GaryC

My insurance for the IS250 would be £439 a year. If I have the Lexus fitted spoiler it goes up to £713 !!!!

That's £22 a month more to have a very subtle spoiler on it. Ouch !!!

That doesn't seem a bad deal to me. Basically, he has come down £3425 with the deposit and payments over 35 months. He's offering you slightly less for your car and the final balloon payment has gone up slightly, so overall you are better off by £2542 against his original deal. Quite a good saving, plus you are geting free fitting on the spoiler.

It's still £600 or so more expensive than the online site but for my money it's close enough to go with the dealer - after all a good relationship with your dealer can be priceless if anything goes wrong in the future. An internet site is really only interested in selling you one car, whereas a dealer will want to sell you your next one and the one after, so will go the extra mile.

I'm not sure you could get free servicing as that would amount to another £750 being thrown your way, but good luck if you can get it!

Thanks for this. I am about to ring the dealer now to do the deal...

Cheers for this. I've just done what you've said and told the dealer I can get it a lot cheaper.

He has now come back with £7000 deposit. £7250 for my car part-ex (which is fine by me).

£444 x 35 months with a guaranteed £12600 residual. Much better but I still can get cheaper I think.

I need to check with buyacar again but I think the Lexus deal is ok.

Do you think I could get it even cheaper from Lexus ?

Or ask him to throw him 3 years free servicing and that will secure the deal.

Oh and Lexus are fitting that nice rear lipped spoiler in the deal.

Crikey I'm getting giddy here.

Has anyone bought a car from an online site ?

Any advice ?

The dealer quoted me figures for buying a new IS250 SE-L mutimedia.

He offered me £7975 for my car part-ex.

Deposit of £8500.

The price is £33,456 and is over 3 years with a £12442 guaranteed residual.

Monthly payments are £499 x 35 months.

I then went to buyacar.co.uk and these are the figures....

Price is £29,371 with a balloon payment of £12,700

Part ex probably approx £7000 (according to comprehensive form I filled in).

Deposit £5000

Monthly payments are £482 x 35 months.

Basically it's far cheaper online.

I had not done the sums on this until after I left the dealer but when I mentioned the online method the salesman said that the car won't be available as Lexus won't supply them at that price.

Is he correct here ?

Jaguar XF 2.7 diesel

I drove the Jaguar XF first for about 30 minutes.

My impressions....

Wow factor outside especially from rear.

Smart interior but no wow factor for me.

Engine quiet and refined. Slightly harsh ride around town.

Smooth on motorway.

Performance wasn't great though and not that much quicker than my C270 CDI.

When I left the garage I thought "No that's not the car for me - it's just too big".

Lexus IS250 SE-L (Multimedia)

After driving the Jag I though the Lexus would have to be pretty special to win my vote.

I've owned two Lexus's before so I wanted this car to be better but had my doubts.

I loved the look of the Lexus (especially with the subtle spoiler on it).

It was a 57 reg ex-demonstrator in silver with black leather.

After 10 minutes of driving it this was the car for me !

The engine is barely audible and even when really revving the engine the sound is lovely.

I loved the paddles on the steering wheel - superb !

The interior for me is better than the Jag and the sat nav is far better.

I loved the electric rear blinds !

The instrument cluster has wow factor also.

I loved the soft black leather and the wood trim.

It was so smooth and quiet and cruised beautifully on the motorway.

The road noise was fine (what the hell are What Car talking about when they say unsettled ride and road noise - have they ever driven the car ?)

The car I drove had 18" alloys but I also drove the 17" as I think I prefer those wheels.

I'm smitted by the car. It looks lovely and drives beautifully.

As for that engine sound.....

Anyway I then spent another hour with the dealer trying to sort a deal on the ex-demo car.

He is convincing me towards a new one as it is only £12 a month dearer.

He has left me with a quote sheet which I am mulling over but I'm sure I can get the car cheaper online.

I may do some hard bargaining with him to throw in 3 years free servicing.

I will write a separate thread about the finance deal they offered and I would welcome advice on whether you think it's a good deal.

The 535d is a superb machine but the interior is pants. Lots of ugly cheap plastic everywhere.

The leather is also very cheap and cracks easily.

Those are the only things that put me off that car.

The diesel isn't the quietest either - the most refined diesel I have driven is the Audi A6.

It doesn't even sound like a diesel.

