So, a Lexus IS250?

[R.C.Anderson]

I've been considering buying myself a Lexus IS 250 around the 06/07 age (SE-L, rather than SE as road tax is about £200 less).
Does anyone on here have one?
What are they like to live with?
Anything I should look out for?
What would be classed as "too many miles, stay clear"?
Being Toyotas essentially, is it unreasonable to expect 200k+ from them if reasonably maintained?

 

[Trifid]

I've been considering buying myself a Lexus IS 250 around the 06/07 age (SE-L, rather than SE as road tax is about £200 less).

Err... SE-L is just a bit of wood inside (and a couple of extras). No difference in the tax band, both being in K, at £280 a year to tax.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Err... SE-L is just a bit of wood inside (and a couple of extras). No difference in the tax band, both being in K, at £280 a year to tax.

Possible it's just a coincidence, but every SE model I've seen was speced at 231g/km, whereas the SE-L is at 214g/km unless it's just SE-L come with an auto box which is what changes it?

 

[R.C.Anderson]

I think that must be what it is, as after a bit more research I've found it listed on parkers with the autos lower than the manuals. Must just be the SE-L is far more common as an auto than the SE!

 

[jr1104]

Had one for about a year, was a great car. Good alternative to the 3 series I thought, not quite up there in handling terms but it still manages to drive quite well. I had a 6 speed manual, and my first bit of advice would be to test drive both a manual and an auto. I found the manual to be a bit of a pain, it was never bad but the big smooth engine doesn't really complement a manual gearbox very well.

Apart from that, it got me all over the country without any problems at all. Obviously I didn't have it that long, but it did seem to live up to it's reputation for reliability. Mine had the sat nav, sunroof and the heated and cooled seats and comfort wise it was a great car to cruise around in.

The only reason I ended up changing was because I wanted an automatic. Had the Lexus been an auto, I would definitely still have it. Any questions, just ask away.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Is there a reason you didn't go for a auto version when you changed? What car did you end up changing to?

 

[jr1104]

At the time I wasn't really looking for an auto, work travel and commuting since then has increased though so I decided to change. Now I have an E39 BMW 530i.

 

[ethos]

What are the running costs like?

The IS250 is on my shortlist of cars to look at to replace the R26...

 

[jr1104]

In the year I had it, it had 2 new rear tyres on it for about £360 and a major service at an independent garage for £200. Fuel economy I averaged 28 mpg doing town and traffic driving to and from work, on the motorway it would settle at about 35 mpg.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Mind if I ask the mileage, age & how much you paid & subsequently managed to sell on for?

The ones I've been looking at are around the £6k mark, with between 90-120k miles, are they worth getting at that price, or are they falling apart?

 

[jr1104]

It was a 55 plate car, and had about 78k miles on it when I bought for £6500 from a used car garage. When I sold it privately for £5800 a year later it had about 86k miles.

It certainly never felt old or particularly high mileage, the example I bought had had 2 owners and FSH though. I think although there's not too much that fails on them, paying to get one that has been regularly serviced and maintained gives you a bit more assurance that at these kind of mileages the car will still be fine.

 

[ethos]

The ones I've been looking at are around the £6k mark, with between 90-120k miles, are they worth getting at that price, or are they falling apart?

Same sort of price I'm looking at too...

Have you test driven one yet?

 

[Zirax]

I've had mine around 18 months and dropped just over 24k on it. It has had a couple of services, a new tyre and that's about it. Each 60k is the major service which is sparks (long life and cost a fortune) and a few other bits and bobs. Actually Lexus servicing on their equivalent of Ford Rapid Fit is fairly cheap! The dealers are nice, unlike other marquees that treat you like trash!

I did drive it in the snow last year and it was really surprising just how good the 'snow mode' is. I managed to get in the office even on normal summer tyres.

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Same sort of price I'm looking at too...

Have you test driven one yet?

I Haven't yet, no. I want to be fairly sure I could live with one if I got it before going to test one. Have you?

 

[ethos]

I Haven't yet, no. I want to be fairly sure I could live with one if I got it before going to test one. Have you?

Ditto, still researching running costs and common faults before sorting out a test drive. The Lexus forums seem to be pretty positive in general which is a nice change from the Renault forums...!

