New To Lexus - 220D Sport Seems to have terrible MPG

Jaro · May 20, 2021

2 hours ago, pope111 said:

paid only 1600 for the car it was an obvious red flag.

That’s how much they usually go for?

H3XME · May 20, 2021

51 minutes ago, pope111 said:

Good ones cost much more.

If there is any engine problems, that means the car is basically worthless.

Set of new injectors costs twice what you paid for the car, if hg needs replaceing, even more 😄

First of all. There are no 'good ones'. There's a reason why this was the first and the last diesel they made. They're just unreliable compared to other diesels or the superior petrol versions. And second.. £1600 is a very average going rate of ISD's with 100k+ Miles, but again.. Most come with issues. This is why IS250s generally cost more even if they have more Miles than 220/200D's.

I think he just got unlucky and should demand his money back since the car isn't as advertised because clearly it's not "spot on".

Linas.P · May 21, 2021

Yes... I would not say £1600 on IS220d is red-flag. Because that is fairly normal price for it. However, the issue is more fundamental - sorted IS220d are extremely rare (probably do no exist). The reason is rather simple - most of things which goes wrong on IS220d will cost ~£1000 to fix, HG, Injectors, DPF, Turbo even EGR if done in service... just cleaning will be £500. Which means when car itself only worth £1500 nobody will be spending that sort of money to fix it and keep it in great shape. In short - by now most of IS220d's are uneconomical to repair.

If anyone insists on the diesel, then the only option are newer IS200d... and at £4000 there are still many other cars which are better for that price.

H3XME · May 21, 2021

50 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

If anyone insists on the diesel, then the only option are newer IS200d... and at £4000 there are still many other cars which are better for that price.

If I had a 4k budget and was set on a Lexus, I'd be considering GS450h or similar hybrids. Diesel is not the way to go.

Japs are good at making petrol engines. If I had to buy a diesel, I'd be looking the German way.

I think we can end this thread on one thing.

DO NOT BUY DIESEL LEXUS.

In the long run, IS250 will work out cheaper due to mechanical reliability and MPGs aren't too bad if you try hard enough. I filled up this morning, 99 Momentum from Tesco (as always) and drove 6miles to work. Town & dual carriageways. Got to work with AVG 30.4mpg according to the computer. So being economical is possible, but where's the joy in that? I've got a nice exhaust I want to hear. 😂

Linas.P · May 21, 2021

You will be hard pushed to find GS450h nowadays for £4k, but there are absolutely thousands of different cars which are better buy at £4k than Lexus IS200/220d.

But you right - Lexus diesel is never a good idea and always work out more expensive in long run than petrol IS.

Lageoddvin · May 21, 2021

When i see the prices you're all talking about, it gutting to live in Norway. IS220d's from 2006 - 2008 are mostly about £8000 - £12000 here. There is one available for £4000 now, but that seems fishy looking at the company selling it

Linas.P · May 21, 2021

The prices in Norway are astronomical, but so are the salaries - so no point comparing. Average British salary is like £24000... what is it in Norway? £40k? £60k?

2006-2008 IS220d in UK costs like £1500, because basically they are considered pile of junk by now. Only the later IS200d are £4000. But I do agree that cars in UK are cheaper than elsewhere - that is because when it comes to UK car ownership the car cost itself may be just half of the overall cost. Take for example IS220d... if you say 25 years old, then after paying £1500 for the car, you will have to pay another £1500 for insurance, £250 for road tax and on top of that car maintenance and fuel.

So from £5000 which will cost you to own the car for a single year, only 30% will be the cost of the car itself. Not sure how it is in Norway (I thought tax on diesel cars is high?), but in other countries 90% of the cost is the car itself... you buy the car, the insurance is cheap, no road tax and you only pay as much as it cost to buy the fuel after that.

H3XME · May 21, 2021

38 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Take for example IS220d... if you say 25 years old, then after paying £1500 for the car, you will have to pay another £1500 for insurance, £250 for road tax and on top of that car maintenance and fuel.

