Lexus 220d Or Should I Stick With Volvo?

[jalfa]

This is my 1st post here, Hi to all.

I would pick the Lex 10 times out of 10. I have had mine now for about a month - I work some 300 km´s from home and I drive it to work every Monday morning and back home Thursday afternoon. I needed to change to a diesel due to the fueleconomy and I really tested a lot of diesel cars before buying this one (IS 220 Sport).

What really surprised me was that I tried this car some 5-6 months earlier when it was almost brand new and back then I did not like it at all. (Engine, clutch, and gearbox). But I tried it again when it had some 12000 km mileage and it was a completely different experience/car. No problems at all - gearbox is all fine, it runs very quiet and the car is very comfortable (very important for me). I must say I don´t understad the problem with the 6th gear as described in this forum - perhaps Lexus have changed it by now as I experience no problem at all? I´m riding smothly on the highway on 6th gear in less then 60 mph if I want to.

Perhaps this kind of car need some mileage to perform at it´s best? I´ve heard a few in a Swedish autobobile-forum saying the same thing.

I have driven the Volvo before (I´m Swedish) so I know the difference. If space is not an issue for you Lexus should be your pick.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[VrmmVrmm]

This is my 1st post here, Hi to all.

I would pick the Lex 10 times out of 10. I have had mine now for about a month - I work some 300 km´s from home and I drive it to work every Monday morning and back home Thursday afternoon. I needed to change to a diesel due to the fueleconomy and I really tested a lot of diesel cars before buying this one (IS 220 Sport).

What really surprised me was that I tried this car some 5-6 months earlier when it was almost brand new and back then I did not like it at all. (Engine, clutch, and gearbox). But I tried it again when it had some 12000 km mileage and it was a completely different experience/car. No problems at all - gearbox is all fine, it runs very quiet and the car is very comfortable (very important for me). I must say I don´t understad the problem with the 6th gear as described in this forum - perhaps Lexus have changed it by now as I experience no problem at all? I´m riding smothly on the highway on 6th gear in less then 60 mph if I want to.

Perhaps this kind of car need some mileage to perform at it´s best? I´ve heard a few in a Swedish autobobile-forum saying the same thing.

I have driven the Volvo before (I´m Swedish) so I know the difference. If space is not an issue for you Lexus should be your pick.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

I agree with the above I am an owner of a Jan 2007 model 6th gear no problem from 55 mph up and getting great economy...the only time I get any creak from this car is if I have a/c on at below 18 degrees then the occasional contraction of the dash material happens. I also agree with another contributor that wrote about poor dealership...it is very frustrating for the victim but the car is still predominantly an excellent car, even if the human side of things lets you down. Another thing I've noticed is that European buyers v's UK buyers appear to be happier, perhaps the models for the UK are indeed different???

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Mine has covered more miles than that - and 6th is much better, but I really cannot use it at anything below 70 unless down hill.

One word of warning - the Handbook clearly recommends that you shouldn't use 6th if travelling less than 75mph (pg 113). This implies it is NOT designed to be used on the UK's roads, where our max speed limit is 70mph. It really feels as though you are pulling a heavy horse box/another car at even 70mph in 6th, and the mirror becomes useless, and acceleration to overtake can be scary - very glaciel. And hit any sort of gradient and your teeth fall out.

On the Sport model, you can use it from 62mph. For Uk roads, the Sport makes much more sense.

[FinLex]

On the Sport model, you can use it from 62mph. For Uk roads, the Sport makes much more sense.

I use 6th from 50mph, and I think I'm very cautious about underreving. I know the manual says 62, but the manual is wrong. In fact, it's wrong on all gears regarding the Sport model, because the minimum speeds are not at all in line with the speeds for the normal version. Same revs on same gear -> ~30 percent less speed with the Sport.

[philthy]

On the Sport model, you can use it from 62mph. For Uk roads, the Sport makes much more sense.

I use 6th from 50mph, and I think I'm very cautious about underreving. I know the manual says 62, but the manual is wrong. In fact, it's wrong on all gears regarding the Sport model, because the minimum speeds are not at all in line with the speeds for the normal version. Same revs on same gear -> ~30 percent less speed with the Sport.

