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Hi All

As you know by my recent posts, the IS220d I have has been, to say the least, a complete nightmare with warranty bills totaling nearly £10,000 now.

After repeated attempts to solve the poor running (intermittent power loss and stuttering more recently), the car went back to the dealer at Lexus GBs request and further diagnostics. Sods law and the bloody thing doesn't misbehave while they have it so Lexus GB have replaced the turbo as "a precaution" and now stated they will offer no further support. I picked it up Thursday morning and low and behold within 10 minutes it's stutters under acceleration (around 1800-2200 revs) and has continued to do so ever since. The dealer will be getting a call monday....

The long and the short of it is now I have zero confidence in the car, I believe it has the potential to cause an accident and my company have agreed to get shot of it. I actually cheered when I was told I could go car shopping!!!!

So, within the next week or two I shall be placing an order for a VW Scirroco 2ltr GT diesel. Drove one last weekend and it's fab!

One thing IS220d owners should take note of is the poor trade in values being offered. CAP book price for mine (entry 220d with 60k miles Dec 07 registered) is around the £10K - £10.5K in good condition. There's not a dealer around here that has offered over £7700 for trade in, which they've justified by "they have too many issues to be in demand" statements - my Bro in law is in the trade and regularly sees IS220d's not selling at auction. He's also heard the issues from various sources so second hand values are never going to be great.

What I have found disappointing is the attitude of Lexus GB - the issues I've had have very nearly caused collisions on a good number of occasions and while I was prepared to let them attempt to sort the problem, they were helpful. The minute I mentioned rejecting the car, the got very defensive and non-committal, offering nothing more until the dealer assessed the car again. They instructed the dealer to change the turbo as a precaution (why? no explanation given) and have now washed their hands of the car. The dealer to his credit has offered to buy the car back but at a low value against book price - 3 grand under book.

So, many thanks to everyone on here that offered their thoughts and advice when I asked, it has been really appreciated.

If anyone reading this is thinking of buying an early-ish 220d, please think carefully and get a look at the warranty history. This is a good acr seriously let down by a very poor diesel engine and gearbox robbed from other cars in the Toyota group. Petrol IS owners - good choice!!

Thanks again all

MP

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Another satisfied customer...NOT!

Why didn't Toyota develop a six cyclinder diesel unit specially for the IS instead of lifting a diesel unit out of the Avensis (I think they use the same unit in the IS and the Avensis?) Toyota have the technology and means to do this.

My replacement for my IS200 (when its dead) will be either a IS250 or a GS300.

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Sounds as if it was the service department that let you own badly. Imagine how upset you would be if this wasnt a company car and you had to pick up the tab? Enjoy the new VW.

To be fair to the dealer, they've been pretty good and have tried their best to sort the issues, I honestly think the car is just a dud and no one at the dealer knows what else to try. The fact that Lexus GB have effectively washed their hands of it is more disappointing given the reputation they have for looking after their customers - part of the reason I chose it originally

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Monsterped,

From what reg are IS220d OK.

The 59 plate cars are the best I've tried over the last two years, much better fueling and power delivery although I still think the manual gearbox is not as good as it should be as although it's much better than mine, it's still noisy and notchy to change gear. From what I can gather from my dealer, the 09/59 cras have had a major update in the engine department although mpg on the demo I've been driving only worked out at 38-40mpg on mixed driving despite being told it would be significantly improved

I'm really not the best person to ask if you're thinking of buying an IS220d, I think there are other choices which are far superior in terms of engines and drivetrain although I still think the IS looks great. Makes it all the more disappointing in some ways to give mine up.

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The Lexus diesel engines are simply not good enough or up to the job. But their focus is on Hybrid, so diesel is only here to keep Fleets happy and overall emissions low.

I'm not suggesting that Hybrid will be better - but their diesel option is woeful.

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The newer generation of Audi diesels are very good, they are super smooth and very quiet. So much so that you can now buy a convertible 2.0TDi VAG and genuinely not hear the clattring all with roof down.

Also, the variable vane turbo's are excellent at providing linear BHP and Torque, so they are as close to a petrol engine as ever.

