Why No Diesel Anymore?

[japthree]

Lexus have stopped the diesel - is it because it wasn't selling enough? It's just the IS250 now.

[Carl911]

Lexus have stopped the diesel - is it because it wasn't selling enough? It's just the IS250 now.

I have no idea why they dropped it. The diesel has been used for many years in other Toyota vehicles and is well proven.

That said, and I own a diesel , it doesn't seem quite fitting For a Lexus to have such an agricultural sound to it. Lexus should be smooth and quiet.

For me the petrol alternative is just too poor on economy to use as a daily so it had to be diesel and it is a good diesel.

I imagine Lexus had similar thoughts hence going for the petrol, hybrid route.

This way you retain the quiet refined ride that one should expect from a Lexus and with much I proved economy.

My only concern is Battery life and cost when they fail.

However, I will be considering a petrol, hybrid next time around.

Carl

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

At the risk of offending IS 220d owners they dropped it cos it wasn't very good!

My brother in law has one. It's a decent enough car really but he wishes he bought a 250 sometimes! Head gaskets blow on these all the time and he says he's just waiting for his to go. He says it's inevitable however well he looks after the car! Just look at all the threads on here about IS 220d problems! DPF filters, carbon build up, noises, shakes, rattles, the lists goes on!

[jason61c]

At the risk of offending IS 220d owners they dropped it cos it wasn't very good!

My brother in law has one. It's a decent enough car really but he wishes he bought a 250 sometimes! Head gaskets blow on these all the time and he says he's just waiting for his to go. He says it's inevitable however well he looks after the car! Just look at all the threads on here about IS 220d problems! DPF filters, carbon build up, noises, shakes, rattles, the lists goes on!

How many out of the thousands that have been made have gone? What we seem to forget is that if everyone moans when then have an issue, not many forums have people go on just to say how good the car is.

Lexus seem to look after the issue and have any of the modified ones had the issue re -appear?

[Tango]

Said it many times before and I'll say it again, Lexus made a mistake in trying to get into the European Fleet market by fitting what was essentially the diesel engine from the Toyota Avensis into the IS250 bodyshell. Perhaps if they had not done so we would have had the option to purchase the IS350 or IS250 AWD, as available in the USA and Japan.

The oil burner has done nothing to add to the Lexus reputation, indeed it has harmed the excellent reputation previously enjoyed by the first generation IS.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

At the risk of offending IS 220d owners they dropped it cos it wasn't very good!

My brother in law has one. It's a decent enough car really but he wishes he bought a 250 sometimes! Head gaskets blow on these all the time and he says he's just waiting for his to go. He says it's inevitable however well he looks after the car! Just look at all the threads on here about IS 220d problems! DPF filters, carbon build up, noises, shakes, rattles, the lists goes on!

How many out of the thousands that have been made have gone? What we seem to forget is that if everyone moans when then have an issue, not many forums have people go on just to say how good the car is.

Lexus seem to look after the issue and have any of the modified ones had the issue re -appear?

Compare how many people complain about engine problems with the 250 or 1st generation 200 and 300 compared to the 220d.

The petrol IS engines don't suffer from head gasket failures if properly maintained although I'm sure there are a few failures but in comparison to the 220d it's minuscule!

And yes, I've read threads on here where the 220d has had a head gasket replaced by Lexus at around the 60k mark and even lower mileage than that and then go again in 50k miles! So the fixed ones do blow again!

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Said it many times before and I'll say it again, Lexus made a mistake in trying to get into the European Fleet market by fitting what was essentially the diesel engine from the Toyota Avensis into the IS250 bodyshell. Perhaps if they had not done so we would have had the option to purchase the IS350 or IS250 AWD, as available in the USA and Japan.

The oil burner has done nothing to add to the Lexus reputation, indeed it has harmed the excellent reputation previously enjoyed by the first generation IS.

Spot on! :)

[fjcfarrar]

Simple.

Firstly, The fleet market has collapsed and companies no longer aim to provide "prestige" brands to staff, preferring Hyundais or anything cheap of the right size.

Secondly, Lexus have made the policy decision to move towards the Hybrid/Electric technologies in the sector aiming for economical/green usage and to pile money into diesel development would be like flogging a dead horse.

Thirdly, Although the IS220D and its successor were by no means bad cars, they were undisputably & by a very long stretch the worst cars Lexus have ever made and single-handedly account for Lexus's descent in JD Power & other tables of quality, reliability & owner satisfaction.

