IS200T on order, no brainer

andywin · March 14, 2016

RAV4 being 18 months old and way over miles its time to swap. Looked at all sorts, spent about 5 minutes in the Jag dealer, the XE's flimsy seats and boring interior did nothing for me. Everything seems to be . . . well snooze worthy. So off to Lexus looked at the NX and then sat in the IS. Well, I've had countless new cars, driven multiple Ferrari's, owned everything from a Dolomite Sprint to an EVO8, but this thing is a work of art, so I booked the test drive. Spent a couple of nights reading many, many negative reviews and BMW weighted car journo mumbo jumbo and to be fair was expecting the IS to drive like an FSO Polonez. Test drive day came, it was foggy, a conservative back lane meander with the odd stab of the pedal and even then it was becoming clear that this was not an ordinary car. On to the dual carriageway and into sport mode it was time to hit the loud pedal and wake the thing up a little. My god, my fears squashed, this car is simply stunning. Effortless and smooth power pushes you rearward, The 8 speed box does it's job perfectly well, nothing makes any complaining noises, almost silent, only the road noise from the 40 profile rubber reminds you that you're motoring. What an unbelievable motor!! A day of haggling with the dealer and it's ordered. There's no other car at any cost I want to be in, well done Lexus for putting a smile back into the bland world of motoring.

bluenose1940 · March 15, 2016

A big welcome to you andywin and congratulations on your choice of car. I'm sure that you will enjoy your new car when it arrives.

Lots of good friendly advice on here. Would be good to see some piccy's when you get it.

andywin · March 15, 2016

Thanks for the welcome Geoff, have a delivery date of the 29th, will definitely post some pics.

Bluesman · March 15, 2016

18 hours ago, andywin said:

RAV4 being 18 months old and way over miles its time to swap. Looked at all sorts, spent about 5 minutes in the Jag dealer, the XE's flimsy seats and boring interior did nothing for me. Everything seems to be . . . well snooze worthy. So off to Lexus looked at the NX and then sat in the IS. Well, I've had countless new cars, driven multiple Ferrari's, owned everything from a Dolomite Sprint to an EVO8, but this thing is a work of art, so I booked the test drive. Spent a couple of nights reading many, many negative reviews and BMW weighted car journo mumbo jumbo and to be fair was expecting the IS to drive like an FSO Polonez. Test drive day came, it was foggy, a conservative back lane meander with the odd stab of the pedal and even then it was becoming clear that this was not an ordinary car. On to the dual carriageway and into sport mode it was time to hit the loud pedal and wake the thing up a little. My god, my fears squashed, this car is simply stunning. Effortless and smooth power pushes you rearward, The 8 speed box does it's job perfectly well, nothing makes any complaining noises, almost silent, only the road noise from the 40 profile rubber reminds you that you're motoring. What an unbelievable motor!! A day of haggling with the dealer and it's ordered. There's no other car at any cost I want to be in, well done Lexus for putting a smile back into the bland world of motoring.

Hi Andy and welcome to the LOC, we are a friendly bunch and some of us even know how to pull them to bits and put them back together again, with of course the one bolt and washer left over.

I cant help with your present queries but I'm sure someone will be along ASAP.

We recommend you spend a couple of mins looking over the rules of the LOC, we will be asking questions later

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/terms-conditions/

Regards Mike.

Wicksy · March 15, 2016

19 hours ago, andywin said:

RAV4 being 18 months old and way over miles its time to swap. Looked at all sorts, spent about 5 minutes in the Jag dealer, the XE's flimsy seats and boring interior did nothing for me. Everything seems to be . . . well snooze worthy. So off to Lexus looked at the NX and then sat in the IS. Well, I've had countless new cars, driven multiple Ferrari's, owned everything from a Dolomite Sprint to an EVO8, but this thing is a work of art, so I booked the test drive. Spent a couple of nights reading many, many negative reviews and BMW weighted car journo mumbo jumbo and to be fair was expecting the IS to drive like an FSO Polonez. Test drive day came, it was foggy, a conservative back lane meander with the odd stab of the pedal and even then it was becoming clear that this was not an ordinary car. On to the dual carriageway and into sport mode it was time to hit the loud pedal and wake the thing up a little. My god, my fears squashed, this car is simply stunning. Effortless and smooth power pushes you rearward, The 8 speed box does it's job perfectly well, nothing makes any complaining noises, almost silent, only the road noise from the 40 profile rubber reminds you that you're motoring. What an unbelievable motor!! A day of haggling with the dealer and it's ordered. There's no other car at any cost I want to be in, well done Lexus for putting a smile back into the bland world of motoring.

Welcome Andy and I'm sure you will enjoy the Lex. Surprised that you think the XE interior is boring though because I think that its interior design is one of its strengths - the Jag sat nav makes the Lexus one look agricultural. Just my opinion of course.

capese21 · March 15, 2016

Welcome to the forum , Great choice of car.
I actually quite like the XE and it will probably be my next car. Compared to the Lexus it is a little plain imho. The XE forum is also full of complaints about the standard ICE/sat nav!!

Where is the nice analogue clock in the JAG? Screen and vents set a bit low to. Still a really impressive vehicle though.

Thank goodness Jag & Lexus have not as yet fitted a tacked on screen like the German makes. I cannot stand the screen in the C class it looks like an afterthought.

Ed.

andywin · March 15, 2016

Yes, it's always been the case that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, some people will love it but the Jags not for me. Every car I've had has seemed to be a compromise but there's not really a thing about the IS200t that I dislike. I'm sure living with it will unearth gripes of some sort, but for now I'm smitten. To be fair I've always wanted to buy a Lexus, for no other reason that the staff are so well trained to make you feel welcome. With the new IS I've had every reason to do so as it ticks every box. It also helps with the deals that are being offered.

andywin · March 15, 2016

Thanks for the welcome Edward. Yes the pics just remind me how nice the IS is, the Jag is just horrible to me, it looks like a cheap badly styled repmobile?

Dixgas · March 15, 2016

Hi Andywin, you look rather to young to be driving, do you have a licence?

andywin · March 15, 2016

Some cheek coming from an owl . . . (-;

rayaans · March 15, 2016

4 hours ago, andywin said:

Thanks for the welcome Edward. Yes the pics just remind me how nice the IS is, the Jag is just horrible to me, it looks like a cheap badly styled repmobile?

Thats because it is a rep mobile lol......

PaulWhitt20 · March 16, 2016

Hi Andy, what attracted you to the 200t rather than the 300h?

andywin · March 16, 2016

Hi Paul, I need to be able to tow up to 1500kg is the bottom line, the only IS to do this is the 200t. I considered the NX but fell in love with the IS. The wow factor for me on the test drive was the performance which is stunning in a refined way if that makes any sense, super quite running although there is a little tyre noise due to low profiles, I did like the 8 speed gearbox unlike some reviewers online. The only downside is realistically it'll be 30mpg which isn't the end of the world. I like a lot of other things about the car but they are the same in the 300h so irrelevant to the question.

01taj239 · March 17, 2016

Congratulations! It is nice to know there is another IS200t owner.

You will love the car I can get up to 31mpg on the trip round town but that is in Eco mode driving gently, on a run I've seen about 37mpg on the trip.

Only have 1000 miles on it so may improve not to fussed though as it goes like stink!

andywin · March 17, 2016

Hi James, looks like thats 2 they've sold then (-: Good to here from another owner. Yes, can't wait to get it, test car went like billyo. Last car I had that went that fast was an Evo 8 and that did 12 to the gallon around town. 12 days to go, have you got the sport, f sport?

01taj239 · March 18, 2016

8 hours ago, andywin said:

Hi James, looks like thats 2 they've sold then (-: Good to here from another owner. Yes, can't wait to get it, test car went like billyo. Last car I had that went that fast was an Evo 8 and that did 12 to the gallon around town. 12 days to go, have you got the sport, f sport?

