Dare I Go Back To Lexus?

Haf · November 4, 2013

So, a bit of background.

I am a comnay car driver doing 20k+ a year and last 3 cars have been

2005 - Lexus IS220D

2009 - Audi A5 2.0D

2012 - Merc E220 coupe 220D

2014 - ????

As much as I like a lot of things about my 220D, the engine/gearbox/fuuel-efficiency were all unsutiable and made the car sub-optima for my needs. The A5 was lovely but manual only (like the lexus). My current e220 is a fantastic car.

I'm looking to re-new and had the merc, audi and bmw4 on my list till i spotted an advert for the IS 300H. Given my past daliance, I ignored it until I happened to be passing a lexus dealer and saw the F-Sport - fantastic looking car - soinc grey).

I got chatting to the sales rep and ended up being really impressed with the car , the kit and the fule stats so thought i'd investigate a lease.

Anyway it costs a decent amount more on the lease versus the germans but the low Co2 makes the tax bill lower so its a valid option for me.

I'm going to try and get one on a weekend test-drive as I am nervous about how good the mileage is given its 2.5l petrol and I do lots of moterway miles.

Anyway, I'm excited to be back on the lexus forums and hope that this car drives as well as hoped (in my lifestyle) as it would make a change from the usual merc/bmw/audi and I did like a ton of stuff about my 220D

I would go for F-Sport with satnav as that has all the stuff I need. I don't order till Jan so hopefully by then there will be plenty of people with real-life expereince on these forums that I can get advice from..

Wicksy · November 4, 2013

So, a bit of background.

I am a comnay car driver doing 20k+ a year and last 3 cars have been

2005 - Lexus IS220D

2009 - Audi A5 2.0D

2012 - Merc E220 coupe 220D

2014 - ????

As much as I like a lot of things about my 220D, the engine/gearbox/fuuel-efficiency were all unsutiable and made the car sub-optima for my needs. The A5 was lovely but manual only (like the lexus). My current e220 is a fantastic car.

I'm looking to re-new and had the merc, audi and bmw4 on my list till i spotted an advert for the IS 300H. Given my past daliance, I ignored it until I happened to be passing a lexus dealer and saw the F-Sport - fantastic looking car - soinc grey).

I got chatting to the sales rep and ended up being really impressed with the car , the kit and the fule stats so thought i'd investigate a lease.

Anyway it costs a decent amount more on the lease versus the germans but the low Co2 makes the tax bill lower so its a valid option for me.

I'm going to try and get one on a weekend test-drive as I am nervous about how good the mileage is given its 2.5l petrol and I do lots of moterway miles.

Anyway, I'm excited to be back on the lexus forums and hope that this car drives as well as hoped (in my lifestyle) as it would make a change from the usual merc/bmw/audi and I did like a ton of stuff about my 220D

I would go for F-Sport with satnav as that has all the stuff I need. I don't order till Jan so hopefully by then there will be plenty of people with real-life expereince on these forums that I can get advice from..

Hi Haf and welcome to the forum

I have gone back to Lexus after previously having a Range Rover Evoque which gave me nothing but trouble and a dealer that didn't care at all. I also had an Audi A5 before that which I did quite like but in all honesty it didn't really drive as well as it looked.

I now have the F Sport with Nav and don't regret it one little bit - the car is light years ahead of the A5 and as for motorway driving I got 40 mpg whilst doing 80-90mph in almost complete silence at the weekend - ideal for rep driving I would have thought

I don't think you will have any regrets if you switch back to Lexus.

Haf · November 4, 2013

Thanks Wicksy,

How are you finding city driving as I do spend a lot of time driving around birmingham and the lexus guy was saying that the car can do that sort of driving just on the Battery - which seemed impressive if true.. 40mph is fine on mway (though i drive at 70 max - having been scared off by 9 points many years ago) so would be interested in your city mileage stats

I agree that once you see the F-Sport then its hard to go for the other models.. what colour/seating combo have you got?

Wicksy · November 4, 2013

Thanks Wicksy,

How are you finding city driving as I do spend a lot of time driving around birmingham and the lexus guy was saying that the car can do that sort of driving just on the battery - which seemed impressive if true.. 40mph is fine on mway (though i drive at 70 max - having been scared off by 9 points many years ago) so would be interested in your city mileage stats

I agree that once you see the F-Sport then its hard to go for the other models.. what colour/seating combo have you got?

. . . I get 41mpg around town but I expect that to improve as I've only done 800 miles.

DJP · November 4, 2013

Welcome Haf,

I have the F Sport with nav in the colour you saw, Sonic Titanium with Dark Rose leather. Silver and red in other words!

I've done 1500 miles and 99% of that is around town, and I'm getting 40 mpg. From what I understand it takes awhile for the mpg to settle down and so I'm told it will only improve. Irrespective, I'm delighted with what I'm getting so far. Knocks my IS250 MPG into a cocked hat, but then it should!

As far as the Battery driving around town, the salesman is getting a little over enthusiastic IMO. If you try and drive only in ECO, you really have to be very dainty indeed with the throttle, too much right foot and the engine cuts in, which it does once you get over 20 ish miles per hour anyway. It's great for leaving home early when you don't want to disturb the neighbours, and just crawling along in heavy traffic. Watching the MPG readout then is great - 60-70 MPG no trouble, and silent to boot!

