Is 250 Cabriolet

[simon k]

saw one for the first time today, i was asked to order one as sold on seen by my local dealer last year and am glad i didnt as a that point they had no idea on sale prices,

it looks a nice car but when you think about the price and what you could get for that kind of money then you soon change your mind

[Parthiban]

I had a thread about this exact same thing not long ago, over £40k for an SE-L and it's simply not quick enough at that price.

Also not overly keen on the way it looks......

[Andyscooke]

So it has come out at last. Does no-one at Lexus realise that the British 'summer' is nearly over - this should have been released in March for June delivery.

My point is, I was really interested when it first came out at the Geneva show, but was surprised when told of the July release which seems to have now slipped to August (still awaiting notification from my local Lexus).

I liked the look of the car (and still do) but when more information became available - £43K and 9.0 sec 0-60 it didn't look as attractive. As I pondered, I started earmarking lay-bys on my normal route in case the roof had to be raised at the rush and the novelty was on the wane.

The wait continued so I considered other options and have an imminent delivery of a Mercedes E350CDI coupe for the same money. Plenty of toys, folding rear seats, 7 speed auto, 0-60 in 6.9, better fuel economy and tax and the panoramic roof with no B pillars, whilst not a cabriolet, comes close.

I've been loyal to Lexus for 10 years so leave with a heavy heart because I have no axe to grind with Lexus per se; I just feel that their marketing has become big headed and instead of competing well with the Germans, their pricing strategy is too close for comfort to the competition. They need to be on their guard or their customer base will start looking at alternatives.

Never sit on your laurels....

[marsden1002]

Its look like gone are the days where they were cheeper than the rivals, and better specd.

[Parthiban]

I do actually like the look of those E coupes, rear ends a bit odd but the rest is nice - definitely post on here when you get it :)

[Northern Boys Luv Gravy]

Its look like gone are the days where they were cheeper than the rivals, and better specd.

There's been a long held belief in the industry that Lexus will never be considered the true equal of BMW and Mercedes until they sell at similar price points. Until they do, the theory is that they will always be seen as a "posh Toyota". i.e have the confidence in the quality of your product to compete on everything but price.

[Johnny777]

Just found this video......does look nice:-

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9rfnc_le...-cabriolet_auto

[Valkirk]

Its look like gone are the days where they were cheeper than the rivals, and better specd.

There's been a long held belief in the industry that Lexus will never be considered the true equal of BMW and Mercedes until they sell at similar price points. Until they do, the theory is that they will always be seen as a "posh Toyota". i.e have the confidence in the quality of your product to compete on everything but price.

That's the trouble though, they aren't selling the car at similar price points - they seem to have shot well past them!

An entry level BMW 3 Series Conv will set you back £31.2k now even adding in loads of extras will still bring you in under the cost of all but the entry level IS250C. The top of the range BMW costs £41.8k not much more than the SE-L version of the IS250C and for that you get 306BHP and 0-60 of 5.8 sec. Hell £43k for the top model is not THAT far off the price of buying an M3 Conv?!

Very disappointed I had really expected high 20's low 30's as price point for this.

[kenfoxy]

Broadly I agree. The only 2 wrinkles in the argument are the inferior BMW service and that the 3 series must be at the end of its production run. An A4 convertble might be a better comparison, but then you get into reliabilty issues.

[Parthiban]

I think the Audi comes in at about the same price as the Lexus but has a soft top so technically the Lexus is better value.

It does appear that Lexus have used Audi as their pricing benchmark - they have been considerably more expensive than the competition for a while now and selling pretty well so Lexus must be looking to get a piece of the same pie.

[MeOfLeeds]

Doesn't get a particularly good write-up in the Sunday Times...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/n...icle6796254.ece

[Monster-Mat]

Doesn't get a particularly good write-up in the Sunday Times...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/n...icle6796254.ece

actually not a bad write up, just slates its performance

[Paradroid]

Auto Express review here (3 stars):

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/fi...s_250c_sel.html

They didn't make much of a big deal about the price, which I was staggered by. I didn't know they were so expensive, massively overpriced given that the performace and economy are not great. You can forgive a car for high running costs a bit if it's cheap to buy but this is dearer than the competition who have better engine technology.

Oh dear :(