More Advice needed 2007 is 250 auto

[Balthane]

Hello again all and thank for advice concerning the above. I went to see it yesterday and what quite impressed.

What troubles me now is that I have heard horror stories of tyres costing £500 and spark plug changes at £600. Being a poor man cursed by a love of nice things and ignorance of cars in general, I was wondering if these figures are true and if there are any other horrendous expenses that the prospective purchaser should be aware of?

As usual all comment and thoughts will gratefully received

 

[johnatg]

Tyres depend on wheel size - 18" ones are more expensive than 17". I bought 4 tyres (Avon ZV7) for £300 for my 17" wheels.

Spark plugs cost about £80 a set, but there's a fair bit of labour needed to fit them - probably a couple of hours for a competent mechanic. Only needed at 60 K mile intervals and even then if fuel consumption and starting are OK they should/may last to 100K miles no bother. (they do in California - why should it be any different here?)

Anything non-service scheduled can be horrendously expensive but there are usually ways to avoid huge expense. Be aware that brakes can seize their caliper slide pins and dealers always want to (unnecessarily) fit new calipers. And exhausts are seriously steep money.

Check these items and use as negotiating tools if any of these are needed soon.

[is200 Newbie]

1 hour ago, Balthane said:

Hello again all and thank for advice concerning the above. I went to see it yesterday and what quite impressed.

What troubles me now is that I have heard horror stories of tyres costing £500 and spark plug changes at £600. Being a poor man cursed by a love of nice things and ignorance of cars in general, I was wondering if these figures are true and if there are any other horrendous expenses that the prospective purchaser should be aware of?

As usual all comment and thoughts will gratefully received

 

As with John above - Tyres are what you are willing to pay - Tyres for my wife's Tigra cost more than mine !! Mine are the standard 17" wheels so I would not stress on the cost of tyres as they are comparable with any run of the mill car. There's no real issue in tyre wear if the wheels are all balanced / aligned so its just a wear and tear issue and that will be down to how you drive the car.

As for the spark plugs, yes the change is at 60k miles (as per Lexus recommendations) but you will get up to 100k from them, loads of owners will run the plugs to that mileage, change them and note that the used plugs still have loads of life in them....but, if the car has not had the latest recall (fuel seal) then there's a work around where you can book the car in for the recall and have the plugs done at the same time as most of the parts will come off to do the recall work that need to come off to do the plugs - no brainer. I believe the work will cost around £120 (check the figure) for the extra work and the parts costed separate. When you consider that cost and the longevity of the plug life then its actually on a level playing field with other vehicles as the other vehicles will be changed twice (if not more) during the lifetime of the ones fitted in the Lexus.  

Post a link to the car you are looking at and members here may guide you through any issues spotted with it ....

 

[Balthane]

Thanks very much to all. Posting a link is beyond my meagre wit but the car can be viewed on the website of Swift Motors, Douglas, Isle of Man

[is200 Newbie]

3 minutes ago, Balthane said:

Thanks very much to all. Posting a link is beyond my meagre wit but the car can be viewed on the website of Swift Motors, Douglas, Isle of Man

Looks clean and tidy

Personally I think its too dear at nearly 6k - its not the SE-L model so does not have (in my opinion) the added "extras" that make the car worth purchasing at that price. there are a lot more out there being the SE-L model, cheaper, and have the top spec toys for the car that make it more desirable.

Also, and its only my opinion, looking at the low mileage cars shows that these, being a 2.5L engine car have not been run as expected - at nearly 10 years old, you would expect to see it at around 80 - 90k miles having had decent runs on motorways etc. This high mileage its just run in.... a low miler would have been used as a run about, but saying that, I only do 6k a year but purchased mine at just under 70k.

Expect the same things to go wrong with it as a high miler as its the age that make the difference for the likes of exhaust / brake calipers / fluids, maybe not as much but expect them. Also, get the registration number then look through the MOT history of the car on the web and that will give you a very good indication of how well its been looked after.

Personally, for me, its too expensive.

[Balthane]

Thank you Newbie. I live on the Isle of Man which is about 38 miles long by about 11 miles wide so low mileage is a common feature. I only do 3 1/2 -4 k pa. No motorways and everything is expensive compared to the other side of the Irish Sea.

 

[lex28]

You won't go wrong with a good example is250. As long as it has been maintained at the intervals and service annually with a clean history you will be fine. 

Personally from owning my is250 auto I've never had any major issues like gearbox or engine problems...only things I've had done is the water pump as mine is at 83k on a 11 year old is250. 

There can be iterating noises from brake pads, callipers, etc but as long as you take some interest in greasing things up when needed you will have a great time with the car. 

Wish you well

[Vintagesixtysix]

I personally don't see any issue for low mileage on the auto petrol ( short journeys don't seem to compliment the diesel or manuals for different reasons)

I picked mine up with similar mileage and age.

So service history needs to be strong and complete ...... Lexus are normally very helpful if you have a genuine enquiry on the history of a used vehicle they can see for sale on the net.

They can check for recall info at the same time.

Having work on the island in the past I understand the price difference but some of that is just convenience.....other examples on the mainland but have to factor travel costs to get them back over etc.

Good luck.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC