Looking At Buying 220D Very Soon

[benannah]

Good evening all,

As the title says im looking at buying a 220d very soon , nothing fancy, a 56 plate at around 5.5k.

I was wondering if there is anything i should be looking out for on these cars and anything i should definately buy. ie is the media pack any good?? any help and tips from already owners would be great.

thanks

[stevet]

My only tip would be to get the 250 if you do under 12k miles.

[normski2]

Please read as much here as you can about the 220d. You need to have your eyes wide open if you are looking at a 220. With the greatest of respect a 56 Plate is putting you firmly in the suspect territory.I agree completely with Stevet...if you are NOT doing a high mileage look at the 250 Auto.

Read these posts

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=80791

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=81181

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=70826

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=81188#entry810177

At least read this bit I posted up to a question.

"Righto here goes then
1. Had a is200 Sport Nav for quite a few years. Jolly good it was too...still see it today.

2. A few years ago I changed to a 2007 is220d thinking it would be a good move from the fuel basis. I was then doing a good mileage p.a. of 18K miles or so. Within three months the Head Gasket went and had a new engine and various other bits all sorted by Lexus. I was lucky...i seemed to get a car that returned very good mpg. I would get 39 on my runs to work and up to 50+ on a good journey. Got 54 going to Scotland and across France. The car was very comfortable and was very quiet when driving. It was only noisy at tick over...but hey all diesels are! It went like the clappers too when that turbo kicked in. I used fuel additives and engine treatments as I did not want the engine to soot up when my annual mileage dropped to around 6K. I cleaned the EGR every 5K miles. These diesel engines need to be munching through the miles and getting good and hot. They do not like short stop start journeys. My son's new job lead him to do 20K+ miles p.a. so I ended up giving him the car and touch wood it is going beautifully. I drove it last weekend and was very impressed with the grunt from the diesel/turbo combo. He was showing 46 mpg. There have also been problems with notchy gear changes from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. From my perspective I found 6th gear utterly pointless unless you are doing 90+mph. Having said that 5th is a fairly good ratio and kicks the revs down nicely when doing 70-75mph.
If you are looking at 06/07/08 220d's you need to be aware that is the period where seemingly most of the Head Gasket issues are and have occurred. If you do not have extended warranty this could cost you up to £6000 or so. You need to know exactly what you are buying with one of these. You want FULL LEXUS SERVICE HISTORY and nothing less. You should consider an extended warranty...this will be in the region of £700 p.a. Road Tax on the 220 will be £215.

3. I then got the 250 SEL Auto that I have now. It is divine in my eyes. I accept the mpg cannot be as good..I get 28-30 around town and up to 40 on a run. Going to France in late June so that will be my first long run in the car and I shall be keen to see what I get.
The auto box is seemless and an absolute joy to drive. I love the car from every perspective. My only gripe is the boot has the same narrow throat that the old is200 had and the rear side pillars are a little on the large side and restrict vision a tad. The rear seating is pretty much the same restrictiveness in all three cars. Bear in mind the Auto version is £270 road tax and the manual boxed version is £460.

Go and drive several of each car and choose your one you want. But have your eyes wide open and be prepared to wait for the one you want not what a salesman is trying to convince you to get. Try Audi's too...I did! I was looking at A4 A6 and A5's.

Hope that helps"