Silver Arrow

The cost of servicing is terrible. £1000 for 3 years servicing? I paid £838 for the GS250, and it's fast approaching 3 years soon (July) at which time it will go. I've just worked out that in 8 years of motoring, I will have paid £1356 in servicing, of which the Lexus, in 3 years of that, cost £838. The other 5 years was covered by the balance on a 5 series BMW with a 3litre 6 cyl engine........

I agree. The only other problem of course is that it just feels so big. Even after 2.5 years I still have close calls with the near side front - I don't know if it's the way the dash is but it makes the front corners almost impossible to guess at when parking up.

Still, it soldiers on. Never misses a beat, total dependability, solid construction. Nothing looks or feels worn at all, and the interior is still fresh and smart.

Ave after 2.5 years, from new = 32.6

So are you having to "pay" extra to replace it? Or is it all part of the legendary Lexus goodwill???

Same on the GS - just warm. Try a Mini's heated seats. They actually sting!

Even with the volume up to 40 or 45 the sound still doesn't quite sound right. I've tried all combinations, CD, DVD, USB, Bluetooth streaming, with all combinations of treble, mid and Bass, and somehow leaves me wanting more. Like I say, the old IS Gen 2 MLS seemed better - deeper and richer. You could hear the artist hitting frets on a guitar - same track on the GS and it doesn't sound anywhere near as good.....

You are right about the BMW being a BMW. If you want to be different etc......It rev's I think to 5250, but it really doesn't need to be revved, even between 1200 - 3000 RPM it will propel you like nothing else....I can only imagine what a 335d is like nowadays....no lag, just pure power from no revs at all....

On the GS, the ML only has Bass, Mid and Treble, and you have to customise each for CD, iPod, DAB, Radio etc

The new "greener" MLS is pretty naff to be honest. My GS is supposed to have 17 speakers, but the sound is tinny - there is not enough oomph. My old IS had MLS and it was much much better. Just my opinion. It's also flatter sounding that the BMW HK system.

I agree that the BSM and Rear camera are Pro's, but not the performance. It's decent until you see what else you can have for £35kish....

It's a personal thing of course - but for the money a german diesel will actually provide a much better compromise between outright performance and economy. I say this because I have just tested a 330d M Sport, fully loaded (i.e. Adaptive suspension, nav, e/seats, xenon's, HK sound system, reversing camera etc etc), £34.5k with the huge discount and the performance was mind blowing - it absolutely flew, and now I understand why the latest Beemers get rave reviews. Fromt a standing start, there is no lag - it just launches when in Sport mode ferociously....On the test drive it showed 39mpg, and that was driven hard!

I have my eyes on that car - just need to convince the budget holder/accountant/wife, all rolled into one!!

Thank god the shiny plastic is going. That is what really cheapens the interior of the IS.

Most luxury car manufacturers are moving away from scores of buttons on the dash - just wished they had with the newer Lexus's. I still prefer the understated elegance of the GS and LS, it's a complete class above the IS, RC and NX.

The Drive select thing plays havoc with the car....all the electronics committees can affect performance, MPG, standing start, gear change quality etc.

IS every time. The CT is cramped, especially in the back and the ride is veriy "firm", unless you don't need the space

I'm not sure about the lead thing - my 5 series was newer than my IS220d and had rock solid paint. Granted it wasn't as shiny and had the infamous dreaded German car orange peel, but it scratched and pitted so much less over many many more miles, and I never worried about taking it to the local hand wash.

The Lexus NEVER goes near the local hand-job....

I definitely think it's something more unique to Lexus, though I agree that water based solvents and lead free paint is what they are all using now.

Atleast you dont have to worry about hitting the GS with a heavy polishing compound. All I needed on the RX was a quick pass of Meguiars 205 and 99% of the swirls disappeared

And that is very true - just a good chemical polish (as opposed to abrasive) is all you need....

To be perfectly honest whilst e seats are nice, unless you have loads of drivers they are useless....I haven't adjusted mine for 2 years....it is definitely not an option that I would pay for. On my previous 5 series BMW it had E seat height and back rest only as standard, same as Merc E Class

I'm not sure about the lead thing - my 5 series was newer than my IS220d and had rock solid paint. Granted it wasn't as shiny and had the infamous dreaded German car orange peel, but it scratched and pitted so much less over many many more miles, and I never worried about taking it to the local hand wash.

