Is250 Auto Sel Mm Road Trip

[MW70]

Hey all - I've just come back from my first long road trip (solo) with the IS and I thought I would share opinions/ experiences.

I don't usually spend more than an hour in a day with the car at home with an average speed of about 31mph if I'm lucky. I've been averaging out at about 32mpg in the last year since I got it. So it was time to give it a proper test on an 800 mile 5 day jaunt to the South West. It was nice to finally make use of the facilities available properly:

THE GOOD B)

Cup holder by gearshift

was only used for loose change until now but fits costa etc (other Coffee retailers are available) coffee cups ideally..

Extendable Door bins

used both sides - handy for screen wipes and other bits and bobs. (like a screw driver and a 30cm ruler - Ill come back to that later..)

Engine -

It was as smooth and quiet as ever but on the Motorway passing traffic was so effortless without being overlly fast (cos' it is never that ). However as soon as you pass anything economy plummits! In all I think I averaged about 35/36mpg on the whole trip.

Sat Nav

My discs are from 2005/6 but as long as you know where youre going roughly and keep your brain switched on it worked really well. It would be nice not to have to stop to alter destination and to have a postcode search. I used google maps on my phone as a back up to check latest. I may get the new discs as I might drive to france next year and they seem to change their roads more often than in UK.

THE NOT SO GOOD

Road Noise -

bit too much comes into the cabin, its not the worst I've heard but it should be better. My front tyres make a right racket on some surfaces but they are cheapo's. They'll be going soon.

Ride Quality -

Not good enough for a premium car. Motorways not bad because they tend to be smoother but back on A/B roads like at home its far to jiggly - not unpleasantly so - just should be better.

Seat comfort

Pretty good but I find the seats could be a little bigger and better padded. Maybe the padding has worn in 44k miles(I'm not enormous by the by! )

Boot/Trunk Space

Perfectly adequate for me travelling on my own with a biggish suitcase but I can see that it would be tight for a family.

Cruise Control

Works great but the position of the controller is quite annoying/silly.

Central Console storage compartment

This has been driving me nuts - I have a few CDS in there and keep the Ipod in there connected to the AUX. Space wise its very useful. The cupholder built in there is pretty stupid but the worse thing is that slidey lid. So many times the CDs have shifted over or something else has to stop the lid from sliding/ opening. A number of times I couldnt get to the Ipod to turn it on when I wanted it. This is why I have a screwdriver and a ruler in the door bin - to shimmy open the lid of this compartment. (and its never straight forward to do it) Which is why I had to stick to the CD changer for most of the trip. Anybody else get this problem? On this subject If you were unluckily a passenger in the centre rear - when you open the storage compartment it sticks out into what little room there is back there. (i.e. very little ) Perhaps the 3rd Gen IS will get a simple lift up lid!

Lastly about 150 miles into my journey down the motorway the dreaded CHECK VSC warning and associated lights came on and would'nt go off initially (It still drove perfectly as ever though). After I stopped at services they went off temporarilly and then went back on again. I spoke to the Lex dealer in Bristol who said they could check what was causing it but they might have to tell me not to drive it. And if it needed attention they could'nt do anything for a week anyway! She suggested I hope that it clears itself after a few more startup/ check routines. And thats exactly what it did the next day after another brief apperance. Havent seen it since. Will get them to check why appeared at next service due soon..

Overall it was a pleasure to drive and be in for the 800+ miles I did in it and i would recommend to anyone. (Assuming youre not in the family way or larger than average ;) )

Hope my wafflin' was useful to someone!

mw

[Tango]

Hope my wafflin' was useful to someone!

mw

Don't want to pee on your bonfire, but it's a bit late for a road test on a model that's about to be replaced. I had my 250 SE-L new in 2005 and sold it after five years of ownership.

[Simon_D]

I've done a 700 mile round trip with four of us and it was a bit cramped but, road noise aside, it is a pretty good motorway car. It feels very slow but somehow manages to gather speed sufficiently in most situations. I was pleased to get 32mog from our trip. We normally average 24/25mpg but most of this is in built up areas.

I agree with the comments about the sliding centre box cover. It makes it difficult to run cables to things like dvd players for the kids. I usually keep my ipod in the cup holder when in use. The four digit post code input still drives me mad. It makes it impossible to enter an exact location - particularly when trying to find places while on holiday with the family. Our Subaru has 12v sockets in the back, much more room and full post code input so will always win the holiday transport battle but the IS is nicer to drive when I'm on my own.

Good write up, by the way. I am pleased and frustrated by the car in equal measure but after a recent attempt to get shot of it I've decided to keep it and concentrate on the good bits.

[phildw]

"Lastly about 150 miles into my journey down the motorway the dreaded CHECK VSC warning and associated lights came on and would'nt go off initially (It still drove perfectly as ever though"

Sorry mate, but having the dreaded VSC warning come on during your first long journey doesn't sound to me like a successful and relaxing trip! The VSC warning does not come on for no reason even if it has gone off it will appear again so it will need sorting. I had the Check PCS (pre-crash system) lights display on a long trip recently and even though the car still drove perfectly the repair was a £710 bill!!! I would get it checked sooner rather than later to avoid an even worse bill.

