Silver Arrow

Utter tosh! Whatcar loves BMW and Mercedes so always slate the Jap cars especially Lexus!

Well I had the IS 220d, admitttedly an early one (2006) and one of the first registered here in the UK. Had it almost 3 years. Then went over to the Germans, and whilst I am not a fan of German cars, I have to say the BMW I had was so much better - in every respect other than the 2 obvious - equipment levels and the dodgy image.

Had the 5 series and I know it's not a direct competitor to the IS - but I did try the 3 too and it was miles ahead.

It was much more economical - the 5 series (3.0 6 Cyl diesel and Auto though it weighed the same as the IS, the 3 is good couple hundred Kilo's lighter so even better on fuel). Bigger boot, interior dull but beautifully built - no rattles at all. The overall ride quality was much better, slightly knobblier around town due to run flat tyres but much more composed on a run, superb steering feedback. Every 3 I also drove was better - and I'm aLexus fan...

So having driven them back to back, I have to say the competition is way ahead of the IS. Even the brief spells in a 3 series told me that they were much better overall to drive.

The new GS on the other hand feels much more special than any of the competition, except the Audi's (specifically the new A6 and 7), which I think are simply brilliant now. But having wanted a non-turbo Petrol car, the only option was Lexus again, and I'm glad of it. Couldn't get into a A7 2.8FSi - just none around in budget with 5 seats.

The mags on the whole slate the GS for it's emissions and economy which lets face it is pretty bad on paper - no arguments there. But it's only an issue if you do a lot of miles, or buy it as company transport. Otherwise it's stonking value, especially when you consider the equipment levels.

The biggest issues with the IS were the gearing, the gear change, the ride, road noise, flat spot to 1700rpm and economy. Pretty tight in the back too, and the boot was just too small. It spent far too long in the garage, either for rattles or fuel/EGR/5th injector issues - just plain bad.

I think, might be wrong, production of RHD IS250 for UK has ceased already - you cannot order a new one as far as I know (and was told as such at my dealership). There are some unreg'd cars available at ports and dealerships - that's it!!

And I agree - whilst the IS200d was a bit better, the gearing, reliability, economy etc etc was pretty naff compared to the competition - and having had one and been "across to the dark side" I can only confirm how true that is....as much as it will pain IS lovers everywhere!!

Well - dealership have tried hooking up the new GS to their diagnostic computer system to see if they can code the Auto Locking at Speed and guess what? They Cannot!

Oh dear - I wonder if there is a good reason for this omission - considering it is the ONLY model not to have it. Bit of a shame but not the end of the earth!

I was told that the dealerships have seen pictures of the new IS...

Bearing in mind what has happened to the LS, and the new GS, it seems to me it will have both the face and interior of those.

I had an IS220d which I have to say was not good - the gear change was sloppy, really awful gearing, poor economy, the ride was disjointedly firm, and so having come back to Lexus, I bought what Lexus do best - Auto Petrol - and this is so much more a Lexus. Just a wafter....

The new GS250 is almost as economical (-10%) than the early 220d I had.

I hope they don't bother with a bolted in derv and just do the hybrid - which I have been told will be the case.

The GS250 doesn't have much torque at all, so you cannot rush it. However, in normal use it is brilliant. My gentle driving style suits it well - so it's fine for me.

Has anyone tried to use the "Connected Services" so that I can use the portal (I have registered) to download memory points to the Satnav? I have an Orange mobile phone and even Orange do not appear to have the information I need....The drop down list in the car does have T-Mobile but it failed.

Still waiting for an answer from my dealership on the old door locking at speed, but I do have another question.

Has anyone tried to use the "Connected Services" so that I can use the portal (I have registered) to download memory points to the Satnav? I have an Orange mobile phone and even Orange do not appear to have the information I need....The drop down list in the car does have T-Mobile but it failed.

The firmness comes from the springs and dampers - not tyres (unless you are talking about run flat tyres which are abysmal). I believe Lexus are trying to make the CT drive sportily without putting too much R&D into that area - "just make it firm and people will think it's sporty". Doesn't really work. The current IS is a bit like that too.

BMW seem to be making cars that only drive like " the ultimate driving machine" if it has adaptive dampers....the standard are not as good as they should be too.

Low profile tyres don't help - but changing the brand won't.

I think that is what the new IS will look like....I kid you not!

The official tests are done on a rolling road in a lab type environment, so you'd be hard pushed to achieve that. As mentioned above, if you do a lot of town driving, then diesels are not the way to go. Even with stop start, the DPF will clog up, and that could mean either expense down the road, or having to take it on a blast on a good A road/motorway a couple of times a month - which will mean wasted fuel having to do that journey!!

We had a Prius (same engine etc) and managed 57.7 mpg in town only. That was with 4 people in the car for 4 hours trying all the modes on a test drive during the day when our city was very busy.

