Hello all, I’m new here and have a few questions. I’m currently in the process of buying a 2017 CT F sport with 26k miles on it. Seems to be a good deal and is certified. However upon reading on this forum I’m seeing a lot of concern over the head gasket issues. For one, just how common is this? Is this something I should be concerned about going into it? Also, does cleaning the ERG system prevent a head gasket issue? I can’t really seem to find a clear answer on that. Ideally I’d like to keep this car for 200-300k miles at least. Any advise would be much appreciated! Thank you!

 

You're good. 26k miles is not enough to have any problems yet. It is a matter of keeping the ERG system clean. I believe that the later model years had some fixes or adjustments , I've never seen a 2017 with the problem (yet).

 

Ah that’s great to know! Thanks for the reply! I didn’t realize they’d ever changed anything. I’m coming from an also 2017 IS350 F sport. Love the car but I’m sick of averaging 16 mpg on premium, plus they eat up brakes and tries like crazy. Not worth the cost to me. Hoping the CT will turn out to be low maintenance and low cost to own!

 

I also switched from an IS350 to a CT200H. Partly for similar reasons...incredibly low maintenance and 2x or more Mpg

 

post 2014 supposedly has 'less' problems, but I've seen a handful of 2014 and 2015 owners with blown head gaskets. The key to prevent this from happening is the EGR maintenance, which is ideal to do around 100-120k miles, and recurring every 100k miles (which you would probably only do twice).
I think you should get it. 2017 is great and low mileage is a plus, too.

 

Thanks for the replies! Glad to know I’m not the only one coming from an IS350. Just drove down to Orlando and picked up the CT today! Loving it so far on my journey home.

 

Nice! Congrats.
its a fun car to drive.. I was a little nervous going from the power of an IS350 to a 1.8l CT. However, it's got a lot more punch to it than a non-hybrid 1.8 and handling impressive to this day. Got my 16' F-Sport about 6 months ago and am liking the car more and more.

Never thought I'd drive a hybrid, or a hatchback...but both are very practical functions for a daily driver. I've fit a ton of stuff in this car when needed and if I drive with complete disregard to fuel consumption I'm still pulling in +35mpg. +40mpg combined if I take it easy, and it's not hard to get 40mpg either.

To answer your question initially the EGR issue is VERY common but the upgrades post 2015 addressed precisely what caused those issues. It's still a 3rd gen engine but should be far less of a concern than it once was. Several other upgrades post 2015 as well.

 

Nice pickup and welcome. Now go do the RX350 bi-xenon swap

 

Thanks for the replies! So far I haven’t really missed the power and I actually like the firmness of the CT F sport suspension and tightness of the steering a bit better than the IS which is quite surprising to me. The headlights are another story. They aren’t horrible but definitely not as good as the IS LEDs. I had no idea we could swap for the RX350 HIDs.. how do I do that?

 

follow E46CT thread on your headlight conversion. Muxh better option than mine, I just replaced the bulbs (but was pleasantly surprised on outcome...better than past experiences). If you want to know which bulbs I got ill look it up for you.

Yeah the lighter feel of the CT really shines through when compared to IS. I still surprise myself on on/off ramps to this day. But at the same time "feels" bigger than an A3 hatchback I drove in between the IS and CT.