Currently I'm driving a 2012 Prius 4 and am planning to trade in soon. My primary goal is to get a quiet, comfortable ride with better looks and I'm wondering if the CT will fit the bill.

Obviously the CT wins the looks column, but I'm wondering about the rest. Specifically, how is the road and wind noise? I know the engine noise is similar to the Prius and I can live with that, but I'm unsure about the rest. I've seen conflicting reports here, so I'm not sure what make of it all.

Moving on to comfort, how does the CT fair here? How is the seating for long drives and the general ride behavior? It seems like most people give it marks up on the Prius, but again, I've seen a few opinions saying it's basically the same. I'll be getting a non f-sport model if I decide to go with the CT.

Also, for people that have had their CT for a while, how is it holding up as far interior squeaks, creaks and such? This is becoming a bit of an issue with my Prius already and I'd really like to avoid getting into something that will feel cheap so soon after purchase.

 

CT's are rather noisy for a luxury car...

I've had window rattle noises, rattle noises when something is in any compartment (cupholder/change holder/armrest), and the damn worst was the passenger seat rattles when no one is occupying it. The passenger head rest vibrates and something else with that seat...

It was a pretty expensive mistake for me...just my own opinion though.

also it looks nice, but it can be ugly from certain angles. It really bothered me how close it looked to a mazda 3 hatchback/wagon.

 

My brother has a Gen III Prius. My CT is quieter (more insulating material in the CT). The CT has a better front bucket seat (IMO, 99% of the time I drive alone). The Gen III is surprisingly roomier (due to general design and shape), including the rear seats. If I had to compare, I'd say the insides of the Gen III is "Camry" big, and that of the CT is "Corolla" small.

Other than that, the CT takes turns better and looks a lot better (IMO) than the Gen III. That's even after my brother spent some $$ for a cross member bar, this brace, and that tower...

The plastic dash clicks and creaks on my CT because it's in the 90's when I get in the car. After the A/C cools the car down, the plastic pieces start to settle down and make noise. Other than that, there's an occasional metallic clunk from under the car, but I don't really care anymore. For the most part, anytime I hear some offensive noise, I'm able to quickly figure out that it's a pen rattling inside my glove compartment, or that bottle of anti-acid stashed in the armrest console compartment, etc.

I just drive mine and it makes me feel good. If you are getting bored of your Gen III, you may not feel that the CT is different enough to warrant a change. A test drive is recommended.

 

First thing is to go test drive a CT 200h for yourself.

I've had my CT since March of 2011 and love it. My CT gets great mileage but not a good as a Prius. As far as the looks factor the CT looks awesome.

The CT might not have as much room as the Prius inside. Since the CT has lower profile tires you'll feel the road a bit more including the bumps. As far as interior noise level it's adequate. As far as interior squeaks I've noticed when it's colder outside I'll hear a few here and there. Since it's summer time I hear none.

The driver's seat is very comfortable. I've driving to San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas from the Los Angeles area and driver fatigue has never been an issue.

One gripe I do have is that there are no cup holders in the back seat area.

Be sure to go test drive a CT 200h to really experience it in person.

 

Well its not so much boredom, I just don't like the Prius that much in general. Looks, handling, road ragers, etc… I've also had a number of things change recently in my life that basically make the Prius the wrong car for me.

The CT was on my short list when I pulled the trigger on the Prius, but when I did the numbers, the Prius won and I thought I could live with driving a pure appliance vehicle. Now that I'm a year down the road, I've decided to move on and get into something in the entry level luxury category.

That said, the options for hatchbacks are a bit limited for me since I really don't like the reliability ratings of the Europeans.

I do need to get into to do a test drive on the CT, so I'm sure that will answer at least some of my concerns. This was one big mistake that I made last time, as I mostly just charted out the numbers before buying.

It's funny, but the other car that I'm seriously considering is the new IS. As it is though, I'm having a hard time wanting to spend around $3700/year(price diff/insurance/gas/loan interest) for the first 5 years and losing the utility of a hatch. Obviously the IS will be a lot of fun to drive and looks great but I'm doubtful that that's worth ~$300/month. Also, I'm not sure how depreciation will factor in, but I'm guessing the IS will make some ground there, so the numbers are probably a bit closer than this.