It will certainly get better than 12 haha. I have got the F-sport.

Which trim have you gone for?

I second the disappointment with the XE, having loved my XJ I thought I would move to the XE, but the interior is dull the rear of the car looks like an Audi and the only version that had proper exhaust finishers was the S version, all other trims look unfinished to the point where new owners are fitting Skoda Yeti exhaust tips!

In addition the standard sound system was poor ,there seem to too many teething troubles with the initial cars and spec for spec it was 3500 more expensive than the equivalent IS with poorer finance deals .

andywin · March 18, 2016

I went for the sport, liked the black wheels and trim, bonus that its a bit cheaper. Went for Sonic white, your blue one looks nice for sure but wasnt keen on a colour.

I'm with you on the deals bit, it took a day of haggling but got the £2500 contribution and a further big discount, plus £1800 over book for my part exchange. Pretty painless dealing with our Lexus showroom and the lad that was dealing with me clearly liked the car which helps.

Our Jag dealer came out with the classic "no idea" when asked about the XE gearbox, nothing more annoying, it's not like there's a lot to learn about with half a dozen models in the showroom. I'll be honest, didn't even bother driving the XE, didn't like the design and build quality.

stevet · March 18, 2016

2 hours ago, andywin said:

I went for the sport, liked the black wheels and trim, bonus that its a bit cheaper. Went for Sonic white, your blue one looks nice for sure but wasnt keen on a colour.

I'm with you on the deals bit, it took a day of haggling but got the £2500 contribution and a further big discount, plus £1800 over book for my part exchange. Pretty painless dealing with our Lexus showroom and the lad that was dealing with me clearly liked the car which helps.

Our Jag dealer came out with the classic "no idea" when asked about the XE gearbox, nothing more annoying, it's not like there's a lot to learn about with half a dozen models in the showroom. I'll be honest, didn't even bother driving the XE, didn't like the design and build quality.

I like the look of the sport ones too.

How much did you pay in the end? I've been looking at ex demo ones at £24k but then noticed Lexus Glasgow selling brand new for £24995

rayaans · March 18, 2016

1 hour ago, stevet said:

I like the look of the sport ones too.

How much did you pay in the end? I've been looking at ex demo ones at £24k but then noticed Lexus Glasgow selling brand new for £24995

Broadspeed are using Lexus Glasgow at the moment too.

andywin · March 18, 2016

Hi Steve, its a bit more complicated as I had a trade in and did a PCP but equivalent to about £4000 discounts including £2500 dealer and lexus contribution. I used "carwow" as bargaining tool. If you google it put a query in loads of local dealers will come back via email with best offers. Hope this helps

DanD · March 18, 2016

Do you reckon there are higher discounts on the 200T than on the 300h? - If so, I wonder if these discounts offset the increase in running costs (tax, petrol and insurance)

stevet · March 18, 2016

43 minutes ago, DanD said:

Do you reckon there are higher discounts on the 200T than on the 300h? - If so, I wonder if these discounts offset the increase in running costs (tax, petrol and insurance)

No, there are higher discounts on the 300h but its more expensive to start with. The 300h benefits are probably more on company car tax.

rayaans · March 18, 2016

Car wow sucks. They don't show any discount on the new RX when Broadspeed can get £2700 off

Deadloak · March 19, 2016

Car wow are good, if the car has been out for more that 2 years. Or it is not a good seller. I was looking at the NX last August, and no discounts were available, but the IS was 4k-5k.

David.

andywin · March 19, 2016

Yes, best offer I got was £4300 discount so for the sake of 2 minutes of your time carwow is a good tool, hybrid usually don't make any sense whatsoever financially except for company car drivers in terms of the bik, however the IS hybrid is only a grand dearer than the 200t so cost of ownership probably plays out well.