IS220D READ BEFORE BUYING - REVIEW OF A 2006 LEXUS IS220D SPORT

Jaro · June 16, 2021

Hello All,

I am writing this thread to help fellow future Lexus owners. There is an IS250 new buyers thread, but can't see one for IS220D.

I have had the joys(not) of owning a 220D. I thought of writing this thread for new potential buyers of this car.

If there was a thread for IS220D before going to test drive my old IS220D, I wouldn't have never got it, and would have just went for IS250 instead LOL! 🙂

PROS :

* Very good spec for the year of the car - I have had the Sport model, which came with auto lights + wipers, memory seats, fully electric seats with lumbar support also.

It also had a 9 mode sunroof, but I believe that was an added extra option.

Very good sound quality (I believe it's the Mark Levinson head unit).

Auto dimming rear view mirror + auto dimming side view mirrors which tilt down when reversing.

Keyless entry and start + front and rear parking sensors.

* Much better drive comfort than it's competitors - Especially for longer journeys, drive is very comfy and the car is very practical.

CONS:

* High Tax Costs - The tax band for this car is quite high, as it comes around £330 a year.

* High Fuel Costs - The reported figures are 35mpg/City and 52mpg/Motorway for the non sport models and 29mpg/City 45mpg/Motorway.

However, from my experience and Fuelly average checks, it will be hard to get above 35/mpg on a motorway run, and more than 25mpg in city.

If you give the car a good run, you will be seeing around 20mpg in city, and 27mpg on motorways.

* Gearbox Is Awful - On the Non Sport models, you will find yourself not being able to shift into 6th gear on motorways, as the RPM's are too low driving at 70-75mpg.

On the Sport model, the gears are too short, and the 1st and 6th gears are useless.

The gearbox stick is heavy and chunky, and quite uncomfortable to shift gears.

There is a quite loud crunch when changing into 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears.

* The Engine Generally Feels Underpowered - This is obviously a large car, and made for comfort, not speed. However the engine feels underpowered, when taking off as the turbo starts to kick in at 2k RPM's. In first gear, the acceleration is slow and sluggish.

* The Engine Has Lots Of Common Faults - It has the Toyota D4D engine, that is being used in Toyota Avensis. The injectors do go bad quite often, and head gaskets go bad on them very often as well. The EGR valves are also known to get very clogged easily, and need regular cleaning (Easy job, if you don't mind getting your hands dirty).

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR ON THE TEST DRIVE

BEFORE TEST DRIVE

* Head Gasket Leak - When engine is cold , pop the bonnet and unscrew the oil cap. The oil cap should be nice and clean, with no frothy contents on it and milky like residue. Also, check the coolant level and colour of it, it should be topped to max and it should be nice pink colour.

* Fuel Injectors Condition - Take the engine cover off, and start the engine. Inspect the engine near injectors and look out for any leaks. Put your ear close to each injector and listen out for any rattling or knocking sounds. If it has any fuel leaks, or knocking sounds, steer away! It will be very pricey!

*Auto Lights/Wipers - Turn the wipers and lights stalk to 'Auto' setting. There is a sensor on the windscreen, in the same position where the rear view mirror sits. Cover it with your hands, and have someone else inspect the lights - they should turn on. Take a bottle of water with you, and throw the water on the windscreen, it should wipe it off.

*Seats/Radio/Air Con/Sun Roof - Check that the seat can be moved front/back, back of seat can be moved fron/back, seat height can be adjusted. If the car has memory function, put the car in neutral, start the car, put the hand brake on and hold the 'Set' button and press 1,2 and 3. There should be a beep indicating the position was set. Check that the radio works. Also check that the aircon blows hot/cold air and that the sun roof opens if there is one fitted in the car.

*Check MPG - Check the AVG MPG and Tank MPG indicated on the computer. Reset it, by holding the 'Disp' button on the AVG MPG button. Go for an extended test drive, and check the MPG displayed. It usually overstates about 1/2 mpg depending on tyres etc, so bare that in mind.

