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New Car - Poor Consumption


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Hello everyone.

First post for me on a forum and first time Lexus owner! I have just bought an IS220D SE-I in Windsor Blue with Oakham leather interior. I am really pleased with the car, the first Lexus I have owned, but not the first oriental car - my first was a Mk2 MR2 back in 1988! It is the new 2009 spec car with lower emissions, apparently.

I just wanted something different to the humdrum range of Audi/BMW/Mercedes and I am glad I did...on a 400-mile round trip from North Wiltshire up to Lancashire and back yesterday, I saw only two other IS200s!!!

Something perplexes me though. The car has now done 1655 miles from new (1st March) and no matter what I try (I am even an IAM member for over 14-years), despite my careful driving style and planning aheasd, I just cannot get more than 38 MPG!!! :huh:

This bothers me as the adverts say between 50 and 54 MPG for my model. I might have expected this to improve after running the vehicle in moderately building up the revs but it wont budge over 38.

Anyone put me right on this? Is this a known issue? How can Lexus get away with quoting this figure which is way out from reality. My old A6 would do 48-55 MPG easily on a motorway journey.....not the Lexus!

Is there anything I can check out or should I take it straight back to the dealer?

Many thanks.

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If your only getting 38mpg on a motorway then i'd take it back to your dealer as they state IS 220d SE fuel economy figures: extra-urban 58.9mpg (4.8L/100km), urban 39.8mpg (7.1L/100km), combined 50.4mpg (5.6L/100km).

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If your only getting 38mpg on a motorway then i'd take it back to your dealer as they state IS 220d SE fuel economy figures: extra-urban 58.9mpg (4.8L/100km), urban 39.8mpg (7.1L/100km), combined 50.4mpg (5.6L/100km).

plenty of people on this forum have binned their diesel Lex's due to poor fuel consumption...do a search :unsure:

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If your only getting 38mpg on a motorway then i'd take it back to your dealer as they state IS 220d SE fuel economy figures: extra-urban 58.9mpg (4.8L/100km), urban 39.8mpg (7.1L/100km), combined 50.4mpg (5.6L/100km).

plenty of people on this forum have binned their diesel Lex's due to poor fuel consumption...do a search :unsure:

Brilliant ...

atleast let the engine bed in first ....

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Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your kind responses and after reading a number of threads, I must admit I am very disappointed about what I have read about the Fuel consumption issues with the IS220D.

How can Lexus quote the figures they do and get away with it? If I quoted ficticious figures about my company's products I would either be fired or wouldn't have any customers! Period.

If there were any modifications to the 5th injector or ECU, then surely a 2009 model should have all these issues rectified either during Pre-delivery or when manufactured. You don't issue a modification or revamp and then not add this to all new cars coming off the production line, surely? It wouldn't make economical sense in the long run as people wouldn't buy the car or there would be countless frustrtated and fed-up customers.

But I have and am wondering what to do about it? As I previosly said, my A6 was doing over 50mpg virtually from day one so to say I am concerned is an understatement.

Should I complain and take the car back? Or let it run a bit longer and see how the economy fairs over time? Has anyone approached Lexus UK about this? I would rather take it to the top under trade descriptions as the car does not perform as it is perported to do so, in the manuals and adversting brochures.

I also agree with the issues on the 5th & 6th Gear ratios which seem overly long, especially 6th which at anything under 75mph, is virtually useless. Why have such a long ration on 6th for the UK? Surely this was designed for the US market but I thought they had speed limits of 55mph, so 5th & 6th would never get used.....oh I forgot, most will be autos over there!

This is all a shame really, as everything else about the car is fantastic and this has so far spoilt a really pleasant ownership.

Mileage is now 2187 and yesterday, best I could achieve was 37.8mpg. :crybaby:

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This is a scandal worthy of a class action against Lexus. No doubt there will be many owners who have budgetted on the quoted figures and now find themslelves in financial difficulties. I'm sure that Lexus could take 2 diesels, one with good mpg one with bad and run lab tests to determine the diffference. Not rocket science is it with current technology?

