Lexus IS250 – The Real punter review !
I drive an IS200 sport, a 2002 car that cost me £22500 (ish) . I have been looking forward to the new Lex for some time and have been reading the articles and trawling the net for info on the new one for ages
I received my invitation to a “preview test drive” so off I went on the 4th November, the earliest possible date !
I can not say that I was overwhelmed by the is250 experience, oh dear
I test drove the IS250 SE-L, auto , with the multimedia pack, at a list price of nearly £33,000 blimey that is steep : - # What’s the Sport going to cost with a reasonable spec ??????
I had a brief wait in the showroom and that gave me the opportunity of a look around, the RX300 Special edition was £31995, an ex demo GS300 fully loaded for £31995, come on Lexus your having a laugh with the new IS pricing !!!
First impressions.
Outside:
It’s a lot bigger than my is200, higher, wider, longer, just looks a lot stockier! Not quite so sporty.
The attempts to flow down to a lower noise seem to just mean a high nose and an even higher windscreen line !
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Oh dear some ones fitted TOYOTA VAN mirrors the size of dinner plates to the car !
Inside
Very posh, stuffed to the gunnels with gadgets and gizmos, seems comfortable.
: - }
No sunroof as standard so better head room but again Oh dear. It seemed a bit cramped, and the visibility, even with the seat set to its lowest position was poor. Do the door pillars and surrounds need to be so thick and so intrusive, even the windscreen seems to have a couple of inches of surround at the top before the roof which means you have to crouch down or look down to see out!!
It seemed claustrophobic to me !!
I realise that the promo picture has some Japanese bod driving the car, I guess he’s five foot nothing and can see out ok !
Rear visibility, from the windscreen mounted central mirror – poor at best.
From the enormous Toyota Van wing mirrors, I swear I could see into the next county !
I was let down again when I tried to get in the back , the door openings a bit restricted by the sculpting of the door and the positioning relative to the wheel arch. The rear legroom seems poor. Ok I am a six footer and had the drivers seat set to be comfortable but oh dear, another issue. And what’s going on with the slidey flippy centre console, I had left it slid open and it intrudes big time on the rear passenger space !
The Test-drive.
Impressed by the keyless entry and ignition etc, the sat nav knew where we were ! good start.
It did not seem gazzel like moving off, more smooth acceleration than shockingly rapid ! still the speed limit approached and so I guess the soundproofing must be disguising the progress a little.
Flippy paddle gear shift and the auto box were smooth as silk, the steering and brakes superb as expected. I could not really push to hard on the preview day with the bod from the garage in the car but it seemed fine.
The reversing camera and the technology in the car is great but is the multimedia pack worth £2700 and the auto option a further £1000??
The garage bod said a Coupe and Soft-top would follow
Results
As I said not overwhelmed by the car, or the price, id only give it 6/10. A real disappointment from a committed Lexus fan.
Will I buy one – Nope – have to rethink next move, maybe Audi or dreaded BMW or the ex demo Lexus GS300 if I could put up with the old man stigma that goes with it !!!!
Will Lexus sell them , if you’re a mid five footer of slim build maybe you’ll be interested if you have the major dosh !
Hammond from Top Gear will be ok, but I doubt Clarkson would fit in the front and be able to see out without having the seat so reclined to be horizontal.
I think the diesel will shift in basic spec by the bucket load ! it’ll be the posh end reps car and the Taxi rank mobile of the future ! with that record torque, I can see them now racing between the traffic lights as Lex Cabs !
COPYRIGHT - NEILDAVIES 08/11/2005