DURING TEST DRIVE/AFTER TEST DRIVE

* Brake Callipers - Walk around each side of the car and check for heat coming from brakes. Each pair of wheels should be the same heat, if one is hotter than other, callipers are seized and will require rebuilding/replacing which is quite expensive. Another obvious tell tale sign is the car pulling to a side.

* Brakes - Check that the brakes are not spongy, and brake hard enough.

* Oil filter cap seized - The cap, where the oil filter screws into may be overtightened and impossible to get out. Make sure to ask, if it has been changed and if you are buying from dealer, ask them to check it before sale. Mine was screwed on solid, and had to get a new oil filter housing, which took a very long time to find second hand, as breakers don't sell them separate, they sell them whole on the engine block. I have scrapped the car before fitting it on, so still got mine if anyone is after one!

* Leaking shocks - Check if you can see any leakage coming from shock absorbers, expensive replacements but not a real issue - some owners have reported replacing them and hard to find.

* Exhaust Smoke - As any diesel, do a hard acceleration while checking your rear view mirror - there should be no clouds of smoke left behind. If you can, have someone watch you while accelerating past them for any smoke - lots of smoke could mean lots of expensive fixes.

* Clutch - Make sure that the clutch is not rattling or vibrating, when depressed. The biting point shouldn't be too low or too high, and there shouldn't be any fishy smells in the cabin.

* Exhaust - Check that after test drive, there is no exhaust smell in the cabin or outside the car. This could indicate bad cat, and exhaust replacement is quite expensive for this and the IS250 model.

* Rust - Check for general health on wheel arches and underneath the car. It shouldn't be excessively rusty.

Hope this helps prospective buyers! My opinion is, that there is a reason on why these are cheaper than the IS250. I have had mine for a while, and there was nothing but issues. Bad MPG, high road tax, rear callipers were seized, front calliper was seized, there was an exhaust issue and more. I have ended up trading mine in for IS250, and the V6 petrol version is better on MPG, than the IS220D sport model :O. No DPF, no EGR systems to be blocked. If you want the Lexus, just go for an IS250, as it is much more better running costs wise to IS220D, and much more reliable. If you really, really want a diesel, switch to an Audi A5, BMW 520D or Mercedes E Class, do not go for IS220D, unless it has had new injectors, head gasket replaced, and DPF is clean. But let's be honest, if someone invested that much money in it, they will not be selling it LOL! 😄

HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE LOOKING TO BUY AN IS220D.

Texas · June 16, 2021

Excellent work and I feel for you having to go through it, like you said, if there was a ‘220D buyers guide’ then (perhaps) things would have been different for you and you would be driving round in a 250 a lot earlier without the bitter DERV experience.You would then probably have no reason ( apart from how to reset the windows!) to post any problems!

But even with a 250 ( along with lots of other marques) you need to keep the callipers maintained, even though this is not specified in any service schedule.

Jaro · June 16, 2021

Yes, with every service the calliper guide pins should be lubed up with silicone grease, as the design is quite bad and they end up seizing and rusting in place. When I have done mine, they were jammed in pretty good. It took 2 bottles of WD-40, a claw hammer and a lots of swearing in between that to get them off! 🙂

steve2006 · June 16, 2021

An excellent write up and thank you for taking the time and trouble to make it, I have pinned this also.

The “seized calliper” problem is I assume the lack of maintenance ( removal and greasing) of the slide pins.

Given that most of us are aware of this why is it that Lexus servicing procedures don’t include this as part of the brake service? Having said that I would think “Your callipers are seized...you need new ones” is far more profitable than a dab of grease to prevent it happening in the first place.

When I purchased my Celsior in 2006 I immediately serviced the brakes and all but one slide pin was removed with relative ease with one requiring a little more assistance. Initially I used copper grease then moly and finally discovered that Red Rubber Grease provided the necessary lubrication and lasting effect. The car today still has its original slide pins fitted and I have never suffered from the seized calliper problem.

