). Most importantly enjoy the car rather than worrying about every last drop of petrol - I'm sure you will love it. A few things I will tell you about Lexus / Toyotas is they have 1) a habit of leaking water pumps ( both my GS300h and my current RX had replacements under warranty). In the case of the RX the pump costs £115 only but the labour to fit it hits the £1000 mark as the front of the car has to come off and a lot of engine anciillaries need to be removed. I understand that recently they don't change the pumps if they have a solidified crystal of anti-freeze on the external surfaces with no fresh signs of leaking. 2) If after 20000+ miles you get a noise like a groaning wheel bearing it is probasbly the tyres 'Block wearing', it is especially prevalent if the car is on OE Dunlops. I was able to switch to Cross Climates which cured it as well as improving the noise levels and handing. 3) Check on the cost of the big 60,00 mile service- on an RX it exceeds £700 due to a major external engine strip down to change the spark plugs- probably not an issue with the 4 cylinder, but on the 6 cylinder 3 plugs are inaccessible. Happy Motoring

If you speak to any Lexus sales or service person they will tell you never to drive in Eco mode, it is only designed for slow limited town driving and will hit your economy big time. You will get much better economy in normal drive mode or sport . The general technique is to accellerate briskly and then back off which will give you regenerative energy. My GS300h 2015 saloon used to regularly exceed 45mpg. Take a good look at the Lexus hybrid driving technique video, it is a very different technique and you will find your economy improves. I always check my cars tankful to tankful using a phone app so I know the results are accurate (unlike the car computer). Most of all -enjoy!

Interesting times. I've just come into the fold from Lexus- just downsized from a 2017 RX450h Premier to a September 2019 XV petrol which is being delivered on Friday. Prior to lockdown I was doing approximately 500 miles a week work driving which has now become zero. My Lexus is now doing about 70 miles a week so it became a very expensive underused commodity (My wife won't drive it). I had 4 Lexus since 2016 and the secret of the hybrid is not to use the eco mode. There is a very good Youtube video by Lexus on driving hybrids which is well worth a viewing. My phone app shows that in 12,00 miles my average mpg was 36mpg which for a 3.5 litre V6 petrol weighing in at nearly 2.5 tons is not bad going.