[jason61c]

Simple.

Firstly, The fleet market has collapsed and companies no longer aim to provide "prestige" brands to staff, preferring Hyundais or anything cheap of the right size.

Secondly, Lexus have made the policy decision to move towards the Hybrid/Electric technologies in the sector aiming for economical/green usage and to pile money into diesel development would be like flogging a dead horse.

Thirdly, Although the IS220D and its successor were by no means bad cars, they were undisputably & by a very long stretch the worst cars Lexus have ever made and single-handedly account for Lexus's descent in JD Power & other tables of quality, reliability & owner satisfaction.

I guess thats true but its also like having 3 girlfriends in Miss World. Only one will win but the others are still better than the rest :)

[BosniaLexus]

The diesels did not mate with the rest of the car. They were simply transplanted from the Avensis range for which they were designed. Lexus should have sought a 3 litre diesel from wag or BMW......imagine the is Lexus IS 335 I, a global car. BMW reliability I,proved by association with Lexus, and the cars assembled and badger as the Lexus is350 td

[ColinBarber]

The diesels did not mate with the rest of the car. They were simply transplanted from the Avensis range for which they were designed. Lexus should have sought a 3 litre diesel from wag or BMW......imagine the is Lexus IS 335 I, a global car. BMW reliability I,proved by association with Lexus, and the cars assembled and badger as the Lexus is350 td

The Avensis has suffered too because of the engine. The problem isn't because it was a Toyota engine, all Lexus vehicles are Toyotas. I was surprised when Toyota announced the 180 engine, not sure why they didn't do a deal with BMW, they are teaming up quite often these days such as with the Mini One diesel engine and co-sharing hybrid research and technology.

Fleet sales of the IS have really dried up this year, down over 50%. Partly due to the CT but I'm sure it is also to do with the fact that poor reliability has driven sales away.

[MW70]

And of course the IS is soon to be replaced so production of all will end soon enough, so no sense building anymore diesels clear all the stocks. Awaiting a usefully economical Hybrid version of IS(mk3) think we will get one...?

[Silver Arrow]

I think, might be wrong, production of RHD IS250 for UK has ceased already - you cannot order a new one as far as I know (and was told as such at my dealership). There are some unreg'd cars available at ports and dealerships - that's it!!

And I agree - whilst the IS200d was a bit better, the gearing, reliability, economy etc etc was pretty naff compared to the competition - and having had one and been "across to the dark side" I can only confirm how true that is....as much as it will pain IS lovers everywhere!!

[Carl911]

The diesels did not mate with the rest of the car. They were simply transplanted from the Avensis range for which they were designed. Lexus should have sought a 3 litre diesel from wag or BMW......imagine the is Lexus IS 335 I, a global car. BMW reliability I,proved by association with Lexus, and the cars assembled and badger as the Lexus is350 td

The Avensis has suffered too because of the engine. The problem isn't because it was a Toyota engine, all Lexus vehicles are Toyotas. I was surprised when Toyota announced the 180 engine, not sure why they didn't do a deal with BMW, they are teaming up quite often these days such as with the Mini One diesel engine and co-sharing hybrid research and technology.

Fleet sales of the IS have really dried up this year, down over 50%. Partly due to the CT but I'm sure it is also to do with the fact that poor reliability has driven sales away.

I was only saying to my wife the other day, if I could put my e90 330d BMW engine and auto box in the Lexus, I'd have the perfect car.

[Sterling]

At the risk of offending IS 220d owners they dropped it cos it wasn't very good!

My brother in law has one. It's a decent enough car really but he wishes he bought a 250 sometimes! Head gaskets blow on these all the time and he says he's just waiting for his to go. He says it's inevitable however well he looks after the car! Just look at all the threads on here about IS 220d problems! DPF filters, carbon build up, noises, shakes, rattles, the lists goes on!

They replaced it with the IS200d. Less power than the 220d.

All cars have problems. The measure should surely be how the manufacturer / dealer deals with it. Lexus are much better than others. Just go on any decent BMW forum and see how many people are screaming about the turbo's going on the 320d at around 70k. BMW completely ignore there is an issue. Same issue with Merc C-Class, £1200 for a turbo. Vectra 3.0V6 diesel. Injectors go from 80k. They are £500 each and there are 6. Vauxhall say there is not a problem even though it is the same engine in the SAAB 9-5 which has the same problem.

