I wish Lexus did a big estate car
Discussion
I've got a Lexus GS450H, which is a fantastic car, 3.5L V6 combined with a electric drive gearbox. It gives refinement at low speeds and an almighty shove when you put your foot down. All whilst returning 30-35mpg and being below £300 VED. Considering I paid something between £4k and £5k, it was a steal.
The only trouble is the boot is very small and the rear seats don't fold at all due to the hybrid battery pack position and size.
In the past few years we've moved twice and renovated two properties and the impractical Lexus being my daily driver has truly been a pain throughout all of this.
This has me looking at an estate car, which would make more sense with family aspirations in the future, but I'm stuck. I can't find anything that ticks all the boxes.
1. An interior that is a bit nice, leather, quiet at speed etc.
2. Must not be slow
3. Automatic (I just can't be bothered to change gear in a daily driver anymore)
4. ULEZ compliant (ideally Euro 6 petrol / petrol hybrid)
5. Big boot
6. Maintainable at home, I DIY pretty much all repairs and servicing and would rather not have to mess around with timing belts/chains every few years
7. Parking sensors all round - for the wife
The obvious choices in the Toyota family are the Avensis or Auris/Corolla, and none of those have the interior refinement or performance that I've become used to. They'd be a downgrade coming from the GS.
That has me looking at the likes of BMW and Mercedes, but I'm put off by timing chain failure and general reliability and maintenance costs. I also have no way of getting around the digital service records, whilst I could still maintain them at home, I can't just write the services in a book like how I currently do. I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be?
A Euro 6 petrol C-class estate with less than 100k miles is within budget, and I could stretch to a high mileage E-class. I'm also quite interested by the C-class MHEV, but not sure if hybrid system is maintainable.
On my Lexus, if the battery pack does go, I could quite easily refurbish it at home, or pay a company £800 to do it for me since it shares most parts with the Prius.
Wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and what they've gone for? Should I just stop being a snob and get an Auris/Corolla hybrid estate?
The only trouble is the boot is very small and the rear seats don't fold at all due to the hybrid battery pack position and size.
In the past few years we've moved twice and renovated two properties and the impractical Lexus being my daily driver has truly been a pain throughout all of this.
This has me looking at an estate car, which would make more sense with family aspirations in the future, but I'm stuck. I can't find anything that ticks all the boxes.
1. An interior that is a bit nice, leather, quiet at speed etc.
2. Must not be slow
3. Automatic (I just can't be bothered to change gear in a daily driver anymore)
4. ULEZ compliant (ideally Euro 6 petrol / petrol hybrid)
5. Big boot
6. Maintainable at home, I DIY pretty much all repairs and servicing and would rather not have to mess around with timing belts/chains every few years
7. Parking sensors all round - for the wife
The obvious choices in the Toyota family are the Avensis or Auris/Corolla, and none of those have the interior refinement or performance that I've become used to. They'd be a downgrade coming from the GS.
That has me looking at the likes of BMW and Mercedes, but I'm put off by timing chain failure and general reliability and maintenance costs. I also have no way of getting around the digital service records, whilst I could still maintain them at home, I can't just write the services in a book like how I currently do. I'm not sure how much of an issue that would be?
A Euro 6 petrol C-class estate with less than 100k miles is within budget, and I could stretch to a high mileage E-class. I'm also quite interested by the C-class MHEV, but not sure if hybrid system is maintainable.
On my Lexus, if the battery pack does go, I could quite easily refurbish it at home, or pay a company £800 to do it for me since it shares most parts with the Prius.
Wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and what they've gone for? Should I just stop being a snob and get an Auris/Corolla hybrid estate?
Skoda Superb , Laurin & Klement spec. Decent petrol engines available.
I've had similar thoughts to you about wishing there were a Lexus estate, as I refuse to buy an SUV, and the reasons you've outlined figure in my thinking about them too, i.e. boot shape and size is often lacking.
I bought a Superb this week myself, and it's a hatch - I felt the estate was overkill, the boot is that big.
