Help buying an IS250 - advice needed

Deathstar · May 1, 2016

Despite what my profile information may say I do not own a Lexus… yet – I’m on the lookout though.

Today I visited a Lexus dealership in Cardiff. Quite an unusual experience for me as I never really look at main dealers, instead prefer to use an independent that my family have used for a few years, however they cannot get their hands on a Lexus for me at the present time.

I am looking to purchase a IS250 but have a few questions

· I would love to have something which is 2010 or newer; is there any benefit in looking for a newer/older car?
· What is the difference between all the specs? With all of the other cars I have looked at it’s fairly obvious but with Lexus this seems less so.
· What are they like on fuel?
· Is servicing expensive?
· I did ask about the timing belts/chains and he said that they would not need to be changed on this until 100k miles. Are there any big service items needed?
· Is it worth taking the extra warranty?

I took out an F sport for a drive as this was the only IS they had there. The car itself was nice enough but didn’t have leather. The dealer let me take it on a fast road for me to ‘put my food down’. I have to say coming from a Volvo S40 D5 diesel the Lexus did feel a bit gutless but I’m not sure if I was used to the turbo of the Volvo whooshing me along. We did have a quick chat about the CT200 but the sales guy did say that it would be a bit tiresome in comparison to the IS (in terms of power).

When he checked the computer to see what other options were around he did come up with an IS250, 2011 on a 61 plate. Its the Advance spec with 47,000 miles on it for £12750. Does this seem high?

Thanks in advance!

200h · May 1, 2016

the trim level S is the basic trim level with luxury & advance being mid range and premier being the top dog.

i had a courtesy IS250 a while ago and i managed 27mpg but that was taking it carefully.

servicing costs well that all depends on what you call expensive and what volvo charged

here is a link for your http://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/servicing-and-maintenance/#ServicingYourLexus

extended warranty link for you

http://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty-and-insurance/#LexusCareExtendedWarranty

it is a 2 year warranty and it includes 2 year AA european breakdown cover ,put your other half

on the policy and they will also be covered in their car or someone elses car

steveledzep · May 1, 2016

Hi Dylan and welcome to the site.

My first ownership of Lexus was 18 months ago with an IS250 SE-L saloon and in November last year I bought an IS250C SE-L convertible. Best cars I've ever owned.

I bought both of them from independent motor dealers, the first from Mansfield and the current car from Southport.

The 60,000 service is particularly expensive as it includes changing the spark plugs.

I have the extended warranty on mine, £795 for 2 years. I've already claimed for a new headlamp unit that developed water ingress, that was close on £ 600 for the unit alone, so I consider I've had good value already. I believe the warranty prices have gone up recently though.

I'm averaging just over 27mpg, but that is with 5 mile trips to and from work five times a week. A trip to Guildford to visit my daughter returns 38mpg on cruise set at 75mph (ish).

Mark (200h) seems to have covered most things for you.

I'm very close to you at Llandeilo, PM me if you'd like more info.

Deathstar · May 1, 2016

Thanks for the replies both! One thing that is worrying me about these are the bills that it can throw up. Previous to this i had a 54 plate VW Passat with everything on it, nav, leather, heated seats etc... and it just didn't go wrong. I changed it as i wanted to try an auto for a change and guess this is where i am. You say the 60,000 is an expensive service is there any reason apart from spark plugs? Does this get done at 60,000 or in a certain number of years?

steveledzep · May 1, 2016

Spark plugs are the major contributor to the expense of the 60,000 service, they're a bugger to get at !

My car is 6 years old but only done 36,000 and hasn't had the spark plugs done. My feeling is that spark plugs deteriorate with use, not age ? I believe the US state spark plug change at 100,000.

Lexus have a reputation for not going wrong.