At least with Lexus, they acknowledge issues and fix them and extend the warranty.

[mikeyv]

At the risk of offending IS 220d owners they dropped it cos it wasn't very good!

My brother in law has one. It's a decent enough car really but he wishes he bought a 250 sometimes! Head gaskets blow on these all the time and he says he's just waiting for his to go. He says it's inevitable however well he looks after the car! Just look at all the threads on here about IS 220d problems! DPF filters, carbon build up, noises, shakes, rattles, the lists goes on!

They replaced it with the IS200d. Less power than the 220d.

All cars have problems. The measure should surely be how the manufacturer / dealer deals with it. Lexus are much better than others. Just go on any decent BMW forum and see how many people are screaming about the turbo's going on the 320d at around 70k. BMW completely ignore there is an issue. Same issue with Merc C-Class, £1200 for a turbo. Vectra 3.0V6 diesel. Injectors go from 80k. They are £500 each and there are 6. Vauxhall say there is not a problem even though it is the same engine in the SAAB 9-5 which has the same problem.

At least with Lexus, they acknowledge issues and fix them and extend the warranty.

Very good point, Fiat tried everything to disown the problems they had with their motorhome base vehicle from about 2007 on - the motorhome forums were full of peoples struggles to get Fiat to firstly acknowledge there was a fault and then to pay for the repair.

[Desmond]

The diesels did not mate with the rest of the car. They were simply transplanted from the Avensis range for which they were designed. Lexus should have sought a 3 litre diesel from wag or BMW......imagine the is Lexus IS 335 I, a global car. BMW reliability I,proved by association with Lexus, and the cars assembled and badger as the Lexus is350 td

The Avensis has suffered too because of the engine. The problem isn't because it was a Toyota engine, all Lexus vehicles are Toyotas. I was surprised when Toyota announced the 180 engine, not sure why they didn't do a deal with BMW, they are teaming up quite often these days such as with the Mini One diesel engine and co-sharing hybrid research and technology.

Fleet sales of the IS have really dried up this year, down over 50%. Partly due to the CT but I'm sure it is also to do with the fact that poor reliability has driven sales away.

The diesel Avensis was a good car, at least from the revamped 2006 onwards. So quiet you could hardly tell it was a diesel and the gearbox was a cracker. I don't know what the latest one is like but I had 3 years excellent value out of mine.

When I became a 220d owner I found the difference amazingly disappointing. The engine was smelly and gave a constant vibro-massage. I thought it may improve as the engine ran in but it didn't. The gearbox was terrible for a car of this pedigree. Apart from the useless 6th gear, the change was agricultural compared to the Avensis.

I liked the car as a motorway cruiser though the mpg wasn't anything sparkling and the build quality was excellent. The torque was really good but you had to drive it quite hard. Unlike the Avensis 2.2d it would not pull at low revs or toddle around town in 4th gear. Maybe this was due to the weight or the gear ratios or the engine is simply more highly strung. I have to say the 250 makes the 220d feel like a tractor.

[Silver Arrow]

My jaunt across to BMW was a useful tool.

This current Gen IS was a lovely looking and wonderfully packaged car when it was launched, but Lexus I believe tried too hard to make it the most powerful, the most economical, and most refined car in it's class. They forgot that you can't just shoe-horn a Toyota D4D diesel engine into a car and make it good....so they ended up with a car with compromises in final drive, gearing, refinement and economy - all culminating in poorer reliability for this marque overall. The vibrating rear view mirror, very narrow power band, massive turbo lag/flat spot, the useless 6th speed/final drive ratio, lack of an Auto all made it compromised. Overall I think it was a good car spoilt by a lack of foresight and understanding what the competition was actually doing.

The early Sport was better to drive because it had a better final drive, but even then, no Auto, a notchy gear change and a narrow power band made it awkward to drive quickly and economically.

While the IS is a good car, it was fundamentally flawed as a diesel. They really should have designed it with a new bespoke engine and gearbox. They couldn't make a Hybrid I suspect as the boot was too small to start with, and so it was left trailing behind all of the others in terms of overall driveability as a diesel.

