Review + Comments And Questions

Gediredi · June 25, 2015

Hi Everyone

At the end of May I got a new Lexus IS300h Executive in Mesa Red as a company car.

So far I have done nearly 7000 miles in it and I have a couple of questions and comments.

What happens regarding the servicing? I assume it tells you when a service is approaching in some way, and also what kind of mileage will it start prodding me for a service ?

Managed to figure out (thanks to this site!) the sat nav and also the DAB radio controls, thanks everyone.

Got used to the way it handles now, and I have to say overall I love it! Sport mode is so much fun - definitely quick off the mark. I also like the fact its a real eye catcher! I went past a line of traffic and saw nearly every bloke turn and look at the car with envious eyes! Remarked to the wife that I finally know what it must be like for a stunning girl walking past a group of blokes ! lol.

Economy wise its a bit of a disappointment compared to the published figures (but they all are as far as I can gather). It's got a bit better but in ECO mode on a long motorway drive doing about 80 as standard I can get 49 - 52 MPG Considering I used to get the same MPG in my previous VW passat 2.0 diesel this is really good.

Couple of niggles - the main one is the software - sat nav and media - Very very poor considering the brand reputation - the interface in my old passat was far superior. 5/10

I have discovered recently how to change the view on the sat nav to 3D / isometric which has helped a bit - but overall the interface is fiddly and awkward.

I have experienced once the sat nav display freezing completely. Had to press the menu button and go back into the Map to refresh it.

Voice dialling. Every now and again it totally screws up - I say a name which has worked before totally fine several times and it will select something totally different. When this happens I go into the voice dial screen and you can see all the assignments are wrong - I have to delete them all and start again. Annoying.

I have two USB sticks with music on - all works, but again the interface is poor. Its hard to navigate and also does not display all the song info. I tend to browse the folders and use the steering wheel control to move up / down the track.

Paintwork - the paint seems awfully "soft". I had a big stonechip already - had a confusing time getting a touchup stick from Lexus dealer. As I said it is Mesa Red but the parts department told me it was NOT Mesa red but MICA red. Massive confusion followed - Dealer said it was MESA red and MICA did not exist. But - if you google Lexus Mica Red you get lots of results. I spoke online with a LEXUS agent and they also said my car was MESA. When I picked up the touch up stick after cross referencing the colour code, it had MICA RED written on it! Work that one out!

I also appear to have rubbed too vigorously at a dead fly on the bonnet and now I have a swirly pattern whch you can see from certain angles...Like I say Paint seems soft...

Whats the deal with the rear door locks? Seem to have a mind of their own... Rear seat passengers seem to sometimes get out fine and other times struggle and either I have to open it for them or they have to unlock the "red" button on the inside. Is this some kind of setting?

As others have said, the indicators for lane changing are a bit tricky - sometimes they stay on and don't turn off..

Today the wife pointed out a stain on the drive - it must be from my car as I make the wife park hers on the road lol! Slightly concerning - quite a large patch more or less from the middle / underneath of the car more or less where the gearbox would be. It was not wet or particularly dark, nor did it smell. I am thinking / hoping its from the Aircon. Checked the oil and its ok...

This has turned into a litany of criticism - sorry about that - overall it is GREAT and I am so glad I got it. It has power, speed, style, fuel economy, comfort, reliability, low emissions and tax (saves me money as a company car driver I can tell you). It is really fun and a pleasure to drive, very quiet and relaxing.Just what I wanted !

Hope this helps as an honest opinion and please feel free to give some opinions and answer some of those queries if you would.

rayaans · June 26, 2015

Nice to know you're getting on with the IS.

1) service is usually at 10k miles if you're a private buyer or 12k miles if you're a business buyer or every year whichever comes first. The car will tell you that you need a service but it's best to know the date beforehand just in case the service guys forget to put it in.

2) in terms of software, there are a few niggles but it's worth checking out if you're on the latest version as even new cars seem to be on a versions that are 4-5 behind. Dealer will do this for free. I've been told Lexus is developing a new software which will come out in the next 6 months or so.

