mrak

Also note that boot button should be pressed for a few seconds (I had exactly the same problem before). You also have boot opening button in the car and by pressing that you should be able to discover if your problem is general or just for remote.

I will wait, but I guess there will be no difference between my old car and this one (except IS will still be quieter).

After years of lurking I finally purchased used IS220d equivalent of SE-L equipment. Car is gold metalic, covered 101.000km at the time of purchase and was manufactured in mid 2007. Car was well kept and besides leather damage on the gear stick the car was otherwise impecable (even withou small stone damage on the front hood). Now, in the last 6 weeks due to circumstances I drove it for about 10.000km or about 6.000 miles which is about double the usual mileage for the same period and I wanted to share some insights on the car. First, move to buy Lexus IS is upstream move for me since I previously drove Peugeot 406 hdi with 110hp (so no wonder that I will be happy with the rest of the review). I see big difference between basic SE version and Luxury version and I belive it is worth the money. Problem is that Lexus is quite rare car in my country and at best there is couple hundred of them (and by couple I mean two hundred) and since price difference between basic model and Luxury is quite significant (up to 7.000eur) it is no wonder that plenty of cars have basic trim. I personally prefer luxury vs. sport version because I really like coled seats and other goodies and I really do not like bigger tires since they bring additional costs to the maintenance and bring stiffer ride. Interestingly, it seems that all IS220d cars sold in my country come with sports differential (except for basic model) so I do not have real problems with speeding up on speeds above 100km/h (it is true that 6th speed works best from 120km/h and up but is perfectly capable to accelerate from 100km/h). Torque is significantly bigger on this car comapred to my ex. peugeot and I am still looking to find best clutch/accelerator combination in order to avoid quite obvious bump when I change gears (and it seems to happen from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and sometimes even when changing to fourth). Clutch on Peugeot was much more gradual while here it seems "binary" it either holds or not. As for the noise, I drove 250 automatic as well as 220d and I am sorry but I do not see or hear major difference, I could agree that it is better and smoother to drive automatic, but noisewise I was unable to periceve a major difference. In my opinion cabine noise depends largely on the type of road surface and for some reason I came to conclusion that the car is actually quieter on highway then on city roads. After first ride on the highway my wife told me that car feels like intercity train which is quite surprising and unusual remark, but when I think of it quite accurate (specially for the front seat passenger). IS is slightly smaller then my ex car but there is more then enough space on the front seats, back seats are comfortable for two and passable for three passengers. I drive most of the time alone or with single passanger so minor incoviniences during ocassional trip with more passengers is aceptable. Storage space in the rear is also OK, possibly equal or slightly larger then on Peugeot but there is a major difference. I usually have few umbrellas in the back and while they fitted perfectly behind the back seat of peugeot, they are too large for IS because wheels are significantly wider. Now, most of the posts here related to IS220d is fuel consumption. My trip computer shows me that my average is currently 8.7l/10km which is about 32.5mpg (please note that this is average for at least 10.000km, I am really not sure how this average is calculated or on how long period but i belive it to be true). I have on ocassion managed to drive few fuel tanks at 7.5-7.7l (around 37mpg) but never better then that. Now, this is shocking to some on this forum, but I do not see it as such a bad result. It is quite hard to compare different drivers (and roads), but when you know that I averaged 7.2l/100km (39mpg) on my peugeot which had 110hp and almost 400kg less then IS fuel consumption increase of 20% seems right to me. I would be really surprised to get any better mileage with any other car including ones people usually mention (with me as a driver and roads I usually drive, also note that I on highway I drive usually about 150km/h on odometer although GPS tells me that speed indicator at that speed is about 7-8km/h off). I also had regular 105.000km service recently and I asked people there to clean EGR valve, after this operation my average which was locked at about 9l/100km dropped to 8.6 and is now at 8.7 (after few days of city driving and about 2.500km after the service). What I am really annoyed about is size of fuel tank. Peugeot used to have 75liters which meant that I was perfectly able to drive about 1.000km with one filling and now with IS I manage 650-700km with full reservoir which annoys me very much. So, to summarize, I am quite happy with my new car and it fits within my expectations. p.s. now, what I would really like to buy next is GS450h :)

