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So...if it drives well and starts reliably, that sounds like a good car to me. If you get problems when trying to do an OBD scan then your OBD reader could be faulty. If you have a laptop then buy one of these miniVCI cables from eBay They usually come with a pirated copy of Techstream, which is the exact very same diagnostic software used by Toy/Lex techs in the dealership workshops, so you won't get a better diagnostic tool than this, especially as it shows sub-codes as well. For instance, P0AA6 covers six different areas with only the sub-codes to differentiate between them. Of course, we can't be seen to condone software piracy (that's a matter for your own conscience) so the legit way would be to download Techstream from here and then pay for a block of time to use it (€5/day or €10/week etc). Whichever way you decide to do it you'll need that VCI cable anyway. If all else fails, I strongly suggest taking it to a specialist auto electrician. It's a skill and a trade in its own right and you wouldn't employ a painter to install a whole new central heating system in your house, or a carpenter to do some plumbing work, so why expect a general mechanic to be able to sort out auto electrical problems? I don't think Lexus dealerships will employ their own auto electricians because I just can't see them having enough work in that area to keep someone in a full-time job.

After owning my UX for a couple of years the five things I really like and use! Number one:the hands free boot release,once you get the knack it’s just so easy,for my sins I play golf 3 or 4 times a week and walk my dog every day so I’m always loading and unloading so this is a great feature. Number two: the Mark Levinson sound system with CD player,I know it’s old fashioned and I do have music on usb sticks but a I have large collection of cds(I still purchase Vinyl and CDs! but it’s a bit hard to play the vinyl in the car!) Number three: the heads up display,this is just so useful and easy and the fact that you never have to take your eyes off the road has got to be good thing. Number four: the heated and chilled seats,I’ve never had chilled seats before but when we do have a nice hot sunny day wow they are fantastic! Number five: this one will be contentious but I use the sport mode and paddles when I’m on a nice bit of road,I know it isn’t a sports car and I know it doesn’t have a gear change but it still puts a smile on my face. What five things do you like and more importantly use?

Well, it looks like I need new front wheel bearings. My front left wheel is making a horrendous grinding noise when rotated (jacked up) and the front right is making a hissing noise. When driving the noise is easily heard from inside, even with the windows closed and at certain speeds generates a beat-frequency. It was all fine during our few days in York and North Yorkshire Moors but I think the endless 6 hour trek home down the A1/A14/M11 in the pouring rain surrounded by tailgating morons has finally done for them. I can't complain as the car is nearly at 138k miles. I'll be getting a garage to replace them as my back issues means I cannot do them myself.

Dear oh dear. So sorry to hear of your ES being stolen. I didn’t realise that the ES was a target until now. Mine is a locked garage, but still could be got at when parked elsewhere. With all the electronic expertise around, surely Lexus can come up with a fix/ deterrent? Specially taking in to account all the superfluous stuff they have incorporated into the ES. I think legal action should be taken out on Lexus.

Frustrating though it is, sometimes you have to concede these jobs to physical maladies; I have an old back injury that meant I struggled to do much in the way of DIY for a few years (doing wheel bearings would have crippled me for a couple of weeks after). Remember, you're helping to keep someone in a job!

Juan Thornes the administrator of the Facebook Group Lexus SC430 Club UK posted this last month which seems like a good deal and might be of interest to someone needing this done. “Evening all! Lexus Sheffield after sales director Gary Hudson called me this morning to say that the £499 cambelt and water pump replacement including labour and coolant offer will have to end due to price inflation on parts and sundries. Good news!!! Lexus Sheffield will still offer all Lexus SC430 Club UK members the same excellent offer with a slight increase to £599. This £100 increase is still GREAT bargain. Take advantage of this wonderful offer and also book you SC or any other Lexus vehicle in for a service with Lexus Sheffield. Thank you all. Iooking forward in see you all at this year's workshop and car show in June. Best wishes. Juan.