3) Parts Department and dealer are both correct. Mesa red is the name of the paint in the UK. But it's a Mica paint, which is a type of paint that looks solid in shade and starts popping in the sun.

4) All Japanese cars have relatively soft paint compared to German brands. On the upside however, any swirls are much much easier to rectify on soft paint. Use a German applicator with a pure polish by hand or if confident, use a machine. Many guides on this on the Web. It's worth getting a coating on the car. Something like Kamikaze Artificial Clear Coat which basically adds another layer of clearcoat on your paint making it much more durable. Seal the paimt on top of this with a Ceramic coating and it'll be pretty tough

5) The locks can be changed in settings. If you set them to "unlock when in park" you can just switch to park and all locks will open. There are multiple setting, just choose the one you prefer

6) patch is from the AC, nothing to worry about.

7) the indicators are a bit weird but it appears you get used to them. When I had the IS300H as a loaner, I found it quite difficult as I have conventional stalks in my RX, but after about an hour I was pretty confident with it

Steve44 · June 26, 2015

Company car should be on 12k service intervals. you can check in the settings on the main unit, on mine it is Setup/Info/Maintenance, your dealer should have set this up before you got the car, mine did but put in 10k details! you can set a whole load of other reminders for tyres, brakes, wipers...........

49-52mpg @ 80mph on motorway is good. If you drop that to a steady 70mph with cruise control in Eco mode, you should see an easy 55-60mpg. Bear in mind petrol is cheaper than diesel, so you are quids in anyway!

Door locks, is there not a setting in the setup menu, where you can change what happens with the door locks? i.e unlocking opens just the drivers door, or all doors. All doors lock on shift away from P, or over 12mph, doors unlock when shift back to P, or only drivers door unlocks etc. Mine has this setting. I have it set to all doors unlock when I open the car, doors lock above 12mph and unlock when I shift to Park.

ColinBarber · June 26, 2015

Welcome to LOC :)

I'd never use a name to refer to Toyota paint colours - always use the three character paint code, then you will get the correct colour no matter what somebody wants to call it.

If your indicators are staying on then you have pressed the switch too hard - just takes a little bit of getting use to. Personally I occasionally have the opposite issue where I want them on permanently and I don't push hard enough.

Gediredi · June 26, 2015

Hi all.

Regarding maintenance settings. I don't have that option on the main menu. Mine is in settings on the dash display. Then "maintenance system" then it says do you want to initialise? Yes no. Slightly worrying as it seems to imply that something is not set up...

I have changed the lock system to unlock when in park and auto lock. I think that will be better.

Some other minor niggles.. Brakes... Seem a bit grabby or vague. Try to brake steadily to a stop and end up braking harshly at the end as I realise I'm not stopping as quickly as I thought!

Suspension creaking away when reversing and applying brakes.. Wife always passes comment.

12v power socket.. Preferred the setup in the Passat.. One on the dash for windscreen gadgets and one in the rear centre console for kid s gadgets. Now I have a 3 way adapter and wires strung everywhere..

Paint I will have a think about... It's a company car after all not mine!

Thanks again for your advice. I know I am being picky but these minor niggles are the kind of thing I didn't know about before I got the car. Really its a compliment that there are only these trivial things!

rayaans · June 27, 2015

Hi all.

Regarding maintenance settings. I don't have that option on the main menu. Mine is in settings on the dash display. Then "maintenance system" then it says do you want to initialise? Yes no. Slightly worrying as it seems to imply that something is not set up...

I have changed the lock system to unlock when in park and auto lock. I think that will be better.

Some other minor niggles.. Brakes... Seem a bit grabby or vague. Try to brake steadily to a stop and end up braking harshly at the end as I realise I'm not stopping as quickly as I thought!

Suspension creaking away when reversing and applying brakes.. Wife always passes comment.

12v power socket.. Preferred the setup in the Passat.. One on the dash for windscreen gadgets and one in the rear centre console for kid s gadgets. Now I have a 3 way adapter and wires strung everywhere..

Paint I will have a think about... It's a company car after all not mine!

Thanks again for your advice. I know I am being picky but these minor niggles are the kind of thing I didn't know about before I got the car. Really its a compliment that there are only these trivial things!

