Hello, I have an issue with my IS220D fuel economy and started looking about these forums to see if anyone else had similar issues and I am surprised how many people do seem to have an issue with fuel economy.
I own a 59 plate IS220D bought new in November 2009 and has covered 15000 miles now. For the first 12 months everything was fine and I got anywhere between 44 to 47 MPG on the daily commute to work (easy driving, no towns) and easily got over 50mpg on motorway driving. At the start of December 2010, my MPG went from this steady 44/47 MPG down to 35/36 MPG virtually overnight. A visit to Lexus dealer where I bought the car and they said this was "normal" for winter and blamed the weather for being too cold. I have waited 8 weeks and there has been no improvement whatsoever. I still struggle to get more than 36 mpg on the daily commute to work where it used to be easily 44/46 mpg.
The issue happened around the same time that the car got bogged down on a hill in the snow and the traction control was working overtime trying the get the car up the hill. After that, the fuel economy has gone down by around 20%. Coincidence or related? Any ideas? It is due back at Lexus this week as I am not happy about the poor fuel economy. The car also seems "throatier" and a little less responsive at low revs (under 2000rpm) and there is now blue/grey smoke under acceleration (which Lexus said was "condensation") periodically. However, I fully expect Lexus to fob me off with the "this is normal" routine again. I also spoke to a work colleague who has a 57 plate IS220D and he regularly gets over 50mpg from his.......
Any info greatly received,
Thanks,
