bobbyc

Hi Ian, Sorry to hear about your sad loss and I am sure it is due to your efforts that this is such an excellent forum with really friendly and geninue members who seem to go out of there way to assist and provide information to each other. Take care and best luck for the future. Bobby

Hi Newbie, I bet you filled up at the Abington Shell station on the M74 (about 15 miles south of Hamilton) to get hit £1.45 for V power. I did a run to Newcastle and made the same mistake of going in there to get V Power and was hit with about that price. It is day light robbery. I normally fill up with BP Ultimate because there is no shell stations near by and that does not cost as much as £1.45 per litre, although in my experience I get about 38 mpg out of both Ulitmate and V Power on a decent motorway run, but the car seems to feel better with V power for some reason. Again it is maybe a placebo effect. Cheers Bobby

Sounds like it is certainly worth a test drive. If you have never owned a Lexus before or driven an IS250 it should be a very pleasant experience. I am sure you already know this but just watch out for any unusual noises. These cars are normally very quiet compared to other makes so any funny engine noises should be investigated. As most people have mentioned they also have an issue with the caliper pins sticking, so make sure the brakes feel good. If it has a FLSH it should be fine but worth asking the owner if he had any issues in the past. The 60k service is also a big one, so while your car has not reached that mileage yet, it will have reached the age where that service should have been completed regardless of mileage so check it has been done in the service book. It can cost up to £600 at Lexus because it involves spark plugs etc so if it has not been completed knock money off. Finally put on the ML stereo at some point in the test drive because it is an absolute joy and I doubt you will have heard a better factory fitted system in a car. Good luck

HI, When you say multimedia are you meaning sat nav, reverse camera, Mark Levinson etc? Also what interior does it have leather or cloth? If it is all the things above and leather I would say £5800 seems quite fair, however as previously mentioned I would suspect the buyer would drop £300 to get shot of it.

Thanks again for your replies John and you have put my mind at rest. Bobby

Hi Thanks very much for the reply, therefore I should not concern myself with the small hose which does not appear to connect to anything? I am not very mechinical minded, however I was also rather surprised that the coolant was not under pressure like in other cars.

Good Morning All, This is maybe a completely stupid question and I apologise in advance if it is, however I would appreciate confirmation. I was checking the coolant level in the Is250 at the weekend and removed the cap. I noticed that at the top of the cap there are two hoses. One going into the engine (quite straightforward), however there is a thinner one which comes of the cap and does not seem to attach to anywhere. I had a look around the area and did not see anywhere this was meant to attach too. Is this similarly some form of overflow pipe, or does it attach to something and I have just not seen it. If you could let me know that would be appreciated. Cheers Bobby

HI and welcome to the club. I have a IS250 manual and agree with everything already written. The road tax is the main issue, however it is an excellent car and as mentioned although the gearbox can be a little notchy it is certainly not bad compared to other manuals. If you are a keen music lover I would say get a model with the Mark L system because it is absolutely excellent and I have had comments from Merc, BMW and Range Rover drivers to say how good it sounds. As with any Lexus ensure it has a full service history and do a bit of research into servicing costs because even at an independant (of which there are few) it will likely be a good bit more expensive than the Ford was. It is also worth looking at the service intervals because the 60K one is a biggy and it would be ideal if that had already been completed. The fuel figures for the manual are (school run approx 24mpg, round town 28-29mpg and motorway 38mpg). It is also worth bearing in mind that the IS250 seems to like premium petrol and can be a lumpy on the normal stuff. All in all If you take your time you will be able to buy an excellent model and will not regret it because these are great cars and fully deserve the excellent rep.

I must admit I have never heard of self healing paint and I need to get myself a Nissan if it indeed never needs to be cleaned or washed. Self healing caliper pins do sound like an excellent ideal for any IS250 owner. I have encountered the issue with suncream in the past on another car and in my case it did not come out with polish.

K111aku where did you get the terraclean done, because I live in East Kilbride and am interested in this.

