Another is250 loss off the roads

[ahmed24]

Ahhh man @Mr Vlad really sad to hear this news but glad you are ok. That’s the most important thing. 

[Linas.P]

On 7/18/2023 at 3:19 AM, Mr Vlad said:

Thanks everyone. Right. Yes I'll be looking for a cheapish runaround. Probably back to a Ford Focus mk3 1.0 litre.

Does not sound like a great engine - poor performance, poor economy and inherently flawed design. In context IS220d almost doesn't sound that bad after all (I know it is sinful to say ! 😄 )

How about GS300 - cheap as chips, mostly the same as IS250 just bigger. I know - I didn't want bigger car than IS250 myself and GS300 is a boat, but the value for money is undeniable. 

 

[Mr Vlad]

I've given up the idea of the 1.0 litre focus. Thought about a GS but Too big.

[H3XME]

2 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

I've given up the idea of the 1.0 litre focus. Thought about a GS but Too big.

CT200? 😉

[Linas.P]

I actually considered that myself as well, sadly it doesn't work out as "cheap roundabout" it is, any decent one is like £6000. Just can't see myself paying triple the price of fully loaded GS300 over smaller and less well equipped CT200h, obviously very different cars for different people. In that same sense one can even have IS300h for very similar money and CT price just doesn't represent the car you get. 

[Gary H]

I'm glad you’re not considering a 1.0 Ecoboost, Vlad. I've heard multiple horror stories about the Ecoboost – and I'd say over half of them are from the one litre. I questioned the longevity of such an engine and the stress they’d be under amongst a few friends shortly after they were launched. In short, I was basically told I don't know what I was on about and that they’re "all tested". I left it at that as I was simply outnumbered. Fast forward several years and it seems most of the concerns I had about them have become true… I'll respect those who may have had good experiences with them (there's always good and bad in everything). However, it's one of a couple of modern engines which I wouldn't personally go anywhere near.  

I did briefly consider changing my UX for a GS before I decided on ordering an NX, but yes, it's simply too big (or 'long' rather) for my own needs. A lovely car without doubt, but not really suitable when the majority of time the passengers I carry in the car are my aging parents who need height/ease of access.

[Mr Vlad]

Absolutely not Lucas. Unfortunately that's one car I have a loathing for. I can't explain. Its a marmite car to me.

[Mr Vlad]

Just an update. I've had an offer of £4662 which I've refused. Our of that I'll have to pay the excess of £425. So it's going to be about another 8 weeks before I get a settlement which I've stated to them I expect £5750. There's a good chance I'll get that as the chat I had with the actual insuring company went very well. After all they did say they'd pay market value. 

So because I've got to wait 8 weeks or so I've asked to be paid that initial offer as an Interim payment pending a higher offer.

I can't afford to keep on renting the Fiat 500 for another 8 weeks so hopefully towards the end of next week I'll have a payment so as to buy another car.

I was going to get another is250 but when I saw the excesses on the quotes of which I was dumbfounded I said no way hozay. So I'm heading back to a mk3 Focus of which I have fond memories of ownership. No not the 1.0 litre but a 1.6 turbo.

I will get back to Lexus but once I get my compensation for my cracked rib paid out but I can't see that happening till next year.

[Linas.P]

I am just wondering - what tyres were on the car when the accident happened? Could that have an impact on what happened? 

Myself I always prioritise wet performance over anything else, kind of because of this reason in particular - aquaplaning is scary. 

[H3XME]

On 7/24/2023 at 7:26 PM, Gary H said:

However, it's one of a couple of modern engines which I wouldn't personally go anywhere near.

This is the problem with majority 3 cylinder engines.. They vibrate, they're under a lot of stress because turbo-charged 3 banger is small and harder to keep cool, and overall just a really bad engine. They're not even that fuel efficient because often you see these engines in big cars..(such as Focus, Skoda Kodiaq, Kia Ceed etc) these little engines have to work at least twice as hard as the naturally aspirated V6 in the IS250. Shows on longevity. Start up a 3 cylinder after 100k and compare to the 2.5l V6.. The V6 will be unphased and the I3 will sound like a diesel that's covered half a million miles. 

Here's a fun fact.. the new Lexus LBX will have a 1.5L 3cyl engine.. or at least it will be one of the options - presumably just a smaller displacement version of the GR Yaris engine 🙂 Those are good for power & reliable so far, but let's see after 100k miles. 

