dazed

It's a 'feature'. If you'd prefer not to have this 'feature', your local dealer can easily disable it for you.

My 5 year old is220d has bad corrosion on all 4 wheels, worse at the front, this has come on gradually in the last 12 months despite regular cleaning.

I've now found myself looking at the wheels on other is and have noticed quite a few with the same problem.

How many people have suffered with this? is it a known problem and what's the best way of repairing at lowest cost?

the car has only done 45K I'm the second owner so don't know all the cars history but the alloys were OK when I purchased 2 years ago, I'm beginning to wonder if the dealer didn't have these repaired before sale and now a bad jobs showing up.

I've just seen in The Times that Toyota lost their case against inaccurate reporting when The Times said dealers covered up and did not report known faults, one of which was alloy wheel corrosion

Any comments or advice would be welcomed

It's a known problem. I had my first set replaced under warranty after two years. My second set now look a complete and utter mess after three years.

Corroding alloys is my single biggest gripe about the IS and is unacceptable in my opinion. My previous car (Honda Accord) had one set of alloys for 7 years and showed no sign of corrosion for the first six years.

What I'd like to ask the forum is, does anyone here have any recommendations for third party alloys (nothing flash) that will last reliably for at least four or five years?

Picked up my car yesterday lunch time and drove it about 500 miles straight away from Glasgow to Chippenham. The car drives straight, but the steering wheel feels like it might be 1 or 2 degrees off center to the left. Is this something that a few people notice with theirs?

If the steering wheel is off centre get the alignment checked. You don't want to waste good tyres.

I've covered 70K miles (from new) in my 2007 IS250SE auto and the issues I've encountered are as follows:

1. Dashboard 'cracking noise'. Occasionally, after about 20 minutes driving from cold (especially in the winter) I'll get a single loud crack from the dashboard. It's the same sort of sound that's made by a small stone hitting the windscreen. It's a known issue, but since it occurs so infrequently I've decided to live with it, rather than risk new problems being introduced if the dashboard is taken out.

2. An intermittent rattle from within the front passenger door. Again, a known issue I believe. This was sorted under warranty and was a trivial job.

3. A new water pump at 60K miles. Pump was making a groaning sound and leaking slightly. Replaced by my local Lexus dealer for £300. The bill wasn't too bad considering the parts and labour involved, but I was a little disappointed that it had failed so early. I don't know whether this is a common problem or I was just unlucky.

4. Flaky alloys. A known problem and obviously only cosmetic, but irritating nonetheless. Had original alloys replaced under warranty, but replacement set are already quite bad two years on.

And that's it. To be fair to Lexus the engine and gearbox have performed flawlessly and the brakes are still on their original pads and disks, so on balance I've been very happy with the car and would rate it as very reliable.

Obviously I'll be expecting a few more bills over the next four years (yes, I really do intend to keep the car for the best part of a decade - 150-200K miles), but I'm hoping that with regular servicing and a keen eye for spotting any problems early I'll be able to minimise the costs.

Yes the "awkward driving position" was a ridiculous comment. I'm 6' 4" and it's fine and very comfortable. Perhaps the short reviewer wanted a seat that raised up even higher? ;-)

So you are about 193cm? And you don't have problem with the seat? Can you post a pic of you sitting in the driver seat?

I guess it comes to down where someone's height is. If it's in the legs then the headroom might be sufficient even if they're 190cm+.

Obviously, a sunroof also eats into the headroom a little which could make all the difference for some people.

Awkward driving position?! That's news to me.

I know I'm going to get into trouble for saying this, but I'd have listed the discontinuing of the diesel as a 'pro', not a 'con'.

Dons flameproof suit...

Tyres can make the car pull, even new ones. Swap them side-to-side so the pull is toward the road crown.

You can only do that if the tyres are designed to roll in either direction. The original poster should check their tyres first if they want to try this.

I had a similar problem once and getting the tracking fixed sorted it for me.

Having said that, there are some stretches of road that I use everyday that still cause my car to pull noticeably to the left. I just put that down to the road surface (camber, ruts, uneven fricition etc.) and live with it.

I opted for Lexus as I wanted something less ubiquitous than a 3 series, so I understand where you're coming from.

I average about 34mpg with my IS250-SE auto. My driving is about 60% dual carriageways, 20% country lanes, 20% town. The IS250 auto is actually slightly more efficient than the manual - and significantly cheaper to tax each year.

The diesel version (manual only) is more efficient, but not by as much as you might expect. When I had one for a few days I averaged about 44-45mpg for my typical runs.

The petrol version doesn't appear to suffer from any significant engine or transmission problems.

The diesels have some issues - search this forum for the full low-down.

I don't want to knock the diesel because I know there are satisfied owners out there. I would just recommend that you fully investigate both cars before deciding which one is right for you.

Good luck.

Why are you considering the diesel? If you're currently driving a petrol 3 series you ought to at least consider the IS250.

If your main motivation is economy (I'm guessing here), then you might be somewhat disappointed by the Lexus diesel.

