Towing .

[Zuke]

Hi ,

This has probably been asked before, but I'm thinking of fitting (having fitted) a tow bar to my IS250 2007 .

Not for a caravan, just a small trailer for camping and stuff to the tip, nothing heavy !! 

Just phoned my local fitters but they have nothing listed ?

Surely there must be one made for the IS250 ?

Any ideas ??

[Mr Vlad]

Your local dealer must be rubbish. Look on the whitter (maybe wrong spelling) website. Roughly £570 fitted but only a few left.

[m4rkw]

OEM is available too - https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-is-phase-2-detachable-towing-hitch/

[Linas.P]

I guess the reason why there are not much options for tow bars, because IS250 is not rated for towing and owner manual suggests it is not recommended, if Lexus would be selling tow bars and then say it is not recommended I think they would risk some liability.

That said it is bad idea to tow with IS250, car is just not meant for that and there are many car which can be bought for less and are way better for towing. I would say mostly 3L diesels, because of low end torque which IS250 does not have.

[Sundance]

I have to agree with Linas, given my brief (13 months) experience with this model I wouldn't say that it's ideal for towing.  When I bought mine it had a Witter tow bar fitted (see pic), didn't like the look, didn't need the appliance ... so sold it on here to someone who wanted it (so you're not alone Alan!) ...

[Mr Vlad]

Yes but as Alan stated he only want to tow a small trailer for camping gear so the is250 should handle that easily enough. 

[Linas.P]

Yes I understand that, just explained why there isn't much market for tow bars on IS250 and why dealerships would not have any such things for sale (as the car not suppose to do that).

For IS250 there is alternative for roof rack, but I would not advise that either if you at all care about your car condition. Previous owner of my car clearly used roof rack and there are scratches on the edge and dents all over the roof. Obviously, some people don't care about that as the car for them is just appliance which gets replaced when faulty.

[NemesisUK]

Does the car have a sticker giving the kerb weight, gross weight and most importantly in this case a train weight?

If not then the vehicle isn't type approved for towing and one's insurer would take a very dim view if one were to tow and had an accident.

[m4rkw]

By “dim view” I presume you actually mean “elated view” as they love to not pay claims! But yes indeed, can’t tow more than the train weight. My car is JDM so no towing ever, and it’s kerb weight is hilarious, it’s not even enough for two passengers and a suitcase haha