Great honest review,Mike.
I'm glad your not a Lexus Fan boy.

 

Mike,
Great review once again! I like that Lexus stepped a bit out of the box in terms of the handling with the CT (based on the reviews of it cornering rather flat etc). Hopefully this continues with the soon to be relaesed GS & IS.

side note,
I too would like a review from you of the GX460 being an owner of a 2010 4runner(platform sibling). I have considered it to someday replace my 4runner, maybe a used one.

Thanks,
Brandon

 

It's all about the Finesse. Using the 400h as an example, my time behind the wheel has shown that you can really finesse it at 55 MPH and pull 31 MPG, well over the 24 MPG. You can also easily downgrade that mileage too. That's any car.

 

As did Edmunds... coincidence? :-).

But you can get 60-70 MPG in Prius too, easily.... however thats not what average people will get. On average, they get around 48MPG according to fuelgov.org... just like Elantra drivers get 29mpg, Corolla drivers 32mpg.

So yeah, I think that if you advertise only highway mileage, you are deceiving the public as average Joe will not get anywhere close to those numbers... this is why combined rating exists and mix in the combined rating is adjusted for the general USA driving patterns (for instance mix in EU combined between highway/city is different).

 

btw, nicely summarized verdict, in sync with my observations and most published road tests.

 

Ehm, apples to apples, Prius is roomier than Focus, and gets 60% better MPG while being similar in price for decently equipped model. But again, Focus is not an premium luxury hatchback. It is like saying that Avalon is more spacious, cheaper and gets better mileage than E class. It does! So why is MB even making E class when there is Avalon!

Sonata and CTh have nothing to do with each other at all, and Sonata is not on sale yet. You could have put Ford Fusion Hybrid in there for instance, but what does that have to do with small premium luxury hatchback, I have no idea.

CT200h is small luxury premium hatchback with sporty drive and good mileage. As such it compares to 1 series, A3, etc.

I am not sure why is that so hard to understand - I do get that it is rather new class in USA, but so what, be of open mind, you are car enthusiast, it should be that out of box thinking :-)

 

I have to agree. My next car, whenever that may be, will probably be a 5 door with my preference of mpg/reliability over just about anything else. Unfortunately, i doubt the CT will be in the running. It just doesn't make financial sense to me.

And if i had the money to buy another Lux car after my IS, i doubt i would opt for a CT then as well.

BTW, great review MM! You are one of several on here that keep me coming back to this forum everyday

 

Very informative review. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share this with us. I really appreciate the detail and the way you back up your opinions with observations.

This may not be true, at least for Lexus buyers. I suspect one of the reasons we buy Lexus is because we see the brand as good value for money. A vehicle that has better MPG has better value for money. Regardless of how much we may have available to spend it does not mean we want to waste it.

 

but of course the CT is a hatch and HS isn't, but i think they might have made the CT an HS variant (by name) and it would have made more sense.

exactly, although it's amazing to me the number of 'rich' people i've met who buy an s-class and then moan about gas prices.

i disagree. i like 'em!

agreed there. A3 sold 386 in Feb (less than A8 ) and 1 series sold 864. i expect CT sales to be somewhere in between.

oh it's new all right. and as i've said over and over, i like the looks inside and out. i just think it doesn't make a lot of sense. and someone said the ingress/egress/seating is lower than an IS - if so, fat Americans will like it even less.

 

No problem, free Jenny Craig 3 year membership tb included.

 

Thanks.

I call it like I see it. But, of course, Lexus does a lot of good stuff.

 

Are you talking about the review's verdict at the end? I tried to summarize, in a couple of paragraphs, why I didn't think it should have been marketed as a Lexus, and was (probably) better-suited as a Toyota.

 

Another home run review buddy. We all love cars but its takes dedication, time, and talent to do reviews as good as yours. Thank you sir

 

As I see it, it's more than simply a matter of hatch-vs-sedan. The HS simply has more size, smoothness, refinement, and noise-control, period.

I agree, though, with your statement......Lexus should have done an HS hatchback instead, and let the CT be a Toyota.

 

Thanks. Glad you like them.

Mike (1SICKLEX), also, IMO, does some great ones.