Official Pricing For Is250/is220d

[Parthiban]

Sorry, I now totally retract that last statement, having specced up a 325 with similar spec, it came to £37K, so £29K seems very reasonable indeed :D

[Kremmen]

Too much for me as well.

£27k for a metallic IS250SE Auto :(

Hope Lexus are listening as the prices "are not fixed yet".

[PG1]

Sorry, I now totally retract that last statement, having specced up a 325 with similar spec, it came to £37K, so £29K seems very reasonable indeed  :D

←

Yes - i just went onto the BMW configurator and a 325iSE auto equipped to the same as a 250is SE-L (assuming it has the media pack as standard) came to nearly 37k. So 29k for an IS250is SE-L auto does seem like good (relative) value

Still, I do wonder about the depreciation of the Lexus...

[Steve ( West Mids )]

The information with the dealers says the Media Pack is an option on the SE-L. Sport is sane as SE-L minus the seats ( Escaine not leather ) + metal effect trim pedals & suspension plus 18 inch wheels. This is where they seem to have done the sums wrong as the sport is £1500 cheaper than the SE-L. Don't think illuminated scuff plates, power rear window blind and wood trim is worth the difference.

Also I noticed there is a difference of £1500 between the SE-L and Sport on the petrol but only £900 difference on the diesel. Sport diesel has a different axle ratio too.

[PG1]

The information with the dealers says the Media Pack is an option on the SE-L. Sport is sane as SE-L minus the seats ( Escaine not leather ) + metal effect trim pedals & suspension plus 18 inch wheels. This is where they seem to have done the sums wrong as the sport is £1500 cheaper than the SE-L. Don't think illuminated scuff plates, power rear window blind and wood trim is worth the difference.

Also I noticed there is a difference of £1500 between the SE-L and Sport on the petrol but only £900 difference on the diesel. Sport diesel has a different axle ratio too.

←

Maybe the diesel sport has VDIM as standard? Hence the smaller difference?

BTW, what is 'Escaine' - is it like Alcantara?

[djanderso]

The similarly spec'd BMW may well cost £37K, but two things jump out, it will retain more of it's value with those options, the IS250 won't. Secondly, it's possible to get Sat nav in a 3 series for £1500 if you don't want TV, DVD, etc which I don't particularly need - I've got a nice big comfy lounge in the house for that.

I really fear that Lexus are trying to boost the image of the IS by making it expensive and therefore have the perceived quality that it's competitors do.

I'm really disappointed that the prices are going to be that high - to be quite honest my heart sank as I honestly thought I was going to be able to get a fully loaded IS250 for around £25K.

[Mr Morse]

The reviews should start appearing in the UK motoring press soon, I guess these will either make or break it for the new IS

I the reviews in the US press of the IS350 are anything to go by, Lexus still have some catch up to do if they want to take BMW's crown

[Durbs]

Out of my league on price too. Any suggestions on cheaper alternatives for people like me who have a budget of £25K and want a high spec'd car.

[PG1]

Out of my league on price too. Any suggestions on cheaper alternatives for people like me who have a budget of £25K and want a high spec'd car.

←

Durbs - what about a Honda Accord 2.4 Exec? these are really well spec'd (Sat Nav, xenons, Leather, elec heated seats etc) Great to drive too. I have the i-CTDi Executive.

You could pick up a s/h M3 for 25K too... :)

[Durbs]

Out of my league on price too. Any suggestions on cheaper alternatives for people like me who have a budget of £25K and want a high spec'd car.

←

Durbs - what about a Honda Accord 2.4 Exec? these are really well spec'd (Sat Nav, xenons, Leather, elec heated seats etc) Great to drive too. I have the i-CTDi Executive.

You could pick up a s/h M3 for 25K too... :)

←

Funny you should say that, I have been looking at the CTDi executive with Sat Nav and 17" alloys. Seems to be a nicely put together car. Yes i'd prefer the Lexus, but I have had a quote for a lttle over £21000 for the Honda. Thats nearly £9000 cheaper than the SE with Sat nav, sunroof and metallic paint! Do you get Xenons on this model too?

[PG1]

Out of my league on price too. Any suggestions on cheaper alternatives for people like me who have a budget of £25K and want a high spec'd car.

←

Durbs - what about a Honda Accord 2.4 Exec? these are really well spec'd (Sat Nav, xenons, Leather, elec heated seats etc) Great to drive too. I have the i-CTDi Executive.

You could pick up a s/h M3 for 25K too... :)

←

Funny you should say that, I have been looking at the CTDi executive with Sat Nav and 17" alloys. Seems to be a nicely put together car. Yes i'd prefer the Lexus, but I have had a quote for a lttle over £21000 for the Honda. Thats nearly £9000 cheaper than the SE with Sat nav, sunroof and metallic paint! Do you get Xenons on this model too?

