Advice on buying an IS250 please

[Razor61]

I live 25 miles away from work so it’s ‘local’ to work and you tend to only notice other cars the same as you have. I definitely won’t be buying it because it’s close by, if it is a good one then it’s a bonus. I’ve had my fair share of travelling to view cars only to find they are not as described but that’s part of the process. A few months ago I travelled 250 miles in driving rain, stayed over night, looked at a good 2003 IS200 the next morning, bought it and travelled 250 miles back home in driving rain. Not having to do that again would be a welcome change😀

[Linas.P]

I would not look into SE or SE-i, Sport etc. Reason being - in Lexus you have to get all options straight away, it is not easy to modify, it is often not possible to retrofit or not economically viable. Meaning that if you want to have certain options the safest big is to go for SE-L, second best is F-Sport.

It is up-to you whenever you think there is anything you need or don't need and maybe SE has all the options you care about. However, considering SE-Ls sells with very little premium from other trims I would just go for SE-L. I would even take little bit worn down SE-L over better conditions SE... you can still change brake disks, pads, refurbish wheels, change tyres or polish paintwork... but you can't retrofit HID for reasonable price.

Again, maybe there is nothing particular which you would miss in SE, but just wanted to warn you that there are quite a few subtle differences between the trims then you may thing and they could be real pain to retrofit. 

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Razor. I'm surprised any Lexus dealer told you the cars history when you stated you are looking to buy it. When I phoned Lexus about the car I now have they said point blank they don't give info to a prospective buyer. I left it a couple of days and tried again stating that I now had the car. All my questions were answered. If you go on the Lexus website to register your car part of the registration is to prove the car is yours. There's a number on the logbook which is needed. Once registered all the servicing and repairs when done at Lexus is there to see. 

I've travelled far and wide to get the cars I've had. I've known within seconds if I'm having it. I've walked away a few times after letting my thoughts be known.

Good luck in your hunt.

 

[Razor61]

Thanks for the info and advice. I looked at the car this afternoon and it is a very good example so I made my offer and gave my reasons why, it wasn’t accepted so increased it to the highest I was prepared to pay which I think was very fair and that offer was declined. So on with the search.

regarding SE-L v this SE, I originally wanted an SE-L with everything including memory seats and ruled out an SE but this particular SE has most of what I want. Compared to what most of the SE-L’s have, it doesn’t have memory seats, parking sensors (but does have reversing camera), auto dimming rear view mirror and door mirrors, rear blind (not bothered), hid headlights and washers. I think that’s it unless someone can correct me. The important things I wanted were the multimedia stuff, mark levinson, light leather interior, automatic, well maintained with good MOT and dealer history which it has. If we could have reached an agreement I would have been very happy with the car but it was not to be.

Regarding contacting Lexus UK about the history of the car I didn’t get detailed service history, just where it was purchased from, where it was serviced and what years. For detailed service history I would need to contact the Lexus dealer direct via email which I did for another car but haven’t had a reply yet.

[Texas]

Now ‘No longer Available’...!

[Razor61]

1 hour ago, Texas said:

Now ‘No longer Available’...!

The listing ended this afternoon, it’s the third time it’s been listed. Started at £4199 I think then reduced down to £3999 in the last listing.

[Linas.P]

18 hours ago, Razor61 said:

regarding SE-L v this SE, I originally wanted an SE-L with everything including memory seats and ruled out an SE but this particular SE has most of what I want. Compared to what most of the SE-L’s have, it doesn’t have memory seats, parking sensors (but does have reversing camera), auto dimming rear view mirror and door mirrors, rear blind (not bothered), hid headlights and washers. I think that’s it unless someone can correct me. The important things I wanted were the multimedia stuff, mark levinson, light leather interior, automatic, well maintained with good MOT and dealer history which it has. If we could have reached an agreement I would have been very happy with the car but it was not to be.

If that is what satisfies you, then a way to go. Although, standard projector lights are quite weak and are you sure you OK without auto-dimming mirrors? seems minor thing, but could be very annoying.

ML on IS mk2 is little bit pointless. Standard system is already 13-speakers and ML adds 1-speaker in the centre console (the speaker layout is slightly different). Yes ML amp is better, but equally it is known to go wrong more often - all in all minor difference. People realised that and not many cars with ML were sold, as result Lexus realised they gave mk2 too good standard system and in mk3 they put standard system so bad that upgrade is necessary. 

There are minor benefits of ML e.g. if I am not mistaken it should accept DVDs, but is that really relevant anymore?