you want to say that once key is "attached" to one car it cannot be reprogrammed for another? why, i saw a procedure what have to be done to do that and from all of the fob stories I read so far, none of them stated that? what about key differences, are US keys same or different from EU keys? what type is your fob? (is it four or three key fob) p.s. btw. some of troubleshooting procedures suggested that you take key from another car and reprogram it in order to test if the key is malufunctioning or central wireless lock (this implies that it is easy to reprogram the key and that process is reversible if you have access to right equipment)

thanks, you were right on both counts, i appreciate it

Hi, After years of lurking, few days back I have finally plunged and purchased used IS220d Luxury (probably similar to SE-L UK version). I intend to write something about my experience after I drive few thousand km (which should be in few weeks), but in the meantime I have more pressing question. The car I purchased came with only one remote control key. Only marking on this key is DENSO 14AAC. Key has three buttons (lock, unlock and trunk). Trunk key is not working for some reason (I can open trunk from the inside). I wanted to buy spare key from local Lexus, but the price is unbeliveably high. Now, I searched for the replacement key on plenty of places and I noticed that keys sold in EU countries tend to have DENSO 14AAC description like mine, but on US ebay they do not have same markings. Now my questions are: is it possible that US cars use different FOB keys (probably different radio spectrum, EU ones use 434mHz)? are there other, compatible keys with different names (for example I noticed that most keys have four buttons, while mine has only three; how many buttons your key have and if you have four, what is the marking on it)? what is the part number or marking on credit card key fob? Any clues are welcome. p.s. when I collected the car, when I reversed side mirrors tilted down, but now they do not do that anymore (what have I done?)

I think that wheelbase is the same on new prius, avensis AND hs250h, when you look at hs250sides you can not mistake window arches and how driver side windows goes into area in front of the driver (usually driver window is limited to the door area which closes around pillar holding roof, but on both avensis and lexus hs it is different, although it is the same in prius)

Sorry, but I could not find a better fit then this. I hope you have noticed that there is a new dedicated hybrid lexus called H250h. I have been looking at IS for some time now and would really like to buy it (I am interested in 220d luxury) but what I would really like is hybrid. Now the thing is that GS/RX hybrids (which have almost the same pricing on my market) are almost double the price of IS and this are far too expensive and I was looking for something in the class of IS but hybrid. HS250h is not (and will not be) sold in Europe, or at least not anytime soon - which is interesting since I think that there are plenty of people like me who would like to have luxury hybrid smaller then GS. Reasons for buying hybrid in IS class would not be mileage/fuel consumption, but high-tech/green car. So while I understand that HS would, on the surface, occupy same or similar space like IS it is actually a different car with potentialy different market. I currently drive diesel card and love its autonomy (where you can drive whole day while using single tank of diesel, something which is not possible in gas car); I have also driven IS220d and like it a lot (even after reading all about its engine and gearbox problems). But I also admire CVT gearbox which I have seen for the first time in Prius as well as absolute quietness while crusing on electric motor alone. Now, few days back I have gone to see new Toyota Avensis and what struck me is that new HS and new Avensis are almost the same cars. If you disregard differences in tallight section and front of the car, they look (at least to me) almost identical and I am lead to belive that this is the same car. Can anyone confirm this (simply because avensis is made in UK while HS is made in Japan). Also, does it mean that we will soon have Hybrid Avensis (which is also acceptable for me)?

whenever there is just a small temperature difference between outside temperature and inside temperature and AC os in, there is a good chance you will have described problems try increasing temperature difference and i bet your problem will go away (there are other reasons as well, but this one is usual suspect)

exact timing when will your car decide to clean DPF is not something you can actually control in any way, you might be driving hundreds of km on motorway and still car might wait for something to start cleaning particle filter as far as I know (or remember) very first car with DPF was peugeot 607 in their 136bhp 2.2l hdi engine and that was around 2000-2001 (607 had particle filter from the very beginning) regarding this whole 220d thing, I might just add that this problem (for some reason) seems to be limited to is220d and not to for example avensis or corola verso; and there should be a reason for that I had oportunity to test 220d and I had fuel consumption which I expected (around 8l/100km for a three day test driving in really various conditions seemed ok to me), and if there was something to complain about it was gearbox, I would not say that gearbox ratios are wrong but they sure are odd to me