The insurance isn't that bad. I'm 25 and pay £500 year for insurance on my IS250.

Jaro · May 21, 2021

Yes, I have to agree on the above points... My reasoning for is220d is that it was really an impulse buy, as I wasn’t very familiar with the brand, and was looking to upgrade and had only 2k budget for something fast, that had all the features is220d has.

An 07 320D costs double than an IS220D and doesn’t have as half of features. From what I have read, the engines are not much reliable either. It does return amazing MPG though

Linas.P · May 21, 2021

3 hours ago, H3XME said:

The insurance isn't that bad. I'm 25 and pay £500 year for insurance on my IS250.

That is because you are in west midlands 🙂 When I was 25 my insurance was like £3800 on IS220d... so I kind of averaged for UK... in the cities very expensive, in the smaller towns not so expensive.

21 minutes ago, Jaro said:

Yes, I have to agree on the above points... My reasoning for is220d is that it was really an impulse buy, as I wasn’t very familiar with the brand, and was looking to upgrade and had only 2k budget for something fast, that had all the features is220d has.

An 07 320D costs double than an IS220D and doesn’t have as half of features. From what I have read, the engines are not much reliable either. It does return amazing MPG though

Yes IS220d could be dangerously appealing for somebody not very familiar with the brand or particular model. On paper they are well equipped and modern looking cars and Lexus has name for reliability.

However, IS220d could be real disaster, I even argued at one point - Lexus should buy them back and crush them. Problem is that every other Lexus model are amazingly reliable, easily in top 3 most reliable brands there are, but in particular IS220d could let down people massively and leave wrong lasting impression about the brand.

IS220d deliver reasonable MPG when they work... sadly most of them don't work by now.

H3XME · May 21, 2021

9 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That is because you are in west midlands 🙂 When I was 25 my insurance was like £3800 on IS220d... so I kind of averaged for UK... in the cities very expensive, in the smaller towns not so expensive.

More specifically I live in Birmingham. Not a great area. Insurance just drops for everyone when they hit 25 and have a clean record.

GT86 cost me £2k to insure at 21.

jumbojake · May 21, 2021

I think you'll find a lot of really negative views for both IS220 and IS200d on here, but you have to take it in context compare to petrol variant... IMO, the diesel still compares more favourable then the German variants... all of my friends have had so many problems with their BMW/Audi/Mercs, cost them thousands.... any luxury car of a certain age will have potential bills.. the IS220 just happens to have slightly higher odds than the petrol (Still lower than German ones!)

The Lexus oil burner might not perform as well, but it's still head and shoulders more reliable.... for me, it's quick enough. I may have bought the IS250 if I did a bit more research at the time, but when I listen to my friends crying over their garage bills after only a few years, along with poor dealer service, I don't regret my choice it at all !

TheHairyBeast · May 26, 2021

Needs a good run, cleanr EGR, do DPF regen and use shell diesel along with diesel fuel system cleaner to put in after each fuel up.

Linas.P · May 26, 2021

On 5/21/2021 at 5:35 PM, jumbojake said:

IMO, the diesel still compares more favourable then the German variants...

Cannot agree with that... Yes BMW and other German cars have quite a few minor issues, but none of them are as terminal as ones of IS220d and there are no single issue which applies to all cars or isn't maintenance related. Whereas on IS220d all the issues are inherent and not related to how well the car is maintained and each means end of life for the car.

Sure - diesel related issues like DPF applies to all diesel cars, not only Lexus, but Lexus IS220d have myriad of specific issues which are not specifically due to it being diesel. So no - it is not just bad compared IS250, it is bad even in comparison with german diesels.

jumbojake · May 26, 2021

MY friend with a Merc C class had his CPU replaced twice, one with an Audi A6 had two fuel pumps, diff and turbo replaced and BMW had an issue with injectors and bores.... none of them were covered under warranty, all cost them thousands each. For IS220d, it seems it had one serious issue, which was covered for most people by Lexus even after the warranty had expire.