The IS250 Auto on the other hand was almost perfectly right, and had it not been for the slightly higher emissions (making it useless as a company car) it would have enjoyed much more sales success in the UK. The other area where Lexus should improve is updating the engines regularly to make them better in terms of CO2 etc. There was no way the IS220d could compete against a BMW 320ED as a company car, just as an example.

Whilst the BMW's do have a lot of issues with Turbo's and swirl flaps, it was easy to avoid the issues with a bit of Indy/DIY care (remove swirl flaps and change breathers etc). There ain't a lot you could do with the IS when the head gasket blew, or the 5th injector/EGR needed cleaning or replacing. But to Lexus's credit they have always been brilliant with their post-warranty care- something the german manufacturers are atrocious at.

[normski2]

Well put.

Found myself nodding my head in agreement through each paragraph.

[ComfyCruiser]

After having a browse through the Lexus website wondering what I may have to choose from when my current car (IS220d) ages, I noticed the diesel engines were missing and googled and found this thread. As my company allowance car has to comply with some points such as age I can't run much older vehicles as would be cheaper and preferred sometimes.

Reading through the comments above I started to accept the realisation that maybe Lexus chose to aim towards petrol hybrids putting their reseach resources in that way and not trying to cover too many directions, dropping the diesel engines from the range may also be a choice to mantain the silent refined reputation they pursue.

I however think that is the wrong decision and looking at the competition that seem to be carrying on improving and widening their range of diesels. As well as trying them with auto boxes different power and more engine sizes is a wiser way to find out what the customers want, then drop the lesser selling, not the whole diesel section altogether.

I for one like my Lexus IS220d for various reasons and chose it as a it ticks more of my 'want' boxes than the others pound for pound when I was looking to purchase and have many others compliment the car in many ways. Plus the low down torque and more miles per refuel is a great benefit to having a diesel, especially for a high mileage driver.

I have driven around 54k in two seperate IS220d cars (first I owned an '06 from 41k to 70k and was written off after being crashed into head on, my current car I have owned an '08 from 16k to 40k and both never have had anything go wrong).

For example when the first car was written off I was loaned an '11 plate Mercedes E250, which i believe is a V6, (similar weight car to the IS220d) that was auto-box, start/stop tech and on a 450 mile journey to Leeds and back I managed to get an impressive 58.9mpg (considering speeds and not me driving any different etc). with this considered, and the car being a newer car, the tech does exist to get more from the right setup which sometimes means a larger more efficient engine not the smaller the better.

I have driven the cars in all weathers and appreciate the flaws some mention but have always found design issues with cars I have driven and am sure all high-mileage drivers can pull their cars apart like they can their partners but love them all the same, warts and all.

So if anyone from Lexus is reading this, please bring back a diesel option, even in the GS range would be great but give it an auto box option, and other newer tech to so your mpg is increased and your competitive status is mantained. I am a RWD lover and now I only seem to have Mercedes and BMW to choose from (unless I want to spend much higher money, which I do not) and mercs are a bit old man with too soft a ride restricting enjoyment, and the BMWs are too sporty and stiff for the longer journeys, as they both suffer from under equipped basic setup with an unreasonably pricey options list that should be more standard like Lexus do.

Regards

A loyal customer that may be 'forced' to stray (now that is bad for your business, is it not?)

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Valid points but I think there's more chance of getting a ski holiday in hell than Lexus bringing out a diesel again.

Glad to hear you like yours and I don't think their bad cars as such, just have more issues than any other Lexus ever produced.

As you say I think Lexus are putting all their effort into Hybrid technology now as they must see that as the future.

[jason61c]

I agree, I don't see it as the future. As a motorway driver lugging a few hundred kg's of batteries up and down the country isn't something i'd consider doing. Its a bit like people saying a is250 is cheaper to run than a 220d, well its about a 1/3rd more per year in a fuel if you do the miles. With the better oil burning toyota engines at their disposal I can't see how they'd say never.....

[fjcfarrar]

After having a browse through the Lexus website wondering what I may have to choose from when my current car (IS220d) ages, I noticed the diesel engines were missing and googled and found this thread. As my company allowance car has to comply with some points such as age I can't run much older vehicles as would be cheaper and preferred sometimes.

Reading through the comments above I started to accept the realisation that maybe Lexus chose to aim towards petrol hybrids putting their reseach resources in that way and not trying to cover too many directions, dropping the diesel engines from the range may also be a choice to mantain the silent refined reputation they pursue.