The Lexus NEVER goes near the local hand-job....

I definitely think it's something more unique to Lexus, though I agree that water based solvents and lead free paint is what they are all using now.

Well, there's always "next time" lol. The GS is better, but it is big.....though Luxury has pretty much everything you could want, other than AVS. An F Sport is the way to go with the GS.

Hmm. I'm not sure it's obligatory at all. As a privateer, the purchase cost of the Hybrid GS was £7k more. Wow. Thats a lot of extra fuel that could be bought, and whilst the 450h is quicker, in normal driving the GS250 is adequate...and unless you do a lot of miles, the economy thing becomes a fad.

That was my number 1 reason for getting the GS250 - I bought it new within 3 weeks of launch, and had I waited 12 months, I could have bought a 6 month old GS450h Lux for the same money....

The GS is a keeper - and I must admit I was worried about the batteries after the 3rd year - even though they seem reliable in previous Lexus Hybrids. Ultimately, however, you go with your experience - and my experience of the Mk2 IS250 was that it was superb, I loved the engine in that car...

As Rayaans says - the V6 is addictive...

A final though: whilst it (i.e. a hybrid) pollutes less after manufacture (i.e. where it's driven), it will have cost more Co2 in manufacture and transport to the UK than it could ever reclaim in it's life - and that goes for all newly made cars - much more so for battery equipped vehicles....so I don't buy the argument that it's kinder to the environment. The greenest way to motor is to buy an old car....

A GS450 sounds rather good I must say....

I don't buy the eco bit either it's all a load of smoke and mirrors IMO. The cost of disposal etc etc. Mind you I'm bit of a global warming sceptic anyway.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

Me too mate....I think there is some truth in it, but they have to find a way of pegging China, Brazil and India etc back from developing too much....

Hmm. I'm not sure it's obligatory at all. As a privateer, the purchase cost of the Hybrid GS was £7k more. Wow. Thats a lot of extra fuel that could be bought, and whilst the 450h is quicker, in normal driving the GS250 is adequate...and unless you do a lot of miles, the economy thing becomes a fad.

That was my number 1 reason for getting the GS250 - I bought it new within 3 weeks of launch, and had I waited 12 months, I could have bought a 6 month old GS450h Lux for the same money....

The GS is a keeper - and I must admit I was worried about the batteries after the 3rd year - even though they seem reliable in previous Lexus Hybrids. Ultimately, however, you go with your experience - and my experience of the Mk2 IS250 was that it was superb, I loved the engine in that car...

As Rayaans says - the V6 is addictive...

A final though: whilst it (i.e. a hybrid) pollutes less after manufacture (i.e. where it's driven), it will have cost more Co2 in manufacture and transport to the UK than it could ever reclaim in it's life - and that goes for all newly made cars - much more so for Battery equipped vehicles....so I don't buy the argument that it's kinder to the environment. The greenest way to motor is to buy an old car....

That looks brilliant!

A bit like the GS250 that I have. A dead duck....

To be honest, if it wasn't for the CO2 figures by which all forms of "car tax" are levied, the GS250 is a good car....I do regularly get mid 30's MPG, it smooth, refined, very well made; and for around £20k, you can have a seriously good car in the GS. It's better than a Gen3 IS250 in almost every way - except size....

Now all we get are 2 Hybrids (GS300h and 450h). One (on paper at least) seems under powered, whilst the other is hideously expensive to buy for what it is...

GS is awesome...just bigger though. Rides so much better

Is this is a private purchase? If so, I would just buy a 6-12 month old Premier....

I never use expensive fuel....you get 5-7% more Octane for a lot more Cash!

A shame really, but the LCI 520d 190bhp is pretty well spec'd, SE, M Sport or Luxury?

Well I don't know about the new IS, but the current GS is definitely not self healing in anyway shape or form.

The front of my car looks like it's covered 100,000 miles, and it's only done 16000...it was the same story with my 2006 Mesa Red IS220d, but at least with the GS it doesn't show unless you get close - I specifically went for Silver having been through this once before with the Red IS.

There are Zero swirls on the car as I use the "2 bucket" cleaning method and detail it myself. It's always clean and garaged. No joke, but it could do with a front end respray already.

The (e60) 5 series BMW registered in 2008 had 10% of the front end chips on it after 50,000 miles....

The paint is very soft. Much softer than BMW, AUDi etc, scratches easily. Thats the one drawback of Lexus...