The other areas that IS seems likely to win is with road noise, ride comfort and probably general materials and build quality. Those areas do matter quite a bit but if the CT is "good enough", I'd rather not pay the premium for the IS, and I'd rather compare the CT to the Prius in this regard, as I know the IS beats the pants off the Prius.

I actually have done a test drive on the IS but didn't have time to check out the CT yet.

 

The CT is the entry level Lexus, so I say that if luxury is one of your primary objectives, then the CT is probably not for you. I mean, it's better than a Camry, but probably loses out to the newly re-designed top-of-the line Avalon.

 

We had a 2005 Prius, fully loaded (pkg 6 I think). We ordered a 2012 fully loaded with tech package, dynamic cruise, Nav etc. 2 days before it arrived we cancelled the order and bought a CT200h Premium w/leather and Nav.

The reason was the Prius seats caused back aches after 45 minutes.

We looked and drove the Prius "V"ee. It was better, bigger but still seat ergonomics did not fit my body.

We ended up with our CT mainly because of seat comfort and my wife likes small cars.

After purchasing our CT Lexus came out with a Hybrid ES. It's quieter, quicker, more comfortable, more expensive and about the same MPG.

I test drove the Camry Hybrid and I really liked it. Same MPG as the CT and about the same price. It was quick, quiet but my wife wanted smaller, similar to her Prius so Happy Wife, Happy Life" won .

Drive them all and make up your mind.

JR

 

owning my ct now for 4 months (I know it's not a long time) I love the car. I love the fact that when I get into the seat I feel like I'm in a sportier car, not a hybrid. I'm 6'5" and drove the car from Alabama to Florida when I picked it up and I was comfortable the whole trip.

It does look like a Mazda3 at some angles.

as for the road noise, I unerstand I have an entry level Lexus so there will be some areas lacking that an IS will do better in, and I'm ok with that. I've added some sound deadener to the doors and the hatch floor which helped reduce the noise. Half the time I don't even know the engine is running, it's pretty quiet (to me).

as for ride, I had a lowered Scion xB before this so the ride is way better, but I never owned a fancy car so I can't compare the ride now to say another Lexus.

Like everyone else said, test drive it. When I test drove the CT I was more impressed because I thought it would of been slower; it got up and moved when I needed it to.

 

I loved my 2006 prius and hated the noisy 2010 I bought. Ditched it after 1 year and got a CT. I was surprised that Lexus promoted it with "quiet revolution" here in europe, because at the beginning there was enough interior noise. Especially when the temperature changes.
I did some damping under the hood and in the doors. Also I took apart the middle console and the navigation monitor frame and did what Lexus should have done for this amount of money.

Now I really enjoy the ride in the CT, although I'm most likely not going to buy another Toyota/Lexus. If you are no tinkerer don't buy the CT.

 

Did you ever find a fix for this? I've got the same thing and my closest Lexus dealer is 90 minutes away. If I can fix it myself quick I'd rather do that than sit in the dealership all day.

This is definitely true. The first time it got hot out I though a rock had hit my windshield, that's how loud the dash is when it's going from hot to cold!

Totally agree, the CT has the most comfortable seats I have ever owned.

 

I've had mine since September '11 and still haven't experienced any squeaks/rattles.

 

The handling of the CT is very good! Better than the IS (2nd gen). The seats and the sit position is very good too!

Here comes the negative things about it:

- Lack of power. Not at low to medium speed though. But above 100km/h, it is very slow. You have to plan your overtaking on highway. This car is best suited for city driving.
- Road and wind noise. The wheel well cover is made of hard plastic and it sounds like hell when the gravels hit the plastic cover.
- Poor visibility from B pillar and back.
- The stereo (standard and ML) sound really bad compares to IS.
- Gas tank is too small.
- Missleading cruise range computer. It just doesn't work. I can have a full tank of gas wile the cruise range say 0!!!
- Lack of arm rest on pre 2013 models. (They finally added the arm rest pad on the 2013 model)
- It looks good from some angles (side view & rear quarter view) but looks bad from some other angles (Straight front, front quarter and straight rear)