Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


Recommended Posts

I have been reading all the topics on the various recalls that on the 220d and thinking to myself how lucky I must be as my car seems to be pretty good on performance and economy.

I happen to be speaking to my Lexus dealer today and asked if it was possible to check if my car has ever had the ecu upgrades etc.

To my surprise my car had been to Lexus dealership only about 8 months ago for various work:-

Engine rebuild including new pistons and rings plus head gasket etc.

New fifth injector

New egr

New cat

New steering rack

New rear calipers

Ecu upgrade

New discs

Basically best part of 8k in work.

So my 50k car it turns out has only covered just over 8k on the new engine build.

No wonder my engine looks like a new one, e.g. No oil or water leaks.

I suppose it seems bad that a car of this age and pedigree should need such drastic mods so early on but it's certainly piece of mind to know everything seems to have been done and I'm driving a Lexus that feels like new still.

Needless to say, I'm feeling quite pleased as I was more than happy with my car anyway and now I feel like I really got a good deal.

Carl

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Engine rebuild including new pistons and rings plus head gasket etc.

New fifth injector

New egr

New cat

Ecu upgrade

this post should be read every day by japanese Lexus engineers.

I simply don't understand, what happened, that engine, which was not brand new when put in IS, has so many major problems.

Then all those toyotas Kaizen, Genchi Genbutsu, TQM - is this only a marketing bull****?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sincerely hope the 'new' engine performs better than the original. However, in my ownership experience (just over a year now), Lexus don't seem to solve the root cause of the problems, they just replace the worn out parts with more of the same which will wear out prematurely. For example, alloy wheels. Yes they replace them under warranty with shiny new ones which will last one winter if you are lucky. Then, if you are still under warranty you might get some new ones. If you are out of warranty it's your problem, yet the root cause is that the wheels are not really fit for purpose.

I think the engineers have applied the lean engineering principles a little too vigorously, and parts that are only just good enough when brand new soon become 'not quite good enough' and we all end up with some serious problems. Not what you'd expect from a premium brand.

Sorry to appear negative this evening, but I can only comment based on my experience!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sincerely hope the 'new' engine performs better than the original. However, in my ownership experience (just over a year now), Lexus don't seem to solve the root cause of the problems, they just replace the worn out parts with more of the same which will wear out prematurely. For example, alloy wheels. Yes they replace them under warranty with shiny new ones which will last one winter if you are lucky. Then, if you are still under warranty you might get some new ones. If you are out of warranty it's your problem, yet the root cause is that the wheels are not really fit for purpose.

I think the engineers have applied the lean engineering principles a little too vigorously, and parts that are only just good enough when brand new soon become 'not quite good enough' and we all end up with some serious problems. Not what you'd expect from a premium brand.

Sorry to appear negative this evening, but I can only comment based on my experience!

I never owned the car on it's original engine so could not comment.

However, I have always maintained that my car both performs well and consistently achieves between 35-42mpg which I have felt is acceptable.

I have nothing to complain about and the news that everything should last me some years yet only strengthens my buy.

I suppose you could look at this two ways, some manufacturers would never have replaced parts so readily let alone half rebuild an expensive engine free of charge.

Maybe Toyota have been vigorous to replace parts but I personally see that as a positive in the service to there customers.

Most manufacturers will only replace parts if they are a possible danger to life.

I think the emphasis should be that Toyota have had the decency to recognise the problems and fix them as best they can.

Yes a redesign would be the perfect solution but the reality is this would take a long time in terms of design and testing.

I'm sure the next Lexus is generation will have had these issues rectified.

In the mean time they have done the best any manufacturer could do by fixing the immediate problem and then warrantying that work for some time to come.

To me this is the result that only a prestige motor company could have concluded.

Carl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I take your point that Lexus dealers are generally cooperative and will try to sort problems out as best as they can within the warranty period. My point is that my previous car (not a Lexus) needed no replacement parts or warranty work in the five years/110K miles that I had it, just routine servicing and tyres. Now I have a Lexus and have been to the dealer six times in the last year for various repairs and replacements, not counting routine servicing. Not what I expected.