Deathstar · May 1, 2016

So if its around 6 years and 60,000 miles could one 'push' a dealer into replacing these? As you are out in the sticks like me, do you get Lexus to service your car? As i have only had my Volvo 6 months i have not had to service it (its due in 2 months). My Passat was relatively inexpensive at £150 at a local indy. Is the engine similar to the Honda VTEC system where you have a power band in the rev range?

bobmc · May 1, 2016

The recommendation is that the plugs are changed at 60K or 10 years. The reason that this service is expensive is that they're difficult to get to, parts of the engine need to be dismantled to gain access and this takes time and hence costs more money.

Otherwise, I think servicing costs and consumable parts are generally in line with most of the industry and cheaper than some. At the age/mileage your looking at, the Lexus extended warranty is worth considering - it's now £895 I believe. It doesn't cover the exhaust - which is expensive to replace - so make sure this is in good order before you buy.

Deathstar · May 1, 2016

AHH the exhaust issue - I was reading up on this today - what does it entail exactly? Where/ what am i looking for. I am a complete novice when it comes to cars and parts and typically looking at the far east as i just want something 'that works'.

steveledzep · May 1, 2016

If I was contemplating purchase of a car approaching 60k, I'd insist on the spark plugs being done as part of the deal. Difficult to check though !

I use Lexus Cardiff for my servicing, it's a condition of the Lexus warranty. I only do 8,000 a year so not had this one done there yet, but I purchased my warranty from them and they attended to my headlamp issue.

Can't comment on power band. True to say, the IS250 is not a particularly quick car, but adequate in my view. A lot of fun can be had with the 6 speed auto using the paddles in manual mode. It can shift a bit !!

As Bob says, inspect the exhaust. Mine still has paint on it, I suppose it depends if it's been driven on salt laden roads in the winter.

The Lexus IS "works"

rayaans · May 1, 2016

This is on the wrong section. You should get a better response on the IS250 2nd gen part

However, these things are bulletproof. Id be more worried about that Volvo!

The engine does have to be dismantled for the spark plugs and you need iridium tipped ones which are £10 each anyway so £60 in total.

Lexus also do essential care servicing for cars over 5 years old and it's cheaper than their normal service. Well worth looking into as there's not much omitted.

Warranty is £895 for 2 years but you get 2 years roadside as well which would normally cost £125 a year. Pretty much covers everything apart from wear and tear but you do need to get it serviced by them.

I wouldn't call the IS250 gutless. Diesels and petrol are very different. The Volvo diesel has a lot of low end torque to get the car moving but runs out of puff when you get over 3-3.5k revs. With the IS250 the power band is high and therefore it loves being revved! So yes sort of like "VTEC just kicked in yo!" But in this case VVTI will be more relevant

toffee_pie · May 2, 2016

Not sure why people are making a deal of the spark plug change, they are not very dear to get done, if you use a reputable indy that is.

Other than that the Lexus is250 is probably the most reliable car I ever owned. Tyres can be expensive (assuming you dont use ditch finders).

Deathstar · May 4, 2016

One thing that I have noticed is that cars after 2010 seem to be either f sport or advance models. I would like something with the features of the advance model with the flappy paddles of the f sport. Does this exist or am I looking for something which is non existent. Also, was there an engine change at some point as some are listed as £290 tax whereas others are £265.

Lexie04 · May 4, 2016

About Road Tax costs

2010 cars and older had emissions of 209g/km which made them band K , costing £290 road tax.

2011 cars had lower emissions of 194g/km which made them a band lower, costing £265 road tax.

Don't think the engine was any less powerful.

tHomBleached · May 5, 2016

I had a 250 for 6 years and over 100k miles.

Ditto comments on how bulletproof they are. The only issues I ever had were:

front headlamp washer snapped off one winter. The cold snap in 2011 (I think) made the reservoir under the washers expand and the mechanism remained popped out and it snapped off. Managed to find a replacement easy enough though.

Catalytic failure. This would have been expensive (c3k parts from Toyota) but I found someone stripping a 250 in Lithuania and got the parts for £100

towards the end I had a persistent error code pertaining to torque clutch control. Perfectly drivable, but would judder now and again ever 100 miles or so from gears 2 to 3. I had that error code for 3 years and it never got bad enough to consider repair. I have to stress that this is very very rare.

Apart from that, just tyres. 250s like going through them :)

Deathstar · May 5, 2016

Thanks all for the replies. I'm just trying to work out if I should go for an SE-L 2009 spec or spend more on a newer 2011 advance. I like the look of the f sport but want full leather.

steveledzep · May 5, 2016

As my wife also drives the IS regularly, the most valuable mod-con to us is memory seats. Would really miss them.

tHomBleached · May 5, 2016

You get a lot of toys with the se-l . might not ever find much use for the electric blind though (I only ever used to it show my kids some 'magic'

Deathstar · May 5, 2016

Yes I know what you mean. One of the things that bothers me though is with the electric moving steering column, if this moves every time you turn the car on and off how long is it likely to last. What happens when it dies and how much will it cost to put right. I notice that the later Advance spec cars have a lot less on them which means they either did it for reliability or cost saving.

steveledzep · May 5, 2016

That's why I bought the 2 year Lexus warranty. Believe it's £895 now for 2 years (I paid £795) and that includes Roadside Assistance too. Excellent value as I've already had a £600 claim for water ingress into the headlamp.

http://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/warranty-and-insurance/#LexusCareExtendedWarranty

toffee_pie · May 5, 2016

41 minutes ago, Dylanlewis2000 said:

Yes I know what you mean. One of the things that bothers me though is with the electric moving steering column, if this moves every time you turn the car on and off how long is it likely to last. What happens when it dies and how much will it cost to put right. I notice that the later Advance spec cars have a lot less on them which means they either did it for reliability or cost saving.

i think mainly cost savings, aside from electric moving steering column, the adaptive HIDs were given the boot also.

Its not just Lexus, the CL55 I had (for a few weeks!) had a motorized rear view mirror (memory), later models did not have this i think someone said.

tHomBleached · May 5, 2016

I've never heard of the electric column breaking. That's the kind of thing (quite rightly) id be worried about in other cars, but it shouldn't keep you up at night in the 250

bobmc · May 5, 2016

10 hours ago, Dylanlewis2000 said:

One thing that I have noticed is that cars after 2010 seem to be either f sport or advance models. I would like something with the features of the advance model with the flappy paddles of the f sport. Does this exist or am I looking for something which is non existent.

Perusing AT, it would seem you're right - flappy paddles on the F-Sport models only. They appear to return on the later Premium and Luxury models but they may be over-budget.

normski2 · May 5, 2016

I would not be concerned about the electric movement on the steering column.

The rear blind I find is brilliant. Excellent for rear passengers on one of those sunny days...saves their heads being roasted. Also very useful for night driving as it takes out headlight glare.

Memory seat settings are great. One for me and one for the wife.

The flappy paddles are great fun. Well, I think they are. It's just like having a manual but with no clutch operations. You can have a bit of fun with it! Great for overtaking.

Lexus do the spark plugs at 60,000 mls or 6 yrs, whichever comes first. My 6 year service was at 58,000 and that's when they were done.

From my experiences the facelifted SEL auto variant (mine is MY2010) is a cracking good car. Can't speak of the Advance or F Sport... never driven them.

Deathstar · May 5, 2016

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

Perusing AT, it would seem you're right - flappy paddles on the F-Sport models only. They appear to return on the later Premium and Luxury models but they may be over-budget.

I'm just trying to find a mix between something not too old and something which I can buy a warranty on. I don't want to be stuck in 2 or e years time without any options.

I really do like the newer versions but they are over budget. I was looking to spend around 12 ish maybe a little more.

bobmc · May 5, 2016

The Lexus extended warranty is available on all models up to 10 years old and with less than 140K on the clock. So an 09/10 IS250 SE-L can be covered. I think I've read somewhere that cars bought through independent dealers need a pre-inspection but it doesn't seem to mention that on the website T&C's.