Please talk me out of an IS250. :)

[CM2020]

Should I or should I not? Tempted by it. Always fancied one. Worried about some issues I read. But I guess the 220D is the problematic one.

Edited by CM2020 on Friday 20th August 22:39

[Norton850]

A colleague had a 06 plate for a few years and recently traded it in for a diesel x3.
He often mentions how he misses the IS and after a couple of journeys in it I can see why.

Comfy and quick enough,his had approx 150k miles but looked great..

I've been tempted and often look at them in the classifieds..

Edited by Norton850 on Sunday 15th August 17:26

[WilsonWilson]

Drive it and see what you think. IMO the manual isn't great, I always thought that it was developed for the US market (in the IS350) to be notchy 'because that's really sporty, right?' *said in the style of Clarkson's mocking American accent.

Also, the .gov E10 checker says you'll need to run it on super unleaded from September and for some reason, the stability control in early manual's can't be fully switched off. You can get around it by pulling the MAF to trigger an engine light which weirdly also turns traction and stability off.

But being a 2005 you escape the high tax. Manual put out 226g/km of CO2 so after March 2006 are in the £585 road tax bracket (all autos are £340).

[CM2020]

Norton850 said:

A colleague had a 06 plate for a few years and recently traded it in for a diesel x3.
He often mentions how he misses the IS and after a couple of journeys in it I can see why.

Comfy and quick enough,his had approx 150k miles but looked great..

I've been tempted and often look at them in the classifieds..

Edited by Norton850 on Sunday 15th August 17:26

Did he ever mention if it cost a lot to maintain or if it threw any big bills or gave any problems?

[CM2020]

PGN said:

Very rare if it's a V6!

Indeed! Very rare and it is the V6 petrol with a manual.

[CM2020]

WilsonWilson said:

Drive it and see what you think. IMO the manual isn't great, I always thought that it was developed for the US market (in the IS350) to be notchy 'because that's really sporty, right?' *said in the style of Clarkson's mocking American accent.

Also, the .gov E10 checker says you'll need to run it on super unleaded from September and for some reason, the stability control in early manual's can't be fully switched off. You can get around it by pulling the MAF to trigger an engine light which weirdly also turns traction and stability off.

But being a 2005 you escape the high tax. Manual put out 226g/km of CO2 so after March 2006 are in the £585 road tax bracket (all autos are £340).

The taxes don't worry me.

I have driven a manual 220D. Is it the same gearbox? I was surprised how refined and quiet it was. Barely felt like a diesel from the inside.

The bit about not being able to turn traction control off is a bit disappointing. Do these have a LSD?

Edited by CM2020 on Tuesday 24th August 06:33

[CM2020]

The RWD V6 manual deal is very appealing to me.

The interesting part is, I passed on a rare S-type 3.0 V6 manual exactly because I was looking for something more like a coupe. Now I'm considering a Lexus saloon. The S-type is probably not even that much less reliable, being from the Ford era . But Lexus has a great reputation. What worries me initially was just some reports I read about carbon build up. But this seems to be a common thing with direct injected engines. I knew the 220D has problems with the DPF.

But ironic me passing on the Jag and now considering this, given they are the same year model, both V6 petrol with similar power and also a manual. I guess the Lexus somehow is just more appealing.

Edited by CM2020 on Tuesday 24th August 06:39

[Norton850]

CM2020 said:

Norton850 said:

A colleague had a 06 plate for a few years and recently traded it in for a diesel x3.
He often mentions how he misses the IS and after a couple of journeys in it I can see why.

Comfy and quick enough,his had approx 150k miles but looked great..

I've been tempted and often look at them in the classifieds..

Edited by Norton850 on Sunday 15th August 17:26

Did he ever mention if it cost a lot to maintain or if it threw any big bills or gave any problems?

I have asked him this question and other than a brake pad change that was done on purchase and oil services,tyres etc I believe it was very reliable..

Edited by Norton850 on Monday 16th August 17:17

[exelero]

Norton850 said:

CM2020 said:

Norton850 said:

A colleague had a 06 plate for a few years and recently traded it in for a diesel x3.
He often mentions how he misses the IS and after a couple of journeys in it I can see why.

Comfy and quick enough,his had approx 150k miles but looked great..

I've been tempted and often look at them in the classifieds..

Edited by Norton850 on Sunday 15th August 17:26

Did he ever mention if it cost a lot to maintain or if it threw any big bills or gave any problems?

I have asked him this question and other than a brake pad change that was done on purchase and oil services,tyres etc I believe it was very reliable..

Edited by Norton850 on Monday 16th August 17:17

A friend of mine is a big Lexus fanboy, he had like 15 of them (not joking) over something like 8 years. He had an IS250 as well albeit the 13 plate one. Never mentioned any issues with either of them. In the 13 plate one he did like 40k miles in a year and no issues whatsoever. The only thing he spent money on was spark plugs and oil

[Pixelpeep 135]

if you buy an IS250 your penis will fall off after being slowly attacked by flesh eating bacteria.

[georgeyboy12345]

A 16 years old, high mileage, barried out banger that is quite expensive to tax, heavy, slow, gutless, with a notchy gearshift, it might be RWD, but it's not as dynamic as something like a BMW. Also, Alan Partridge likes them.