The other issue is that the only way you can use 6th gear in the UK is by driving illegally. This is surely wrong and not what was intended by Lexus.

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Am I right i thinking that manufacturers have no say in what mpg figures they quote? The car is officially tested and the test figures must then be used at all times, even if it is clear that the figures obtained are not 'real world' figures.

But that does not explain why some cars return lower mpg figures than others of identical design. If it is not a driver issue then it must be to do with the set up or tuning (ECU etc)(?)

BTW in my experience the readouts from the car's onboard computer may be a little flattering. When my 250 auto says tank ave 32 mpg it means about 30. But it can also be pessimistic about other things, so when it says 'range 1 mile' I seem to have about five litres left, which should be good for at least 25, and much more on an open road.

If top gear seems useless at 70 (on the speedo) might you only be doing 65?

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Hi everyone,

I also agree with the issues on the 5th & 6th Gear ratios which seem overly long, especially 6th which at anything under 75mph, is virtually useless. Why have such a long ration on 6th for the UK? Surely this was designed for the US market but I thought they had speed limits of 55mph, so 5th & 6th would never get used.....oh I forgot, most will be autos over there!

There are plenty of people that drive at 85mph as a standard speed on UK motorways, and are no doubt glad of the extra gear. It seems that the police have no interest in pulling over every motorist traveling at that speed.

Most cars I've driven also over-estimate speed by 6 to 10%, so you probably wont be stopped by the police even with 90mph showing on the speedo. Just be carefull of cameras :)

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I agree with Kenfoxy on this.

The 6th gear ratio is ludicrous and really impractical to use safely on our congested roads, (not that I have tried) but even motorways. For the engine to run smoothly the revs need to be up a bit from idle and in 6th I would be doing way over 80mph, so technically, I would be breaking the law and risk points on my licence. As a result, I can't really effectively use 6th gear on my car.

This is an issue I think Lexus should take seriuosly as there are going to be a lot of unhappy owners out there as a result.

Ironically, the 6th gear at this ratio is probably intended to be used as a cruising gear, which should reduce emissions and increase MPG...oh how I wish!

So, has anyone written to the CEO of Lexus about this yet???

What are the views from the local dealers on this? Are they sympathetic and do all they can or are they just saying thats the way it is?

Is there any one on the forum who has managed to achieve near the combined 50mpg figure out of a 220D lump yet? Especially with a newer model year vehicle, which should be efficient? :question:

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I agree with Kenfoxy on this.

The 6th gear ratio is ludicrous and really impractical to use safely on our congested roads, (not that I have tried) but even motorways. For the engine to run smoothly the revs need to be up a bit from idle and in 6th I would be doing way over 80mph, so technically, I would be breaking the law and risk points on my licence. As a result, I can't really effectively use 6th gear on my car.

Ironically, the 6th gear at this ratio is probably intended to be used as a cruising gear, which should reduce emissions and increase MPG...oh how I wish!

Is there any one on the forum who has managed to achieve near the combined 50mpg figure out of a 220D lump yet? Especially with a newer model year vehicle, which should be efficient? :question:

you do not need to use 6th, if it does not suit your speed...

BTW IS220d has very long all gears - when comparing for example with Audi A4 2.0tdi - 5th gear on IS is as long as 6th on Audi. So audi driver has his 6th from 60mph and he can not go on higher gear, but you have still this possibility - for example when going 85 as somebody mentioned.

Nothing will happen to the gearbox if you will never use 6th.

If your only getting 38mpg on a motorway then i'd take it back to your dealer as they state IS 220d SE fuel economy figures: extra-urban 58.9mpg (4.8L/100km), urban 39.8mpg (7.1L/100km), combined 50.4mpg (5.6L/100km).

truth is, that these figures are a dream. I can have 39.8 urban, but only on saturday night. I can have 58.9 extra urban, but it must be at least 50kms in a row with warm engine and driving like miss Daisy...

