Richwood

Answering your replies: tha car was scrapped but then shipped over to Ireland?! However the car is as far as Lexus are conerned in their database for recalls etc. I am big Lexus fan and have had a Lexus for over 10 years but I find it a bit strange that the Lexus brand has bnot been included within the recalls. There are a lot of common parts. The problem seems more computer based than accelerator being foulded by mats or pedals sticking on brand new cars. I wrote to Lexus GB 2 weeks ago and they stated that no Lexus was affected by the recall.

But this is simply not true. I have checked the Toyota web site and Lexus is not listed as being affected.

Has anybody else had a recall letter?

Shipped over to Ireland .....do you know why ???? It would be nice to know the VIN so that no one ends up with it !!!!! after a cut and shut or somthing like that...have you some details for the forum....

I know it was shipped to Ireland as I had a letter from the new owner asking for a spare key. I have no idea how he got my address or how th ecar was rebuilt. Car is windosr blue 220d.

Answering your replies: tha car was scrapped but then shipped over to Ireland?! However the car is as far as Lexus are conerned in their database for recalls etc. I am big Lexus fan and have had a Lexus for over 10 years but I find it a bit strange that the Lexus brand has bnot been included within the recalls. There are a lot of common parts. The problem seems more computer based than accelerator being foulded by mats or pedals sticking on brand new cars. I wrote to Lexus GB 2 weeks ago and they stated that no Lexus was affected by the recall.

But this is simply not true. I have checked the Toyota web site and Lexus is not listed as being affected.

Has anybody else had a recall letter?

My Lexus IS220 which was written off in March 2006 is a high speed crash into the back of a lorry when the breaks failed has just been recalled by Toyota - For accelerator pedal modifications. Any comments?

I had a parrot in my previous Lexus IS220d but Tytn has TomTom so would looking for powered mount and to be honest I am not a big fan of suction mounts on a Lexus!

Thansk for your reply though.

Can anybody recommend a phone mount for HTC Tytn II mobile phone?

I have looked at the Brodit pro clip but they are either very high up or very low down.

Suggestions and pic if you have one would be appreciated.

Windsor Blue - great when the sun shines, black interior.

stays clean believe it or not

When I first bought my 220d fuel consumtion was an issue as I do about 20k miles per year. I would say this is the major consideration of all IS buyers as 70% are now diesel models on the road.

I must say after my Saab 93 Tdi i was disapointed with the consumption and this has been covered countless times in this bb. The main criticism is the "official" figures are 44 mpg and I was getting 40 mpg - hence disapointed.

Having written the car off in a M5 pile up with a lorry in March I bought a 250 auto because of the fab engine. Now I am averaging 35 mpg "official" figures 31 mpg - hence v. happy.

I drove back from Oxford to Derby 112 miles and averaged 42.5 mpg. Ok I drove no more than 75 mph.

My point here is my expectation was so much higher with the 220d and it disapointed as a result and lower with the 250 auto but it exceeded expectations. But they are both great cars. The official figures are biased towards fleet/corporate purchasers so if youare an individual purchaser go for 250 auto every time. You won't be disapointed. IMHO

By the way if you are buying a windsor blue IS 220d black interior, 6 months old, 4500m, with Parrot Hands free kit fitted above right vent and in Rep of Ireland probably my old one rebuilt!! beware!

Neal, what sort of Lexus do you have not sure I know what CVT model is?

By the way i don't thgink that magnetising fuel would harm the car so if you have the device you may as well use it.

My wifes car is a Merc B200 which HAS a CVT auto gearbox and basically it does not change gear. You can drive at 2000 rpm all day 40 -80 mph. It has got 7 "virtual gears" in manual mode. My 250 auto changes gear, you can hear it. It is very very smooth compared to any other auto box I have driven however.

That said if the IS HAD a CVT gearbox I woudl not have had it. Don't like them. My wife does though?!

Hi Guys

Had a whole day test drive of a 220d Sport last Friday to see if it would be an option instead of the ubiquitous Bemm 330d, Loved the toys, the handling and the better comfort. However I was concerned about the significant turbo lag and the likely effect this would have as a tow car. Has anyone got experience of towing a caravan with this car? The dealer told me the lag was due to the very significant additional emmissions kit needed to achieve the new Euro standards. Thanks Pete.

I don't think I've ever seen Lexus IS pulling a caravan!!??

No problems on my 250 Sport, which is probably why i didn't buy a diesel.

I wasn't going to be quite so brutal but its true, the only solution is the petrol engine as the diesel vibrates too much. If you are buying diesels because of fuel economy, on a good run I am now getting late 30s mpg. On my previous 220d I would get early 40s. so I don't think the extra 5 mpg is worth it frankly. The car is mine so I had a choice and I chose for a replacement car the petrol 250 auto.

I have had my new one for 3 weeks now so would expect fuel consumption to rise.

Really really love the engine.