Las Palmas · June 16, 2021

25 minutes ago, pope111 said:

if you buy badly maintained 220d thats what you get. Good ones cost much more or are not for sale.

I believe this to be correct.

Here I see a lot of 220D driving around and the license plates tell they are all more than 10 years old. I have not seen one of them pushing out black exhaust even uphill (where we live it is either up or down more than 50% of the time), most of the diesels look well maintained and when looking at used cars I have so far not seen one Lexus diesel. A lot of RX, NX and of course an abundance of IS, SE and CT.

H3XME · June 17, 2021

On 6/16/2021 at 10:40 AM, Jaro said:

Yes, with every service the calliper guide pins should be lubed up with silicone grease, as the design is quite bad and they end up seizing and rusting in place. When I have done mine, they were jammed in pretty good. It took 2 bottles of WD-40, a claw hammer and a lots of swearing in between that to get them off! 🙂

No need with every service. I greased mine up 2 years ago after getting new pins. Changed discs and pads the other week and it was still very well lubed, calipers slid right off. To be safe, I'd do it every 2 years or 20k miles whichever comes quicker. It's an easy job, but when you're doing an oil change/service it's a PITA to take wheels off and calipers just to grease them up. Doing it annually is excessive.

19 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

I believe this to be correct.

Here I see a lot of 220D driving around and the license plates tell they are all more than 10 years old. I have not seen one of them pushing out black exhaust even uphill (where we live it is either up or down more than 50% of the time), most of the diesels look well maintained and when looking at used cars I have so far not seen one Lexus diesel. A lot of RX, NX and of course an abundance of IS, SE and CT.

Sure, as anything goes, there's a difference between well looked after cars and poorly looked after cars. However some engines are very sensitive to negligence - perfect example of this diesel. I personally don't see the point of owning IS220d when the MPG and tax difference between Petrol and Diesel is minimal (for automatics anyway). I average 42mpg on the motorway at 74mph. Town, my average is 23 but if you don't drive like me, 27-28 is doable. I tried. This diesel is riddled with potential headaches you wouldn't have to worry about with IS250. I'm not saying don't get the IS220d, but given the age of these cars, it's gonna be harder and harder to find a good diesel, much harder than IS250.

Las Palmas · June 17, 2021

8 minutes ago, H3XME said:

I average 42mpg on the motorway at 74mph. Town, my average is 23 but if you don't drive like me, 27-28 is doable. I tried. This diesel is riddled with potential headaches you wouldn't have to worry about with IS250. I'm not saying don't get the IS220d, but given the age of these cars, it's gonna be harder and harder to find a good diesel, much harder than IS250.

If consumption and taxing are your main issues you could be right.

About the IS250 being close to perfect you need to look at the forum for the IS and see if you still think that.

Here it is possible to buy a lot of used IS and not one diesel. Could be for a reason. So yes: it is hard to find a good used diesel when owners will not sell.

H3XME · June 17, 2021

1 minute ago, Las Palmas said:

If consumption and taxing are your main issues you could be right.

About the IS250 being close to perfect you need to look at the forum for the IS and see if you still think that.

Here it is possible to buy a lot of used IS and not one diesel. Could be for a reason. So yes: it is hard to find a good used diesel when owners will not sell.

The few common issues there are with IS250s are generally little things that are cheap and easy to fix - compared to the diesel it's even more economical to fix should anything go wrong. I don't see the benefits of having IS220d to be honest. For the sake of extra £200/year on tax for manual IS250s it's a no brainer.

Las Palmas · June 17, 2021

3 minutes ago, H3XME said:

The few common issues there are with IS250s are generally little things that are cheap and easy to fix - compared to the diesel it's even more economical to fix should anything go wrong. I don't see the benefits of having IS220d to be honest. For the sake of extra £200/year on tax for manual IS250s it's a no brainer.

So economy is what you care about. Fine.

I do not see a reason to have a diesel either. Sold the one we had and got the CT. We are happy with that.

Consumption in this is also not what factory claim.