Good luck!

[MW70]

Hope my wafflin' was useful to someone!

mw

Don't want to pee on your bonfire, but it's a bit late for a road test on a model that's about to be replaced. I had my 250 SE-L new in 2005 and sold it after five years of ownership.

Thanks for that Tango. Did you get a good price for it - How did you find the depreciation. It would have been nice to have owned it from new but theres no way I could have afforded it!

[MW70]

"Lastly about 150 miles into my journey down the motorway the dreaded CHECK VSC warning and associated lights came on and would'nt go off initially (It still drove perfectly as ever though"

Sorry mate, but having the dreaded VSC warning come on during your first long journey doesn't sound to me like a successful and relaxing trip! The VSC warning does not come on for no reason even if it has gone off it will appear again so it will need sorting. I had the Check PCS (pre-crash system) lights display on a long trip recently and even though the car still drove perfectly the repair was a £710 bill!!! I would get it checked sooner rather than later to avoid an even worse bill.

Good luck!

I know phildw!!! and I intended to get it looked at at service time (not far away) but you've inspired me to book it in for a diagnostic check at my local Lexus outfit! I pray that it won't be anything major as I only just forked out for 2 new rear tyres and the annual service is techically due.... I guess realistically you've got to expect to need to start replacing/fixing some stuff at 5 years old but it does worry me - especially since it also seems to have plunged in value over the last year.

I'm glad pre-crash didn't exist when my car was new though! What needed fixing for £710 ???

I will post the results of the diagnostics soon! Everything is crossed.

S

[Tango]

Thanks for that Tango. Did you get a good price for it - How did you find the depreciation. It would have been nice to have owned it from new but theres no way I could have afforded it!

I held onto the IS250 SE-L after I bought the IS-F and drove them both. To be honest it was difficult to part with the 250 as by that time I had modified it to my taste and still enjoyed driving it. Both cars were the same colour (Cadoxton Slate with black leather) and there was little difference between the two for everyday driving apart of course in the fuel consumption and the rate of acceleration.

To cut a long story short, my wife wanted to keep driving the IS200 Sport, and therefore it was a bit of a nonsense for me to keep both the IS-F and the IS250 SE-L. In deciding which was to go I'm afraid the power of the IS-F swayed the decision in its favour, but only just.

Lexus offered me a ridiculously low price for the 250, and then only if it was returned to standard spec, which I wasn't willing to do. However, one of the members on LOC had contacted me a few months earlier to say if I was thinking of selling the 250 that he would be very interested in buying it, so knowing it was going to a good home, to someone who would appreciate it as it was, I sold it to him for a price I was happy with B).

[phildw]

"Lastly about 150 miles into my journey down the motorway the dreaded CHECK VSC warning and associated lights came on and would'nt go off initially (It still drove perfectly as ever though"

Sorry mate, but having the dreaded VSC warning come on during your first long journey doesn't sound to me like a successful and relaxing trip! The VSC warning does not come on for no reason even if it has gone off it will appear again so it will need sorting. I had the Check PCS (pre-crash system) lights display on a long trip recently and even though the car still drove perfectly the repair was a £710 bill!!! I would get it checked sooner rather than later to avoid an even worse bill.

Good luck!

I know phildw!!! and I intended to get it looked at at service time (not far away) but you've inspired me to book it in for a diagnostic check at my local Lexus outfit! I pray that it won't be anything major as I only just forked out for 2 new rear tyres and the annual service is techically due.... I guess realistically you've got to expect to need to start replacing/fixing some stuff at 5 years old but it does worry me - especially since it also seems to have plunged in value over the last year.

I'm glad pre-crash didn't exist when my car was new though! What needed fixing for £710 ???

I will post the results of the diagnostics soon! Everything is crossed.

S

Needed a new Millimeter Wave Radar which is basically the radar behind the front grille logo that works for both Pre-Crash system (basically tightens your seatbelts and applies brakes if it thinks you are going to hit something over a set speed) and also the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) (it picks up vehicles as you approach them and matches your speed with them until the road is clear again).

Still love the car by the way. It oozes class!!

Good luck with yours.

[MW70]

Glad you still love it!

Well "Check VSC" diagnostic results are in from my local dealer - fault codes C0125 /C1223 requires a new near side rear wheel speed sensor. Approx £270 fitted. £25 for the diagnostic - reasonable I thought. Shall I see if an independent could do it cheaper or should I stick with main dealer?

Trouble is while I waited I was looking at the shiny new stock - IS250 Advance (same colour as mine mesa red) Looks like quite a good deal at the moment.UK Finance offer on this model looks reasonable though might not get it here on IOM. Although only 8 speaker stereo and not Mark Levinson. Academic I suppose as need to pay off current car! I can dream and hope that not much else goes wrong on mine before I can change..

M

[phildw]

Make sure you get the £25 diagnostic charge waived if you get the dealer to do the repair. Mine was £50 diagnostic but they waived this charge and i would have only paid it if I had the repair done elsewhere.