I have an IS250 auto and had the sport wheels put on the same day I bought the car. I bought the sport wheels and asked them if they would fit them before handover, but they could only fit delaer supplied wheels. They were not prepared to take responsibility for the new wheels which they fitted and not supplied. This I inderstood.

They helped me find a local company to fit them and drove the wheels down to it.

At no time did they say that by putting the wheels on it invalidated the warranty.

Anyway the cars from base to top of the range is alsmost the same car apart from a few extras like heated seats etc.

The car looks great!

Welcome mate you have definately made the right decision :D

Congrats on your purchase. I ordered an is250 last week. Wont get it till september(57 plate) One question I have is the dealer is pushing a polymer coating for exterior and some kind of fabric guard on interior. Did any of you order this and would you reccomend it. Its £500 too.

I would say it was a good wax and fabric guard on leather?

Ford do similar. I think its just a way of increasing margin.

Now i know the Yanks are colour blind

Your telling me! we call it Windsor Blue and what do the yanks call it? Black Saphire.

Mine is Windsor Blue, It looks black on dull days and comes alive on sunny days. Black Saphire is a great name. But I do like to the link to Royalty. Probably wasted in America.

Please to see in the article (which I hadn't until now realised) was that the rear number plate lights are in fact LED. This saves 50% energy costs! That is a must buy for energy conscious Americans.

Looks good mate wouldnt mind some of those on mine

Not much use without the other 3!

Think about it logically mate its gonna be the same in any car, thats why they come with headrest, so the passenger can rest their head and then there will be no jerking

Having had a 220d and now have a 250 Auto I can categorically say you DON'T get whiplash when trying to do a quick gettaway in the 220d.

Something to do with the gearing and fuel, IMHO.

Now don't get me wrong I truly loved everything about my 220d, no rattles, 40mpg, everytime I parked it I would have another look as I went into my office, all that.

But the common thread here and also in my mind was that i should have bought the 2.5 V6 auto. But I made the sensible choice.

After 3 months and 5000 miles of faultless motoring I wrote the lovely Lexus off. (my fault)

That was 1st march, I'm getting my new Lexy on Tuesday from Leicester, Sorry Jamboo its a 250 V6 auto. Windsor Blue.

That engine is superb.

The sensible choice isn't always the best choice.

I just hope this one doesn't rattle.

Not always best to go for the cheapest quote, like Jamboo i have driven 400,000 miles without a scratch and last week drove into the back of a lorry in my lovely Lexy. With the miles i do its bound to happen sometime. Esure not cheapeast but have a good customer service record and claims procedure. £11,000 bill ouch!

I have my new wheels now 18" sport wheels, look amazing. The speed indicated by the sat nav is now "normal" I would say i.e. at 80 I am doing 77 mph. So the extra 4 inches has sorted the speedo differential which was nearly 10%.

My car is now 3 months old with 4500 miles on the clock averaged 40 mpg and no rattles yet. I am v. v. pleased with it. My only gripe was really the 16" wheels which even though an improvement on the IS200 base model still don't really suit the car. I didn't want leather seats basically if you're wondering why I didn't go for the SE.

I would think the mpg may go down a bit now but to be honest the 5th gear has now got longer legs so I don't use 6th as much which should improve the mpg as it can labour a bit especially with cruise on.

So you are saying that as well as putting on larger wheels you also put on larger tires. I.E. increasing your overall diameter / circumference. Am I not right in saying that this could lead to your tires rubbing and hitting the underside of the wheel well on larger bumps?

Tyrrp

Yes that does sound a bit daft 4". The new wheels are 2" bigger and the tyres are standard Bridgestone so low profile. I would imagine the wheel complete is about 1" bigger. The wheel and tyre combination is off a Lexus IS Sport that opted for upgraded wheels so standard. Anyway all works well looks, good and speedo accurate.

Eh ? I assume you mean off an IS250 Sport, not an IS200 or the rolling radius would be smaller. Even so the fitting of the 18" wheels from an IS250 with standard Bridgestone tyres as fitted from new would have the same overall diameter as the 220D, not bigger...or am I missing something here? Does the 220D have a smaller rolling radius than the 250?

Short of measuring it Tango, which I think I will now you think it should be the same, I think they must be bigger as the speed is now reading slightly higher which means the rolling radius is greater. Doesn't it?

There is an increase in speed showing on the speedo from 73 to 77 mph at 80 mph so I'm sure there is a calculation that will work out the increase in diameter before I measure it.

A bigger rolling radius will give you a lower speedo reading not higher as your wheels will be rotating slightly less for the same distance travelled due to the increase in circumference.e.g If your GPS says you're doing 80 and your speedo now says 77 instead of a reading before of 73 then your wheels are rotating at a higher RPM and are therefore smaller in diameter than before.

I hear what you're saying but imagine the wheels were half the size which means the speedo thinks it doing 80m mph because the wheels are revolving twice as fast when in fact the car is only going at 40 mph. So the bigger the wheel the lower the RPM of the wheel which woudl translate to faster the speeed per revolution of the wheel. I think?