Aaron G · June 17, 2021

I'm not one of these people that defend a bad decision or something I've bought, so if my car fails in any major way I'll report it here. But I'm putting some money into it and trying to do what the previous owner may have failed at. So although he serviced it every 3000 odd miles, I don't think Arnold Clark did the previous services, or Lexus in Liverpool did the 10 before that.

Problem is mobile mechanics arn't much easier to deal with. I was able to sevice my 2003 Vauxhall Astra myself for 15 years, but everything on the IS220 is harder to get to (like the fuel filter). But at 58,000 miles I plan on changing all the oils & filters. Already cleaned out EGR, air intake + MAF sensor. Also did the coolant.

I totally cleaned the EGR valve and checked it 100 miles later. It was still opening and closing, but totally coated in soot. People talk about blanking & deleting them but I think they have something to do with initially cooling the engine? Or is that only on petrol engines? So I'm concerned about anything to do with heat management because of the gasket issues...

On the flip side, I hate to think what the combustion chamber looks like. This article here: https://x-engineer.org/automotive-engineering/internal-combustion-engines/ice-components-systems/exhaust-gas-recirculation-egr-complete-guide-introduction/ basically says that EGR valves do cause engine wear: "The main conclusions of the investigation is the EGR can have an impact on the engine wear, which is highly dependant on the level of soot in the exhaust gas."

I'm currently running it on shell v-power but I doubt it'll have any change on the amount of soot in the EGR valve.

Edit: Also I pretty much just do motorway journeys. Would have been nice if Lexus had installed some kind of gizmo to tell the owner when the DPF regeneration was due to kick in.

joelfigueira · August 23, 2021

On 1/10/2021 at 7:49 PM, Sled Driver said:

washed and dried the car today. Heres some pics - sorry if not so clear

12 hours ago, stormchaser said:

Are these the same engines they use in the Avensis diesel? you don,t hear alot about those failing.

On 6/17/2021 at 11:43 AM, H3XME said:

The few common issues there are with IS250s are generally little things that are cheap and easy to fix - compared to the diesel it's even more economical to fix should anything go wrong. I don't see the benefits of having IS220d to be honest. For the sake of extra £200/year on tax for manual IS250s it's a no brainer.

On 6/17/2021 at 11:48 AM, Las Palmas said:

So economy is what you care about. Fine.

I do not see a reason to have a diesel either. Sold the one we had and got the CT. We are happy with that.

Consumption in this is also not what factory claim.

Tax on my is220d SE was £240 a year so cheaper than the sport. However now I have a CT F sport I’m loving the £145 tax amount

Las Palmas · August 23, 2021

1 hour ago, joelfigueira said:

Tax on my is220d SE was £240 a year so cheaper than the sport. However now I have a CT F sport I’m loving the £145 tax amount

Still no tax paid for the CT. Do not know if a hybrid is not paying tax here or they have forgotten us.

stormchaser · August 23, 2021

Im enjoying the zero tax.Crazy how the CT from 2017 onwards has to pay tax.

joelfigueira · August 25, 2021

On 8/23/2021 at 8:40 PM, stormchaser said:

Im enjoying the zero tax.Crazy how the CT from 2017 onwards has to pay tax.

I know can’t believe they change 2017 would be happy to have no tax to pay. Still can’t complain saving £100 from my IS220D SE

markeyszoo · October 27, 2021

On 6/16/2021 at 3:36 PM, Las Palmas said:

I believe this to be correct.

Here I see a lot of 220D driving around and the license plates tell they are all more than 10 years old. I have not seen one of them pushing out black exhaust even uphill (where we live it is either up or down more than 50% of the time), most of the diesels look well maintained and when looking at used cars I have so far not seen one Lexus diesel. A lot of RX, NX and of course an abundance of IS, SE and CT.

i followed an Audi the other day. On his back window was a sticker saying "more smoke more poke".

I think he must have been avoiding a submarine because he was making more smoke than an old steam train.

Yorkie740 · November 6, 2021

Looks like you bought a pup in the first place tbh

I don't understand why you was paying £330 tax when my 2007 is £220.

