Irish Lexus Owners

[chenille17]

I have just agreed to trade in my unbelievably reliable Nissan Almera for an IS200. I am buying from a Lexus dealer in Dublin,

but after the relatively cheap running costs of the Almera, I am starting to wonder what sort of expenses I might be looking at.

I have been told by the dealer that a typical service will be about €350 and will be due every 9000 miles (15,000km).

My IS is a 2000 with 96,000 miles and they have agreed to replace the Timing Belt before I pick it up.

Just hoping to get some advice on keeping an IS in Ireland, really.

Insurance/Tax/Service costs, has anyone had a new gearbox done in Ireland for example ? what sort of price were your ROI repairs ?

I can't wait to pick it up, took it for a test drive and just had to have it, seems like an amazing car !!!

Cheers.

[Cathal]

repairs are going to be expensive compaired to the uk, but not much different than any other car, how much you paying for the is200, i bought my second one there on aturday

I had an almera aswell before, there is no comparison, lexus is much nicer to drive

There reliable, and once the timing belt is done services wont be too expensive, so should be ok,

Im 21 and insurance is €1500 fully comp full licence

Tax about €600

[chenille17]

Hey Cathal,

That was quick !

Im paying 11k for it plus my almera, its coming with a service, 6 month warranty, new timing belt and they will sort any issues for the NCT (in June)

(my almera is a 97 with 130K so there wouldnt be a huge amount in it)

I know its a bit more than some are going for, but i wanted the security of a lexus dealer and the warranty, what do you think ?

are the dealers good for after care and service in your experience ?

The car is in pretty good condition as far as i can tell, i have read lots of good things about them so i have pretty high expectations.

[Cathal]

I'm not sure about after care service, because i would usually not buy from a dealer because the are robbing c***s, but you are getting serurity if your worried about any problems so thats a plus,

what year is the car and is it the se or sport model??

where about are you buying it?

[tyrrp]

Hey Cathal,

That was quick !

Im paying 11k for it plus my almera, its coming with a service, 6 month warranty, new timing belt and they will sort any issues for the NCT (in June)

(my almera is a 97 with 130K so there wouldnt be a huge amount in it)

I know its a bit more than some are going for, but i wanted the security of a lexus dealer and the warranty, what do you think ?

are the dealers good for after care and service in your experience ?

The car is in pretty good condition as far as i can tell, i have read lots of good things about them so i have pretty high expectations.

I pay €350 fully comp with Eagle Star. I'm 36 with forever no claims though.

6 months warranty seems wrong. I thought Toyota and Lexus gave 1 year on all used cars. Check back with them on that. One other thing to get checked is the shocks. Look for any leaks. NCT picked up a leak in one of mine even though there was no deflection left to right.

I always bring mine to Toyota garages for service. They are just as good as Lexus and a good bit cheaper. I pay around €190 for a standard service.

[chenille17]

Thanks for the tips, They gave me 6 months warranty and a further 3 months parts warranty (the toyota 1 year is only on cars with less than 80K on them) and did the timing belt, apparently it also needed new brake pads and disks on the front so they have done that too, I also asked them to check rear bushes, etc. They have told me they will see that passes the NCT when its due in a few months too, so I presume the service they are giving it now will sort anything that needs it. Insurance is €1000 with quinn, im 28 with full NCB so I think I will give eagle star a call tomorrow.

Will hopefully be picking up the car in morning, getting it from carroll-kinsella who do lexus and toyota so i dont know if they will be cheaper for service in future.

[BosniaLexus]

A bit steep at the price, so I hope that the service and warranty are good. I sold my 2000 IS200 with 47,000 miles (Irish reg) for EUR10,000 about 2 years ago to a relative who bought a new IS250 a few weeks ago, so he sold it for EUR7,000 with about 52,000miles. The car had its first MOT last week and passed (I know, but it was out or Ireland for a few years). Lexus dealers are expensive re: servicing in Ireland, but in the end, you can get it done anywhere (toyota etc) and at age 8 years, it will not make a difference to resale where it is serviced. Insurance is no worse than any other 2 litre car, and the tax is the same for all 2.0l cars. Where the IS will save you money is the fact that that model is probably still the most reliable car on the road today. It will never let you down, and provided the mileage is genuine and it has been cared for, you will never have to replace things like the gearbox etc... Its a quiet, comfortable, powerful car and also ageless. Good luck with it!

[tyrrp]

Thanks for the tips, They gave me 6 months warranty and a further 3 months parts warranty (the toyota 1 year is only on cars with less than 80K on them) and did the timing belt, apparently it also needed new brake pads and disks on the front so they have done that too, I also asked them to check rear bushes, etc. They have told me they will see that passes the NCT when its due in a few months too, so I presume the service they are giving it now will sort anything that needs it. Insurance is €1000 with quinn, im 28 with full NCB so I think I will give eagle star a call tomorrow.

Will hopefully be picking up the car in morning, getting it from carroll-kinsella who do lexus and toyota so i dont know if they will be cheaper for service in future.

Was it Carroll-Kinsella in Blackrock. I got mine there as well. Delt with Ken who is a good guy. Very easy to deal with. I had actually bought from him before when he was with Nissan many years ago and went to that garage because he was there even though I live on the north of the city.

For the insurance I go through a broker based in Portlaois. No body else seems to get the quotes they get. A company called Brophy & Co. 0578682129. My whole family have switched to them over the last few years because they are cheap.

[chenille17]

Yeah it was from Ken in Blackrock, seems like a decent guy, we will see how it goes, I just got off the phone with eagle star who have quoted me €370 for the year versus Quinn's 900 !!! I cant believe it, Quinn was great when I was younger and I gave them the opportunity to match eaglestar but they wouldn't. So that's a nice 500 quid saving.

[Noel]

regards local meets ... check out http://www.tezzaworld.com/forum/ although it's mainly Altezzas Lexus cousins are more than welcome :P

[Stetz]

Well for me its €650 for the insurance and herself on the policy. I'm looking to get my car serviced shortly and was looking for somewhere desent and a good rate :P