My biggest tip would be that you stick to the speed limits. You won't believe how little the engine will come into play if you do that and start coasting early - that way the Battery charges and stays at least half charged all of the time. That really helped us in the last 2 hours of the test drive. Even if you think you are in grid lock, when you do move you'll try and sub-consciously make up time - speeding. That will burn your fuel away. How fast you accelerate is also important. Try keeping in electric until you hit conventional 2nd gear speeds - 15-20mph - and you'll reap the rewards.

Nooooooooo lol

We thought about the new GS450h, but it was £9k more....'nuff said! SO we went 250 Lux and know that we can buy a heck of a lot of petrol for that much....OK it's a bit slower, but it's still plenty fine for UK roads.

So, Autolock by Speed is the missing option.....Thanks mate. I'll get onto LGB via my dealership to see if there is any programming that can be done by them.

Great stuff!!

Thanks mate - I'll try this tomorrow and see what happens....thanks in anticipation!!

Unless the 450h has a different option, the 250 with ML doesn't have an option. My dealership is talking to LGB....

Interesting.....I've been through that a dozen times and may be I'm going mad AND blind but I cannot see an option to lock doors on move off...which particular option is it that needs ticking? Sorry to bovver....

I have set it to unlock when in P no problems

Not as in are you well.........but more a topic to discuss any foibles, or a quide to see if there are ways of doing things.

So here's the first:

Does anyone know how to set the door locks so that they lock automatically when you drive off (i.e. when you get to a certain speed)? I've been through the manual, nothing, the dealership, zippo....I've done a google search and there are ways of doing this yourself on the IS and RX by switching ignition "on", then placing the gear selector into N, then holding the door lock button for 5 secs. I have tried that and it doesn't work.

When I bought the car, the salesman did state that it was user programmable, but alas the manual doesn't even mention it, though you can use the Remote touch to customise whether just the drivers lock opens, etc etc.

So anyone found out how to it, or even if it's possible?

Other than that I am loving this car. Having tested everything in the price range, and accepting that it will be dearer to run over 5 years (Servicing costs, economy, depreciation etc), moving away from the common germans was so far the best move ever....and that's considering I fell out with the IS220d which was a bit of a dog....I am one happy Lexus customer....

I had one of the early 220d SE's, 2006...bad memories of a bad gearbox, massive flatspots and a car that just didn't drive well at all....it was in at the dealers a lot for EGR's, this and that....got so fed up went "german" for a few years....then came back and bought a car that I believe Lexus does well - an Auto Petrol - no regrets so far!

Totally agree with Dave1 - they're like relatives, all different! Some you get on with, some you can't stand....lol

I think as said above, the cars are from Germany are pretty good on a test drive, handle well, are economical etc. But they are so complicated. HPFP's, Turbo's with variable vanes or even twin, DPF's on the diesels etc. Whilst you may happily run a petrol Lexus without a warranty, you would have to be fairly brave to run a BMW, Audi or MB after year 4 from new without a warranty. They can (and often do) hit trouble at 60-80,000 miles. I know people normally post troubles on the whole on forums, but the German forums bristle with issues - not just the cars - but dealerships who couldn't care less, and manufacturers who will not accept that their cars have issues due to poor designs.

Sytner BMW, Audi, MB Lexus etc now have fantastic showrooms and buildings. But the thing that gets me with the german ones is that they have these "fast lane" drop facilities for the car for servicing; you feel you're on a conveyor belt from the minute you drive in and you are treated like you're just another bod in the queue, ready for the fleecing!

That is what did it for me in the end. I know the Lexus ownership may be slightly dearer, but I feel a great deal of peace when I walk into a Lexus dealer. The dealerships are smaller, have a better focus and are just more pleasant and relaxed.

And to top it the cars aren't anywhere near as bad as the magazines and journo's make out. You have rarity value and loads of wonderful toys.

We hadn't even considered a Lexus again after my disaster with the 220d (which was a bad car), but I actually love this one. Lexus do the petrol/auto thing extremely well....

Having owned a string of German cars and 2 Lexus's (the first was the rubbish 220d) I have to say the GS250 isn't a bad car compared to the german cars. It matches most of them except when driven at 70%+ of the handling limits (and who actually drives at that rate all the time???) and CO2/economy so it doesn't make a good company car.

It's the best compromise between all of the Luxury cars out there if you are buying it out of a company car scheme/privately. The BMW has a rubbish ride quality and fragile engines, swirl flaps, turbo's etc, Audi's overpriced and MB have the worst interior of any car out there. They all suffer from dreadful dealership experience!!

The new GS is a wonderful car.....and I wouldn't have said that given I had the unreliable, rubbishy IS220d before....I was a die hard german car fanatic until I drove one of these.....

The new one seems much much more solid than the old one

Certainly isn't under powered, but not "quick" either. An excellent waft-ability factor though.