Your fuel economy figures aint the same either I get 35 round town and 42 to 48 on the motorway.

Yes the EGR gets clogged but that happens on every diesel.

When it comes to the head gasket problem it isn't so much of a problem as people make out it is.yes afew have gone but the ones that were going to go have probably already gone or have been fixed.

The gearbox is a little long in the se model but there is a way around this if you invest in the leto performance ECU this gives you 230 brake horse and almost 500 foot pounds of torque! The car no drives like a petrol and is very capable! You don't even notice it's the gearbox anymore. I also don't find it clunky and my never grinds.

Obviously with the leto performance ECU you've gone from 175 brake horsepower to 220 so that underpowered feel has gone there is no or hag at all drives like a dream!

Hopefully for people that have got the 220 or would really like one this would be helpful advice just keep it maintained and find a well-maintained one I have had my 6 years and every year I think about selling up but end up keeping for a just another year!

2AD FHV · February 7, 2022

Hi Marc, I'm intrigued by your ecu upgrade. I have a 2009 is220d with only 58k miles, below 1800rpm its gutless, but above 1800rpm pulls like a train, would you recommend your upgrade, where did you get it? I've thought about a remap, is that different to what you got?

Matt

joelfigueira · February 7, 2022

16 minutes ago, 2AD FHV said:

Hi Marc, I'm intrigued by your ecu upgrade. I have a 2009 is220d with only 58k miles, below 1800rpm its gutless, but above 1800rpm pulls like a train, would you recommend your upgrade, where did you get it? I've thought about a remap, is that different to what you got?

Matt

Sounds about right and you won’t get it into 6th gear until 75mph. The gearing is not the best.

I had a 2008 with the multimedia pack and was great had it for 7 years and changed it last June after it had done 138k. No head gasket issues and was serviced every 10k

actually miss the air cooled seats

serbarry · February 8, 2022

On 8/23/2021 at 1:07 PM, Las Palmas said:

Still no tax paid for the CT. Do not know if a hybrid is not paying tax here or they have forgotten us.

Are you saying that in Spain the CT does not pay the motor tax? And what about the other HSD models?

Moleman · February 8, 2022

29 minutes ago, serbarry said:

Are you saying that in Spain the CT does not pay the motor tax? And what about the other HSD models?

Prior to March 2017, the CT was zero tax rated (VED) in the UK, Spain could be the same.

Las Palmas · February 8, 2022

55 minutes ago, serbarry said:

Are you saying that in Spain the CT does not pay the motor tax? And what about the other HSD models?

Do not know of other models but we pay no tax. Maybe they forgot. Maybe that is how it is.

Yorkie740 · February 12, 2022

On 2/7/2022 at 9:41 PM, 2AD FHV said:

Hi Marc, I'm intrigued by your ecu upgrade. I have a 2009 is220d with only 58k miles, below 1800rpm its gutless, but above 1800rpm pulls like a train, would you recommend your upgrade, where did you get it? I've thought about a remap, is that different to what you got?

Matt

Search Leto performance on Google you will find it! matej the guy who does the ecu's it's very knowledgeable and a great guy to talk too he will take you though everything and anwser all your questions this quite afew of us now who have these ecu's in the UK I couldn't fault them or him at all!

2AD FHV · February 22, 2022

Thanks for your advice.

Miles Simmons · February 25, 2023

Hi all

I'm new to the forum and recently bought my first Lexus. A 2006 IS220D. I bought it direct from someone who used to work at Lexus Poole, and who bought it from the dealership. FSH with only 32k, absolutely pristine, inside and out, silver with beige interior, so got it dirt cheap (£4k) Naturally I was buzzing at having procured such a car, at such a price, with exceptionally low mileage and then I read this post and the horror stories of headgasket leaks, constantly failing DPF's and EGR's, mpg figures averaging low 30's and I started to question my decision, albeit too late to do anything about it, so I set about getting it booked into my local indy garage who have looked after all my previous cars for as long as I can remember and asked them to do a full service, multipoint check and check for headgasket leak, condition of EGR valve ETC.