 

[Linas.P]

That is never ending story... I remember quite vividly renting 1.2L C2 in Tenerife... could not maintain 130km/h on the motorway (literally - on incline, it would go 120>110>100 and would almost stall, so I would have to downshift into 5th, then 4th and do 6000RPM just to stay at 110 uphill) , could not get-up the mountain and overall over ~500km (Tenerife is small place) the fuel economy was 14L/100km (that is ~20 British MPG).

Now C2 is small car and 1.2L in 2008 car probably wasn't as powerful as modern 1.2, 1.0L or even 0.9L engines, but C2 is as well not freaking Nissan X-Trail which unbelievably now comes in 1.2L guise. That is literally just criminal, because that little engine just shaites itself every time the car needs to move.

This is all based on stupid economy requirements and theoretical CO2 emissions. Reality is that overstressed and underpowered small engines are just not reliable, not economical and overall just false economy. Good example is RC200t - 2L turbo... not that small engine, nut for 1800kg car it is inadequate... horrible economy etc. I now get better economy in GS300 with 3L V6, which theoretically is less economical and more polluting, but provides similar power and much smoother. And here is the thing , does not matter what it says on the paper 0 if car uses more fuel then it pollutes more. I remember 5th gear did a test (I think it was 5th gear) comparing old Porsche Cayman 2.5 H6 to new 2L turbo H4... and it was producing 60% more pollution in same conditions despite theoretically being "cleaner" and more fuel "efficient".

Sure - not every car needs 6L V8, but there is limit below which car can't be economical... I feel for very tiny cars that is perhaps 1.6L (like Fiat 500), then 2L for compact (Golf) and anything larger should have appropriately larger engine. And turbos are just no replacement for displacement unless the engine is 3L+

[Mr Vlad]

Linas. The tyres on my car were Bridgestone Turansa. They're really very very good in the wet. I reckon if I had those cheap tyres on that I replaced then I may not be typing this message now.

Why did I choose Bridgestone? Because of reviews. I first bought a pair for the front. They replaced Eurovis I think. Now why did I swap tyres with 6mm on for the rear for Bridgestone? On my way home from work the A road turns into a motorway. A few hundred yards down is a lovely left hand bend. Unfortunately when it rains a large puddle appears. One day on a rainy day my front wheels went through the puddle as if it wasn't there. However the rear skipped. The next day I got Bridgestone to match the front.

Funny that I've been in a Fiat 500 3 pot hybrid. And oh yes it's gutless but by eck frugal on juice.

As for a replacement car for now the 1.6 ecoboost has been sold so I've been to see 2 1.5 ecoboosts. 6 months age difference but like chalk and cheese. Drove a 180bhp one and ruddy ell they pull like billeow. I'm to try the 150bhp variant next week. 

[Gary H]

I’m sorry to hear about that valuation, @Mr Vlad. Insurance companies are notorious for giving rather...’interesting’...valuations, lets just say. Where I work, we’ve had a 22 plate Mercedes Sprinter van recently written off, as someone ran into the offside rear quarter of it at a junction. It was hit hard enough to actually take out the rear axle too. Anyway, they’ve given us a value of literally half it’s list price only 14-odd months ago. It’s a one year old van that was basically spotless before the accident, driven by one of the drivers who does genuinely look after his van. Negotiations are ongoing.  

My thoughts exactly on small turbo-charged engines @H3XME. I think anything smaller than around 1400cc just aren’t really suitable to be turbo-charged. The blocks are too small and will be put under a considerable amount of stress. They’ll be great for the first 40/50,000 miles but then they’re basically a ticking time-bomb. I’m much rather have a naturally aspirated 1400/1600cc than a turbo charged one-litre if push came to shove. 

I too will be interested in the 1.5 three cylinder LBX - when it comes to refinement e.t.c... I just can’t see it being a suitable power plant for a Lexus branded product at all, but I’ll happily be proven wrong on that when the time comes if necessary. I wasn’t overly convinced by my own two litre in the UX, which is basically a mildly worked over C-HR engine - but it’s very refined for a four cylinder engine, providing it’s not pushed hard. I can imagine the LBX would be broadly similar in nature, but I have my doubts given the characteristics of three cylinder engines.

