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Son is thinking of getting an is220d as he likes the looks, and all the toys inside. Now I know there not like my old LS400 but are they worth getting or are the horror stories true about the engine?

Should he buy one or not? 

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One of the key considerations if he’s thinking of a diesel is what type of journeys he’ll make.

Modern diesels are fitting with a filter (DPF) to trap all the nasties from the exhaust, but in order for that filter to clean itself properly you need to be doing regular decent stretches of motorway driving ideally.

Diesels are not suited to small journeys and local stop/start town journeys. Apart from the risk of the filter being unable to clean itself properly, a diesel’s fuel economy is optimised on long motorway hauls, not short local trips. 

So unless he’s got decent mileage to do, then as noted above, the petrol is250 may be a better bet. Cleaner and smoother too, although obviously more thirsty. 

Lexus aren’t renowned for their diesels at all, so I know where my money’d be going. Best of luck. 

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26 minutes ago, leelacey17 said:

Is250 any day. Still have all the toys. How much is he spending?

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He’s only looking to spend £2000 😕 not many about. What are the older is200’s like?

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He’s only looking to spend £2000 [emoji53] not many about. What are the older is200’s like?
Your not going to get much with 2k. Has he a car to part exchange or is it first car?

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7 months ago I bought a high mileage 2006 IS 220D at 183,000 miles for under £1500 on eBay.

It has 2 previous owners with first 4 years with Lexus history then 2nd owner for 8 years and serviced it at one garage who I spoke to and had no issues. Clutch still the original! So far nothing has gone wrong. The AC didn't work but I installed a new AC condenser once I had a diagnostic done for £30.

It's been totally fault free. I use it as my posh car and still looks good in burgundy red. No leather or satnav, just the basic model. I have put on 5,000 miles as my second car. My work car is a 1996 Volvo 940 LPT petrol auto estate on 197,000 miles.

I always take the Lexus on a good blast on the A38 weekly from near Burton To Brum 

The Lexus is quiet and standard radio good. The best thing is it's safe (5 star euro NCAP) in it's day with 8-10 airbags. Traction control and I believe also has electronic stability control. Cruise control is nice too.

My next Lexus would probably be an IS 300H.

All in all if it lasts me a few years I'll be happy. If it dies I'd part it out or sell for spares/repairs.

Good luck with your car search.

 

James.

 

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Lexus have stopped producing diesel cars for a while now. As has been said, unless your son does long runs regularly the DPF will clog and at some point it will be game over. The DPF could already be clogged and is maybe the reason the car is for sale. Just saying.

I have owned both an IS200 (manual) and IS250 (auto). Both were superb but the running costs, especially the road tax, got too much in the end so I moved on. After numerous other brands since I am now back in a Lexus CT200h.  

Steer clear of a diesel if you can, however tempting the Lexus badge on it may be. 

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To be brutally honest, I wouldn't buy any diesel in today's current climate.

 

Never mind spending only 2k on a diesel. That's a recipe for throwing 2k and a hell of a lot more money down the drain.

Injectors costing upwards of a grand, egr valves, dpf at end of its life..

 

Cost cost cost

 

If diesel is what your looking at, then you want no newer than about 53/54 model years. This was when common rail diesels were entering the market so we're more powerful and refined but didn't have dpf filters etc.

After euro 3 emissions dpf's came into play and are now part of mot and are a failure if they have been removed.

 

 

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Please don't get the DERV version as I'll you'll be back writing in another  section of this forum a lot! If you go for the petrol (250) you won't be under the bonnet half so much but one thing is to check the cost of VED ( Road Tax) of the Auto and Manual versions even though they have the same engine 2.5 V6 the manual has got different class of emissions and the tax is eye watering!

paul m.

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Is220d owner here. Get an is250 auto. Wish I did but didn’t know better at the time. I don’t do the mileage to benefit from diesel and it’s embarrassing at times driving with a James Bond smoke screen belching out albeit it for a minute.

love the car itself, would definitely buy another Lexus, glad they dropped the diesel, future Lexus ownership should be trouble free fingers crossed.

 

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When I was in the market for an IS250 I assumed the manual would be cheaper with regards to road tax ...it wasn't. .. the auto was surprisingly in a tax bracket one down from the manual. I had a manual for a while, prior, and it was a dog of a gearbox (since found out that many hated it, especially compared to the very smooth auto box). 

If you're prepared to pay high road tax but can find an inexpensive auto IS250 with a good service history it'll probably be worth it. I miss mine and regretted the sale (ended up buying a car with zero road tax but without the luxury and reliability that the IS offered).

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On 11/30/2018 at 7:14 AM, MadJam250 said:

Lexus have stopped producing diesel cars for a while now. As has been said, unless your son does long runs regularly the DPF will clog and at some point it will be game over. The DPF could already be clogged and is maybe the reason the car is for sale. Just saying.

I have owned both an IS200 (manual) and IS250 (auto). Both were superb but the running costs, especially the road tax, got too much in the end so I moved on. After numerous other brands since I am now back in a Lexus CT200h.  

Steer clear of a diesel if you can, however tempting the Lexus badge on it may be. 

Actually Lexus still make diesel's !!! The Lexus LX450d (basically a Landcruiser amazon 4.5 diesel) sold in Russia, New Zealand and few other countries but not western Europe but may possibly stop for the next generation my guess anyway ! And yeah I'll avoid the IS220d !!

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Kind of late to IS220d bashing party .... 

I know original question was already answered and OP persuaded away from IS220d (thanks god!). Personally, just wanted to touch on the budget and type of use i.e. for £2000 you are looking in completely beaten-up car which is definitely going to give you headache in the shape of IS220d - these low cost ones are especially to be avoided. Second point the use - I see people say that diesel=cancer.... I cannot completely agree, on motorway they will still give you best mileage at lowest cost and they are still more environment friendly in such case, but you need to be doing 20-30k miles/year predominately on motorway. In which case IS220d is fine... I would personally go for newer IS200d for ~£4000 you get yourself 2010/2011 car. However, if you do under 8k diesel is out of question and "thirsty" petrol not going to matter in such low mileage anyhow, probably going to work out about the same on fuel (considering diesel is now 11p more expensive), but you wont have any maintenance costs. For £2000 you not getting IS250 though... certainly not in decent shape, I would say £4000 minimum with good service history but astronomical miles, or £5500 for "low miles" (~80k considering age) and good history.

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