Excellent advice Herbie!

Well mine is a quite old charger but works brilliantly, I have this in a distribution box next to my car under the carport, I have 2 leads permanently wired to my battery that go to a waterproof din socket under my front bumper and connect to my charger! Stew

Any motoring journalist that over-dramatizes the functionality of the NX's door handles as Clarkson has done (to the Nth degree by the way - "stuck in the car until 4am; blah; blah; blah") loses all credibility in my opinion. Anyone that can't use them (or understand the logic behind the technology) shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel of a car, let alone review one. He also makes reference to the "beeps" when using the infotainment system. Is he not clever enough to work out that you can turn that off in seconds via the settings? Has he not driven a modern car before? I'm sure he makes things up for shock value - he's just walking clickbait. I'm not trying to be defensive on my choice of car and I'm not saying the new NX is perfect (I know that others on here have had some not inconsiderable issues with aspects of it) but at least review it in a reasoned, rational, way and not use it as the latest attempt to "get noticed".

Jonny welcome to this forum Has yours been changed in, say, 2013 ? If so you're probably OK for this next trip to Europe .... 5/6k miles is it to be ? 10 years / 100k miles whatever arises first is the way to go .. anything different and the gods need to be with you do you do the lottery 😅 Malc

A while back I posted a thread looking for info on an RCF that was for sale, well, after a bit of grief getting my previous car sold I was finally able to buy it a few weeks ago and join the F Club. It turns out the previous owner is also a member here, so it's nice that it's staying in the forum family. I've previously mostly owned BMWs, my last car being an M2 which I absolutely loved, but I just had the itch to try something new and having never owned a car with a V8 I feel like now is the time to own one while it's still possible. It came down to a Mustang vs the RCF, but in the end the RCF won as it just felt like the more special car. It already came with a Quicksilver exhaust and the wheels powder coated in a darker shade, I think the only other mods I'll be looking to do for the moment are some spacers to make the wheels fill the arches a little better, and a de-chrome. Great to finally have some good weather this weekend to properly appreciate it!

I have posted this to the model specific part of the forum, but it doesn't appear to be overly active. So thought I'd post here with a view to hearing your thoughts. I'll be grateful for any advice. Many thanks. Hi all I'm new to the forum and recently bought my first Lexus. A 2006 IS220D. I bought it direct from someone who used to work at Lexus Poole, and who bought it from the dealership. FSH with only 32k, absolutely pristine, inside and out, silver with beige interior, so got it dirt cheap (£4k) Naturally I was buzzing at having procured such a car, at such a price, with exceptionally low mileage and then I read this post and the horror stories of headgasket leaks, constantly failing DPF's and EGR's, mpg figures averaging low 30's and I started to question my decision, albeit too late to do anything about it, so I set about getting it booked into my local indy garage who have looked after all my previous cars for as long as I can remember and asked them to do a full service, multipoint check and check for headgasket leak, condition of EGR valve ETC. Prior to having the car booked in, I'd done around 500 stress free miles, averaging 40.1mpg (80% extra urban/20% urban, with a tank average of 46.6mpg) Initial impressions were that the car is somewhat sedate on the power delivery side and certainly doesn't not belie its BHP/LBFT figures, nor the fact its turbocharged, in all honesty, it felt like a naturally aspirated vehicle up to 2500rpm and above 4000rpm and like many others have alluded too, the gearing is long, too long, the engine felt like it needed another 30bhp/50lbft to come into alignment with the gearing. I was super impressed with the level of refinement, general build quality, comfort and also the complete lack of NVH in the cabin. I was also quietly pleased that despite the car needing a service, I had averaged 40mpg+ and 46mpg+ on the motorway/dual carriageway, despite being in 5th gear for the entirety of the motorway miles (travelling at approx 68mph at c.2100rpm) I tried a couple of times to use 6th gear, but I needed to be travelling in excess of 80mph to avoid the car displaying signs of choking and juddering (IMHO Lexus have really let down their UK customers by not having the correct gearing ratios and it left me wondering how much better the mpg could be) Anyway reports back from the garage suggested all was in order, they described the car as 'very clean' mechanically, no signs of gasket leaks, EGR and fuel filter both impeccably clean despite having seen 8k miles, although air filter definitely needed changing. Naturally I breathed a sigh of relief and went about my way. I have since completed another 500 stress free miles and I have to say the mpg has improved drastically post service (c.8%) I averaged 43.8mpg and on the motorway 52.2mpg. All in all I'm really very happy, but I know there's more to be unlocked from this car. A person who lives in my village, used to own an IS220D and his son, who at the time worked for a remapping company, specialising in Japanese stuff, had a stage 1 remap installed on his IS220D and he said it totally transformed the car, once it had learned the new map, it consistently averaged upwards of 50mpg, most of those urban miles and more importantly, mostly short distances and all but eliminated the ratio issue. I have since spoken to a remapping company in the South West, who have previous experience in mapping the IS220D, having performed 9 custom dyno remaps on them over the last 5 years, they guarantee an improvement of mpg anywhere between 8% and 15% based on anecdotal evidence from customers and generally speaking the maps offer an increase of 34bhp/45lbft, they also assured me that every single IS220D owner has said the long ratios are no longer an issue with the increased power. Mine is booked in this Tuesday, the 28th. I will report back my findings. All the best and thanks for reading