Prior to having the car booked in, I'd done around 500 stress free miles, averaging 40.1mpg (80% extra urban/20% urban, with a tank average of 46.6mpg) Initial impressions were that the car is somewhat sedate on the power delivery side and certainly doesn't not belie its BHP/LBFT figures, nor the fact its turbocharged, in all honesty, it felt like a naturally aspirated vehicle up to 2500rpm and above 4000rpm and like many others have alluded too, the gearing is long, too long, the engine felt like it needed another 30bhp/50lbft to come into alignment with the gearing. I was super impressed with the level of refinement, general build quality, comfort and also the complete lack of NVH in the cabin. I was also quietly pleased that despite the car needing a service, I had averaged 40mpg+ and 46mpg+ on the motorway/dual carriageway, despite being in 5th gear for the entirety of the motorway miles (travelling at approx 68mph at c.2100rpm) I tried a couple of times to use 6th gear, but I needed to be travelling in excess of 80mph to avoid the car displaying signs of choking and juddering (IMHO Lexus have really let down their UK customers by not having the correct gearing ratios and it left me wondering how much better the mpg could be) Anyway reports back from the garage suggested all was in order, they described the car as 'very clean' mechanically, no signs of gasket leaks, EGR and fuel filter both impeccably clean despite having seen 8k miles, although air filter definitely needed changing. Naturally I breathed a sigh of relief and went about my way. I have since completed another 500 stress free miles and I have to say the mpg has improved drastically post service (c.8%) I averaged 43.8mpg and on the motorway 52.2mpg.

All in all I'm really very happy, but I know there's more to be unlocked from this car. A person who lives in my village, used to own an IS220D and his son, who at the time worked for a remapping company, specialising in Japanese stuff, had a stage 1 remap installed on his IS220D and he said it totally transformed the car, once it had learned the new map, it consistently averaged upwards of 50mpg, most of those urban miles and more importantly, mostly short distances and all but eliminated the ratio issue. I have since spoken to a remapping company in the South West, who have previous experience in mapping the IS220D, having performed 9 custom dyno remaps on them over the last 5 years, they guarantee an improvement of mpg anywhere between 8% and 15% based on anecdotal evidence from customers and generally speaking the maps offer an increase of 34bhp/45lbft, they also assured me that every single IS220D owner has said the long ratios are no longer an issue with the increased power. Mine is booked in this Tuesday, the 28th. I will report back my findings.

All the best and thanks for reading.

veryfedupbunny. · April 4, 2023

Hi all, im new to the forum, ive recently had a long winded electrical fault on my 220D Sport. it took ywo auto electricans (well one good and one time waster) to sort it. at one stage on an 58 plate car to see all the front end internals removed - dashe, tunnel audio head, steering wheel put, and the car not having run for 5 months (by that stage) i seriously considered scrapping it. however, auto sparky Mkii came through. it was a wiring conection had gone bad and caused a fault in the key sensor. so replaced immobilser system which includes the steering colum and bits hidden in weird (to me) places for security reasons. problem was at that stage all that was known was that it was an immobilser fault. new immobilser unit was then fried due to same fault - cue weeks spent by sparky looking for a bad wire. he found it, sensor repaired, Lexus back on road rebuilt. no rattles from reassembled dash etc. so on that basis im well chufed.

car is, as i said a 58 plate sport. in truth its one of the best vhicles ive owned reliavilty wise. as diesels go its not the highest mileage, but its a bit like schitt from a shovel when the EGR is clean and i get the gear box changes right.

Ive done 100,000 miles in it - it still passes mot first time (with maintenace) has an awesome sound system. sadly, and this is maybe me getting used to rear wheel drive again, it no longer looks for excuses to send me to A+E when the road is wet, missus is either happy about that or is hiding her feelings well.

car is a great vehicle, lexus dealers make Jeep dealers look like decent chaps though. 100,000 miles back - car needs new radiator today still got same radiator. many other issues dealer wise, but why spoil a good car?