Advice on buying an IS250 please

[Razor61]

I'm looking for a good IS250 SE-L or maybe an F-Sport and would like some advice if possible please on the few IS250's I've found for sale which meet my criteria. I have searched this forum and others to find out the main things to look for and from what I've read the main things (apart from the general stuff for any car like 'does everything work') are: seized callipers, crust around coolant expansion tank, water pump?, exhaust corrosion. I recently purchased an IS200 as a second car/car for the Mrs (I did a topic on this) and at the time I had a 1996 Mk3 LS400 which I spent a lot of time and a fair bit of money to get it in the best condition and working as it should. Unfortunately a few weeks a go I had an accident in the LS400 and it's been written off, I'm not going to buy another LS400 because I don't want to go through all the work, time, effort and money again getting another one to the same standard. Been there, done it, got the T shirt and everything else that goes with it.

I do want another Lexus though and have decided on a good IS250 auto with all the options and features possible is probably the best option for me. I spent a year working on the LS400 so I now want something that I can run, enjoy driving, is fairly quick, comfortable and carry out normal maintenance. I did consider a GS430 but I don't want another big car because the Mrs will not drive it so it's an IS250 plus the IS250 uses a timing chain rather than a timing belt which is one less thing to be concerned about.

So after all that, below are the cars I have found and I'd be interested in what people think and would also be grateful for any advice as I'm not familiar with the Mk2/Phase 2 Lexus IS.

Links to the cars I've shortlisted:

Lexus IS250 F Sport 20th anniversary https://ebay.us/sCQ0cS

This is very close to where I live but doesn't have SatNav - 2007 Lexus IS 0.0 250 SE-L 4d 204 BHP Auto Saloon Petrol Automatic https://ebay.us/9Hk1C5

LEXUS IS 250 SE-L VVTI AUTO SALOON VERY LOW MILEAGE FULL SERVICE HISTORY https://ebay.us/Od2hQi

Lexus IS 250 2007 (57 reg) 2.5 SE-L 4dr https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011146106800?sort=mileage&advertising-location=at_cars&price-from=6000&include-delivery-option=on&transmission=Automatic&seller-type=trade&model=IS 250&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&radius=1500&make=LEXUS&postcode=bb33jn&year-to=2010&price-to=8000&year-from=2007&page=1

 

 

[Brechin Slate]

Hi Razor

Mine is a 56 plate, January 2007 SE L. No satnav or reversing camera, no ML audio but just about every other extra including rear window blind, hated wiper blade screen zone etc. Mine has 162,000 miles on the clock, runs like a dream, is ultra reliable but only has a private sale value of GBP 2k.  I'm in a similar position to you but looking for an RX 450h.  Hope this helps.

[Razor61]

1 minute ago, Brechin Slate said:

Hi Razor

Mine is a 56 plate, January 2007 SE L. No satnav or reversing camera, no ML audio but just about every other extra including rear window blind, hated wiper blade screen zone etc. Mine has 162,000 miles on the clock, runs like a dream, is ultra reliable but only has a private sale value of GBP 2k.  I'm in a similar position to you but looking for an RX 450h.  Hope this helps.

👍

[Texas]

That 250 SE-L ( the 40k mile one) looks sweet, it has everything on it apart from ACC! The 17k miles ( £8k !!! ) one has Not got the Infotainment system which had been cleverly missed in all the pics!

re the 40,000 miler,
The grey leather interior would be my only drawback as although it looks good when clean it can show the dirt real quick!

It is at the top end of the price scale but like I said it got ( almost) everything you want and should last you a good long while without expensive repairs,  just keep a check on lubing the brake callipers regularly ( 6-12 months) as this is not on the Lexus service schedule.

Note: if you regularly need to drive with four adults in the car then be aware that rear legroom is not massive on the 250 compared to other Lexi ( is that a word!)

best of luck and hope you enjoy a 250😃
Note: there has been some discussion on this site about South West Lexus as a Dealer so please do a search and read up!

[Sundance]

I'm new to Lexus. Was recommended by a mate in the trade to bid for mine at auction. It's auto but no satnav, sunroof or Mark Levinson but otherwise a generous spec with just 29k on the clock. I've had it serviced to find nothing wrong at all (bar one cracked tyre) so it's clearly been used sparingly and well looked after, probably garaged.

Purchased for £4.5k plus auction fee but of course 'caveat emptor' big time. Fortunately I think my mate found a good 'un for me and am thus far very pleased.