Btw, bmw330i has combined consumption 38mpg. Do you think it is achievable?

They all lie.

Local Yoke - consumption will improve with increasing mileage, but forget about figures from A6. Why? Emmissions and weight of the car.

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I think that if the IS220D had a 6th gear which you could use from 65mph it would help UK drivers to get better fuel consumption because at 70mph their engines would be at lower revs than now in 5th gear.

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Hi,

I don't want to rub salt in but my GS300, 3ltr V6 achieves almost 38mpg on a run:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...mp;#entry651991

Bearing in mind that the cost of diesel per gallon is more expensive than petrol, that makes my V6 petrol more economical than a 2.2 diesel. This makes no sense other than there is a serious flaw in Lexus's attempt at producing a diesel manual car.

Worth taking the car back to Lexus for investigation.

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I have a 220d and was driving a fleet BMW 320d M Sport yesterday

both computers reset to be fair...

Same distance 120 miles M25 (30 miles) rest around town (90) (240 total)

my lex 220d 8100 miles on clock and did 44.2 AVG so the computer said..

BMW 320d 6231 miles on clock back to home 31.7 mpg said the German info system with a blue dot....

So following the threads let the car bed in, check with dealer,

i was not driving hard but I also not driving like I was towing a caravan.. ( And did use 6th gear!) (and same traffic load on road) (and yes air con was on on both)

PS the Beamer was a tourer but that should make no difference...

Next i will be reading a thread with someone telling me that their v12 does 120 MPG and the lex does .7

This again is just me experience.. PS had a go in the new Honda hybrid. Leaves fall on the digital display if you press the pedal to the metal. it was soooo slow.. but hay if you want 60+ MPG and drive at 15MPH its the way to go.

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Quoted figures are not claims, they are the results of independent measurements.

I had my WORST mileage on a long run just a couple of weeks ago. The car was overloaded, the road was really hilly and there was a strong head wind. Cruising at 65-70 mph, tank average 43.5 MPG. And my Sport is quoted to only do 38.2 on average...

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I really don't understand why people bitch about the 6th gear, it's irrational. You have a car that is capable of 134mph yet you choose to drive it in a country that has a speed limit of 70 but you don't complain about that.

Perhaps you should have bought a pedal car...

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Are those of you that have the low readings actually working it out or just relying on the read out to get your MPG?

I do think that the stated MPG is a tad high in the quoted figures, but these are done in a sterile environment with a brand new "clean" engine and on controlled rolling road.... no hills / wind etc to contend with.

My last tank average came out at 38. something but have just worked it out and its actually 43.9 which isnt bad. I didnt buy mine for the Mpg just like the way diesels drive but i can live with 43.9 doesnt seam bad to me. in the real world as well i know that not many people are going to take the time to sit and work out what the MPG is.

I found this which might be of some use

http://www.mileagecalculator.co.uk/

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what is abundantly clear from all the posts is that no two cars from the same 220d production line give equivalent performance under similar driving conditions. weird .

I have got 55.6 mpg on a 400 mile round trip on various types of road but i think i have been lucky by the sounds of it.

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I bought my 250 after originally going to buy a 220, the useless 6th gear was one of the deciding factors, i have no complaints about the fuel consumption of my V6, never had less than 30mpg, and up to 40mpg on a long run, both measured.

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Hi,

I don't want to rub salt in but my GS300, 3ltr V6 achieves almost 38mpg on a run:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...mp;#entry651991

Bearing in mind that the cost of diesel per gallon is more expensive than petrol, that makes my V6 petrol more economical than a 2.2 diesel. This makes no sense other than there is a serious flaw in Lexus's attempt at producing a diesel manual car.

But have you noticed how the price of Unleaded is rising now and Diesel is not the gap has closed to around 5/6p

and then there is the Road Fund Duty on the Petrol Cars, Mines £175.00 and the 250 Manual will be around £300

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