mmarshall

You got it. The Ford Fusion Hybrid. The HS250, IMO, is not bad-looking either.

mmarshall

Manual-stage CVTs are generally limited to sport-oriented vehicles, as Nissan does with a number of its products. Subaru, however, now includes a 6-stage CVT on the base Outback, which is decidedly non-sporty. Although it has a well-balanced and well-done chassis, you could not, IMO, consider the HS to be a sport-oriented vehicle.


No, it is probably not a body-style issue. More likely, it's like so many other things in auto design these days.....simple cost-cutting. Eliminating the waist-level molding on the body sides (where it would be most effective in warding off dings) probably saves a couple of dollars on each car at the factory.

By the way, SCRATCH-OUT, an inexpensive product I highly recommend (and use myself), will usually take the surface paint-marks out from door dings, but, of course, will not repair the ding in the sheet metal itself. For that, you need a body shop or a dent-removal company like Dent Wizard or Dentworks.

And, of course, you can always park at the far end of the lot, away from other cars, and just walk.

Thanks. Enjoy your test-drive.

mmarshall

Sure. Anytime.

I don't totally agree. The generally pleasant interior is OK, and has nicer leather than some German cars, but, for several reasons which I outlined in the review, I wouldn't consider it a true luxury interior.

mmarshall

Thanks.

The door panels are not all plastic like in some cheaper entry-level cars. They have the same nice leather inserts in them you will find as seat leather.....and the leather Lexus uses, is, IMO, nicer and softer then the stuff you find in many German cars.

The Prius, though, up to now, has been the hot "Eco" car with celebrities. And its gas mileage blows the HS away.

tzu911

I second that. Thanks mike for the great review. If there's a review like this every morning, I won't need that cup of joe.

mmarshall

Sure. Glad to be able to do them.


Thanks, but keep your coffee cup handy. I can't do car reviews of this length every day, for obvious reasons. First, they take a lot of time and work, and, second, the requested vehicles are not always available locally.

pagemaster

I am not so sure the HS is up to luxury car standards. There is a lot of plastic on the doors which is not just at the bottom but close to the top of the door. I do like how Lexus does use recylced plastic for the interior parts and I do support this but Toyota has been cheapening out their interiors since 2005 and it appears it is now creeping into Lexus models.

As for the door being real leather in certain parts. I believe it is simulated leather.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Awesome review mmarshall

kind of an oxymoron when you want green but you chopped a tree to put in the wood


indeed the fusion hybrid looks pretty good

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

Just because people want to help the environment doesn't mean they don't want to give up their trees and cow skins

The G Man

The interior is definitely not up to par for a Lexus. The concept is good though, a luxury green car, who would have thought?

mmarshall

I agree with you that a luxury car should not have a lot of plastic inside, but just the presence of plastic alone does not necessarily mean excessive cheapness. Look at the new Subaru Impreza/Outback Sport, for example, which are not even considered luxury vehicles. Virtually EVERYTHING inside is hard plastic, except for the padded elbow-rests on the door panels. But it is good, durable, solid plastic, not flimsy stuff that will crack the moment you get it home. And it is good-looking plastic......check out this nice, swoopy dash, for example:





My test car had the black leather interior. I checked the door panels carefully, and they seemed to have the same leather inserts, in both look and feel, as the seats. I know what the cheap, simulated stuff looks and feels like: I've dealt with it in a number of German cars.

mmarshall

Thanks.



I don't see a contradiction. If you don't cut trees down, they recycle THEMSELVES......and die. And most companies, now, who do chop down trees for buisness reasons, are required by law to re-plant at least a certain percentage of them.

You probably have at least some wood furniture in your house, don't you? Most people do.

92 SC400

Nice detailed review - as always!

I don't often respond to many reviews you do because by the time I've read all the posts pretty much all the questions have been answered but...

I am curious though, do you feel this car is worth is $34k+ price tag? My initial feelings to this car is that it would be better suited sold badged as a Toyota and at a slightly lower price so I'm interested in your opinion on this.

I've seen a couple on the road and briefly at a dealer and for that price it's hard to justify IMO. While it's MPG is better than a lot of cars, it's not great and overall I thought it was quite mediocre in design.

TRDFantasy

As far as I know, Lexus has not used simulated leather on any models, but people can correct me if I am wrong.

As for Toyota "cheapening out their interiors since 2005", this is getting tiring. Yes, Toyota hit a low point with Toyota (and some Lexus) models using cheap interior materials years ago with several models.

Now though, Toyota has IMPROVED and continues to improve. The Venza uses good materials, the Highlander uses good materials, and the new 4Runner seems to have good materials as well.

Also the new RX and HS both have better materials and quality than the ES, so that tells you Toyota is improving. The current ES was a low point for Lexus in terms of interiors. Let me also add the LX uses some good materials.

You need to stop living in the past.

dunnojack

no one has harder plastic than infiniti.

feel the armrest on the doors of the G37. yuck.