I have a few other cars on my short list which are "fairly similar". Mazda 6 MPS, Octavia MKII vRS and the Volvo S40 R-Design T5, but the Lexus is a bit different.

Nearest Lexus garage is around 60 miles away which is a bit of a pain, although I'm guessing any good Toyota indie would be up to the job?

 

[Rilot]

I'm a big fan of the IS250 in terms of value for money. The SE-L model is extremely well equipped with a great nav, reverse camera, keyless entry and start, heated and cooled seats etc etc.
My only complaints with them is that they aren't that big inside. Much smaller than the equivalent 3-series. They also don't ride very well on bad surfaces and they are a bit under powered.
As a package though I think they are really nice. Good to drive and comfortable.

Do choose an auto though. It's a bit old-school when compared to more modern auto boxes but is vastly superior to the manual box which is horrible. I had the misfortune to drive a manual IS when I had my old GS430 in for a service. It was horrible. Like stirring a rice pudding that was made with bits of pig-iron rather than rice.

 

[[TW]Fox]

At the time I wasn't really looking for an auto, work travel and commuting since then has increased though so I decided to change. Now I have an E39 BMW 530i.

Interesting change which suggests the IS was quite a poor car. What didn't the IS do that you wanted?

 

[jr1104]

Interesting change which suggests the IS was quite a poor car. What didn't the IS do that you wanted?

The IS was my first step into 'premium' cars, having come from an MG ZS. For the budget that I had at the time the Lexus appeared to be the best value for money, due to all the equipment included as standard. Everything about the car was what I was looking for at the time, I.e. something with some interesting technical extras and a good level of comfort. It was pretty much just the gearbox that let it down, hence the change.

The E39 was the chosen replacement just because I have always liked them, and wanted a bit of a project to work on. The Lexus was almost boring because of the fact that nothing went wrong, although I realise that might not be how everyone thinks!

 

[R.C.Anderson]

Ditto, still researching running costs and common faults before sorting out a test drive. The Lexus forums seem to be pretty positive in general which is a nice change from the Renault forums...!

I have a few other cars on my short list which are "fairly similar". Mazda 6 MPS, Octavia MKII vRS and the Volvo S40 R-Design T5, but the Lexus is a bit different.

Nearest Lexus garage is around 60 miles away which is a bit of a pain, although I'm guessing any good Toyota indie would be up to the job?

If you find anything useful out, let me know!

I might actually have a look at those others too, I had a quick look at the Mazda & Octavia before, but didn't like the look of them much...

I'm a big fan of the IS250 in terms of value for money. The SE-L model is extremely well equipped with a great nav, reverse camera, keyless entry and start, heated and cooled seats etc etc.
My only complaints with them is that they aren't that big inside. Much smaller than the equivalent 3-series. They also don't ride very well on bad surfaces and they are a bit under powered.
As a package though I think they are really nice. Good to drive and comfortable.

Do choose an auto though. It's a bit old-school when compared to more modern auto boxes but is vastly superior to the manual box which is horrible. I had the misfortune to drive a manual IS when I had my old GS430 in for a service. It was horrible. Like stirring a rice pudding that was made with bits of pig-iron rather than rice.

How well equipped it is is one of the main reasons I like it. I've been spoilt too much over the last couple of years after driving so many new Jags & Range Rovers, nothing I can afford compares I did read that they're not that big in the back, but are fine in the front. To be honest, I'm not too bothered about how it is in the back, I'm not going to be giving a lift to a lot of people very often, and when I do, as long as I'm comfy, I don't mind!

I did consider the 3-series, but I'm really not a fan of the styling of BMWs (or Mercs), and don't really like to be considered as an Audi driver, so all in all, it doesn't leave me much choice!

Was deffo going to get the Auto if I was going to get one anyway, even if it's just to save the £200 a year in road tax!

 

[Nick1881]

I have an IS300 but liked the look of the newer IS, so I took an IS250 for a test drive, I was really disappointed from a performance point of view, it felt totally gutless, just about seemed to get going if I really revved it round. My IS300 felt incredible on the way home.

Think I'd rather have the GS300, I know it's a lot bigger but on paper the performance looks better.