Interesting discussion, thanks. I'm not greatly invested in car makes, nothing against BMW. Equally, not really into Mercedes or the others. All I said is that the impression I get is that the new BMW 8 appeals to people who probably were attracted to the marque to begin with. I'm just trying to boil down what a car has to offer, how it stands out if you like - even if it stands out by not standing out too much given what it is (eg. DB9). I probably should have said I get the E31 generation 8-series, it has that instant cool factor to it, captures an entire era in industrial design. Re reliability. It's a running joke among real car people (not like me), that as a BMW owner your mechanics will know you by your first name soon enough, and will give you a call out of a genuine concern if you don't come by for a while. Which? data rates BMW 3/5 stars based on owner experience with reliability, compared to Lexus 5/5. Of course, it's heavily weighted to mainstream models. High-end BMWs might be better, no clue. Yes, I chose Lexus for the combination of comfort and peace of mind. We drive across Europe several times a year, I don't want to, mentally cannot, deal with a breakdown, particularly not on a random European motorway hundreds of miles away from either endpoints of my journey. Very low tolerance for any issues, and I don't trust garages either. I realise I haven't much to contribute...

Just ordered a t bar steering lock, the one that grips the top and sits across the dash. As others say, a visual deterrent makes a difference to opportunistic. My drive shape means that if you can’t steer, you can’t go anywhere.

52.3/49.1 tonight

Absolutely ridiculous that in 2023 this is a problem. Like going back to the late 80s and early 90s.

We had a new CHR Dynamic top of the range for 3 years and in that time it was faultless apart from two annoying faults,the first was in those 3 years it had 2 new batteries replaced by Toyota f.o.c and the second fault which the Toyota service manager said was a known fault was excessive moisture in the car/windscreen,I’ve never had a car with so much moisture in it,the windscreen would ice up inside frequently in the winter.The car was very economical returning over 60 mpg at times and was a joy to own (apart from the 2 faults mentioned).It’s hard to have a true comparison because at the end of the day there is a big price difference but the CHR is a very capable and smart looking car,it’s very well equipped and the boot is much bigger than the UX,as for comfort the seats in both cars are good with the UX edging it.It’s a hard choice but I think your wife would be happy with either.

wouldn't recommend Artago 870, it can be defeated in seconds using a simple tool - there is a video in the Amazon reviews somebody demonstrating it.