I've had similar thoughts to you about wishing there were a Lexus estate, as I refuse to buy an SUV, and the reasons you've outlined figure in my thinking about them too, i.e. boot shape and size is often lacking.
I bought a Superb this week myself, and it's a hatch - I felt the estate was overkill, the boot is that big.
bozonoz said:
Wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and what they've gone for? Should I just stop being a snob and get an Auris/Corolla hybrid estate?
I've owned a couple of Lexus in the past. My Lexus dealer has now joined with Toyota so sat and played around in a 21 plate Corolla a week or so back. The newer ones have really come on, I was surprised I didn't feel out of place from my 3 series interior wise, however I'm not sure what your budget is. Go and sit in one , take it for a drive (I found the drive no different from a CT200) - not exactly GS /RX level I know but wouldn't stop me if I needed the practicality over performance.Skodillac said:
Skoda Superb , Laurin & Klement spec. Decent petrol engines available.
I've had similar thoughts to you about wishing there were a Lexus estate, as I refuse to buy an SUV, and the reasons you've outlined figure in my thinking about them too, i.e. boot shape and size is often lacking.
I bought a Superb this week myself, and it's a hatch - I felt the estate was overkill, the boot is that big.
My first thought was Skoda Superb too, i'm a big BW fan but I do believe the Superb will tick all the boxes the OP hasI've had similar thoughts to you about wishing there were a Lexus estate, as I refuse to buy an SUV, and the reasons you've outlined figure in my thinking about them too, i.e. boot shape and size is often lacking.
I bought a Superb this week myself, and it's a hatch - I felt the estate was overkill, the boot is that big.
bozonoz said:
SUV =/= estate car
Indeed. There's now a whole fleet of SUVs with Lexus badges on them (now including a Yaris sized one, I believe) as that's what the punters want.America is there biggest market and they won't even buy hatchbacks let alone estate cars.
I still think the IS300 Crossback was their best car, but must have a sales disaster for them to not bother with a 5-door version of the later IS models.
Perhaps the OP could get an RX and some lowering springs and pretend it is an estate/hatch.
Simon_GH said:
Are V90 hybrids worth a look?
Funnily enough I've had similar thoughts to the OP re a Lexus estate - I've long admired the various big Lexus barges but, as I also do a fair bit of serious DIY stuff, I just couldn't put up with something that big that's also not particularly practical. My XC70 on the other hand has been brilliant at being a nice comfortable well-appointed long-distance cruiser one day, and a builder's van the next. Where it clearly falls down when compared against the OP's criteria is that it's a diesel, and a Euro 5 one at that. However a T6 petrol version (if you can find one), seems to tick all the boxes. What was the spec of the Corolla you looked at?
My 2021 Corolla has just been returned, I had it for 3 years from new, not a single thing went wrong with it. It was the 1.8 Tourer Excel, I put about 45k miles on it and the final consumption worked out at over 50mpg.
I thought the interior was quite a nice place to be and was still looking as good as new when I gave it back.
My 2021 Corolla has just been returned, I had it for 3 years from new, not a single thing went wrong with it. It was the 1.8 Tourer Excel, I put about 45k miles on it and the final consumption worked out at over 50mpg.
I thought the interior was quite a nice place to be and was still looking as good as new when I gave it back.
Audi A6 Avant has the remarkable ability to change from top quality family transport to works van and back again just by raising and lowering the rear seats (and the occasional hoover). A variety of engines and price points available.
Or a Subaru Legacy wagon which doesn't have quite the interior luxury, but has some interesting engines and chassis choices available, especially on JDM cars.
Or a Subaru Legacy wagon which doesn't have quite the interior luxury, but has some interesting engines and chassis choices available, especially on JDM cars.
You're not the only one OP - after manyany years of faultless service the time has finally come to replace our ancient Accord Tourer and after much head scratching the only thing that ticks all the boxes if a plug in hybrid Rav4.
But more than I wanted to pay for a general runaround/dog/ski car but being able to do almost all the local stuff on electric will offset the cost.
But more than I wanted to pay for a general runaround/dog/ski car but being able to do almost all the local stuff on electric will offset the cost.
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