Question before buying CT200H
 

Good evening.

I am looking at purchasing a CT but I was unclear regarding the Lexus warranty. There is a 15 FSport for sale with roughly 50K miles(2 owners) from a mom and pop dealership that I would strictly be purchasing from. I would not have them do any service as they offer no warranty on the car and they are 50 miles away from my home. The hybrid battery is 8 years/100K miles. Is it transferrable and does that mean I will have either another 50K miles or 4 years warranty on the battery if anything goes wrong with it? Is there any other warranty that transfers to the new owner? Powertrain, etc?

There is also a 2011 for $13500 with 30K miles (1 owner) for sale at a Lexus dealership. The salesman there told me that it comes with a precertified warranty. What is the difference with precert vs certified and are there any advantages to buying through the Lexus dealership vs the mom and pop shop?

Thank you for your time and looking forward to responses.

Are you located in California?

Different hybrid battery warranty for California (longer duration and miles, if I remember correctly). But not sure how this works....meaning what if the car was originally sold some other states other than California and the car now is in California for sale (or vice versa)?

Transferable? Or only good for the original owner?

The Lexus hybrid/Toyota hybrid is the best in the business for this application and proven over the years with millions of miles in taxi cabs worldwide. Many of the taxi cabs with 350K+ miles on original hybrid batteries.

Depending on where you are located......but in SoCal you can get the hybrid batteries rebuilt for around $1500 or less from what I hear.

Lastly, the CT you are talking about 2011 year model maybe "too old" to qualify for "L Certified" by Lexus. The maximum is 6 years old/70K miles.

Here is the link on Lexus "L Certified":

https://www.lexus.com/lcertified/compare

https://lexus2.custhelp.com/app/answ...xus-vehicle%3F


Lexus dealer can sell both L/ Certified, and non-L/ Certified cars. L/ Certified has to pass certain standards to qualify. It comes with 2 extra years of Basic Warranty on top of the standard 4 years. A L/ Certified can go to any dealer and get the 4 complimentary service free.
https://www.lexus.com/lcertified/cer...ranty#warranty

When your dealer said precertified, it sounds like their way of saying it's regular used car. The dealer is giving you some limited warranty, not through Lexus. (Unless of course he actually meant L/ Certified.) To find out if the car is L/ Certified, look for a L/ Certified sticker on the driver side door jam, next to the vehicle spec sticker.

L/ Certified car really isn't that much better per se. It technically could've been in an accident, and repair to appear factory, and still qualify to be L/ Certified. I've seen a few where the bumpers were clearly repainted and misaligned, in a Lexus lot, with a L/ Certified sticker. Lots of cosmetic damages can still be present and still qualify.

Thanks for the detailed replies @lexusrus and @fiveainone

I live in PA and would not be utilizing either the Lexus dealership I was purchasing from or the independent shop. I only thought there was possibly some advantage from buying directly from Lex dealership vs the indy one but it does not sound like there is.

Indy one has some negative reviews on Yelp but on CarGuru, there are more reviews and most are positive. I would rather have the FSport model they are selling vs the regular model at Lexus.

Its been awhile since I last purchased a car..ughhh...decisions decisions.

I have the non F Sport CT200h. Loaded with all options except for HUD and PCS (adaptive cruise control). Mine has the luxury/premium on package and many other options can not remember.

Have you test drove the F Sport CT200h? My non F Sport has pretty stiff suspension already. The F Sport is way to stiff for me. I think it is even stiffer than my RCF........

As a general rule......the hybrid batteries last a long time. It's more of a time effect vs mileage effect . Meaning if a same model goes to 350K miles in say 3 years VS another of the same year and model that took ten years to go 350K miles......the one that took ten years to reach 350K miles will have a lot more chances of having something go wrong with the hybrid batteries (plus other thing may go wrong).

Also bc you are in a COLD climate......this tend to take a toll on the hybrid batteries. An expert on hybrids can test the health of the hybrid batteries.

Lastly, check out the COLD SOAK phenomenon. It's a known defect by Toyota/Lexus especially in COLD climates. Lexus has an engine replacement TSB of sorts in place ONLY if the owner brings it to their attention within some certain time frame/mileage window. You will know bc of UNMISTAKABLE VERY LOUD KNOCKING NOISE from the engine during freezing temperature COLD STARTS. Since my CT is in SoCal......I don't have this problem.

I use my CT200h as a commuter vehicle in stop and go traffic......serves this function very well while sipping on gas lightly IF DRIVEN CONSERVATIVELY.

Good luck.

Potential new owner
 

Hi, with kids out oh house, I am looking to downsize from two SUVs in the family.
I am looking for commuter car mostly, we are going to keep RX350 for longer/family trips.
I took 2015 CT F-Sport with 28 K miles for the test drive yesterday.
This test drive left me with the mixed feelings. I liked the vehicle size wise, it feels very comfortable save and stable.
What drove me nuts is a luck of power and the noise. I don't mind engine noise but that seems to be CVT whining noise is horrific.
Power wise I did not feel like I can go over 65 mph on the highway, even in the city driving i have to floor it to keep up with traffic.
I wish Lexus had a non hybrid version with slightly larger engine :(
I put vehicle on hold for a couple of days, but not sure that to do....

i'm well over 70mph on the highway and can here the radio fine. have you tried driving the car in sport mode? much better throttle response and the steering feels a little tighter too.

good luck!

CVT whining noise? I don't think I've ever heard the CVT making noise. I think what you're hearing is the electric motor, as well as the fake noise it makes to announce it's presence, since it's too quiet in electric only mode. I quite like that noise. You get used to the low power, and like the other poster said, in sport mode the throttle response is much higher, and it'll feel more like a regular car.

Please keep in mind that the CT200h is NOT as refined as the other Lexus vehicles.

I've noticed that with the CT200h you definitely need to keep the pedal to the metal (and switch to Sport mode) if you want to merge into traffic SAFELY and going up on extended mountain passes like the Grapevine in SoCal I-5.

You will definitely need to modify your driving style/habit. If I drove the same way with the pedal to the metal with my RCF, I would be smoking my tires each and every time and reach triple digit speeds in a matter of some 5 seconds.

The CVT DOES make a lot more noise vs other non-hybrid Lexus vehicles. The way CVT is designed is to keep the engine's rpm's high when you want to accelerate (the electric motors kicking in also) quickly. This is because there is no shifting in the CVT. When you reach the desired speed, simply let off the gas pedal and modulate your right foot to maintain the desired speed (or engage the cruise control). When you want to pass someone, make sure it's in Sport mode and just floor the gas pedal. This will be somewhat getting use to bc I would have passed otherwise safely pass a car in my RCF, but NOT with the CT200h. Yes, this COULD be potentially dangerous. You must learn the limitations of the CT200h.

Remember, the CT200h was designed for fuel economy, not for speed and power. Personally I think if the CT200h had the same engine as my RX450h, then the CT200h would have been a way better vehicle. However, it would not be able to achieve the 44mpg rating. The way I drive my CT200h NORMALLY......I get around 28mpg. But in stop and go LA traffic where NOBODY can go anywhere anytime real fast anyways......I get around 46mpg!!!

I had an ES300h a couple of years ago as a loaner. That thing was very smooth and quite!!! I had no problems merging, passing or whatever. As matter of fact I got too carried away, I got pulled over by some LEO for alleged speeding!!

So you might want to check out the ES300h.

The 15 is superior to the 13 for many reasons. I'd go 15.

Hybrids will sound different from traditional cars, but are overall quieter. don't worry about how it sounds.