You obviously had a very bad car, but the IS is now getting long in the tooth. It is a 4 year old design and Lexus just haven't done enough to keep it in line with the competition. It is still the same engine, gearbox etc. just minor tweaks to reduce CO2 and and spec's. The IS2050 is still >200g/KM, and that is just shocking for a car like this with only 2.5l non turbo engine. If Lexus were serious about diesels they would have redesigned it fundamentally for the mid life facelift this year. But they didn't which means they won't do anything now until 2011/12 when it is completely replaced.

I am sure then that G3 will have a Hybrid, but not the G2 unless they can miracle a small motor and Battery. BMW are now toying with a Hybrid where the e-motor is in the gearbox itself with small Lithium batteries, and whilst Lexus and Honda have pioneered Hybrids, the german's will come in once they have milked the diesel stuff to death. Then it will be interesting. The big battle in 10 years time will be all electric v fuel cell. Can't wait! at that time if you drive anything with more than 75 g/km Co2 you'll probably be taxed until you have nose bleeds LOL

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The newer generation of Audi diesels are very good, they are super smooth and very quiet. So much so that you can now buy a convertible 2.0TDi VAG and genuinely not hear the clattring all with roof down.

Also, the variable vane turbo's are excellent at providing linear BHP and Torque, so they are as close to a petrol engine as ever.

You obviously had a very bad car, but the IS is now getting long in the tooth. It is a 4 year old design and Lexus just haven't done enough to keep it in line with the competition. It is still the same engine, gearbox etc. just minor tweaks to reduce CO2 and and spec's. The IS2050 is still >200g/KM, and that is just shocking for a car like this with only 2.5l non turbo engine. If Lexus were serious about diesels they would have redesigned it fundamentally for the mid life facelift this year. But they didn't which means they won't do anything now until 2011/12 when it is completely replaced.

I am sure then that G3 will have a Hybrid, but not the G2 unless they can miracle a small motor and battery. BMW are now toying with a Hybrid where the e-motor is in the gearbox itself with small Lithium batteries, and whilst Lexus and Honda have pioneered Hybrids, the german's will come in once they have milked the diesel stuff to death. Then it will be interesting. The big battle in 10 years time will be all electric v fuel cell. Can't wait! at that time if you drive anything with more than 75 g/km Co2 you'll probably be taxed until you have nose bleeds LOL

Just two points to comment on. Regarding emissions on the 250 I agree they are high and for me it is a downside, I wish they were lower however it was never going to persuade me to buy a car which was not my first choice. Like you say, big changes are coming.

On taxation, there are plenty of nose bleeds coming no matter what you do or don't do.

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Have also just off-loaded my IS220D. 2.5 years old, 56K miles. It started to run like a dog a few months back.

I did have the Sports model at least - I never really got to 'love' the car, but I accepted it for most of my ownership. But it started to feel wrong - pulling away from junctions was becoming a nightmare, felt energy loss when slow-cruising on motorways a couple of times. Dropped to c37.5 mpg consumption.

I now have a spanking, stonking IS250 Auto. SE-I (with the metallic paint and wheel upgrade offer). 2010 model too - the big floppy gear flaps on the steering wheel have gone, Bluetooth and USB HDD now integral, and the rear lights have a funky profile shape.

In favour of the 220, the Sport option had lots of extras that I now miss (Xenon, motion tracing headlamps in particular). Also, when cruising on motorway, the engine was a whisper, and the torques superb.

I did a trade-in, and the price was spot-on for the Parkers/Glass lower value. Plus, dealer had a 'loyalty' trade-in bonus (a sort of non-scrappage scrappage-scheme?!).

I did see my 220 on the Lexus used web-site for a week - now it's gone. The dealer may have made a nice little profit - good luck to them!

As for the 250, the engine is permanently a whisper! Less than 900 miles so far, it's just started to become fun to push a little. The auto gearing is great. And I've not yet used the nudge-tronic, nor the 'Power' mode option. So far so good - fingers crossed! If only those headlights were white-bright...

Oh yes - I went for the Tsuki 18-inch alloys - dealer said they were quite new - any thoughts...?

http://www.lexus.co.uk/range/is/accessories/exterior.aspx

Bobby.

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