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Hello, I am seriously considering a new IS300H Executive as my new company car, I currently drive a BMW 5 Series 520d manual, which is at 71,000 and will be 3 years old in October, car has been faultless, and is a joy to drive, and to be honest I was just going to replace with a 518 auto, dropping down to the 518 would allow me to put a few extras on, sports seats multifunction dash, but I wandered into my local lexus dealer, and he persuaded me to try a GS & an IS, The GS I really liked, but in SE spec, has fabric seats and to put leather on takes it to £33500 without sat nav.

Dealer mentioned the exex IS300 which with paint is still under 31k and has leather and sat nav, like most I had read reviews about poor performance, and the whining, droning, poor CVT, well I have to say I did not find any of that, I though acceleration was good, quiet, refined, and handled well, so really not sure how some reviewers come to the conclusion that they do, maybe there publications receive good advertising from some brands, or perhaps I am being cynical.

Only dislikes, footbrake, would rather have an electric brake with auto hold, but I suppose you only use footbrake when leaving the car, and sat nav did seem a little complicated although I did not really try with it,, I believe the exec does not have the mouse, is the wheel better?

As a company car user the BIK is a massive saving for me up to 3k over 3 years, a concern is though that I have averaged 51mpg over 70k miles and can often get 58mpg on long trips, I only saw 47mpg driving the IS300 for a day.

Would appreciate any comments on the sat nav, could my Tom Tom, be mirrored on the screen?

Keith

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The mouse is better in my opinion, one click and its done. The sensitivity can also be changed. The problem with the rotary is that it takes too long to get through the menus. Its seriously frustrating, especially when looking for music and things like that.

The IS300h is a good bet, its a similiar size to the car you have now so you'll get used to it quicker and because of the lower price will cost you less in tax. The CVT drone that the reviewers complain about is achieved by pressing the accelerator all the way to the floor until 100mph comes up. Obviously, you wont be doing this in real life so theres no reason to be worried about any drone, ive never experienced it.

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Hi Keefey, as a fellow company car driver I absolutely love this car. 12% tax (I've only a pov spec SE) and being a 2.5 Petrol I get 24p for every business mile I drive. Had the car for a month and although I'm mostly motorway I just cannot get MPG less than 55. I'm not a racer though, I happily sit at 70-75 with the cruise on and at this level you cannot fail to get 55 mpg.

I have the premium nav though, I can't absolutely comment on the Executive because I think that comes with the stripped down version of the Nav. As long as it comes with the same traffic system though I can comment.

I ran my TomTom on my phone side by side for a few days and the info was the same. The Lexus Premium Nav was a little keen to re-route at the first sign of traffic, so I switched this off. I only re-route manually and it's been great so far. It takes a couple of mins more for the info to show up on the Lexus but it was just as accurate as the TomTom.

Unfortunately there is no way to mirror TomTom on the screen because Lexus only use the Mirrorlink system, but this will only mirror inbuilt Google Maps Navigation on certain android phones, or the host navigation software from some Nokia phones. Also I think the mirrorlink option is only there if you have no inbuild Navigation. I know I don't have it at all with my premium nav.

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Thanks for the replies, really appreciate it, strangle if I get the exec, I cannot upgrade the Nav, only the paint, which seems strange, as I said I really like my BMW but is it worth £1000 a year more in tax to drive over the 300h, I certainly did not thinks so.

I am of that age now where Audi TT, 3 series Coupes, Triumph TR6 are all a think of the past, I just need a bit of oomph sometimes as to as my Dad used to say "get out of trouble"!!

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There are never a massive amount of upgrades for Lexus models, unlike the masses of them in the German machines.

If the Executive had been available when I ordered my SE I would likely have gone for it as it's better value. My only saving grace was the Premium Nav was a free offer from Toyota Fleet because no way would I have paid £2k for it. I'd have stuck to my TomTom on the Iphone.

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I believe there is some sort of mirroring functionality with the standard nav. No idea which phones it works with and which apps though, sorry.

I think on longer runs/motorways your 520d will give better mpg, but the difference in fuel cost will help reduce any additional cost.

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I’m in the process of haggling on an IS300H, F-Sport. I love my A4, but the draw of the Lexus is getting too strong to resist, every time I find a reason not to have one, I then find a reason too have one, its driving me mad.

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Tinka, my wife is threatening to leave me, to be honest I should just be grateful that I get a company car, but it is just so important to get right as I do a minimum of 25k a year, so I really want to enjoy what I have, my current 5 series is great, but the BIK savings are pretty big on the Lexus, and the one I drove for a day I really enjoyed, even the active sound! The only thing that is putting me off is the footbrake, I really wanted an auto with auto hold.