Hi Linas. No my car didn't go into limp mode. I paid £118.00 for my replacement pump from the place I mentioned. Got a few mo ths guarantee with it. I contacted them over something and they came back to me in a most pleasant way. For the price I paid look on ebay but make a note of the numbers on top of the pump on the plastic part. 3 rows of numbers 2 columns. There are used pumps on ebay at under 50 quid but I chose the seller coz he had the one I needed plus tested and a guarantee. No brainer at that price. Can't remember if you have techstream but you need a scanner that does ABS bleeding. Some good videos on YouTube.

Lexus recommends the following coolant/anti-freeze change: - 100,000 - Radiator & 150,000 - Inverter Its well debated online to follow manufacturer recommendations v Reports of early water pump failures due to the coolant becoming acidic. Dont over think it if you want to do it just get on with it. Mine is on 52k & 8 years old it was not due however if I leave it until it gets to 100k it would probably take 15-20 years before it is replaced i'm sure you will all agree anything more than 10 years is questionable. (Disclaimer - Do so at your own risk) Tools required 10mm deep socket & ratchet, Flat head screwdriver, Axle stand, funnel, Ramp, Jack, chocks, 10L bucket, Gloves, Cardboard, Lexuspartsdirect provide 7L of Pink Super long life coolant for the 100k service package. This was just right for both inverter & coolant. However if you run short you may run into trouble. Best practise to have 2x 5L bottles to hand. The remaining you can just use for top up as necessary in the future although its a sealed system there shouldn't be any leaks if your loosing coolant theres a problem! Warm the car up, put heater temp to max, airflow (blower) on lowest. This will open the thermostat & drain the coolant from the heater Matrix assisting in getting most of the coolant out. SAFETY FIRST Drive the car onto ramp, apply handbrake, chock rear wheels, if you want to lift the car higher jack it up & place axle stands. Remove the plastic undertray held on by 10mm nuts & plastic push fit clips. Place your cardboard under the car now. You will see 2 drain valves dont remove them initially just loosen so it can start draining position the bucket right under the drain valve so you catch the coolant you can control the flow. *It may be hot if you warmed the car up so be very careful* - Yellow drain valve is the radiator coolant & white is the inverter. One at a time doesn't matter which I chose to do the inverter first. Approx 20 mins for full drain. Remember to tighten both of the drain valves back up. Now go to the top remove the inverter coolant cap using your funnel slowly pour coolant until it is above the F marker. You want to slightly overfill the reservoir to start with so it doesnt run the inverter pump dry as soon as you try to start the car it will bleed the air and gulp the excess coolant. >>>>> Do not mix the caps <<<< Next remove the cap for the radiator reservoir & top up to the Full mark. Now remove the radiator cap & Place the funnel there & fill coolant slowly until it pours out you will see bubbles coming out. You can help squeeze out any air locks by squeezing the rubber hose. Providing both reservoirs are full & there is coolant in the radiator you now want to bleed air out of the system to prevent overheating. Leave the caps off the inverter & radiator. Go to the car > foot on brake> press start within 3-4 seconds BEFORE the engine starts turn it off. Do this 2-3x. This will run the inverter pump sucking in the coolant. If the level drops below F top it up again to the Full mark. Thats inverter pretty much bled & done. Put the cap back on. You need to put the car into maintenance mode before starting the car so the engine remains running to warm up & bleed any air locks. Otherwise it switches to EV cutting the engine out not allowing it to warm up or do the bleed procedure. As soon as you start the car keep eye on the temp gauge. It should not exceed the normal operating range which is in the middle. What you want to do is let the car warm up & for the cooling fans to come in twice to ensure there are no air locks. The funnel may release bubbles which is normal bleeding air out & the coolant may try to come out of the funnel. Volcano effect its normal as it gets hot. Turn the car off, exiting maintenance mode. Now restart as normal & go for a drive & top up as necessary over next 2-3 cooling cycles it may need a slight top up. I appreciate this is a DIY guide & may not be the perfect method & may well have missed a step on here, but should it help anybody then thats great.. I have since done over 100 miles no issues. Upon observation I think the inverter coolant could easily go on another 50k the coolant was clear, however the engine coolant although not contaminated appeared cloudy so well worth doing I dont think it would have done the engine any favours for another 10 years. I probably wont touch it for another 5 years. Not a difficult job can be messy thats the only downside. Dispose of the coolant at a recycle centre & job done.

