Driver201

On 4/7/2021 at 1:10 AM, McShmoopy said:

I have an IS250 F sport 2010 and while I did appreciate the sportiness of it the ride was rather firm thanks to the sport suspension and 18” wheels. With the potholes and Road bumps next to my house I did want some comfort and I did change the tyres to 18” continental eco contact 6’s all around and the ride quality (and economy) has improved while still being firm enough so alternative tyres could be a good shout. Otherwise if comfort is the aim of the game stick with an SE-L with 17 wheels and this can be further improved with comfort orientated tyres!

Thanks for the info, I will definitely look into that.🙂

Good afternoon,

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has replied to my topic, the replies have been most helpful. I will let you know how I get on now the restrictions are being lifted. Just as and aside, I found out today from an obscure Lexus paper that the springs on the F-sport are 10mm shorter than on the other IS250 models, which may be one of the reasons for the suspension on the F-sport being firmer. Anyway I thought this may be of interest those of you who understand these things far better than I ever will. 🙂 

16 minutes ago, toffee_pie said:

I had a IS250 prior to my Subaru, I sold it because it was too good - too comfortable and not very engaging to drive so on that basis it should work just fine for the OP

BMWs are money pits, don't get one. Lexus are galaxies ahead of them for build and reliability quality

I agree about BMWs, so many plastic parts that become brittle and fail. They are nearly ok if you can afford to buy a brand new one every six years.

26 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

BMW main issue is standard run-flat tyres... they are just horrible, if you fit normal tyres then they are okey, I had 2011 BMW328xi and it was just unbearable until I got puncture on run-flat and it failed to do the sole thing they were designed to do, having no spare I had to wait for recovery truck and after that I just replaced all the tyres with normal tyres and it transformed the car. IS250 is certainly more comfortable than equivalent BMW, Audi or MB, but MB air suspension is more comfortable.

I owned 3 IS250s and I consider them to be comfortable cars in general, however everyone have their own definition of "comfort". For example I can't stand too soft cars with loads of body roll (like all SUVs), yet many people consider comfort as simply how soft the suspension is. Overall I would say that IS250 is comfortable and quiet car, if you fit the right tyres in my opinion it is very comfortable on 17s and still very acceptable on 18s.

As far as years and trims goes, there is really no difference, you can get any IS250 from 2005-2012 and they are all equally comfortable, the only difference will be rim size and tyre selection. Simply said, the smaller is the rim and the thicker is the tyre, the more comfortable the car will be - you have choice of 16s, 17s and 18s on IS250.

Thanks, that's really useful info, I'm feeling more confident about buying one now.

10 minutes ago, JDM-Fiend said:

I can't comment on the RX300, but I've now owned 2 IS250's.

 

If you can get an IS250 with the 17 inch alloys and the SE-L trim, it should be pretty comfortable.

 

I've had a 2010 IS250 F-Sport with 18 inch alloys and the ride was quite firm, but I didn't mind it day to day. I currently have a 2008 IS250 SE-L on 18's, this is definitely softer due to different springs I believe.

Thanks for that, I will look into whether the se-l does have softer springs and maybe if they can be fitted with 16" wheels too?

8 minutes ago, Herbie said:

That's the thing about forums - no one comes on to post that their car doesn't have a water leak or this, or that. Most posts in forums are people looking for help with things that have gone wrong but there will be many thousands of people out there who have cars that don't present with problems, so don't let that put you off because there'll be many, many RX300s available that don't leak.

That' s a very fair point, millions were sold and were not recalled because of this, so maybe I'm over stressing about it.  

Good afternoon, I was thinking of buying an 2005 rx300 but I'm a bit put off by the number of threads on here about water leaking into the car and rust.😟 My second choice was the 2010 IS250. So, is it possible to get a comfy ride in an IS250 given the nature of our roads these days and my back. I generally drive locally and few motorway type miles. And if so what would be the best set-up to look for. Or am I barking up the wrong tree.  Many thanks in advance.🙂

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated, it's good to know that the 'se' will still give a comfortable ride. I'm looking forward to owning a reliable car. Can't stretch to the series 3 unfortunately and not sure if I do enough miles for a hybrid. 

Good afternoon, hope you are all well. This is my first post so I hope it's ok. I'm thinking of buying a 2005 Rx300 se as I understand it does not have the costly air suspension. I've test driven the se-l and liked the ride, but i was wondering if the ride in the se is comparable given that it is on normal suspension. Ride quality is important to me as I have back issues and dislike the jarring over potholes. I was also considering the 2010 is250 as well. If you have any insights into which would be best route to take, they would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.