Joined
·
134 Posts
I've now had the pleasure of owning the CT for 6 months. In short, I LOVE this car and would not buy any other car for the money. For those interested in the CT but haven't made the plunge yet, here is my experience to consider:
Pros:
1. Obvious, fuel economy. With minimal conscious driving and sticking to mainly city driving below 72 km/hr (45 mph), I've hit a best real-world 4.3L/100 km (55 mpg). Six month average is still an amazing 4.5L/100km (52mpg), on regular gas.
2. Styling. You won't mistaken it for any other car (though I once got "is that a Mazda 3?")
3. Quality, fit and finish, Lexus panache, return on investment. Hard to beat for the dollar.
4. Quiet at all cruising speeds, especially in EV mode.
5. Sporty handling, yet decent comfort.
6. Good base sound system and Bluetooth audio (and voice-recognition) with my two Blackberry phones works very well.
7. Excellent value. Keep in mind, you get into the Lexus family for just (in Canada) $31K, just 3.5$K more than a Prius.
8. Expect tank-like reliability. Based on the Prius that's been extremely reliable for 10+ years. Search taxi cabs in Vancouver and not one of the 40+ cabs with 400K+ kms have had any problems with the hybrid system. Just normal wear-and tear items to replace.
9. Excellent ergonomics and driving position. Every button, switch is where you expect with quality tactile feel.
10. Driving-mode selector. Can be considered gimicky, but kudos to Lexus for bringing almost 2 gauge clusters and 4 different driving modes.
11. Nuluxe interior holding up extremely well. Seems to be better than the leather as some have posted. Looks brand new exactly like on Day one. No creases or discoloration.
Cons:
1. Fuel economy at highway speeds. Gas engine takes over the majority of the thrust. Cannot optimize efficiency here like in the city. Add 15-20% more consumption. Averaged 5.6L/100km (42mpg). I'd say if your majority of driving is highway, this is where an Audi A3 TDI (although pricier) might be a better choice (more torque/power and similar fuel consumption).
2. Although it just got fixed today by Lexus and I'm very satisfied, the car had a creaking issue with the stitched trim on the left and right sides of the center console since day one. Warmer days meant more creaking. Drove me nuts for 6 months.
3. Although very seamless the majority of the time, on occasion you "feel" the startup of the gas engine manifesting itself as a smallish jolt, like a not-so-smooth tranny shifting into a gear.
4. The Atkinson gas engine gets noisy/buzzy at larger throttle input, though never feels rough or any vibrations are ever felt. However, you would buy this car to beat your previous mpgs, keeping the revs (and noise) low.
5. Electric thrust is limited to 72km/hr (45mph). Why not higher? My wife's RX400h can hit higher speeds on electricity. Maybe next gen with upgraded battery, inverter, and two electric motors?
6. Interior room smaller than the competitors (Audi A3, Golf TDI, Prius), though seating positions for front passengers extremely comfortable and sporty feeling. Rear, seat is a little too upright and does not recline further back nor slides fore/aft.
7. Power moonroof: "Closing instructions" - when fully opened, to close it, depress the close button for 1 sec, wait 4 more secs, then depress the close button again. Where's the "one-touch" operation?
8. Glove box is tiny and minimal storage cubbies in the car. Owner's manual and another similar size item in the glovebox, and it's is full.
Pros:
1. Obvious, fuel economy. With minimal conscious driving and sticking to mainly city driving below 72 km/hr (45 mph), I've hit a best real-world 4.3L/100 km (55 mpg). Six month average is still an amazing 4.5L/100km (52mpg), on regular gas.
2. Styling. You won't mistaken it for any other car (though I once got "is that a Mazda 3?")
3. Quality, fit and finish, Lexus panache, return on investment. Hard to beat for the dollar.
4. Quiet at all cruising speeds, especially in EV mode.
5. Sporty handling, yet decent comfort.
6. Good base sound system and Bluetooth audio (and voice-recognition) with my two Blackberry phones works very well.
7. Excellent value. Keep in mind, you get into the Lexus family for just (in Canada) $31K, just 3.5$K more than a Prius.
8. Expect tank-like reliability. Based on the Prius that's been extremely reliable for 10+ years. Search taxi cabs in Vancouver and not one of the 40+ cabs with 400K+ kms have had any problems with the hybrid system. Just normal wear-and tear items to replace.
9. Excellent ergonomics and driving position. Every button, switch is where you expect with quality tactile feel.
10. Driving-mode selector. Can be considered gimicky, but kudos to Lexus for bringing almost 2 gauge clusters and 4 different driving modes.
11. Nuluxe interior holding up extremely well. Seems to be better than the leather as some have posted. Looks brand new exactly like on Day one. No creases or discoloration.
Cons:
1. Fuel economy at highway speeds. Gas engine takes over the majority of the thrust. Cannot optimize efficiency here like in the city. Add 15-20% more consumption. Averaged 5.6L/100km (42mpg). I'd say if your majority of driving is highway, this is where an Audi A3 TDI (although pricier) might be a better choice (more torque/power and similar fuel consumption).
2. Although it just got fixed today by Lexus and I'm very satisfied, the car had a creaking issue with the stitched trim on the left and right sides of the center console since day one. Warmer days meant more creaking. Drove me nuts for 6 months.
3. Although very seamless the majority of the time, on occasion you "feel" the startup of the gas engine manifesting itself as a smallish jolt, like a not-so-smooth tranny shifting into a gear.
4. The Atkinson gas engine gets noisy/buzzy at larger throttle input, though never feels rough or any vibrations are ever felt. However, you would buy this car to beat your previous mpgs, keeping the revs (and noise) low.
5. Electric thrust is limited to 72km/hr (45mph). Why not higher? My wife's RX400h can hit higher speeds on electricity. Maybe next gen with upgraded battery, inverter, and two electric motors?
6. Interior room smaller than the competitors (Audi A3, Golf TDI, Prius), though seating positions for front passengers extremely comfortable and sporty feeling. Rear, seat is a little too upright and does not recline further back nor slides fore/aft.
7. Power moonroof: "Closing instructions" - when fully opened, to close it, depress the close button for 1 sec, wait 4 more secs, then depress the close button again. Where's the "one-touch" operation?
8. Glove box is tiny and minimal storage cubbies in the car. Owner's manual and another similar size item in the glovebox, and it's is full.