Hi guys We started this conversation about boot struts, but digressed. I got two new struts from China at Christmas and have just fitted them. It was an easy and quick job, just prising the clips off the old struts then the struts just pop off. The new ones with clips on just pop in place. The things I learnt was: 1. The Chinese one are much cheaper and appear to work as well. 2. Find a prop to hold the boot open and put it in place before starting. 3. Pay attention and don't fit them upside down Some of the above I may have done but I won't admit to it 🤣

Fit & finish and material quality yes but the Tesla is far superior in performance, battery efficiency, charging, infotainment, software, security, heating/cooling, running costs (no servicing),

Hi Clive, Brilliant - many thanks for your help. Didn't think of that one. Happy Easter.

Turns out that the obvious issue was the fix and that, indeed, Lexus don't design spare wires into their throttle connectors 😉 I reseated detached wire today (with battery disconnected obv). On turning car back on, no code, stable throttle. Relief...

New discs and pads replaced this morning using new pad fitting kit and anti squeal shims. All Lexus OEM stuff I bought over 12 months ago. New discs and pads had been fitted by the previous owner but they were not OEM, the anti squeal shims and the spacer bracket things were missing. Intention was to leave the brakes until they really needed replacing. However, a few months after I bought the car there was a slight judder braking from motorway speeds. This seemed to disappear after a few weeks but over the last 6 weeks I had a pulsing brake pedal at low speeds when coming to a stop. Also, and this has always been the case since I bought the car especially after washing the car, when reversing off the drive you can feel and hear the front pads moving and clunking. Probably due to the spacer bracket things missing. Time to fit the new discs, pads and fitting kit etc and check the caliper pistons are ok cos it could have been that causing the pulsing. More common on floating/sliding calipers though. Pistons were fine, looked very good with very little rust on the piston front edges. Took me about 4 hours really taking my time, cleaning everything and applying the correct brake grease in the correct places. Working out where and how the anti squeal plates fit took a while to make sure I got it correct, workshop manual helps of course but still needs some brain power. Took the car for a short run, brakes are smooth as silk now and pads do not move when reversing. The brakes were fine before regarding stopping power. Even after just a short drive and before the discs/pads have bedded in, the difference is big. If anyone is thinking of replacing their discs and pads etc with aftermarket ( which I don’t do, I inherited after market discs and pads on the car), my advice is don’t……………use Lexus OEM stuff. The OEM discs and pads are not more expensive than decent aftermarket stuff but the pad fitting kit and anti squeal shims will add £100 to the cost if they are missing or not reusable.

I’ve previously purchased Weathertech rubber cargo liners for a number of my cars, they fit perfectly. I contacted them in the US (as Weathertech Europe don’t have them), ordered two, then after a while they canceled my order (as they don’t like customers using freight forwarders?), instead they quoted to send them to me themselves and it virtually doubled the price!! So the reason for this post is, that I have found a UK based company (www.simplycarmats.co.uk) that Custom makes cargo liners and thought I'd share. I sent them a template and recently took delivery. It’s a reasonably thick, heavy, black rubber mat and whilst not quite as fancy as the Weathertech, it does the job well and I really like it. It cost me £37 & P+P (total £50), which was a shedload less than Weathertech :o) My contact is Dan, you can email sales@simplycarmats.co.uk

Hey Tom Nice to eMeet you. Would love to see pics of your is220d and hear your thoughts on it. Ta

Hi Tom. Welcome to the best Lexus forum there is. It would have been better to introduce yourself with your own thread. More of us would see you.

Brilliant. Thanks Vlad

Do you have a link to the gen2 is section?

Hi Miles. I'd ask in the gen 2 IS section of the forum as this thread is in the new members. You'll get a better response.

Can anyone shed any light on fuel filters being seized? I've just spoken to my garage today and they explained there are two fuel filters and one of them was seized so unable to extract without potential breaking the housing. Does anyone know if this part is easily sourced and whether or not it is costly? Many thanks Miles

Today I embarked on a 130 mile motorway journey as my quest for the best mpg continues. Before setting off, I filled up from empty with Texaco. The end result was very surprising, I averaged 53.9mpg across the entire journey. I can't be sure if this increase was a result of different fuel or whether it was that my ECU took longer than quoted 500 miles to learn its new map. One things for sure, it wasn't a change in driving style. I'm pretty sure this wasn't an anomaly and as as such am really happy with the figure. If I can maintain 50mpg+ on the motorway, I'll be well and truly pleased and it will fall in line with previous similarly sized diesels I've had before. Loving getting to know and understand my first Lexus.

Seems that way Vlad. Will keep you you posted. Thanks for dropping by and take care

Hi James Yes I am rather enjoying the IS220D, its been faultless for 1500 miles thus far and as you say with such low mileage, should serve me well. I really like your SE in Burgundy, a very underrated colour I feel. And yes I agree wholeheartedly the build quality is something to behold. All the best

Can anyone shed any light on this query (please see attached link) https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/356205-16hp-for-free-for-is220d-163hp-owners-2.html Would this apply to UK IS220Ds?

😂 That's how I've always viewed diesels, but since they modernised hugely c.2003 onwards, I have come to expect more refinement and performance more in line with a petrol

Morning Vlad I guess the car is returning decent mpg figures, It's just I'm an optimist and had in my mind that mid 50's would be achievable. That is super impressive re: ZX1. Its demos like the one such as you experienced that go a long way to shutting up doubters and getting customers on board. I'll take your knowledge on board and with my own experience and continue to use ZX1 happily. That's a shame that you got off put off buying an IS220D. I'll definitely be sticking with mine for years to come. Thanks for dropping in 🙏🏼

I think the engine is the same as in some Toyotas and have friends working with Toyota in Denmark and they never told me anything about a bad diesel. Heard only that the D4D was superb. Why it has a bad reputation here on the forum could be because some bought mishandled cars and such cars never become friends with new owners. This engine? https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/toyota/avensis/2009/

This is a real smiley face thread - I'm really pleased to hear everything is going well. The diesel IS gets a huge amount of bad press around here. Whenever I'm out and about I see more diesel Gen 2's than petrols and none of the oil burners I see are leaving a smoke screen behind them. May your new steed serve you well for many years to come!

Okay so update on the remap. I have since done approx 500 miles and the ECU should, in theory, have learned the map and adapted it to my driving style by now. I have to say I'm incredibly impressed with the increased power, but less so by the mpg gains; on Thursday I completed a 90 mile journey, approx 90% Extra Urban/10% Urban and averaged 51.5mpg. Today I completed a similarly sized journey, approx 60% Extra Urban/40% Urban and averaged 47.2mpg. Not bad, and seemingly considerably better than most achieve from the IS220D but not as good as I had hoped for. Maybe the map will continue to improve and adapt, maybe not, maybe that's all the old girl can offer and I was just overly optimistic on figures/gains, who knows, only time will tell I guess. On another note I purchased some ZX1 from Halfrauds just to see if would make a discernable difference. Since Vlad kindly informed me of the product, I did my own research and found it split opinions. But I have to say that after adding 225ml to the engine oil and 25ml to a tank of fuel, I can genuinely notice a difference in how much quieter the car is at idle, far less tappity and it just feels smoother under load. I've noticed absolutely no difference in power/mpg gains. The car is booked in with DW Detailing who will be performing a full enrichment package on the car including a ceramic coating this coming Thursday. Really looking forward to seeing what it'll look like afterwards. Will post photos in due course. One final thing, can I invite anyone and everyone to offer their opinions on which diesel they favour most. I've always used Shell.

