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Is 250 1 Yr And 24k Miles On...


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A review for anyone who's interested about my IS250, bought used with 21k miles on the clock in late Feb 08.

Now done 45k miles, and here's some thoughts.

I like:

-Its a great car to drive, very comfortable on long m-way runs, and is a very tidy handler on the twisties.

-All the gadgets! Seeing as mine is a total spec SE-L auto there is never a dull moment.

-The looks- still looks fresh compared to the latest BMWs, Audis.

-The interior style- love the cool hi-tech feel.

-The gearbox, which gets on with the job in an almost psychic way

-The economy- 33mpg on the whole.

-The multimedia pack. Great sound from the ML, and the reversing camera always raises a smile.

-Keyless entry/go

-The adaptive cruise (when it works)

-The fact that Lexus replaced the wheels 4 yrs on due to corrosion.

- The champagne and full tank of fuel after the recall!

-And a special mention must go to the dealership, Lexus Reading, who have put up with my pickiness without quibble, and efficiently.

I don't like

-The sound of the engine- always sounds a bit thin and uninspiring. I miss the rumble of a BMW six, but I note the newer loan cars I've had do sound better.

-The build quality; Some of this is me being fussy admittedly, but I've had the rattly dash (twice), a rattly rear view mirror, the indicator stalk broke, the CD changer broke, the seat squeaked, the wiper arm needed replacing, the aircon smells. Had intermittent airbag warning and VSC failure lights. Everything has been attended to without quibble by Lexus Reading but I think Lexus could do better. I'm all for the "pursuit of perfection", but I'd rather they did it at the design and build stage rather than via me.

-Not a good cold climate car; the heated windscreen elements only heat the bottom and side inch of the screen. The washer jets freeze- should have heaters. The car takes an age to warm up and the heated seats warm up quite slowly compared to others.

-An intermittent fault on the adaptive cruise, which sometimes picks up cars in the inside lane for no reason and brakes hard.

-The lack of room in the back, and the lack of split-fold rear seats.

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Hi

Just a quick question - what recall? I have the same car from new (Sept 07) and have done 40k. Agree with most of your comments except adaptive cruise control works well and I haven't yet had any wheels replaced as they are fine. Just cant think of any recalls for the 250

All the best

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Maybe the recalls are only for the early cars- I actually can't remember what the first one was, but the current one is for the steering rack, and the rear brake calipers. Prob worth a call to your dealer to see if you need to get yours booked in.

Interesting to hear that your ACC cruise works well- have you never had any issues with it picking up vehicles in the nearside lanes? Its in the dealer at the moment for that and a few other things looked at and I've spat my dummy out about it; they've so far said its OK as far as they are concerned, so any extra evidence I can gather that its not working right would be really helpful. I just can't imagine that Lexus'd have let it go out like that- I had a near miss and some less than friendly gestures the other day from an understandably confused driver who'd had to react to my car suddenly braking hard from 80 despite having a clear lane in front of it, but a truck to the left...

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I'm intrigued by what you said about the car taking too long to warm up, how long does it take?

In my IS200 (much older) in anything but extremely cold conditions (which we barely ever get) after half a mile the engine will be warm enough to be giving out reasonably warm air, would be odd if the IS250 takes longer.

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Maybe the recalls are only for the early cars- I actually can't remember what the first one was, but the current one is for the steering rack, and the rear brake calipers. Prob worth a call to your dealer to see if you need to get yours booked in.

Interesting to hear that your ACC cruise works well- have you never had any issues with it picking up vehicles in the nearside lanes? Its in the dealer at the moment for that and a few other things looked at and I've spat my dummy out about it; they've so far said its OK as far as they are concerned, so any extra evidence I can gather that its not working right would be really helpful. I just can't imagine that Lexus'd have let it go out like that- I had a near miss and some less than friendly gestures the other day from an understandably confused driver who'd had to react to my car suddenly braking hard from 80 despite having a clear lane in front of it, but a truck to the left...

Very early on the car did brake hard for no apprent reason on one occasion only but since then nothing strange has happened. It works very well and I have no problems at all with vehicles in the inside lane. I borrowed a GS450H recently and if anything this was better than mine with the cruise control picking up speed faster after it has slowed down for another car.

Keep on at the dealer until it is sorted

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A review for anyone who's interested about my IS250, bought used with 21k miles on the clock in late Feb 08.

Now done 45k miles, and here's some thoughts.

I like:

-Its a great car to drive, very comfortable on long m-way runs, and is a very tidy handler on the twisties.

-All the gadgets! Seeing as mine is a total spec SE-L auto there is never a dull moment.

-The looks- still looks fresh compared to the latest BMWs, Audis.

-The interior style- love the cool hi-tech feel.

-The gearbox, which gets on with the job in an almost psychic way

-The economy- 33mpg on the whole.