I have my new wheels now 18" sport wheels, look amazing. The speed indicated by the sat nav is now "normal" I would say i.e. at 80 I am doing 77 mph. So the extra 4 inches has sorted the speedo differential which was nearly 10%.

My car is now 3 months old with 4500 miles on the clock averaged 40 mpg and no rattles yet. I am v. v. pleased with it. My only gripe was really the 16" wheels which even though an improvement on the IS200 base model still don't really suit the car. I didn't want leather seats basically if you're wondering why I didn't go for the SE.

I would think the mpg may go down a bit now but to be honest the 5th gear has now got longer legs so I don't use 6th as much which should improve the mpg as it can labour a bit especially with cruise on.

So you are saying that as well as putting on larger wheels you also put on larger tires. I.E. increasing your overall diameter / circumference. Am I not right in saying that this could lead to your tires rubbing and hitting the underside of the wheel well on larger bumps?

Tyrrp

Yes that does sound a bit daft 4". The new wheels are 2" bigger and the tyres are standard Bridgestone so low profile. I would imagine the wheel complete is about 1" bigger. The wheel and tyre combination is off a Lexus IS Sport that opted for upgraded wheels so standard. Anyway all works well looks, good and speedo accurate.

Eh ? I assume you mean off an IS250 Sport, not an IS200 or the rolling radius would be smaller. Even so the fitting of the 18" wheels from an IS250 with standard Bridgestone tyres as fitted from new would have the same overall diameter as the 220D, not bigger...or am I missing something here? Does the 220D have a smaller rolling radius than the 250?

Short of measuring it Tango, which I think I will now you think it should be the same, I think they must be bigger as the speed is now reading slightly higher which means the rolling radius is greater. Doesn't it?

There is an increase in speed showing on the speedo from 73 to 77 mph at 80 mph so I'm sure there is a calculation that will work out the increase in diameter before I measure it.

Another thought if they are the samne size is with more sidewall the compression at speed may be more than with a higher pressured low profile tyre that stays in shape, just a thought.

If you check the pence per mile of the 220d is similar to a Ford 1.6 Focus.

...VW Lupo 3L would cost you even less...

You can't compare those two cars, man.

Thats my point matus the Lexus is not comparable but the pence per mile is similar to a Focus 1.6. The official fuel economy and hoped residual keep it low. These are the reasons why company car drivers buy them I think the biggest reason why they don't buy then so much is the snug cockpit. But I really like that compared to say the A4 or 3 series.

Hi Jamboo,

I think you've proven to yourself and others that this car has to be almost fondled into giving of its best, hence the analogy of being treated like a woman. In my previous post as you may have read I specifically would like to see more LOC owners of IS220Ds trying what I suggested and what you actually did.

I believe you are now a happy camper re: economy. If only the other niggles can be sorted you'd be back to championing the car once again.

Well Done...keep doing it... why not?

I've set my tacho warning light to come on at 2000rpm as you suggested. If anything it looks good as I had never seen it before. The best thing is it can tell my wife when to change gear and not drive it like a petrol car.

Will have to see if improves the mpg.

Anyway I didn't buy the car just for the mpg the whole package is very good in my opinion and I always look forward to driving it - "its a great place to be ", more than can be said for my wifes Merc C200k which is also new. Very competent car but nothing special. MPG however is pretty good at around 36mpg. There we go again about mpg!

Looks like a "copy and paste" letter, would imagine most are.

This is quite a hot topic on this discussion site and I am a bit disappointed with my fuel consumption compared to my SAAB 93 having said that the power is over 10% more so it is understandable that the mpg is 10% less especially for a heavy car like this. The problem is the official figures which keep the pence per mile price down for the company buyers. If you check the pence per mile of the 220d is similar to a Ford 1.6 Focus.

I have my new wheels now 18" sport wheels, look amazing. The speed indicated by the sat nav is now "normal" I would say i.e. at 80 I am doing 77 mph. So the extra 4 inches has sorted the speedo differential which was nearly 10%.

My car is now 3 months old with 4500 miles on the clock averaged 40 mpg and no rattles yet. I am v. v. pleased with it. My only gripe was really the 16" wheels which even though an improvement on the IS200 base model still don't really suit the car. I didn't want leather seats basically if you're wondering why I didn't go for the SE.

I would think the mpg may go down a bit now but to be honest the 5th gear has now got longer legs so I don't use 6th as much which should improve the mpg as it can labour a bit especially with cruise on.

So you are saying that as well as putting on larger wheels you also put on larger tires. I.E. increasing your overall diameter / circumference. Am I not right in saying that this could lead to your tires rubbing and hitting the underside of the wheel well on larger bumps?

Tyrrp

Yes that does sound a bit daft 4". The new wheels are 2" bigger and the tyres are standard Bridgestone so low profile. I would imagine the wheel complete is about 1" bigger. The wheel and tyre combination is off a Lexus IS Sport that opted for upgraded wheels so standard. Anyway all works well looks, good and speedo accurate.