I hope your car serves you well and that you are happy with it. I'm just not sure I'd risk buying a new IS in the future based on the one I have now, which is a pity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Toyota don't care about diesel. It's all petrol in the USA and Japan almost everywhere outside of Europe. They just stuck it in to sell cars in the uk. They should have fitted the landcruser 3litre one

Link to comment
Share on other sites


who told you toyota doesn't care about diesel?

why then would they develop 1.4 D4D, 2.0D4D, 2.2D4D?

PS: 2_All> it is all good, that lexus takes care and changes problematic parts. And I appreciate it.

What I don't understand, how could such unfinished engine get to the market?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Toyota don't care about diesel. It's all petrol in the USA and Japan almost everywhere outside of Europe. They just stuck it in to sell cars in the uk. They should have fitted the landcruser 3litre one

To be fair, the Toyota diesels are generally well sorted and economical. I've had 3 and they've all been good and reliable. That makes it all the more surprising that the Lexus diesel seems to cause problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting thread.

Personally I would have been very happy if they had used the engine block of the IS250 and set up on the top of that the turbo and the rest diesel anchilaries rather than using the 2.2 d4d engine.

The power output should match the 250 since I think the weight difference between the two is very small. I guess torque would be something that would have to look as the 400N/m of the 220 is way higher than the 250.

I guess the econimic factor played its role on that decision.

G.T.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the characteristics of the engine don't help - it behaves more like a petrol in that you have to have a decent amounts of revs for the car to move at a decent lick. Peak power seems to come in at > 3500rpm. Everyone who goes in it can't believe its got 175HP (+ chip) as it feels more sluggish than their Focus, Golf, Mondeo ..... People who buy diesels assume they can 'lug' it around at low revs, but the engine and tall ratios on the gearbox mean this is not effective. The gearbox is another story! :-(

Link to comment
Share on other sites


The gearbox is another story! :-(

Indeed it is!

Everyone has their own opinions on their own experiences. And I too have experienced these discomforts but I never classify them as defects whereas people see at a "problem" rather the quality of the vehicle and in it's prestige.

The 220d for me works better for me not just because I look after it better than my wife or children (I don't have neither so that explains a lot) but considerably because I pay less attention to detail and more to the enjoyment of owning and experiencing a prestigious vehicle and drive respectively. It's suits some people, and doesn't suit others. But needless to say, every car falls in to that category.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sorry? :)

When you said design problem, I was referring to it's big backside. I think the rear of the IS220d could of been better!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just hope you didn't buy the car from a Lexus dealer and NOT be told that the previous owner's had all this done and PEX'd it (probably because he really didn't want it anymore.....)

Each to their own, and hope it now behaves itself!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The gearbox is another story! :-(

Indeed it is!

Everyone has their own opinions on their own experiences. And I too have experienced these discomforts but I never classify them as defects whereas people see at a "problem" rather the quality of the vehicle and in it's prestige.

The 220d for me works better for me not just because I look after it better than my wife or children (I don't have neither so that explains a lot) but considerably because I pay less attention to detail and more to the enjoyment of owning and experiencing a prestigious vehicle and drive respectively. It's suits some people, and doesn't suit others. But needless to say, every car falls in to that category.

Perhaps the comments owe more to disappointment that a car of this quality, prestige and price should suffer from such problems? I must confess to being conned a bit by the goodies, performance, style and handling when I did a fairly substantial test drive. Until you own this car for a few months though you don't really appreciate how badly thought out the engine/gearbox combo truly is. To find yourself having to drop down the gears on a relatively modest motorway slope is a bit of a pain for a car in this price range as is the vibro massage when the revs drop. I suppose that Lexus did design it as a sports saloon and therefore they would say that drivers ought to be prepared to use more revs but most diesel drivers are surely wanting to find the torque lower down combined with some flexibility for comfort and to bring the economy in line with what they think a 2.2 diesel should achieve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share



×
×
  • Create New...