I however think that is the wrong decision and looking at the competition that seem to be carrying on improving and widening their range of diesels. As well as trying them with auto boxes different power and more engine sizes is a wiser way to find out what the customers want, then drop the lesser selling, not the whole diesel section altogether.

I for one like my Lexus IS220d for various reasons and chose it as a it ticks more of my 'want' boxes than the others pound for pound when I was looking to purchase and have many others compliment the car in many ways. Plus the low down torque and more miles per refuel is a great benefit to having a diesel, especially for a high mileage driver.

I have driven around 54k in two seperate IS220d cars (first I owned an '06 from 41k to 70k and was written off after being crashed into head on, my current car I have owned an '08 from 16k to 40k and both never have had anything go wrong).

For example when the first car was written off I was loaned an '11 plate Mercedes E250, which i believe is a V6, (similar weight car to the IS220d) that was auto-box, start/stop tech and on a 450 mile journey to Leeds and back I managed to get an impressive 58.9mpg (considering speeds and not me driving any different etc). with this considered, and the car being a newer car, the tech does exist to get more from the right setup which sometimes means a larger more efficient engine not the smaller the better.

I have driven the cars in all weathers and appreciate the flaws some mention but have always found design issues with cars I have driven and am sure all high-mileage drivers can pull their cars apart like they can their partners but love them all the same, warts and all.

So if anyone from Lexus is reading this, please bring back a diesel option, even in the GS range would be great but give it an auto box option, and other newer tech to so your mpg is increased and your competitive status is mantained. I am a RWD lover and now I only seem to have Mercedes and BMW to choose from (unless I want to spend much higher money, which I do not) and mercs are a bit old man with too soft a ride restricting enjoyment, and the BMWs are too sporty and stiff for the longer journeys, as they both suffer from under equipped basic setup with an unreasonably pricey options list that should be more standard like Lexus do.

Regards

A loyal customer that may be 'forced' to stray (now that is bad for your business, is it not?)

I sympathise with your position. Even if Lexus had not tied their flag to Hybrid technology, future diesels would have required design and development of a very different auto-gearbox to fit into their range and image. This gearbox would have required more ratios to captalise on the diesel's inherent narrow power band rather than fiddling with engine's injector-control to "artificially" widen the power-band, plus be linked to gearbox electronics to accomodate this as well as coping witht the relatively ponderous engine-response to provide smooth changes and good efficiency without excessive efficiency losses through torque converters. Lexus's current auto boxes are tailored and coupled to control of the very different petrol engine and although one just for diesels could be achieved; even ignoring the massive development costs would result in a car which cost far too much to fit into the fleet cum luxury-drive-on-the-cheap sector presently occupied by say the IS200/220D.

Maybe other manufacturers will choose this different route, but must be concerned that making diesels drive really well with low emissions fritters away their economic advantages in increased manufacturing complexity/costs and reductions in fuel economy. This has already happened to an extent in that today's refined diesels offer a much better drive but are significantly less economical than old, noisy, black-smoking clunkers. Few would now like to drive an old 90's 1.9 Astra-Van with how crude it seemed but might be surprised how very frugal it was even when (as it usually was) heavily laden and pushed to its limits up & down the motorways.

[ComfyCruiser]

to fjcfarrar:

Having read your post after my last I can appreciate the 'challenges' of developing a diesel automatic gearbox, but would also like to point out that, as you probably already know,Toyota already has automatic gearboxes so it isn't that hard a deal to impose this into the Lexus range, with a few tweaks say for smoothness over consumption as you mentioned which is a worthy trade, or have a switch on the gearbox that changes the modes (i think that already exists :P).

As I stated before the Mercedes Automatic 2.5 Diesel achieved all of the tasks you mention and the consumption so I do not think it's not a matter of reinventing the wheel, but learning from the research pioneers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another point I would like to add regarding diesels over petrol is the mileage the engine last for over petrol, normally an extra 50%. Due to this diesel also offers greater resale price after high mileage use (another appeal) this is a contributing factor when after a fair share of the company car market that the IS200/20d gives the impression it was after as company cars are usually high mileage cars.

All in all I am not asking, or expecting a miracle return of the diesel but would like to prevent good market niche cars being scrapped for the wrong reasons.

Lexus has always been a great company and I can anly see them shrinking their market share from this choice rather than becoming a worthy option in the market for a lot of users that want what the competition do not provide.

