Rich13

ANOTHER UPDATE I took delivery of my brand new Lexus IS250 SE MM Auto today and absolutely love it! Have spend all day thinking up excuses to take it for a drive. It's in Cadoxton Slate and looks great. Will post some pictures as soon as I have stop driving it long enough to take some :D

UPDATE Just thought I would give you all an update. I spent the morning at the LEXUS dealership in Bradford. They gave me a IS250 SE Auto for an hour so I could take it for a proper drive. The difference from the 220 was instantly noticeable, it was like driving a different car! After many many hours of negotiation I have placed and order for a IS250 SE Auto with Multimedia. Should arrive on the 16th Nov so not too long to wait. Went for a brand new one in Cadoxton Slate with Pembroke Black interior. Did look at getting it without the multimedia but after playing with it for a bit I decided to blow the budget and spend the extra £55 a month to get it, may live to regret it but at least I'll have plenty of toys to distract me... :D Thanks again for your help, I'll post some pictures when it arrives.

Thanks for all the great advice and tips. Now that I am armed with all this information, I have an appointment with the Lexus dealer on Saturday to discuss options and costs. They seem to be coming in best for leasing as they will add £1200 to my £2000 deposit. I know a new 220d SE MM on a Personal Contract Hire (15,000 miles p.a) is within my monthly budget (£450) but it depends on lead time for a new 220d SE MM (i've heard 12 weeks for a Cadoxton Slate), what age/mileage I will have to go for to get the same spec 250 within the budget and which 250 SE MM's they have in stock. I'll keep you posted :)

Hi, I am currently opting out of my company car scheme and have decided that a Lexus IS is the way forward. The only choice now (apart from colour) is the 250 petrol or 220 diesel. From a cost point of view my choices seem to be a brand new 220d SE MM or a used 250 SE MM auto. The deciding factor is going to be running costs over the term I will have the car (3 years). On paper the diesel seems the logical choice based on mpg/mile per tank but from reading posts on this fantastic forum, it seems the difference in reality is not that much and so my decision may not be as clear cut as I first thought! I'm really taken with the idea of having my first automatic car and the 250 seems to be the first choice for most but now I have a concern that I'm going to find out the hard way that the petrol is going to be expensive to run and I should have gone for the diesel. Is there anyone out there that has owned both and can give me some advice as to the best way to go? Many Thanks :)