-The multimedia pack. Great sound from the ML, and the reversing camera always raises a smile.

-Keyless entry/go

-The adaptive cruise (when it works)

-The fact that Lexus replaced the wheels 4 yrs on due to corrosion.

- The champagne and full tank of fuel after the recall!

-And a special mention must go to the dealership, Lexus Reading, who have put up with my pickiness without quibble, and efficiently.

I don't like

-The sound of the engine- always sounds a bit thin and uninspiring. I miss the rumble of a BMW six, but I note the newer loan cars I've had do sound better.

-The build quality; Some of this is me being fussy admittedly, but I've had the rattly dash (twice), a rattly rear view mirror, the indicator stalk broke, the CD changer broke, the seat squeaked, the wiper arm needed replacing, the aircon smells. Had intermittent airbag warning and VSC failure lights. Everything has been attended to without quibble by Lexus Reading but I think Lexus could do better. I'm all for the "pursuit of perfection", but I'd rather they did it at the design and build stage rather than via me.

-Not a good cold climate car; the heated windscreen elements only heat the bottom and side inch of the screen. The washer jets freeze- should have heaters. The car takes an age to warm up and the heated seats warm up quite slowly compared to others.

-An intermittent fault on the adaptive cruise, which sometimes picks up cars in the inside lane for no reason and brakes hard.

-The lack of room in the back, and the lack of split-fold rear seats.

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As a matter of interest when was your car built as all the creak issues were designed-out within the first 9 mnths e.g.the dash mounting pegs were enlarged

to ensure a snap-fit whereas a few of the early cars pegs needed packing to secure aftermarket which required a lot of skill to fully resolve & prevent additional issues.

I have had 2 x 250 Autos & certainly the latest (built July 2008) appears more refined & smoother but then it should 36 mnths into the model's build.

Tel

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Maybe the recalls are only for the early cars- I actually can't remember what the first one was, but the current one is for the steering rack, and the rear brake calipers. Prob worth a call to your dealer to see if you need to get yours booked in.

Interesting to hear that your ACC cruise works well- have you never had any issues with it picking up vehicles in the nearside lanes? Its in the dealer at the moment for that and a few other things looked at and I've spat my dummy out about it; they've so far said its OK as far as they are concerned, so any extra evidence I can gather that its not working right would be really helpful. I just can't imagine that Lexus'd have let it go out like that- I had a near miss and some less than friendly gestures the other day from an understandably confused driver who'd had to react to my car suddenly braking hard from 80 despite having a clear lane in front of it, but a truck to the left...

I think that if ACC becomes more commonplace we will here a lot more about it. Surely this system is not safe. Imagine if you are being tailgated by an aggresive driver as you are taking a right hander on the M-way. A white van is in the middle lane. The ACC picks it up and brakes hard. The consequences are obvious. If your ACC is "faulty", you are aware and you can compensate. If it has worked perfectly, then you could be in real trouble if it suddenly malfunctioned.

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I agree it is a worry... oddly enough, I read a long term test update in Evo this morning about a RR Sport TDV8 with adaptive cruise, and he said it kept braking for trucks in the nearside lane.

To be fair, I generally drive any car with cruise on with my foot resting gently on the throttle ready for action- esp with the adaptive cruise as even if its working normally I sometimes force it to drive closer or maintain speed approaching a car while I wait for a faster car to overtake and then pull out without losing momentum. I thus tend to 'drive' it past trucks just in case, which rather defeats the object!

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As a matter of interest when was your car built as all the creak issues were designed-out within the first 9 mnths e.g.the dash mounting pegs were enlarged

to ensure a snap-fit whereas a few of the early cars pegs needed packing to secure aftermarket which required a lot of skill to fully resolve & prevent additional issues.

I have had 2 x 250 Autos & certainly the latest (built July 2008) appears more refined & smoother but then it should 36 mnths into the model's build.

Tel

Hmm.

Mine I think was regd 1st March 07, manufactured Jan 07, and it rattled, so I don't know if you are correct. I also test drove a 56 plate IS250 Auto which had the new boot and petrol switches and that did creak too.

Funny mine started to rattle firstly in Autmn 07 and then got worse and worse :excl:

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  • 3 months later...
As a matter of interest when was your car built as all the creak issues were designed-out within the first 9 mnths e.g.the dash mounting pegs were enlarged

to ensure a snap-fit whereas a few of the early cars pegs needed packing to secure aftermarket which required a lot of skill to fully resolve & prevent additional issues.

I have had 2 x 250 Autos & certainly the latest (built July 2008) appears more refined & smoother but then it should 36 mnths into the model's build.

Tel

I had a 2009 09 plate loaner with only 2k miles and it already had the dashboard creaks from the centre speaker area, so it's still a design issue!

Still, most centres know how to fix them...

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