I understand that other people chose other cars for whatever reasons (highly probable lack of knowledge, put off by disgruntled forum ranters whom always seem to be the majority*,and misleading on-paper representation of stats)

*[ I hope I am not one of these as I see my post as positive and negative, not as a rant :) ]

I just feel that the RWD market for high mileage users NEEDS to be diesel due to costs of fuel amongst other factors, the bigger players overpricing the cars when equipped reasonably (making the fuel-type less of a saving) as well as not covering all the desires of the market users. I state RWD as am aware that FWD are so dominant, due to efficiency, but give a less smoth drive and tyre wear as well as general feel and performance.

Lexus had a corner and instead of improving that and asking the market the flaws and building a section that could grab the niche the competitors do not have, it seems they likely listened to the snobbery of the low mileage, high earner groups and found any reason to bury the diesels.

Look at national, probably international sales of cars, diesels sell lots, and Toyota have diesel tech and research so its not 'ground-upwards' research for Lexus. Make your diesels better and more will sell and you will make more money. Its as simple as that.

...p.s. remind me what fuel-type cars have won le-mans for the past few years :P

[fjcfarrar]

to fjcfarrar:

Having read your post after my last I can appreciate the 'challenges' of developing a diesel automatic gearbox, but would also like to point out that, as you probably already know,Toyota already has automatic gearboxes so it isn't that hard a deal to impose this into the Lexus range, with a few tweaks say for smoothness over consumption as you mentioned which is a worthy trade, or have a switch on the gearbox that changes the modes (i think that already exists :P).

As I stated before the Mercedes Automatic 2.5 Diesel achieved all of the tasks you mention and the consumption so I do not think it's not a matter of reinventing the wheel, but learning from the research pioneers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another point I would like to add regarding diesels over petrol is the mileage the engine last for over petrol, normally an extra 50%. Due to this diesel also offers greater resale price after high mileage use (another appeal) this is a contributing factor when after a fair share of the company car market that the IS200/20d gives the impression it was after as company cars are usually high mileage cars.

All in all I am not asking, or expecting a miracle return of the diesel but would like to prevent good market niche cars being scrapped for the wrong reasons.

Lexus has always been a great company and I can anly see them shrinking their market share from this choice rather than becoming a worthy option in the market for a lot of users that want what the competition do not provide.

I understand that other people chose other cars for whatever reasons (highly probable lack of knowledge, put off by disgruntled forum ranters whom always seem to be the majority*,and misleading on-paper representation of stats)

*[ I hope I am not one of these as I see my post as positive and negative, not as a rant :) ]

I just feel that the RWD market for high mileage users NEEDS to be diesel due to costs of fuel amongst other factors, the bigger players overpricing the cars when equipped reasonably (making the fuel-type less of a saving) as well as not covering all the desires of the market users. I state RWD as am aware that FWD are so dominant, due to efficiency, but give a less smoth drive and tyre wear as well as general feel and performance.

Lexus had a corner and instead of improving that and asking the market the flaws and building a section that could grab the niche the competitors do not have, it seems they likely listened to the snobbery of the low mileage, high earner groups and found any reason to bury the diesels.

Look at national, probably international sales of cars, diesels sell lots, and Toyota have diesel tech and research so its not 'ground-upwards' research for Lexus. Make your diesels better and more will sell and you will make more money. Its as simple as that.

...p.s. remind me what fuel-type cars have won le-mans for the past few years :P

All true, but the Lexus Diesel niche has only ever existed in a few countries within its Market - particularly not in the USA - and that is declining as Companies no longer feel the need to supply Prestige cars, and increasingly do not wish their staff to inefficiently spend their valuable time traipsing across the Country. Similarly, employees are (if possible in the current situation) now increasingly seeking lesser commutes in favour of lower costs plus a better quality of life by working nearer to home. Add to this that by slightly premature release; Lexus turned their Prestige Diesel into something of an oxymoron; it is no surprise they have abandoned this foray and are investing in what they see as the coming technologies. The niche is therefore handed over to the competent diesels from Toyota, and Lexus seem unworried that these do not have Lexus style and cachet and the effect this could have on sales. They may have in reality made a mistake in doing this; but probably see it as likely a lesser potential mistake than embarking on the diesel route in the first place. Time will tell. Other manufacturers have not adopted this view.