Jaro · June 1, 2021

UPDATE, if anyone is still following this - I had some free time on my hands this weekend, so I put the car in first gear, put handbrake down, and jacked the car up - front wheels seem okay with little to no noise and spinning around freely couple of times.

However my rear wheels are completely blocked, can't move them at all. Seems like calipers are seized? Which could be the cause for loss of 10+ mpg.

This also goes with the car pulling to left when driving.

Guess I have never noticed, as my previous car seemed always to pull to left, so I never take my hands off wheel as a habit

H3XME · June 1, 2021

11 minutes ago, Jaro said:

UPDATE, if anyone is still following this - I had some free time on my hands this weekend, so I put the car in first gear, put handbrake down, and jacked the car up - front wheels seem okay with little to no noise and spinning around freely couple of times.

However my rear wheels are completely blocked, can't move them at all. Seems like calipers are seized? Which could be the cause for loss of 10+ mpg.

This also goes with the car pulling to left when driving.

Guess I have never noticed, as my previous car seemed always to pull to left, so I never take my hands off wheel as a habit

There you go then. A lot cheaper fix than I thought it would be. Get new slider pins and get the old ones out. Good thing is you can do that without removing the calipers fully so you don't have to bleed the system again.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-REAR-CALIPER-SLIDER-PINS-GUIDE-KITS-FITS-LEXUS-IS250-I300-2013-BCF0001CX2-/264429713173?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

^ couldn't find ones for IS220D. Not sure if they're different.

Jaro · June 1, 2021

4 minutes ago, H3XME said:

There you go then. A lot cheaper fix than I thought it would be. Get new slider pins and get the old ones out. Good thing is you can do that without removing the calipers fully so you don't have to bleed the system again.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-REAR-CALIPER-SLIDER-PINS-GUIDE-KITS-FITS-LEXUS-IS250-I300-2013-BCF0001CX2-/264429713173?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

^ couldn't find ones for IS220D. Not sure if they're different.

Thanks Lucas. I have actually checked this morning after watching couple of YT videos, and the calipers on is220d are completely different to cars on YT, so ended up undoing the 2 screws that hold the calipers 😄 I have no idea how I would replace the sliding pins

H3XME · June 1, 2021

8 minutes ago, Jaro said:

Thanks Lucas. I have actually checked this morning after watching couple of YT videos, and the calipers on is220d are completely different to cars on YT, so ended up undoing the 2 screws that hold the calipers 😄 I have no idea how I would replace the sliding pins

I just had a quick look for some parts. IS250 slider pins will fit IS220 and iS200D as well. The caliper carrier bracket is the same and that's where the pins go so it's fine. The best way to get them out is simply by getting vice grips on them or pliers and pushing them out, or using a hammer/rubber mallet to bang them out. Yours might be seized in pretty bad like mine were so I was hitting it with a rubber mallet for a while until they came out. Oh and lots of WD40. It's not difficult or fiddly at all, just annoying since they're in solid at this point.

jumbojake · June 1, 2021

the should all fit ... the only difference is by year... some are solid dics, some are vented ... just check what you have and order that variant for the right year.

even better, try lexus parts direct, I find they are often competitive prices and should match your chassis number

when mine seized, I couldn't get the slider out, so had to replace the caliper... not the end of the world, just frustrating the lack of annual greasing cost £200 replacement.

H3XME · June 1, 2021

1 hour ago, jumbojake said:

the should all fit ... the only difference is by year... some are solid dics, some are vented ... just check what you have and order that variant for the right year.

even better, try lexus parts direct, I find they are often competitive prices and should match your chassis number

when mine seized, I couldn't get the slider out, so had to replace the caliper... not the end of the world, just frustrating the lack of annual greasing cost £200 replacement.

I wanted to avoid spending money on the calipers so I ended up drilling it out on the one side 😄