Team-BHP - Replacement for a 6-year old Superb? EDIT: It's a Lexus ES300h!

Just test drove the E200 - honestly, the Lexus may not be that bad a bet.

Yes, it is a little short on space, but the refinement + features + ride quality is still a notch over the E200.
Interiors may not be as wow as the E 200, nor the rear seats as fancy - but for a chauffeur driven car the Lexus should do decently well keeping in mind low maintenance and overall comfort (barring the seats).

Plus, the photos above look better than any Mercedes dealership I've seen in Mumbai.

Friends who were sitting in the back said they could feel almost every bump on the road on the E200 (no air suspension), but the seats were the saving grace - so comfortable!
That aside, nothing really wowed them about it. Interiors looked nice, but no real leather and a few other tid-bits were disappointing.

As for me - hopefully booking a F10 530D very soon!
Features + great deal + engine + acceptable ride and handling (vague-ish steering and a little barge-ish handling around town owing to it's size) + expected lower running costs (FE + smaller items like brake pads that wear out in 20Kkm, etc.) sort of sealed the deal.

Congratulations Sir. Been a silent follower of this thread. Loved the way you objectively went through the selection process and narrowed down on what suited your requirement the best. Good to see the focus on the after sales and hope the company will deliver as per your expectations.

Wish you all the best and looking forward to that ownership report.

The car completed 1500 kms yesterday. I usually don't measure fuel efficiency but did so for this car to see if a hybrid does better than a pure IC engine. The measurement was done with the full tank to full tank method. The fuel consumption came to 14.8 kms per litre in city driving over 1500 odd kms. For general use I would round that to fourteen kms per litre in city driving. For a large sedan I believe that is a decent figure - would love to hear the views and experiences of others. The primary reason for the better fuel efficiency is that the car does not use the IC engine in first and second gear from a standing start which are numerous in city driving.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 4205980)

Definitely, that's a great figure given its a luxury petrol car! I mean you had a superb before so the usual 8-10 kmpl is what we all expect from these segment of cars, but this is a solid improvement over it. Hybrid definitely makes sense for heavy city driving.

I learnt first hand that the Lexus allocation for India for 2017 is 300 units. Period. Next year they will look at adding more models and allocate a larger quota for India. That sounds like a small number against India's luxury car market of say 30 to 40,000 units. Exclusivity for Lexus owners....delayed profits (maybe) for dealers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 4208791)

Also maybe to gauge the market, they probably wouldn't want to export too many have them go unsold or have to offer huge discounts to get rid of inventory. I'm sure if they run out of the new units, they could very well import some more.

Were you able to configure your car as per the exterior/interior you want or do you pick out of existing spec?

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 4208791)

Considering Lexus is paying Rs 21 Lakhs/month for the Bangalore showroom and the fit out is still going on, the ROI will take a long term

Toyota is one company which does not take any decisions without a long term plan, things move at very slow pace but whatever is approved will continue. I firmly believe Toyota will start assembling Lexus here in India and that's the reason dealers are investing in showrooms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porcupine (Post 4208839)

Yes I agree with your assessment. That's what they are doing.

On configuration the variables were external paint colour, upholstery colour and texture & type of wood work. They build the car after the order is received. Yes I got what I asked for - metallic steel grey on the outside, the usual beige inside and bamboo matt finish woodwork. As this is my wife's car she decided what she wanted. I would have preferred blue on the outside and the brown upholstery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 4209448)

Great to know that they offer that level of personalisation, glad that you got a spec you configured. Do you know what kind of waiting times one can expect when configuring your own spec? Most brands like Mercedes and BMW have a 4-6 month wait on their customised S500 Maybachs and 750Li's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porcupine (Post 4210342)

Order to delivery is about 8 weeks. You could write directly to their Customer Service Head for India. I can send his ID as a private message to you. One thing is for sure they will treat you with polished courtesy and not someone with a wallet and never send you mass SMS messages like Audi. My car just completed 2000 kms. The GM of the Lexus Gurgaon dealer came home to enquire how the car is doing etc. The owner called my missus (whose car it is).

If your need is in the BMW 7 and S500 range then maybe you should wait for the LX series to be introduced next year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V.Narayan (Post 4209448)

On configuration the variables were external paint colour, upholstery colour and texture & type of wood work. They build the car after the order is received.

Could you elaborate on the haptics and tactility of the Lexus? Are the aspects like door shut, hinges, panel lines, center console buttons etc on par with the German rivals? Also I understand that Lexus is more for comfort based driving (which I myself prefer) but is it in the league of a Mercedes or is it inbetween like an Audi?