K111aku where did you get the terraclean done, because I live in East Kilbride and am interested in this.

All the best Ian and I hope everything works out for you

O I almost forgot. Please tell me you are aware of the road tax on a IS250 manual. I have to renew mine at the end of June and am having sleepless nights already about paying for it......

It is worth pointing out that the IS250 is due a major service at 60k and as mentioned this includes plugs etc. However given the list of items you are going to deal with. I think you have pretty much covered everything. I also have a manual (one of the few people) and the gearbox can be a little chunky. I came from a mazda 6 sport and found the gearbox on that better. However the lexus one is fine and just takes a little time to get used to it. The biting point on the clutch in 1st gear also takes a bit of time to get use to and you will likely stall a couple of times before you get a good feel for it. What is wrong with the sat nav and was it broken when you purchased the car?

It will be good to have an employee of Lexus on the forum so welcome.

It is good to know all the costs up front and you can then make an informed decision about what is best. You do get a lot of car for your money with these and I find I forget how good the spec is until I step into other cars and notice the difference.

The car I have had just had the £60k service done at Lexus Carlisle when I brought and and the receipt was £560. When I checked it the spark plugs where coming it at about £160 so that adds a lot. There does not seem to be that many parts added as such, but they top all the fuilds and have a very detailed report produced. Before I brought the car I called Lexus Carlisle to confirmed if they had advised the previous owner of any work needing done and that was why he was getting rid. But they advised nothing came to light and everything was fine. I would suspect a lot of owners will get shot of these cars before this service because it is nasty and if they uncover anything else you could easly be looking at a bill of over £1K. Therefore as previously mentioned if you are looking for an IS250 around this mileage i would ensure this service has been completed before you commit. If not try and arrange a discount to cover the cost of it.

I also forgot to say get an IS250 which has the Mark Levinson stereo because it is excellent....IMO it is one of the best factory fitted stereos in any car on the road. I have had Ranger Rover, BMW M series and Merc E class drivers all comment on how good it sounds.

Round the doors I get about 25 mpg, mixed driving about 30 and up to 38 mpg on a decent motorway run. The IS250 does like premium petrol and runs a lot better on it IMHO so I would factor that into the costs. As mentioned on here before the manual is nasty for road tax (£470) as I have found out so get an auto which is approx £230 Overall I am delighted with my IS250 manual (if not the road tax) and the drop in mpg are more than made up with the joy of driving it.

Hi Jim I am a fellow scot from lanarkshire. I am sure you will enjoy the forum and get lots of useful advice.

The services which are quoted on the website relate to the essential service. The Glasgow dealership advised me that their services covered other items which were not covered as part of the essential service, however when i questioned them to confirm exactly what was not covered they were struggling to answer me and said battery for key fob (£2 from amazon) and coolant replacement which they quoted £180 for (very much doubt that). That was about it for a difference in price over 3 years of about £530. Best to sign up to the essential service and then add on any other bits you feel are necessary.

I have not dealt with that man before but I have been into Edinburgh Lexus to test drive a IS250 sport and found the saleman I dealt with to be very helpful and arranged a test drive for me on the spot. This was for a second hand car so not a new one, but the service was still excellent. The only issue I had was while they did mention that someone else was looking at the car, they did not call me to confirm it was sold before I returned for a second viewing. Bearing in mind this was close on a 80 mile round trip for me I felt that could have been handled better. However I would still have no issues with that branch and found them better than Glasgow.

Hi Craig IS250 is only petrol. The only diesel that Lexus ever made was the IS220d

Agree that the ML is excellent. I don't think you can upgrade to the ML from the standard unit because it is incorporated within the Sat Nav unit, however maybe wrong

Hi, As mentioned your service book confirms all the items covered and checked. (can't remember them all of the top of my head). It is a large service and the spark plugs do get changed. They alone come to about £160. The service generally costs about £600 unless you can get some sort of deal; out of the garage.