Apparently the Jaguar XF 2.7 diesel is supposed to be even more refined - I'll find that out for myself on Sunday.

Hmmm - given that I'm looking to change from a 5-series BMW, I don't have a number of those things anyway (it's a BMW isn't it!). I like the electric steering wheel and memory seats but, IMHO, it's not enough. The key thing I think is that I have the MM pack. Does anyone know if you can fit rear parking sensors as a dealer fit option?

Are there any 250 SE auto MM owners who want to give an opinion on their car? :D

Jezzer,

I'd be very interested to know how the IS compares to the 5 series. Which 5 series have you got ? The E39 or E90 ?

Which engine ? If you have owned a 5 series and driven (and liked) the IS then it must be a very good car.

The DVD player (and its sound quality)

Proper DVD player with the Multimedia pack ? You play DVD films or just the sound ? Sorry daft question I know.

Electric rear blinds on SE-L. That's a new one on me.

The playlist name is always displayed so you could have individual albums as a playlist which means you will then see album/track on the display. Also, if you name your playlist album-artist then you now have all the information displayed.

Good call Scott. This is a deal-breaker on the IS250 for me !

use std fuel plus dps4,see thread diesel power sport 4.

A complete waste of money are these additives.

They do nothing. Don't improve economy or make engine sound smoother.

It's all in the mind.

Just for the USA, as is the top storage compartment for the sunglasses, before you ask.

Are you saying I'm asking too many questions ? :)

Any ideas ? Is this just on the US model ?

Can't hear the same thing from my 220d -- would suggest a call to the Lexus garage

I used to get this on my GS300 Sport Mk 2 but was told nothing to worry about.

I was browsing through the owners manual on the US site.

On one of the pages it shows a tyre (tire) pressure monitor screen on the instrument cluster.

Is this a feature on the IS250 ?

I've arranged a test drive of an IS 250 SE-L (Multimedia) at 2.30pm on Sunday at Lexus Stockport.

This is an hour after testing driving a Jaguar XF (eek).

In some ways I hope I like the Lexus as much as the Jag as I think the Jag is too big really as it's only usually me and the missus that would be in the car.

Is there any fancy display in the instrument panel when the adaptive cruise is on ?

If you have adaptive cruise can you choose between normal cruise and adaptive cruise if needed ?

Thanks. I think the SE-L is in order as it has the fancy adaptive cruise. I need to sort out this test drive soon.....

Thanks for these answers. Another question (sorry to ask so many)....

I'm still a bit confused by the options...

1. Is the sunroof always an option ? I fancy the SE-L with all the toys but not the sunroof.

2. If I choose the SE instead of the SE-L it doesn't incude the front rear parking monitor but if I choose the Multimedia pack option will that then include the front/rear parking monitors ?

I've been used to driving a Merc C270 CDI for three years now so will be interested to know how the petrol 2.5 will compare.

I've not arranged the test drive yet. I'm assuming the refinement of the engine will be no camparison. My current motor has the sports suspension so feels the bumps on poor roads. I'm pretty much set on the IS250 even without driving it (I've owned two GS300s so am a Lexus fan and love all the gadgets). The only thing that concerns me is the road noise. I assume this is prevalent on the 17" wheels ? Anyone found suitable tyres that produce the least road noise ?

Cheers for your help.

5) Lexus.co.uk :)

Unless I'm being thick all I can see for options is Multimedia pack. The site also doesn't let you "build your vehicle" like other makes. Have I missed something here ?

welcome back

Thanks.

is the test drive in a manual or auto?

It'll be an auto. Another question - paddles as standard on steering wheel ?

Hi all,

I've not been on here for a few years. I sold my Lexus GS300 Sport in 2004 and bought a Mercedes C270 CDI. I'm ready to part company and have looked at several options. BMW 330d Coupe, Jag XF, BMW 5 series but have not really thought too much about the IS250 until I had a look on this forum. I've booked a test drive.

I have a few questions if you'd be so kind to answer them. I've had a search around and found some answers but not complete ones so....

1) Does the Multimedia package give voice control ?

2) Will it support full iPod integration (ie track names, artists display on screen) ?

3) Is the cruise control adaptive by sttandard or is that an option ?

4) Does the parking monitor come with the multimedia package ?

5) Is there a complete spec list somewhere with all the options ?

Not playing "have a go at the beemers" - in my opinion, the IS 300 was a better car to drive than the 530d

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Yeah right. That's the funniest comment I've ever heard.