Do you know if the tyre monitor in the F sport measures each wheel, but does not in the other models.

BMW, or Lexus, maybe a Quashqai, even a Mercedes Hybrid, no that's 36k, The IS Exex has everything I want but no sports seats, its the F Sport then, but that has no Nav as std. please help!!

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Some "retro" things on cars are cool, but the footbrake is just daft. The GS has an electronic brake, so I wonder why they didn't put one in the new IS? On newer BMW's you can also set the electro handbrake to set automatically when stationery which is really cool. My GS won't allow that.

Anyway, as far as the Sat nav is concerned then you will be disappointed by the Lexus system with it's remote touch thing. The newer (post 2010) BMW I Drive is much better in my opinion, having experienced it in an X3 whilst in the states for 3 weeks recently. It's so much faster and intuitive compared to any of the Lexus navigation units. The X3 also had a sensitive iDrive controller where you can write letters/characters in with a finger etc. and programming is a doddle.

Other than remote touch/mouse, the look and feel of the Lexus system hasn't changed for years from what I can tell and experienced in the old IS.

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I hate the parking brake, but the IS has Hill Start Assist so I don't think you would ever need to use it except when actually parked - I haven't needed it yet.

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Does the car actually roll back on a steep hill in drive? my last auto was a Cortina 2.3 V6, and I never remember that rolling back, mind you was a few years ago!

No, not if you use the Hill-Start assist feature.

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Hi Colin, so in theory it could on a steep hill in drive, an upward hill that is, I am making a mountain out of a mole hill here really as my current 5 series is a manual and I rarely use the parking brake except for when parking

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If you don't use hill-assist then yes you will get a little bit of rollback. My RX400h does this as it doesn't have hill-start. It will do it up a hill in drive or down a hill in reverse. I'm use to it so isn't a problem, I probably move less than a foot before I've applied enough gas to compensate.

However the IS300h has hill-assist so this isn't an issue. You get 2 seconds from releasing the pedal before the brakes are released. Not sure if on the IS this is automatic or you have to press down hard on the brake pedal to engage the system.

http://blog.lexus.co.uk/2014/06/lexus-car-safety-stability-and-control-technologies/#hillstartAssistControl

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Thanks Colin, I was hoping that the is had auto hold like they put on the audi and Bmw now, but it has not, it is like on the bmw I have now, hard press on the brake, I am just looking for reasons to stick with what I currently drive although in a 518, but I did try an Is last week for a complete day and thought it was great, but a week later you tend to forget the complete experience, now just have to decide between executive or f sport

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Keefey, I was set on a Lux IS model and thought that the FSport was just cosmetics. I wanted one because of the lack of padding on the knee pads on the centre console, which the fsport and premier get. But a day's test drive later and I was sold, it really is more than just a set of wheels and body kit. Dials, seats, gearing, suspension, even the synthetic engine noise seemed louder and growlier!

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Hi Steve, do you have the fabric seats? if so are they ok, I have a thing for leather, that does not sound right does it, I have a thing for leather seats, but the sports seats look really good in the F sport, but £2300 is just something budget will not allow, mind you with those wheels I will be getting a taxi to the kerb.

Wife thought she was getting a back ache in the Luxury we tried, I didn't but did find the leather a bit sticky compared to my BMW.

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hopefully somebody can confirm but I have a feeling it is automatic on the IS

The hill assist is automatic. Come to rest on an incline and on releasing pressure on the brake pedal the brakes remain on for a good couple of seconds. Ample time to move to the throttle pedal and apply power.

In typical smooth Lexus fashion the brakes seem to come off gently so the car doesn't lurch back. I was on a pretty steep incline when testing.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

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Keefey, I've not taken delivery yet (literally counting down the hours), but the demo fsport I had, had std tahara seats. They are perfectly fine, bucketed slightly different style to the lux, electric and heated. Fitted me perfectly, very comfortable.

I also prefer leather and it is expensive but comes with a few options that aren't clear in the brochure. Namely, elec memory with heat and ventilation, electric steering column, comfort access and auto folding mirrors with dip on reverse. This softens the blow a bit. It is also better on residuals, as the lease cost I got had a discount for having leather.

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Keefey, not trying to be funny, but how can you choose a car from peoples responses on a forum? Go down to the dealership and get a test drive and see for yourself. I got a demo from Toyota Fleet for 5 days.

Yes the IS has Hill Start Assist, take your foot off the accelerator and it does not roll back. I've a basic SE and it does this.

110 miles to Hull this morning and 58.9 mpg, I seriously love this car, it is paying me money every month at that level of MPG.

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Appreciate all the replies, I go through this every time I change a car, I have driven members of Jaguar, Audi & BMW forums to distraction, with some members still on medication.

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