I wonder which cars have won the 'Compact Executive' and 'SUV' categories of the J D Power Survey this year?

The alloys are my single biggest gripe about my IS. I had a new set under warranty after 2 years, but now another two years on I'm back to square one with the replacement set. This is despite regular cleaning (just warm soapy water).

Lexus regularly phone me up to get my feedback and do surveys and I always raise the low quality of their alloys. Hopefully one day the right heads will get banged together and something will change.

From my point of view I'd prefer the car not decide when or if to lock the doors.

Sods law says it'll lock me out one day with my fob being left on the inside. Yes, I know it's not *supposed* to be able to happen, but if the Battery is a bit low....

I have been offered a 3 years service plan for £1,223 which covers 2 major services and 1 minor service.

Is this a good deal?

That sounds rather pricey to me. I'd expect to pay nearer £1,000 for that.

But you've got to haggle with them.

My IS needs new front pads and possibly disc every 20k plus it can burn oil between services.

That surprises me. My four year IS250 (60K+ miles) is still on its first set of pads and discs and has never needed an oil top up between services. Perhaps I'm just really lucky.

I've also driven a CT200 for a couple of days and was distinctly underwhelmed by it, bearing in mind it costs about the same as an IS. I appreciate that the road tax is free (I think) and that I could get 55mpg rather than my usual 35mpg out of it. But if economy was such an issue to me I'd probably just buy an Audio A3 or Golf diesel - both cheaper and even more economical than the CT200.

I think it's time to treat my car to some new rear tyres. Kind of strange though as the tread on the fronts is lower than the rears.

I doubt that your loss of traction would be helped by buying new tyres. Just take it a little easier on the throttle when accelerating with the wheels turned, especially when conditions are dump/wet.

What you describe is quite normal in my experience.

Look at a belt which rotates the generator, it vibrates?

Agreed, get the belt checked and everything that it turns checked too. It shouldn't take long to identify the culprit.

Don't chance it, something's up and you've got a chance to nip it in the bud before you end up stranded.

Suggest you try Toyo T1R's. I originally had Dunlops on mine and changed to the Toyo's. Much reduced road noise and much better handling, especially in the wet. I've just ordered a new set after 20000miles of trouble free, quieter driving.

I'll second that I've tried various makes of tyres and the quietest for me were definitely the Toyo T1R's. They also wear quite slowly which is also an important consideration for most people.

I've seen it work on my IS250 (2007). The thing is, it only happens briefly at the point of transitioning from 4 to 3 degrees C, so it's easily missed if your attention is elsewhere on the few occassions that it happens.

TBH it's a bit of a pointless features IMO.

Sheeesh, that's bad. I've always managed to get at least 30K miles out of the tyres on my IS250 (Toyos and Michelins).

My grey leather is still looking pretty good after 4 years and 60K miles.

The driver's seat is looking very slightly discoloured and a little shinier than the others, but hasn't shown any signs of stretching despite my 12 stones.

On the whole I'm very happy with the seats, although I've always found them slightly too soft for my liking and therefore a little uncomfortable on particularly long journeys. Great for everyday driving though.

How much do you think extra in regards to the manual, and I'm asking in comparison to my Avensis I currently have from year 2000? Not too fussed about the road tax to be fair.

Well, the Avensis 1.8 manual is around 175g/km CO2, whereas the IS250 manual is about 230g/km CO2. So, it would be reasonable for your fuel bill to be around about 30% higher with the IS250.

And I'd expect it to be at least as reliable as the Avensis - although if anything did go wrong it might me more expensive to fix.

I'm not aware of any reliability issues specific to the manual. Be aware that the economy of the manual is slightly worse than the automatic and that pushes it into VED band L. Those few extra grams of CO2 will mean £445 a year rather than the £260 for the automatic.

My advice would be to test drive both before making any final decision.

P.S. This forum upgrade is awful. It's reduced my PC to a crawl.

I'm not aware of any reliability issues specific to the manual. Be aware that the economy of the manual is slightly worse than the automatic and that pushes it into VED band L. Those few extra grams of CO2 will mean £445 a year rather than the £260 for the automatic.

My IS250 auto has done 60K miles (about 15K a year) and has never needed topping up between services (I actually check the dipstick at least once a month).

Admittedly, the level does fall a little during the 10K miles between services, but not enough to go below the minimum level indicator. I'd guess I'm probably burning about half a litre between services.

Also, I fail to understand why Lexus gets high scores on JD Power... Extremely expensive (£135 to replace a door mirror glass?!!!, £530 quote for the 40000 miles service?!!!), not as open in explanations as JD Power suggests, kind of arrogant staff.

I can't say I've ever experienced any arrogance from my Lexus dealer. Sure, they're pretty expensive, but to be fair to them it is a luxury marque and they've always been very keen and efficient to sort out any little problem I might have had. I doubt the German dealers would have been any better or cheaper.

Oh dear, I sound like I must work for Lexus (which I don't).