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Linas. The tyres on my car were Bridgestone Turansa. They're really very very good in the wet. I reckon if I had those cheap tyres on that I replaced then I may not be typing this message now.

Why did I choose Bridgestone? Because of reviews. I first bought a pair for the front. They replaced Eurovis I think. Now why did I swap tyres with 6mm on for the rear for Bridgestone? On my way home from work the A road turns into a motorway. A few hundred yards down is a lovely left hand bend. Unfortunately when it rains a large puddle appears. One day on a rainy day my front wheels went through the puddle as if it wasn't there. However the rear skipped. The next day I got Bridgestone to match the front.

Can't blame the tyres then!

[Mr Vlad]

No Linas. Can't blame the tyres. Apart from the substances on the road that water doesn't like the blame is totally mine.

[Mr Vlad]

Well here's an update. After my rejection of the offer of £4662 it went to their complaints department. I was told it would take upto 8 weeks. After some thought I phoned them the day after to suggest they pay me the 4662 as an Interim payment. They said no problem. A good few days later I git the amount less £425 as that was the total XS of the policy. 

Blimey well under 8 weeks I got an email yesterday stating that the offer was 'fair' and Final. A very explanatory email saying they got the figure from not only their own engineers but from Coparts too.

They gave 3 figures from trade guides.

Glass's Transacted Retail:      3990.00

Cap's Teansacted Retail          4628.00

Percayso Teansacted Retail     4695.00

Three trade guides of which they took the average of the 2 highest.

So that's that then. The insurance company have ripped me off I feel but I'm not going to go down the ombudsman route as I think it'll be a waste of time. 

Markerstudy is the name of the insurance company of which RAC were/are the brokers. 

My advice to you all is get an Insurance quote with the absolute minimum XS. Find out who the actual insuring company is and check them out.

As for my temporary replacement car. A 2015 Fird Focus Zetec S 1.5 ecoboost with nearly 116k miles. I've driven it and it pulls like new. Beneath the oil filler cap is like new. I'm going to be paying £5300 for it (comparison sites value it at £7.5k). So it's a bargain. It drives really well and the sound system is impressive (it'll be better than the ML I had when I get my sub fitted).

So there we have it. The moral of the story is don't be a plonker like I was. Enjoy your fabulous cars and look after them.

I'm not gonna be a stranger on this fabulous forum. The Ford one I used to be on isn't as good as it was 7 years ago which is a shame. 

[Gary H]

Try not to be too hard on yourself @Mr Vlad. We’re merely human beings at the end of the day. Mistakes happen – frustrating as some can be. I remember being gutted when I had a bump in my Audi A4 some 11 years ago – which ended up needing a new passenger side headlamp, wing and bumper. The accident was deemed to be a ‘50/50 fault’, which I chose not to contest as I had protected no claims, a lot going on in life at the time and just wanted it over and done with. Fortunately, it was all superficial and fully repaired but it was always something that was in the back of my mind for the remaining eighteen months/two years or so that I owned the car afterwards. I loved that car but psychologically, it never quite felt like ‘mine’ or ‘the same’ again. The only way I could really get it out of my mind was to change the car – which I ultimately did when I had the funds.

It sounds like your insurers may have had previous experience with people contesting the value they give – if they’re readily providing details like that without too much of a fuss. As I explained in my last post with a written-off Sprinter van at work we’re contesting the value they’ve offered, they’ve not supplied any such evidence as of yet (it has been asked for, I believe). All has fallen quiet on that front.  

I wish you well with your temporary Focus replacement. It’s a perfectly decent car. I’d very much be checking that oil filler cap every few thousand miles though. Fortunately it’s the ‘lesser problematic’ 1.5 variant of the Ecoboost. Not bad value at all if it’s in decent condition too. Please do keep in touch as you’re very much part of the Lexus family! I wish you well.

[Mr Vlad]

Yes Gary we are human and make mistakes. As for the Focus I'm getting it flew through a MOT today (Tuesday) with no advisories. As I've stated previously I am a lover of the Focus. This will be my 3rd one and I'm looking forward to a year or so happy ownership. 

[Mr Vlad]

I was going through my phones photo's. Came across these 3 which I thought I'd share with you. It's those Z posts which did the damage to my car. This is what a written off lexus is250 looks like. Please don't follow suit and write yours off.