Hybrid brakes are slightly different. They'll essentially use regenerative braking which stops the car when braking lightly. Under heavy braking it switches to the actual brakes. Its slightly tricky at first to judge it but you get used to it in the end.

No idea on the suspension - the loaner I had did not make any unusual noises including rattles or suspension noises.

Again, don't use the 12V power cord apart from pumping up the tyres with a compressor.

Steve44 · June 27, 2015

The brake by wire, regeneration braking I'm still not used to after 26k miles. It still catches me out sometimes where the car doesn't slow quickly enough to a given pedal pressure. Brakes on mine had fluid changed at 24k service and rebled which improved things slightly. I also think light braking g can glaze the pads and an occasional hard braking session is needed to sort them out.

The modulation between regen and actual brakes is computer controlled and for me could be better. It is a hard thing to do well, just look at the F1 guys doing the same in their cars on the limit and how much time and money is spent trying to perfect it.

Regards the suspension creaking, they all do it on the transition of coming to a stop or creeping, the IS seems particularly bad at this.

ColinBarber · June 27, 2015

Regards the suspension creaking, they all do it on the transition of coming to a stop or creeping, the IS seems particularly bad at this.

It's the brakes, not the suspension.

Steve44 · June 28, 2015

Regards the suspension creaking, they all do it on the transition of coming to a stop or creeping, the IS seems particularly bad at this.

It's the brakes, not the suspension.

Sorry, yes it is the brakes creaking, not the suspension. The IS is pretty bad about this though, there was another thread on here which talked more about it.

rayaans · June 28, 2015

No brake creaking on the 64 plate loaner I had. No sounds at all actually apart from the whine when coming to a stop and slight whine when moving along in EV

ColinBarber · June 28, 2015

The pads glaze easily as they gently rub against the discs during regen braking. The mechanical braking seems to be more engaged than other hybrid models which result in the noises, which get worse over time. Heavy braking now and again can help, and given that loan vehicles sometimes get some spirited driving that may explain the lack of noise you experienced.

I've had a very new loan vehicle and it was fine, others have been more noisy. My local dealer striped down my pads, re-greased and cleaned up the friction surfaces which resolved the issue for a few month and now it is noisy again.

rayaans · June 28, 2015

The pads glaze easily as they gently rub against the discs during regen braking. The mechanical braking seems to be more engaged than other hybrid models which result in the noises, which get worse over time. Heavy braking now and again can help, and given that loan vehicles sometimes get some spirited driving that may explain the lack of noise you experienced.

I've had a very new loan vehicle and it was fine, others have been more noisy. My local dealer striped down my pads, re-greased and cleaned up the friction surfaces which resolved the issue for a few month and now it is noisy again.

Probably my driving style then :/ I did drive it like I stole it. I loved the car, goes as well as you'd want in day to day driving and stops pretty good too

ganzoom · June 29, 2015

I find the brakes on the IS to be quite good. If you really ask them to perform, they stop the car well. I do wish the re-gen braking was like a 'proper' EV, where as soon as you come off the throttle the thing would brake/slow down, which means in city traffic if you watch the road ahead for 70-80% of the time you don't need to touch the actual brake pedal, the car will slow it self down enough - But I don't think the Battery in the Lexus is big enough to store all the re-gen energy created.

wh05apk · June 29, 2015

Isn't that what the paddles effectively do, I am new, but find using the paddles and forward planning, I rarely need to use the brakes.

ganzoom · June 29, 2015

Isn't that what the paddles effectively do, I am new, but find using the paddles and forward planning, I rarely need to use the brakes.

I've never used the paddles in the IS. But sounds like you can use them for some kind of engine braking.

What I'm now use to is quite strong regen-braking, on the Leaf if going along at 40mph, when I lift off, the regen-braking is strong enough to slow the car down to 20 mph in a few seconds. On other EVs, the brake lights actually come on when you take your foot off the acclerator - You can effctivly 'single pedal' the car. Only time it changes is when the Battery is at 95% charger, than it does hardly any re-gen, similar to the Lexus.