The only benefit I see is that SE doesn't have headlight washers - they are just so annoying! 😄

[Razor61]

Thanks Linas, I would have been happy with it I’m sure but the search is over and I’ve bought a silver 2010 IS250 SE-I from Lexus. Quite a bit more money but 3 years Warranty, facelift model, full 12 months MOT, good history, full service done before I get it, scratches etc sorted, front alloys refurbished, 2 year service plan. No ML, auto dimming mirrors, memory seats though. I’d had enough of trawling through eBay, auto trader and other sites so looked on the Lexus website and sorted one out today. Job done and should be 3 years peace of mind and I’ll enjoy the car.

I had the choice of 3 x IS250’s, light metallic blue 2010 SE-L 40k miles but the most expensive, 2008 SE-L in black with perfect service history and 40k miles which was £2,200 cheaper, and the one I bought with double the mileage and overall was the cheapest but the cost and mileage weren’t the main factors. There was something about the black one I didn’t like, it just didn’t do it for me and maybe it was the vane style alloys but the one I bought did. The most expensive one was the best of the 3 and ticked all the boxes but it ended up at £10,500 with the extended warranty and service plan as the dealer didn’t have any profit in the car to play with so that was a step too far.

I would like an auto dimming rear view mirror and door mirrors so I’ll investigate whether they can be retro fitted, if they can then great and if not then it’s not the end of the world😀

Thanks for everyone’s input and advice.

[Mr Vlad]

Nice one Razor. Which dealer did you buy it from? You'll have to post some pics. No ML eh but from what others on here have stated its no bad thing but personally I'd love to compare side by side. Maybe we could meet up and compare. 

[Razor61]

22 minutes ago, Mr Vlad said:

Nice one Razor. Which dealer did you buy it from? You'll have to post some pics. No ML eh but from what others on here have stated its no bad thing but personally I'd love to compare side by side. Maybe we could meet up and compare. 

Cheers, I will post some pics and it would be good to meet up.  it was Wolverhampton, the only dealer that had any in stock and they had 4 of them. They had one at £4995 but no pictures, when I inquired it had been sold so left with 3. If you look on the website it will probably be obvious which one I bought😉

[Razor61]

Couple of pics of the new car, hadn’t been washed at the time.

 

 

[Linas.P]

On 11/26/2020 at 6:20 PM, Razor61 said:

Job done and should be 3 years peace of mind and I’ll enjoy the car.

That is wishful thinking - now you would not be able to get rid of it and won't ever going to find the reason to change it.

One issue with the car I forgotten to mention - IS250 is just such a good car, requires so little maintenance and offers so much convenience that it always seems like there is nothing which could replace it, even for 3 times as much. It took me 6 years, over 70k miles and I could not justify upgrading it until it got written-off.

So my prediction is that you will be stuck in it for far longer than just 3 years! Sadly, no way out now mate 😁

[Razor61]

12 hours ago, Linas.P said:

So my prediction is that you will be stuck in it for far longer than just 3 years! Sadly, no way out now mate 😁

🤣you are probably right on that. I had looked a one IS250 but didn't drive it because the seller wouldn't budge on price and I didn't want to waste his time test driving it. I bought this one without seeing it in the flesh or driving it but it was from a main dealer and I was sent a 'personalized' video of the car. First time I have ever bought a car without looking and driving, I did drive an IS250 when they first came out, it was a courtesy car when my company IS200 was in for a service, but that was 15 or so years ago. 'Click and Collect' or rather 'Click and Deliver' a car from 100 miles away..............how times have changed! The whole process of enquiring, agreeing on a price/deal, getting alloy wheels and bodywork tidied up, full service and then delivered to my door was very straightforward and painless (apart from parting with the cash😁). Lexus Wolverhampton were great and sorted everything out so I couldn't be more pleased, I was getting tired of trawling through Autotrader and eBay.

Going from an LS400 which is so quiet and smooth I was a bit sceptical that the IS250 would come near it but I'm glad to say that the IS250 is very very close in terms of being smooth and quiet. I've only done about 100 miles but so far I'm very impressed. The auto 6 speed gearbox is excellent, car is very quiet, very smooth and comfortable. You can feel rough road surfaces but that's down to the 18 inch wheels and the rear tyres are not exactly brand new. The hifi is excellent as well even though it's not a ML system. It doesn't have the extra stuff that a SE-L has but I'm not that bothered really. Preference was to have it all but the choice between a SE-L with the bits from a dealer or private and a SE-I with most of the bits, Lexus approved with 3 x years extended warranty was easy to make. One thing I have noticed is that the wing mirrors are huge, good for visibility etc but they wouldn't look out of place on an HGV. That isn't a criticism by the way, it's just an observation.  

[Mr Vlad]

Love those wheels Razor. Someone on here has the same who recently posted. I've found the mirrors on any of the Lexus cars I've owned were are the best of any car I've owned. Enjoy your new steed m8 👍