Same thing in Croatia, here you can buy standard gearbox ratio only in plain IS, if you decide for luxury or sport package it will always come with sport gearbox ratio (in fact it is rear axle ratio).

according to the info, IS will have some minor adjustments like changed front grille, new mirrors and new back fender I am also told that there will be some price adjustment (ie. higher price) but I do not know if this is only for my market or overall price change this is supposed to happen before year end, possibly from september on lexus US site they have more info about it

I had an oportunity to drive IS220d over the weekend (sport version + mm) and I feel that suspension on that one is quite hard. What I would like to know if suspension is the same on normal and sport version? I guess just moving to 17" tires will soften the ride a little, but maybe there is difference in suspension as well? p.s. excellent car, I drove just over 600km and got 8l/100km average (on a 3.000km car)

Just few days back I have visited lexus to see lead times for delivery. In Croatia, you can purchase is220d with "normal" gearbox only with base model and what is called finnese package (just leather seats + 17" rims). In the case you purchase anything more then that (luxury or sport package being only other options) you are "stuck" with sport gearbox. Now, the difference is that basic gearbox include 2.4 reduction on differential, and sport includes 3.2 reduction (or something like that). Someone mentioned that this is the only difference, but this does not make sense, since if you have 2.4 ratio and your car can go up to (for example) 200km/h, then with 3.2 ratio you will get up tu 150 (or something like that) if you have different ratios in your differential, then you have to have different gearbox as well. also, notice that co2 and other figures are completely different for sport gearbox, sport machine is supposed to consume more fuel and therefore comparing which car consumes how much fuel is apples and oranges (or at least pears) if you do not mention which gearbox is inside. I plan to purchase 220d in next few months, and I would really appreciate if that one includes standard gearbox with lower emissions and lower consumption (since I am moving from peugeot 406 with 110bhp, this should be performance improvement regardless of slugish standard gearbox).

voltage reading means nothing; what you need is someone with dedicated power meter (Amps are what you need not voltage) and only specialized device can measure that or regular multi-meter device but again only when you are starting the engine

I am interested to learn where is new lexus IS manufactured? IS220d (which is my interest) uses engine which is manufactured somewhere in europe, so where is rest of the card made?

well, in 2005 we had just two days of real snow on the road; so I guess it is not that much it is just now a question on comparing avensis and is220d

we have few days of snow per year and fair amount of rain; so I would not say that this is critical but there is no point in killing myself :) in any case lexus will be avaliable from june (just in time to replace my aging P406) p.s. while I would not rate myself as sports driver, it would be also wrong to say that with 30+k km per year in last 15 years I am a rookie; probably fwd needs some adjusting in driving behaviour

Well, it seems that only cars on the market which use rear wheel drive are german cars (bmw, mercedes) and for them, frankly, you are not sure if they are using rwd because it is better or because they are the last ones using rwd. My experience is limited to just two times I drove rwd cars; once I drove old bmw320 (gas engine) on dry road (few hundred km trip) and it was a great ride but when driving with high speed I had constat feeling that car is going to start flying any minute. My recent experience was with bmw320d (from croatia to switzerland and back), and in one pretty wide curve in Austria (in a slightly icy condition) car skidded for a second, and I have never experienced anything similar with front wheel drive. My original choice was avensis (diesel), but I see that lexus 220d is just little more expensive so I am trying to understand difference between the two cars and rear wheel drive looks like most important one.

Lexus will be avaliable in my country in few months. While I was looking at avensis diesel, now I see that finaly there is a lexus diesel (is220d) and this might be interesting buy. But, one feature I am realy concerned about is rear wheel drive; I had oportunity to drive bmw320d few months back and while it has great engine, I could not but not to notice differences between cars with front wheel drive (all of my cars so far had front wheel drive) and rear wheel drive (like in bmw or lexus). Can someone explain me pro and con of rear wheel drive compared to front wheel drive. Specialy on wet or snowy roads? Also, it would be interesting to hear comparison between avensis and lexus is220d; this two cars can be equiped with completely the same engine, almost the same equipment.