6th gear at 50mph will be labouring your engine and doing more damage than thrashing it. Japanese test engineers bench test and road test these engines, you can't seriously be suggesting they are wrong with their suggested engine speeds? I consider the car to be at the point of labouring in 4th at 30mph. 6th is virtually useless unless you're at significant speed.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

I'm sure that I could put mine into 6th at 50 or 55, but the revs would probably be 800RPM, so I'm never going there! It vibrates and "thrums" at 70, so I can't even begin to imagine how many teeth I'd have left if I tried it at 60, let alone anything less...

On a Sport, you're likely to be 1000-1100rpm. Making the engine pull 1.5 tonnes at tickover speeds with almost zero turbo assistance is surely going to cause a problem further down the road...isn't it?

Ignore the handbook at your peril :shutit:

[FinLex]

Guys, you're not getting me right. The manual is correct on the normal model, but wrong on the Sport. At least my manual is. It says that with a normal ratio you shouldn't use 6th gear below 120 kmph, which is about 1800 RPM. At the same time it says that with a Sport you shouldn't use 6th gear below 100 kmph, which is about 1900 RPM. There is no logical explonation for the Sport needing more revs than the normal version. Less speed means less drag, which means you need less torque, which means you need less revs. I've come to realise that the 6th gear on my Sport is not labouring from ~1700 RPM, which equals about 85 kmph (53 mph).

Besides the vibrations, there is another and even more accurate way of telling whether the engine is labouring or not: the fuel economy. If you drive on too low RPM, you're getting bad MPG figures. I think it's safe to say I'm getting pretty decent mileage, so I'm 100 % sure I'm not labouring my engine.

[nate73]

Anyone had experience driving both the Lexus IS 220D and a Volvo S60 SE D5 G/tronic?

Was impressed with the test drive in the 220d but after reading the comments on this forum, and the readers views on What Car? I am starting to have doubts.

The comments on the Volvo forums and the What Car? readers views seem to be much more possitive.

I am worried that after two Volvo's, after a few weeks of driving a 220D I may be dissapointed.

Any thoughts ???

Cheers

Undecided form Essex!

Hi, I've changed from a S60 D5 to a 220d sel a couple of weeks ago - now I've got used to the extra toys and concentrating on the driving I'm quite dissappointed. The main gripe is the usual - gearbox ratios are v poor - sport would most likely be better for the uk roads. Mine is driving me mad! The other is poor mpg. Based on miles done per refill rather than computer I'm getting 35ish compared to 42mpg on the S60 - bear in mind that I was driving 10mph quicker in the S60 and 80% motorway 40 miles each way on my commute

I've contacted the dealer who tells me the 5th injector was replaced in January so I'm not sure where to go next. All I know is I'll be spending an extra £700 in fuel if this keeps up over the year!

I suppose its what you are going to be doing with it - if less than 20k a year I'd go with the IS250 if 20k+ I'd look at another brand. Wish I'd found this site before I bought mine!

[philthy]

I suppose its what you are going to be doing with it - if less than 20k a year I'd go with the IS250 if 20k+ I'd look at another brand. Wish I'd found this site before I bought mine!

Yep, join the club!

[andy07841]

I can't believe what I'm reading! How can anyone consider S60 superior to 220d? S60 is seriously outdated, it's handling is terrible and, worst of all, Volvo's quality control has been really bad recently. The new S80 is a decent car, but I've already heard of several cases of S80 owners in serious problems with their cars, and by serious problems I mean that the car is utterly unusable, not just these niggles that most of us here are reporting on the 220d. At least two of these cases are not just rumours, since I've witnessed the problems myself! I hope the next S60 will be a different story.

I honestly can't see any reason to go with the S60 apart from if you really must have an auto box with a diesel.

i would agree 100% i had a new volvo s40 t5 se and all i had was trouble with it,in the first 6 months i had 2 new drive shafts fitted,and the service at the dealer in liverpool was garbage,since then i now own an is220d se-l and i am more than happy with the car and the service off lexus chester is a1