😂 I hope I'm like that at 61. I'm sure I will be. I still laugh at my own farts

I'm nearly 61 going on 25 lol

Totally, 37 going on 17 🤦🏽‍♂️

Hey Vlad Will do. Its a 2.2ltr. I'll make sure to follow guidelines

Well I'll echo your neighbour Vlad, uckinghell 😂 I've order 250ml from Halfords. Will dump 225ml in engine oil and 25ml in the fuel. Thanks again mate

Just been through the process and no parking assist present, only tach indicator, speed indicator and fuel primer 🤷🏽‍♂️

Thanks Mincey, I'll have a butchers first thing. Really appreciate you taking the time to reply 🙏🏼

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate your comment.

Hi Las Palmas Thanks for your kind message and the warm welcome. That's very reassuring that there are many examples on the forum of well behaved IS220D's and although I only have limited anecdotal evidence from two other people I've known to have owned one, they also very much rated the IS220D and enjoyed their time owning one. I'm really pleased with the car and looking forward to exploring it further. It's incredibly well maintained, and like all my other cars, it will continue to be looked after to the extreme. I've had diesels for many years now, and I tend to only do long motorway journeys which as you allude too, obviously plays to their strengths, I service them every 8-10k miles, although as I understand it Lexus state 7.5k intervals for this model. I also use a product called Archoil D6400 every 5k miles which is an all round engine and system cleaner, after each system clean, I then use Archoil D6900 Max which is a fuel conditioner for each tank. I swear by these products, I've used them religiously for 6 years and the difference to not using them is light and day; in terms of a quieter/smoother engine note, increased mpg and more linear power delivery, it also eliminates idling issues and flat spots. Before I used them I would on occasion suffer from an EML, mostly pertaining to DPF and EGR issues, and nearly always had black plumes of smoke behind me when under load, but I've never had a single issue since using Archoil. As far as the gearing is concerned, I did say Lexus had let down their UK customers exclusively. I can imagine its fantastic on an autobahn or similar limitless highways, but it's wholly inadequate for a 70mph limit, of course you can, as I stated I had done, lower your speed to 60-65mph and cruise comfortably in 5th gear, but IMHO that is a compromise a driver should not have to make in a diesel car. My previous three cars have been a 2007 Mondeo 2.0 tdci, a 2010 Passat 2.0tdi and a 2005 X-Type 2.2d. Combined mileage of over of 275k, with 100k put on the Mondeo, 90k on the Passat and 85k on the X-Type. The Mondeo was a brilliant car, easily the best of those three, infinitely reliable, great to drive, very economical, high spec (Titanium X) but all 3 of them outperformed the IS220D for fuel economy, and by some margin. I'd regularly average 54+mpg in the Mondeo and 52+ in the Passat and X-Type and ALL of them you could utilise 6th gear at 60mph and achieve crazy mpg figures, especially the Mondeo, I'd regularly see 60+mpg on the motorway. The Lexus is hands down the most well engineered and easily the most comfortable on long journeys, the level of refinement is also unrivalled. I absolutely love it and I'm over the moon I've managed to find one so cheap. My days of spending mega money on cars are well and truly over, here's to your MK5 TDI Golf too, an absolutely bulletproof car and outstanding platform, I used to have a stage 4 MK5 GTI (360bhp/440lbft) it was absolutely savage, but also the best car I've ever owned, across the board, not just because it would body your high end Porsche's, Mercs, Beamers etc, but because it was faultless and uber versatile. All the best