That good enough?

[Mr Tidy]

Well if it can't be German I'd be looking for another S-Type.

Lexus generally are good cars, but the IS250 doesn't seem to be one of their better models.

[Shifter1]

Mr Tidy said:

Well if it can't be German I'd be looking for another S-Type.

Lexus generally are good cars, but the IS250 doesn't seem to be one of their better models.

Surely that's a load of bks as the 250 is one of their best sellers, apart form the SUV thingy?

Specially on manuals, all you have apart from it are rusty BMWs, which from that era are all Bangle and ugly as sin. I'm not a Lexus or Toyota fan. But at least they are reliable and not as ugly as a Bangle. .

[Ilovejapcrap]

Mums had her 09 plate since 12 months old.

My opinion -

Nothing goes wrong to be honest.

Solid if a bit plastic inside

The nav system is a bit dated

I do find it a bit small feeling in drivers seat

The window switch on drivers door annoy me as I always press the rear window instead of the front

The engine is very smooth

I like to borrow it for long trips and waft

Crap on fuel

They are a cruiser and do it very very well, I say that as the fact it kinda sporty looking and RWD I think is giving you other ideas.

Great shape car

Mums rides good even with the upgraded wheel I want to say 18s?

I still liked her is200 more, now that was a lovely place to sit.

Would I buy one?, yes I would but not as some rear wheel drive drift machine as a mini cruiser. I find it very relaxing and fun, quick however for a v6, 2.5 it is not.

Typical Lexus tank build quality

Hope that helps?

[Mr Tidy]

Shifter1 said:

Mr Tidy said:

Well if it can't be German I'd be looking for another S-Type.

Lexus generally are good cars, but the IS250 doesn't seem to be one of their better models.

Surely that's a load of bks as the 250 is one of their best sellers, apart form the SUV thingy?

Specially on manuals, all you have apart from it are rusty BMWs, which from that era are all Bangle and ugly as sin. I'm not a Lexus or Toyota fan. But at least they are reliable and not as ugly as a Bangle. .

Your manufacturer preferences are obviously different to mine, but that doesn't mean either is wrong!

Ever since I first saw one I thought the IS250 was a good looking car, but how can Lexus have failed to get a 2.5 litre V6 into Band K for Road Tax? Who wants to pay the best part of £600 a year for one of those registered after March 2006?

The Bangle E9* BMWs may not look that special, but IMHO they are inoffensive and not ugly.

I've had 2 and no rust issues - it's the previous generation E46s that suffered from crustiness.

My E91 325i needed a new water pump at 135K but nothing else in the year I had it.

I've had it's replacement, a 107K mile E90 330i, for just over 2 years now and it has only needed new rear shock absorbers.

What has your Toyota/Lexus ownership experience been?

[grudas]

if you get a 250 get the auto, the manual is meh.

I had 250 auto SE-L for 2 years, sold it at 117k miles and it has never gone wrong for me bar consumables(brakes, service, wipers)

previous owner had it for 7 years and put most of the miles in, had one issue and that was a battery cable - £13.

they're super reliable and comfy but I'd avoid manual.

autos have lower tax too(no idea why/how) but my 08 250 SE-L was on the lower band

[croissant]

Might want to double-check but the manuals fall in to the £500+ tax bracket whereas the autos are about half that to tax

[Truckosaurus]

Can't fault my IS250. 14 years old on 90k miles and everything works.

I deliberately went for a non-satnav model and just use Waze on my phone. A cheap bluetooth dongle in the AUX socket works better than a lot of built in bluetooth systems I've used in the past.

Service parts are cheap, most things seem shared with other Toyota models.

[Shifter1]

Mr Tidy said:

Your manufacturer preferences are obviously different to mine, but that doesn't mean either is wrong!

Ever since I first saw one I thought the IS250 was a good looking car, but how can Lexus have failed to get a 2.5 litre V6 into Band K for Road Tax? Who wants to pay the best part of £600 a year for one of those registered after March 2006?

The Bangle E9* BMWs may not look that special, but IMHO they are inoffensive and not ugly.

I've had 2 and no rust issues - it's the previous generation E46s that suffered from crustiness.

My E91 325i needed a new water pump at 135K but nothing else in the year I had it.

I've had it's replacement, a 107K mile E90 330i, for just over 2 years now and it has only needed new rear shock absorbers.

What has your Toyota/Lexus ownership experience been?

The Lexus is just way more special, specially in V6 manual guise. It's also infinitely better looking than any saloon BMW has put out in the last 30 years really. BMW has gone off the deep end with their styling.

As for the tax, meh. If you are thinking of a Lexus V6 manual it means you have other priorities and tax is not in your head. If you would be worried about taxes I guess you would drive something boring or just get a shed. You would buy something everybody has like a Golf or BMW. Or just drive one of the billion automatics.

[DRVR]

Mr Tidy said:

Well if it can't be German I'd be looking for another S-Type.

Lexus generally are good cars, but the IS250 doesn't seem to be one of their better models.

What a misguided remark. Probably never owned one? The IS250 is a great car anyway you look at it. It was already mentioned it was a big seller for Lexus and for good reason. Nothing ever goes wrong with it. This has been my experience. It's a great car as pretty much every Lexus apart from their diesel fiasco.