There are a variety of threads on here carrying advice about recurring issues and things to look out for, most of which you're clearly already aware judging by your opening couple of sentences.

Good hunting.

[Razor61]

All good advice thanks.

[Razor61]

56 minutes ago, Texas said:

That 250 SE-L ( the 40k mile one) looks sweet, it has everything on it apart from ACC! The 17k miles ( £8k !!! ) one has Not got the Infotainment system which had been cleverly missed in all the pics!

re the 40,000 miler,
The grey leather interior would be my only drawback as although it looks good when clean it can show the dirt real quick!

It is at the top end of the price scale but like I said it got ( almost) everything you want and should last you a good long while without expensive repairs,  just keep a check on lubing the brake callipers regularly ( 6-12 months) as this is not on the Lexus service schedule.

Note: if you regularly need to drive with four adults in the car then be aware that rear legroom is not massive on the 250 compared to other Lexi ( is that a word!)

best of luck and hope you enjoy a 250😃
Note: there has been some discussion on this site about South West Lexus as a Dealer so please do a search and read up!

Thanks Texas, I did notice the 17k one didn't have the infotainment which was on my 'must have' list but it's only done 17k......and is very close to where I live.

I didn't know the 40k one doesn't have ACC, how can you tell from the pictures? I prefer the light interior to be honest and most of the time it will be me driving.

My 'favourite' one was the one for sale by South West Lexus, the interior is like new and I really like it but then I saw the F-Sport in Pearl White............yes it's got a black interior, done a lot more miles but I really like the colour and it's a newer model.

So, a bit of thinking to do and I will do a search and read up on South West Lexus😉 Also I know the prices are at the top end, probably because of the mileage, but from what I can gather higher mileage is not an issue. For a higher or high ish mileage example you cut £8k in half or less.

 

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Texas. Either the f sport or the SE-L with the full service history. I've had my SE-L since July. I was lucky. 1 owner from new. Full lexus history. I paid top price for it at 5.5k with 76k miles on it. I bought it whilst the car was in limbo time MOT wise. I booked it in at lexus Stockport and they informed me that the rear shockers were leaking. The dealer ignored my request that he pay for new shox. Anyway I didn't care cos the car is superb. Mark Levinson in mine anyway is the best ML system I've had in my previous 3 lexus cars (2x is300h premier and a few sport RX450h).

Either of the 2 i suggest and you'll love either. 

[Razor61]

4 hours ago, Texas said:

Note: there has been some discussion on this site about South West Lexus as a Dealer so please do a search and read up!

I've searched and I can't find anything (apart from this topic), I may be doing something stupid but I don't think so.

[Linas.P]

I think main issue I see with your listing - you looking for low mileage car. That is generally not a bad thing, but total waste of money if you looking for Lexus IS250. IS250 is just such reliable car that you can really get high mileage example in great shape and for very cheap. That is main advantage and saving in IS250. Going after very low miles examples just limits your choice, costs you more money, depreciates more when you start adding miles even has issues related with not being driven and have very little benefits. I am not suggesting to go with 200k miles cars either, but any normal 10-15k miles per year mileage is fine as long as cars has FSH. Meaning that for 2007 car you looking at ~130k miles (that is normal).

Another note - I understand you want Sat-Nav, I had cars with and without it... and one thing I can tell - IS250 sat-nav is so bad that it is not worth having. Yes it could be sort of "completionist" thing where you want car with every option, but I never used it even when I had it. Probably the only benefit is reverse camera, but even it has terrible resolution. I like F-sport looks, but I really liked SE-L cooled seats and rear window blind (F-sport don't have either).

Let's look to my example - I got 120k miles IS250 in 2014, it was one of the cheapest car on sale at the time which met my requirements - SE-L, Black on Black and it had newer wheels from Advance, so overall good looking car. I think I paid £3995. I went on to drive the car all the way to nearly 200k miles and it never had any serious faults and costed me nothing to maintain. I would still be driving it if not for it being written off as well. The funniest thing it really didn't depreciate much at all insurance valued it at £3750 and I would struggle to find car in similar condition for £4000.

Here is some info from my ownership:

If you really want to spend £7000 on IS250, then at least look at newer models perhaps with little bit more miles, rather thank only model with absolute smallest mileage.

