MW70

I know phildw!!! and I intended to get it looked at at service time (not far away) but you've inspired me to book it in for a diagnostic check at my local Lexus outfit! I pray that it won't be anything major as I only just forked out for 2 new rear tyres and the annual service is techically due.... I guess realistically you've got to expect to need to start replacing/fixing some stuff at 5 years old but it does worry me - especially since it also seems to have plunged in value over the last year. I'm glad pre-crash didn't exist when my car was new though! What needed fixing for £710 ??? I will post the results of the diagnostics soon! Everything is crossed. S

Don't want to pee on your bonfire, but it's a bit late for a road test on a model that's about to be replaced. I had my 250 SE-L new in 2005 and sold it after five years of ownership. Thanks for that Tango. Did you get a good price for it - How did you find the depreciation. It would have been nice to have owned it from new but theres no way I could have afforded it!

Hey all - I've just come back from my first long road trip (solo) with the IS and I thought I would share opinions/ experiences. I don't usually spend more than an hour in a day with the car at home with an average speed of about 31mph if I'm lucky. I've been averaging out at about 32mpg in the last year since I got it. So it was time to give it a proper test on an 800 mile 5 day jaunt to the South West. It was nice to finally make use of the facilities available properly: THE GOOD B) Cup holder by gearshift was only used for loose change until now but fits costa etc (other Coffee retailers are available) coffee cups ideally.. Extendable Door bins used both sides - handy for screen wipes and other bits and bobs. (like a screw driver and a 30cm ruler - Ill come back to that later..) Engine - It was as smooth and quiet as ever but on the Motorway passing traffic was so effortless without being overlly fast (cos' it is never that ). However as soon as you pass anything economy plummits! In all I think I averaged about 35/36mpg on the whole trip. Sat Nav My discs are from 2005/6 but as long as you know where youre going roughly and keep your brain switched on it worked really well. It would be nice not to have to stop to alter destination and to have a postcode search. I used google maps on my phone as a back up to check latest. I may get the new discs as I might drive to france next year and they seem to change their roads more often than in UK. THE NOT SO GOOD Road Noise - bit too much comes into the cabin, its not the worst I've heard but it should be better. My front tyres make a right racket on some surfaces but they are cheapo's. They'll be going soon. Ride Quality - Not good enough for a premium car. Motorways not bad because they tend to be smoother but back on A/B roads like at home its far to jiggly - not unpleasantly so - just should be better. Seat comfort Pretty good but I find the seats could be a little bigger and better padded. Maybe the padding has worn in 44k miles(I'm not enormous by the by! ) Boot/Trunk Space Perfectly adequate for me travelling on my own with a biggish suitcase but I can see that it would be tight for a family. Cruise Control Works great but the position of the controller is quite annoying/silly. Central Console storage compartment This has been driving me nuts - I have a few CDS in there and keep the Ipod in there connected to the AUX. Space wise its very useful. The cupholder built in there is pretty stupid but the worse thing is that slidey lid. So many times the CDs have shifted over or something else has to stop the lid from sliding/ opening. A number of times I couldnt get to the Ipod to turn it on when I wanted it. This is why I have a screwdriver and a ruler in the door bin - to shimmy open the lid of this compartment. (and its never straight forward to do it) Which is why I had to stick to the CD changer for most of the trip. Anybody else get this problem? On this subject If you were unluckily a passenger in the centre rear - when you open the storage compartment it sticks out into what little room there is back there. (i.e. very little ) Perhaps the 3rd Gen IS will get a simple lift up lid! Lastly about 150 miles into my journey down the motorway the dreaded CHECK VSC warning and associated lights came on and would'nt go off initially (It still drove perfectly as ever though). After I stopped at services they went off temporarilly and then went back on again. I spoke to the Lex dealer in Bristol who said they could check what was causing it but they might have to tell me not to drive it. And if it needed attention they could'nt do anything for a week anyway! She suggested I hope that it clears itself after a few more startup/ check routines. And thats exactly what it did the next day after another brief apperance. Havent seen it since. Will get them to check why appeared at next service due soon.. Overall it was a pleasure to drive and be in for the 800+ miles I did in it and i would recommend to anyone. (Assuming youre not in the family way or larger than average ;) ) Hope my wafflin' was useful to someone! mw

