Farewell for IS250

[Linas.P]

I was looking to get my IS250 to 200k miles, but as it happened I got a new car just 8k miles short. It was amazing car and I am rather sad changing it... 

It was time thought, in summer old guy bumped into me (his fault) and insurance decided to write-off the car. Considering, mileage and age it would have been stupid to fight the offer and I ended-up taking it and keeping the car as well. However, knowing the car is Cat-N I was not willing to spend and keep-it in perfect shape, like before the accident. Eventually, I came to terms it has to go!

Recently, picked-up fully loaded RC200t ... yes the same one with trash can engine - I stand by my comments... please hold the slack (I can almost hear @doog442 laughing in far dark corner)! it was just too good deal to miss... so I didn't.  Still furious that Lexus screw everyone up in UK and never introduced 350...😫

Anyway, my IS journey was well documented and I wanted to share some interesting statistics about the car:

Summary of all faults:

• 49k Wheels replaced by Lexus under warranty due to excessive corrosion cost £0
• 122k I suspect the Battery was replaced to halfrauds one - cost unknown
• 149k AC compressor reconditioned £310 (OEM parts dealer work would have been ~£900)
• 152k replaced the Battery £72 (Bosch S4)
• 177k Front anti-roll bar links replaced - to be honest total waste of money because there was only tine hole in the rubber ball-joint cover, but it was MOT fail @162k £100 (dealer part labor would be £160)
• 177k Lower ball joints replaced - again same reason, hole in ball-joint cover... could have lasted another 100k, I didn't want to fail another MOT, only needed one but replaced both sides £160 (I think OEM would have been ~£300)
• 182k Steering inner/outer track-rod £40+£16 (OEM), nothing wrong with them, but needed wheel alignment and bolts were just rusted together due to excessive heating in the past.
• 182k AC pressure sensor - £14 (apparently OEM).

That is all for 13 years and 192k miles!! works out~ £702 for faults or just £54/year or £36/10k miles. In the same time car has 15 Lexus service stamps (not quite FLSH...) with £6315 spent in total - average of £415 per service in some cases including overpriced tyres, discs, pads and 2 sets of calipers.... that is not bad for luxury car and dealership service. This must be cheapest luxury car to own in terms of maintenance.

Some other statistics:

• I have covered ~71k miles in 5.5 years and I reckon about 65% of miles were done in city.
• Burnt ~11244.7L of petrol for total of £12,256 which equates @ average price of ~£1.09/L or ~2228/year
• MPG (always did brim-to-brim calculation) stands at AVG-28.3, MAX-48.9, MIN-19.0 (it was getting lower towards the end due to suspected "lazy" o2 sensor/MAF or airflow meter, but for first 4 years stood around 29.2MPG)
• Oil has been replaced in total 13 times and I reckon it has burnt ~4.5L or 5W30 oil (or ~0.64L/10k miles), except once when I used 0W40 and it did not burn any between services.
• Changed front discs twice, 4 pairs of front pads, 4pairs of rear pads and never replaced read discs.
• Refurbished all calipers once
• Replaced the halfrauds Battery to Bosch 
• Changed 3 sets of tyres - car came with Dunlop SP Sportmaxx, then changed to set of Dunlop Sportmaxx RT which lasted me 37k miles (highly recommended) and finally the set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's which were still in good shape last time I have checked (~6.5mm) after 23k miles.

In summary, it still felt more powerful, more nimble and more enjoyable to drive compared to new 300h or 200t Lexus cars, the only downside - it was getting old...

[F.A.]

Nice review. I will always have a soft spot for the IS250. I agree that its a shame that Lexus never brought the 3.5l v6 engine to this country, but I guess it was an emissions issue when compared to its turbo charged  German peers. 

How are you finding the RC200t? 

[Linas.P]

Basically, boring and confused... it is like sports car dialled for economic driving, but not good for anything in the end. I have argued to hell and back about it and to be honest I cannot pretend to be surprised - I knew exactly where I am going and just hoped I will be able to live with it.

I have dropped more detailed opinion on my new purchase in RC section:

 

[MartinH]

On 1/27/2020 at 9:24 PM, Linas.P said:

Anyway, my IS journey was well documented and I wanted to share some interesting statistics about the car:

 

An interesting document. What is your opinion on replacing Gen 2 IS250 with Gen 3 IS250? These are starting to appear for sale at sensible prices for low-milers and interest me more than 300H and 200T.

[Linas.P]

mk3 has exactly same engine and gearbox as mk2, if you want the same but never then I guess it is good choice. However, my opinion was always that 4GR-FSE was a good engine for 2005, but not so good in 2013 and even less appealing in 2020. Further, if one can have the car which is fundamentally based around same engine why pay say £12000, when you can have same experience for £3000?!

What, I would ask myself in this case - does the looks and slightly "more modern" infotainment is worth 4 times the price. I think I have been in you your place for at least 3 years and could not justify spending 4 times the price for something I did not consider "worthy upgrade". Bare in mind as well that mk3 is heavier and, at least in my opinion, does not feel built as solid as mk2.

I personally always wanted coupe, so that is how end-up with RC, but if 2 doors is not something you need, then perhaps GS450h would be my choice.

[MartinH]

That's helped clarify my ideas, thank you LP! I do like my IS250 in its extraordinary green-gold colour. Even the the Lexus Edgware Road rep remarked "It's quite a nice car" and they've seen 'em all. Though ofc they would say that, wouldn't they? All part of the customer experience.

[Fishboy]

Linas, how sad to see you finish ownership association with the iS250, your posts have been most informative. In you absence I shall try and meet the 200000 mile challenge with mine, only another 63,267 to go. 

[Linas.P]

well... I haven't moved to the darkside yet (ze germans), so I will stick around the forum anyway.

[Fishboy]

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

well... I haven't moved to the darkside yet (ze germans), so I will stick around the forum anyway.

Don't do it unless you enjoy drinking main dealer coffee, most people I know with Audi & BMW are regular visitors and that's not just for routine servicing.

[Linas.P]

You right with the Lexus there is strange feeling, where you never bothered about car breaking down (I guess unless you own 220d) and there are only few other makes to provide that... perhaps only Honda and Toyota matches that. 

In the other hand I am really struggling with Lexus line-up for a while now - it just doesn't make sense and becomes compromise cluster****s... sort of pushes you to spend more than you want, or drive something far slower than you want without any middle ground. That is how I ended up with RC200t - 300h was definitely not the car for me, just too slow, RC-F was sort of expensive, not only to buy, but as well to maintain ... and there are nothing in between. I hoped that RC200t will be slightly better than 300h, but realistically it isn't. If there is anything where it is closer to RC-F compared to 300h... that is fuel consumtion. Yes it is slightly faster, but only in the straight line and after figuring out which gear it likes. 

This is where ze Germans comes, they will have the car exactly how you like down to 0.1s to 60, 0.1l of displacement... and that is tempting. I am sure I would be happier man now if I would have gone for something like BMW 435i, 640i or 650i.... or at least I think so without having breakdown with my Lexus for so long.

One other thing Lexus does well is "options" - with germans you will never find used car equipped "right", because they have million options. With Lexus is fairly easy - all cars have decent standard equipment and then maybe 3-4 options, therefore it is not hard to find car with all 4, if that is what you looking for.

[nolizma]

Hey Linas, sad you had to end the ownership like this but congratulations on the RC! Very interesting breakdown of the costs of ownership for the is250 thanks for sharing.
Out of interest do you still have the is? I still didn't get new wheels for mine so let me know if you want to sell them. Could swap too.

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