[Razor61]

57 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I think main issue I see with your listing - you looking for low mileage car. That is generally not a bad thing, but total waste of money if you looking for Lexus IS250. IS250 is just such reliable car that you can really get high mileage example in great shape and for very cheap. That is main advantage and saving in IS250. Going after very low miles examples just limits your choice, costs you more money, depreciates more when you start adding miles even has issues related with not being driven and have very little benefits. I am not suggesting to go with 200k miles cars either, but any normal 10-15k miles per year mileage is fine as long as cars has FSH. Meaning that for 2007 car you looking at ~130k miles (that is normal).

Another note - I understand you want Sat-Nav, I had cars with and without it... and one thing I can tell - IS250 sat-nav is so bad that it is not worth having. Yes it could be sort of "completionist" thing where you want car with every option, but I never used it even when I had it. Probably the only benefit is reverse camera, but even it has terrible resolution. I like F-sport looks, but I really liked SE-L cooled seats and rear window blind (F-sport don't have either).

Let's look to my example - I got 120k miles IS250 in 2014, it was one of the cheapest car on sale at the time which met my requirements - SE-L, Black on Black and it had newer wheels from Advance, so overall good looking car. I think I paid £3995. I went on to drive the car all the way to nearly 200k miles and it never had any serious faults and costed me nothing to maintain. I would still be driving it if not for it being written off as well. The funniest thing it really didn't depreciate much at all insurance valued it at £3750 and I would struggle to find car in similar condition for £4000.

Here is some info from my ownership:

If you really want to spend £7000 on IS250, then at least look at newer models perhaps with little bit more miles, rather thank only model with absolute smallest mileage.

Thanks Linas, very good information and very objective. What you have said is what I normally do when buying a car. The reason I initially looked at the low mileage IS250 examples is because I didn’t have much knowledge about the IS250 and how it stands up to the mileage. Now that I know it’s not really an issue I’ll widen my search to include newer well maintained higher mileage examples.

[Mr Vlad]

I'm sorry to have to disagree with Linas on 2 issues. The satnav is actually quite good so longs as you have the latest CD which if memory serves is 2010 (I'm expecting to be corrected lol). As to the reverse camera it has very good resolution well mine does anyway and is as good as any reverse camera I've had on the cars which have had it on and that includes 2 64 plate is300h premiers and a 62 plate f sport RX450h. Sorry Linas I usually agree with 100% of what you say.

[Texas]

Re the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control ( sometimes known as ACC Adaptive Cruise Control), If equipped then there will be an additional button on the right hand side of the steering wheel mounted controls and the front grill L emblem will be encased in acrylic. See pics 

 

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, Mr Vlad said:

I'm sorry to have to disagree with Linas on 2 issues. The satnav is actually quite good so longs as you have the latest CD which if memory serves is 2010 (I'm expecting to be corrected lol). As to the reverse camera it has very good resolution well mine does anyway and is as good as any reverse camera I've had on the cars which have had it on and that includes 2 64 plate is300h premiers and a 62 plate f sport RX450h. Sorry Linas I usually agree with 100% of what you say.

Probably, I should add more details... but either way we don't need to agree, people have different opinions and you don't need to be sorry to have yours!

I feel the problem is relativity... things are not good or bad by themselves, but in comparison to other things... 

First of all I don't need sat-nav in the car to show me where to go e.g. if I am driving from London to Edinburgh, or Frankfurt I don't need sat-nav... Roads have signs and major roads/major cities will be clearly signposted. The only reason for me to use sat-nav is for real time traffic information (so that I can avoid traffic jams) and for calculating quickest route (again linked to traffic conditions). Lexus sat-nav sucks in both - to the level where it is as useful as paper map. Same goes for sat-nav in my RC... it is useless. Simple google maps on my phone will drive circles around build in sat nav and that is what I use and always used, both in my IS and in my RC.

So "good" is relative... is it as good as smartphone maps.. no, is it as good as other sat-navs in other car from the same era... even then no... there were probably sat-nav which were worse at the time, but not many. Best system back in the day were BMW iDrive and Lexus is far behind that. If you look into it in isolation - then yes Lexus sat-nav is better than no sat-nav at all... but that isn't high bar to meet is it?

Reverse camera is much the same - indeed it may be just the same as 2016 IS300h or 2012 RC450h, but that is because they all have terrible quality cameras. Yes, they are useful in a sense that you can see obstacles, but if we compare to the cars which actually have good quality reverse cameras then Lexus ones are quite bad.. My experience comes from MB rear cameras, they even close when not used so you never have an issue in rain as camera never get's covered in mud. Overall, the best quality camera I have seen was on Nissan Qashqai, just crystal clear in day or night. BMW highlight obstacles in camera view as well, so it not only shows where you reversing, but highlights what you may hit. Again - it would be fair to say it is better than no camera at all, but in comparison it isn't great.