Well the IS250 SEL is definitely the pinnacle of the following collection: Passed test in 1989 1. 1975 Austin Allegro (Vanden Plas don't yer know) Metallic orangey/Diarroeah 2. 1986 Toyota 1.3 Corolla GL Saloon 3. 1990 Toyota 1.3 Corolla GL Saloon (From New 4 Speaker stereo - what a treat) 4. 1991 Toyota 1.6 Gli Corolla liftback executive - White. This was a quick car at the time and looked good in white! 5. 1995 Toyota 1.3 Corolla "sportif" 3 door From New (weird greeny aquamarine colour) Gone in a year - all Corrolla'd out (But there would be another..) 6. 1991 Peugeout 605 3.0 V6 SVE - Great drive - poor reliability. (Gone in 6 months at great cost!) 7. 1995 Nissan Almera 1.6 SRi Black. Plain boring and dreary to drive. (Dumped in 6 months) 8. 1998 Peugeout 406 2.1 TDI Saloon - Great car much better than the almera 9. 1994 Toyota Celica 2.0 GT (Automatic Import) No good for back passengers but great for moving house!) 10.2000 Renault Clio 1.4 sport. From new Hated it from get go. Written off after spinning off into a tree. Crashed very well though! 11.1998 Toyota 1.8 Avensis liftback. Good car. Didnt seem as well made as you expected though. Wasnt aging well - paint and fittings wise. 12.2003 Honda Accord 2.0 Saloon from new. Great car. Not as good as the 2.4 sport I test drove though! (2 years later I got rid to save money - didnt though!) 13.1995 Toyota Corolla 1.3 XLI 4 door hatch. Served a purpose - was quite liberating driving a shed. You could tell how far quality had improved over 10 years! 14.2005 Seat Leon 1.6 SX In black - from new. Lovely car (if a tad underpowered) Must have liked it kept for 3 years. 15.2006 Mazda 6 2.0 TDI Estate - nice blue colour. Not particularly economical felt like a racing car compared to leon. Swallowed a bike whole no problem! 16.2006 Lexus IS250 SEL Auto MM - Won over by the spec and more interesting interior than Beemer 3 which was going to be the choice.. Cars a guaranteed way to lose pots of money with no effort at all! M !

I tried my hollywood bike rack on my IS, fearing for the paintwork but it was successful. I didn't have a problem with seeing brake lights. Seemed to be enough adjustment. However the pads that rest on the bootlid did leave some marks. Should polish out. Just give it a try. bBring on an all new and practical IS Estate/ wagon. Good luck. Mw

Re the rattles - Ive had the IS250 for about a year now summer and winter and I am struck by how the rattles come and go - I noticed the centre speaker rattle when test driving but didnt happen much thereafter - so I can live with that but the other day the car was parked in the sun for a while - I went for a short drive and there were are crazy amount of creaks and squeaks coming from the dash - have never heard it like that before - Its out of warranty so I am not to keen to get it looked at. I havent heard this noise since however if it starts up like that regularly it may be time to go! Also Im getting a lot of tyre noise/roar which is ruining the general calm. Am gurding my loins to replace all 4 of the directional cheapo naff sunny tires I inherited - but am nervous that putting new bridgestones or conti's will not improve - but surely they must.. Lastly the engine makes some rattles on start up - again its occasional but its another worry. Maybe the situation is not as bad on later cars? (mine is mid 2006) Have they learnt from the early quality issues? I too was considering a three series before I was seduced by the better looking/value/equipped IS. Like for like I dont think it drives any worse than the 325se auto I tested except maybe the ride quality. Wether or not I will be seriously burned by this car remains to be seen but if I did get rid now I would loose several grand (Again) so I should keep it for a while yet. Trouble is the costs are high generally! Ill stop wafflin' now.. Marcus

That looks brilliant - bit more exciting than the IS 2nd gen. !

Looks great! Makes the standard grille like on mine look a bit tacky! (But at least its not like the current RX) MW

Sorry to hear your woes! I have a 2006 SEL auto version (had it for a year or so) - those rattles are there - but I'm going to live with them as I dont trust the dealers to pull the dash apart without destroying something else! There are some weird engine/gearbox noises when cold too but seems to settle down when warm though. Your new car looks great - my friend has a similar model and has been very happy with it for the best part of the year! Good luck with it and enjoy!

I had forgotten I posted this as don't bother putting the radio on - go straight to Ipod instead. I will ask the dealership about this issue when I go to check what replacement tyres they reccomend.. will report back.. M m

My 2006 IS250 is currently shod with 4 cheapo Sunny "High Performance" tyres with good treads - Someone obviously thought this was a good idea but they are pretty awful. Firstly they are really noisy - its sounds like the wheel bearings are grinding or theres a problem with the driveshaft - and with a sniff of moisture they start to loose the plot.. not good. After the recent Ice and Snow and just things like wet roundabouts at slow speed or driving through big puddles and the wheels spinning and the car twitching all over the place several times I am giving serious thought to changing them as its putting me off the car generally. So guys please could you share your experiences of changing tyres. Ideally I want to reduce the road noise ( I know this is a known IS issue anyway). Increase the grip in the wet a lot!, reasonable wear character is ok - I dont do massive miles. And still be good in the Dry too.. (dont ask much do I) Anyone know what the original tyres would have been or can comment on them? Lookforward to hearing from you Cheers MW

All but one of my previous cars have been manuals - however out of all the autos I tested when considering the lexus - I preferred the Lexus. Tried a merc and found it horribly slow (maybe because only a 2litre) An auto Mondeo Ghia was absolutely cr**.(different league I know) The BMW 325 SE auto seemed no quicker and the end it came down to the interior/exterior which the lexus won hands down. After driving the IS250 auto for nearly a year now I've got used to it. As with all autos - it decides when it wants to change up or down - when you switch to manual and change down its still smooth and couldnt be callled sporty in any way - its not slow though - you just dont get the sensations of lesser fast cars as its smooth and very quiet. I drove my old Mazda 6 (first gen) 2.2 diesel manual estate the other day and loved it - it feels so much more alive - you can hear the engine revving - its addictive. I did think to myself why have I done this! just for more toys, less space a bit of leather and bigger bills for everything? But I still love it all the same, just to look at it on the drive and waft home with the top notch stereo its hard to beat. In conclusion if you must have a sporty responsive drive dont get an auto and probably don't buy a lexus its not really what they are about! Good Luck! MW

I managed to crack the boot tray by putting to much weight in the middle - stupid really - however the dealer quoted me about £250 for this - I politely declined ! Id just put it in for its four year service so wasnt feeling like spending further megabucks..will have to make do. However if they damaged yours while in their care they should replace it whatever.. MW

Hello guys - anybody else had this problem or know of a fix (apart from listening to a disc instead while demisting!) Typical - its been a cold night so the windows are misted up - particularly the rear window. So as I start up the car I fire up the demister, then put the radio on - the reception deteriorates - turn off the demister and its fine.. Cheers in advance.. MW

Hi My 4 year service cost £400 at the local dealer. (That seemed reasonable - however a similar service for a Diesel Mazda 6 was £250 - not an auto) They didnt have to change the Brake discs but they said it would be needed at the next service. Dont want to know what they'll charge to do the discs later this year I dont think I'd trust anyone else with the car though - so I'll just have to take the hit.. M

Hello Saw that in whatcar - did seem a little harsh rating - but the model is nearing the end of the line and lets hope the packaging is better on the next generation along with a meaningful hike in economy and a more supple ride. Oh and bring an IS350 to the UK! with AWD option! And a good estate option would be a definite plus. Model Range is curently too limited. BMW's options are much better. (Still prefer me lexus) Anyone seen any clues as to what the next generation will look like - must be imminent? MW - sketchy traction in the cold and wet!

Thanks for your contributions guys.. Since I first posted we had more snow and a after a recent two hour journey home - (normally 30mins)now I'm giving serious thought to an extra set of wheels and winter tyres. My fear is I buy em' but by that time the snow has gone and we dont get any more! And then I have a pile of wheels in the garage for 6 -8 months. Still I could get out of my dads drive more easily when it rains lol... Oh and will the tyres make a lot more noise than the summer ones? (cause they are bad enough :-)) Travel safe IS owners! MW

Hello all Here in the IOM like elsewhere in the UK theres been snow and ice, Its my IS250s first winter in my care, and Im nervous. I was out yesterday and I couldnt back out of my dads drive (slight incline and not very well surfaced) without a push! There wasnt even that much snow. (When it was just wet once i had a lot of wheelspin!) Anyway the journey home was successful in snow mode and taking it very sensibly. The traction control light was on and off quite a bit. There were a few moments where I wasnt sure if I was going to continue in a straight line... Ive seen people suggest putting extra weight over the back wheels so might try that to improve traction. Anybody else had experience in the snow with the 250 and its auto... MW

Thanks for that Mike - interesting.. and by way of an update I had the 4 year service done at local dealer, I asked them about this cold rattling problem and I was mildly fobbed off saying that these cars do rattle a bit from cold.. Anyway since then I've noticed that the rattle seems rarer but sometimes from cold I get very low power output despite putting my foot down - the engine kind of drones quite annoyingly as if to accelerate but then doesnt do a lot. Maybe five mins after moving off it seems to revert to normal. Quite annoying or what? M

Nice car - what colour is it? Cracking photo's - you should do the official brochures! Marcus

Thanks for your replies so far.. My cars a 2006 but I'll have a look in the manual to see if this autobrake function is mentioned - maybe it will say that the traction control light is to warn of rolling back?? Or maybe that an expensive service is required ! Will report back.. Marcus

Hello people! Your learned advice would be appreciated - has anybody else had this... Normal:-) I am coming to a stop on a hill the IS will creep and I brake and I come to a stop it will then hold without braking. Thats what I consider normal on an auto box (Is that right?) Unusual :-( Lately I've been finding that I come to a stop and then when I release the brakes the car rolls back and it won't hold - or if I try again. Time to engage the creaky footbrake. This was on quite a steep hill if that makes any difference?? Worse still today I was going up a steepish hill and as I approached the junction I braked to stop.. the gearbox did'nt hold - I rolled back and to my slight alarm the traction control light started blinking while rolling back - never seen that before!! Is this a problem anybody else has had? Many thanks Marcus

Just to add the reversing camera is a big help! It can be very difficult to see behind in these cars despite the gargantuan wing mirrors.. :D

Hi Smileyone, my 50 cents...and then some sorry I've had my 2006 IS250 se-l MM auto - since July. Its certainly smooth engine wise. Cruising to work - my commute each way is only about 18 miles. Nice and relaxing. Getting the average of 31mpg which seems pretty good for average speeds of 30 0r less! No motorways here. (Dual C'ways a rarity too!) In terms of ride I find it gets a bit messy (in a firmish but non sportscar way) over bumpy stuff. Tie that in with the slightly weird steering and it takes a bit of concentration on small country roads when pushing on. Its not that its not good to drive - it is - but you want to be on bigger straighter roads. You want to bear in mind the road noise as well. True I have cheapo "Sunny" tyres (not my choice) but they make a pretty loud thrumming noise which gets louder as speed increases. But this does seem to be a well reported issue on the forum. Maybe you focus on this cos you dont hear much from the engine? The cabin isnt as well built as you might like with several creaky bits and hard plastics. The noise issues fall away as you crank up the top notch Mark Levinson sound system. Its the best Ive ever heard and easily drowns out the creaks n rattles. The Toys are great - most are useful. Nice with the leather. If you have a family I wouldnt bother with an IS though - tbh its cramped in the back and theres no way you could consider it a 5 seater. If the front passenger and or driver are of large stature or width (No offence)you'll think its small. Could be costly in the future but hopefully will be reliable. However overall it suits me fine and I like it alot as a used car - best Ive ever owned. Smooth Fast - hopefully reliable - However Lexus need to try a lot harder to improve it for the next generation. Its still not as good as a 3 series to drive but I much preferred the lexus mainly because of the more interesting interior ambience and more likeable. Anybody agree with my thoughts?