←

No Xenons on the diesel executive I'm afraid. I don't know why... I have the I-CTDI with 17's but no Sat Nav. It's a very good car and feels a class above the Mondeos/Vectras of this world. Fuel consumption isn't as great as Honda publish though. I do 90% Motorway driving and only get 40 - 45mpg, compared to the 54mpg Honda claim! Great torque though, and engine is near silent when cruising.

Don't forget, this Accord is marketed as an Acura TSX in the US, which is a competitor to the Lexus IS...

[Durbs]

No Xenons on the diesel executive I'm afraid. I don't know why... I have the I-CTDI with 17's but no Sat Nav. It's a very good car and feels a class above the Mondeos/Vectras of this world. Fuel consumption isn't as great as Honda publish though. I do 90% Motorway driving and only get 40 - 45mpg, compared to the 54mpg Honda claim! Great torque though, and engine is near silent when cruising.

Don't forget, this Accord is marketed as an Acura TSX in the US, which is a competitor to the Lexus IS...

←

Thanks for that, I should be test driving one this weekend. Anyone interested in an 02 IS 200 Sport??

[saracen]

Maybe the diesel sport has VDIM as standard? Hence the smaller difference?

BTW, what is 'Escaine' - is it like Alcantara?

←

I understand, from the information that I have, that VDIM will be standard on the IS220 Sport. And that Escaine is like Alcantara.

[PG1]

The similarly spec'd BMW may well cost £37K, but two things jump out, it will retain more of it's value with those options, the IS250 won't.  Secondly, it's possible to get Sat nav in a 3 series for £1500 if you don't want TV, DVD, etc which I don't particularly need - I've got a nice big comfy lounge in the house for that.

I really fear that Lexus are trying to boost the image of the IS by making it expensive and therefore have the perceived quality that it's competitors do. 

I'm really disappointed that the prices are going to be that high - to be quite honest my heart sank as I honestly thought I was going to be able to get a fully loaded IS250 for around £25K.

←

Regarding the cost of the media pack - agree it's pretty expensive - but apparantly it consists of the following :

1) Sat Nav (voice controlled)

2) Mark Levinson Stereo + 14 speakers + 5.1 Surround + DVD player

3) Bluetooth (Voice control for your phone)

4) Reverse Camera

1) would probably be around 1.5K

2) would probably be around 800 quid? (based on top spec BMW hi-Fi upgrade price)

3) Is around 500 (again taken from BMW prices)

4) PDC (just sensors) is normally around 300 quid - I guess a camera would be double that - (Why this is needed when the car already has F/R parking sensers gawd knows!)

So £2700 is expected .... should be standard though ... it's a Lexus!!!

[convert]

Which model do we think will go well the petrol or the diesel?

The diesel is cheaper than the petrol and has VDIM included in some models as std.

The petrol is not that much faster 200bhp vs 177bhp and 0-60 8.3s vs 9.3s and diesel offers better torque of 400Nm so will be better all round. The snag is no auto.......

[djanderso]

It's only a 4 cylinder though - and that could well be Lexus second biggest mistake. A diesel needs to be refined and smooth - sure Honda have managed it with their 4-pot but then nobody makes a 4-pot like Honda anyway.

[convert]

I see what you mean.....and its the same one as the avensis is going to get Clean D cat or something.

I suppose you'd have to drive both back to back to see which one you'd go for, but diesel model cheaper than petrol seems strange..thats why is probably cheaper...better if it was V6 diesel like the C320cdi.

[ams54321]

Out of my league on price too. Any suggestions on cheaper alternatives for people like me who have a budget of £25K and want a high spec'd car.

←

Durbs - what about a Honda Accord 2.4 Exec? these are really well spec'd (Sat Nav, xenons, Leather, elec heated seats etc) Great to drive too. I have the i-CTDi Executive.

You could pick up a s/h M3 for 25K too... :)

←

I went for a 51 plate M3 with FBMWSH, 1 owner, only 25k on the clock and immaulate for only £23.5k. And i get 343 horses under the bonnet! Was thinking about trading in my is200 for the new 250 but couldnt resist the M3 at that money

[dealer-man]

At last - got myself the full spec and price bullitin from Lexus today (obviously way behind everyone else as normal!). There are a few other little bits that I have found to add to this topic that I don't think have been mentioned yet:

1. The £3000 price jump from the standard model to the SE gets you electric heated/chilled memory seats plus 17" wheels - you will still NOT get rain sensing wipers, parking sensors, xenons, rear armrest, eletrically adjustable steering column, self dimming mirror, rear blind or illuminated scuff plates - for all that you have to go to the SE-L which costs another £2,600!! Suddenly the SE is not the "bargin" model it is in the other ranges.

Bare in mind that to go from the base to SE inc sat nav costs around £6000 in the GS and £6500 in the RX yet costs £5710 and you still don't get all the bits like xenons, self dimming mirror...

2. The sport IS250 will NOT be released until APRIL 2006!! This is £1500 less than the SE-L and has metal trim instead of wood (at last a trim for the younger generation!), loses the rear blind and the illuminated scuff plates but gets scuff plates all round and 18" wheels, metal pedals and sports suspension. Also gets Escaine trim rather than the leather.

3. Adaptive Cruise Control is only available on the IS250 SE-L AUTO.

4. The different diesel engine configuration that I mentioned in one of my previous posts will find its way into the IS220 Sport - this will have a different final drive ratio to give a "sportier" performance with higher emissions.

5. The new sat nav looks superb!! It now has a 32,000 x 256 VGA colour screen with a "Michelin" style map - looks very cool!

6. A world first of "sound absorbing sun visors"!! - don't ask!

7. The eletric sunroof has a nine position selector - not just the old slide and tilt.

As a dealer who is going to have to sell them I would say that the entry level model for £22,400 will be a good seller - I don't see a lot of people taking the SE at £25,400 with no xenons, self dimming mirror etc. The SE-L will sell well because it has everything but really most customers will want the rear camera/PDC's which means buying the Media pack - I think this is not well planned. £2710 is a lot of money and many will not use the DVD player, there needs to be two versions of this.

Put simply, I would say you are looking at three main sellers from a dealer's perspective - the base at £22,000, the SE-L with media pack for £32,000 and the sport for £26,500.

Pick of the range? If I had to pick one BIG seller it would be the IS220d Sport. But I will reserve full judgement until I drive them all probably in September.

One final point, I was talking to our Lexus area manager today who said that "Lexus are listening" regarding pricing etc., make of that what you will!

[Parthiban]

This pricing scheme might cause trouble for Lexus, because the price is now going up according to how many options the car has, like a BMW or Merc, but here you don't get the choice of which ones you want and which ones you don't. If you want everything, you can get an SE-L, but if you want SE spec and SE price, but want xenons for example, you can't have it. With the old IS200, this was acceptable because the car was so well priced, but at these new prices people are going to think twice as to whether its worth it.

I read somewhere that there is a hard drive on the stereo that can hold 2000 songs, are we going to get that or is that Japan only?

[convert]

I think its going to be difficult to decide for someone opting for 3 series or the lexus.

Mainly because bmw has now uprated its engines with more choice and even night vision is now avialable. So with the 3er it seems you can have the options you want....

Not everyone wants sat nav, and Precrash bundled with ACC at 2700 is a rip off.

The Sport is better but no leather which is a must for me. The VDIM only std on sport diesel but no auto.... It is very restrictive......with BMW you can add what you want and leave out the uneccessary toys......for me LEATHER,AUTO, xenons, mettalic paint are a must with decent wheels. To get decent wheels you need sport . If i need all the above i will have to get the SEL-auto in the 250 guise which is as close to a 330i.

Nice car, pricing and options are flawed.....as yet.

[PG1]

I think its going to be difficult to decide for someone opting for 3 series or the lexus.

Mainly because bmw has now uprated its engines with more choice and even night vision is now avialable. So with the 3er it seems you can have the options you want....

Not everyone wants sat nav, and Precrash bundled with ACC at 2700 is a rip off.

The Sport is better but no leather which is a must for me. The VDIM only std on sport diesel but no auto.... It is very restrictive......with BMW you can add what you want and leave out the uneccessary toys......for me LEATHER,AUTO, xenons, mettalic paint are a must with decent wheels. To get decent wheels you need sport . If i need all the above i will have to get the SEL-auto in the 250 guise which is as close to a 330i.

Nice car, pricing and options are flawed.....as yet.

←

I agree - BMW have just released pricing for their M-sport variants too. You can get a 330i Sport for less than a fully loaded is250SE-L. 32K for an Is that has 'mediocre' performance for a 2.5l V6 is a lot. I think good press reviews are going to be crucial for Lexus when compared to the new 3. At least the Lex is a good looking car and should be a rarer sight in the roads...

[djanderso]

I really hope Lexus are listening to these comments as I have now starting looking elsewhere - I'll wait until the prices are confirmed, but it sounds like these are pretty acurate and if they are then regretably I won't be coming back to Lexus ownership.

I agree entirly with Convert - when buying a BMW you can at least custom build it the way you want it without *having* to take things you don't really want - being forced to spend nearly £3K to get sat nav is unacceptable.

It's a real shame Lexus are doing this and I fear it could seriously backfire on them.

[Steve ( West Mids )]

I think there are a number of current IS owners are going to vote for the IS250 with there feet. Likely winners will be BMW, Honda, Audi, Jaguar amd maybe Volvo.

It's time for Lexus GB to listen what people are saying and do something before they publish the prices prior to launch. It doesn't matter how good the cars are - people looking at least £15k to change for a car of same spec. that was £24k two years ago.

[deejaygee]

I think there are a number of current IS owners are going to vote for the IS250 with there feet. Likely winners will be BMW, Honda, Audi, Jaguar amd maybe Volvo.

It's time for Lexus GB to listen what people are saying and do something before they publish the prices prior to launch. It doesn't matter how good the cars are -  people looking at least £15k to change for a car of same spec. that was £24k two years ago.

←

Already started - My choice so far is a X-Type Diesel Automatic - Lexus GB - your making a BIG MISTAKE!