[Razor61]

4 hours ago, Texas said:

Re the Dynamic Radar Cruise Control ( sometimes known as ACC Adaptive Cruise Control), If equipped then there will be an additional button on the right hand side of the steering wheel mounted controls and the front grill L emblem will be encased in acrylic. See pics 

Ah, I see. Thanks and now I know what to look for.👍

[Razor61]

Found a 63,000 miles example, link below, and it’s very close to me. What do you reckon? it looks good to me and MOT history is pretty good as well.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202011045782156?atmobcid=soc4

[true blue]

Hi looks O K as you say , I would check - service history no mention in advert especially as it has passed 60,000 miles which is a `big` Lexus number for service as it includes plugs .check all electrics work properly ,check airbag recall has been carried out and ideally 2 keys as replacements are very expensive . Has a new MOT so in theory no problems there  good luck the test drive will reveal any further problems

Dave

[Razor61]

2 hours ago, true blue said:

Hi looks O K as you say , I would check - service history no mention in advert especially as it has passed 60,000 miles which is a `big` Lexus number for service as it includes plugs .check all electrics work properly ,check airbag recall has been carried out and ideally 2 keys as replacements are very expensive . Has a new MOT so in theory no problems there  good luck the test drive will reveal any further problems

Dave

Thanks Dave it does look ok. Not my ideal colour but it has everything that I want and if I wait for the ideal colour I’ll probably be waiting forever.

I have a list of the normal things to check, service history, check all electrics work, front/rear discs/pads/callipers and if they need doing it’s a bargaining point, 2 x keys, didn’t know about the airbag recall so will ask about it. I’ll give it a full service straight away anyway if I buy it unless it’s all just been done by Lexus and I can verify it. Full service kit from LPD is about £190 including delivery, not worried about doing the service itself at all but the cost of replacing suspension components if worn can soon add up even when doing the work yourself but at 63,000 things should hopefully be reasonably good. Rust I hope shouldn’t be an issue.

If there is anything else generally or specific I need to check then please let me know.

[scudney]

Looks like airbag has been done as it has no outstanding recalls,personally would go for something not as old(its 15 years old)but your choice,there lots out there to choose from 🤔

[true blue]

I think you have covered most things ,the servicing is straight forward ;the only special tool you need is the one to remove the oil filter housing as it is not a cartridge filter ,it is a replaceable paper type element ,this is well covered on the forum

Dave

[Razor61]

Found the car below for sale 15 mins away from work which I'm looking at tomorrow afternoon. I've checked with Lexus UK and they tell me it's been serviced at Lexus Croydon from new until a couple of years ago then Lexus Liverpool twice and the last service is missing from Lexus system but the vendor tells me it has been serviced at an independent garage. Not an SE-L which I wanted but an SE with extras, well maintained, in excellent condition and drives as it should. I'll find out if all that's true tomorrow. It has parking camera but not parking sensors, satnav, Mark Levinson audio, 2 keys, heated/cooling seats. Be interested to see what you think and if you think it has most of the desirable stuff.

Lexus IS 250 SE https://ebay.us/T68iTt

 

[Texas]

All looks ok, MOT history is sweet, only a couple of thousand miles per yer ( just to keep it loose!) and no major advisories. Best of luck with the test drive and I hope it ‘feels’ good enough to buy! As for equipment, then unless you have come from a ‘tooled’ up motor with all the toys then the ( few) items that may be lacking in this compared to the SE-L you won’t miss. Appears to be reasonable price as well.

 

[Mr Vlad]

Yes the car looks well. Wording of the advert is dubious in parts. A private sale i think as he doesn't have any other cars for sale. Double check the service book. When you contacted Lexus UK did you tell them you own the car or you're thinking of buying?

[Razor61]

26 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

When you contacted Lexus UK did you tell them you own the car or you're thinking of buying?

I said it was a car I’m looking at purchasing, they can’t give details of what’s been done but they will transfer you to the relevant dealer to obtain the detail. The car is in an area very close to work which I drive through every day to and from work, I have been looking at cars hours away so if the car is as described it’s a bonus not having to travel miles to see and buy.

[Texas]

If the ( current) owner has only had it a very short time or not in their name even then dig deeper! Surprising that you have not seen it around then if it’s local!

As for travelling, then to get a ‘good un’ it is worth it, so if it don’t all add up right then no matter how close it is then move along.