The servicing costs will be lower as well, as there are less moving parts and apparantly the brakes will last longer. I know the servicing plan I have is markedly cheaper than for my IS250. A chap at the golf club was admiring it yesterday and when I told him the road tax was £20 he thought I was having a laugh :)

The Audi's/BMW's etc are good cars, there wouldn't be so many of them on the road if they weren't, but for me, I love the relative exclusivity of the Lexus and its looks, especially the F SPort from the front are a real head turner.

Defo get that extended test drive and report back. We've recently had an Audi driver confirm he's joining the club, so the more the merrier. Not too many though.....

Simon99 · November 4, 2013

Hi Haf, I think I'm the other Audi driver that's recently joined the club that DJP refers to! I recently had an extended test drive over 5 days in an is300h F sport demonstrator and loved it. I currently drive an Audi A5 2.0D sport back. I'm a company car driver and have covered over 100k miles over the last 3 years. The audi has been an excellent vehicle, but it does look better than it drives and it is relatively uninspiring. I also find the S line ride very firm and the seats are not the most comfortable on long journeys. I found the Lexus to be a breath of fresh air. I loved the combination of performance, refinement, comfort, equipment and economy. I had no problems with the CVT transmission that many of the motoring press seem to criticise and I averaged over 42mpg with a combination of fast motorway driving and around town during the 5 day test drive. Following the test drive I placed an order for an F sport with nav in ultra blue with black interior. This will be delivered on 1st March 2014 and I can't wait! Perhaps I should also mention that my company will save money on employers NIC and I will also save money on tax on the F sport lease compared to the Audi. It really is a 'no brainer'!

Haf · November 4, 2013

Thanks guys for the informative feedback and I stopped at a lexus dealer on my business trip today. They had both the red and the mercury grey in the show room. Both looked quite impressive - but don't they always under lights and polished up.. Only colour I've not see is the blue so will keep a look out for that.

It does seem like the only configuration worth having is f- sports with sat nav so that simplifes the quotes i need at least.

I suspect it will now come down to doing some test drives involving my 2 main trips (warwick to heathrow and warwick to birmingham) to asses the drive-ability and fule effeciency...

DJP · November 4, 2013

We will be most interested to hear your reports, especially as an ex 220 driver, albeit I accept the 300 is a different animal.

Blisteringblue · November 5, 2013

Just coming to the end of a 5 day demo of the SE (all I'll be able to scrape to) and current mpg is 51.8 !! That is frankly amazing although it has been mostly motorway. A couple of 15 min hold ups which turned out great because the mpg goes up.

Mostly in ECO mode but there is still plenty of grunt when you need it.

To be honest I'm gobsmacked it is that good. I was hoping for around 40 mpg but I've not even tried hard and got 50 so I'm more than happy and will be ordering for a March 1st delivery.

DJP · November 5, 2013

Well I'm embarrassed to say I haven't even tried driving in the ECO Mode yet, I've just been in normal. I must give that a try and no doubt that will increase my already very acceptable mpg!

Haf · November 6, 2013

More useful information from you guys, and I'm now feeling more comfortable about the fuel-economy side of things.

I did a quick calculations on th financials and that stacks up ok as well

Merc e220 £37600, BIK tax £3100, monthly lease £600

audi a5 sline £37500, BIK tax £3000, monthly lease £575

lexus f-sport £36100, BIK tax £2000, monthly lease £650

specs are broadly similar though some minor diffrences.

Haf · November 6, 2013

Just realised that the 'rose' seats are an expensive extra so may well stay with standard leather/cloth in black now...

CD69 · November 6, 2013

Hey Haf, you get quite a bit more than just the leather seats when you select this option. Are you aware of that?

David (DJP) your car is stunning. That is exactly the colour combo I would have selected had the cost of metallic paint fallen within my company car budget :(

Haf · November 6, 2013

Hey Haf, you get quite a bit more than just the leather seats when you select this option. Are you aware of that?

David (DJP) your car is stunning. That is exactly the colour combo I would have selected had the cost of metallic paint fallen within my company car budget :(

Hmmm - if you mean memory/cooling/etc then i am aware as I had this option on my old 220D. SatNav for me is an absolute must so can't leave that out so seats will mean a major jump in my budget. Need to ponder it a bit. I do recall that on my IS220D i used the 'cooling' once in 3 years and as am on my own all the meory etc features don't matter

DJP · November 6, 2013

Hey Haf, you get quite a bit more than just the leather seats when you select this option. Are you aware of that?

David (DJP) your car is stunning. That is exactly the colour combo I would have selected had the cost of metallic paint fallen within my company car budget :(

Thanks CD69, I am very pleased with it. I don't have a company car budget. Mrs DJP decides that lol

Silver Arrow · November 6, 2013

Haf, I too had an excursion away from Lexus after my very dodgy IS220d.

Whilst I didn't go for the new IS (it wasn't out then - else I defo would have), I'm reasonably happy with the new GS. These new generation Lexus's are much better than any previous Lexus. Lexus Purists might not think so, but I do…for what it's worth.

The problem is that once you've had german cars, whilst they might not be as reliable, they do have an appeal that Lexus is still striving for. not everyone feels this, but I do….I don't know what it is; whilst my GS does everything I want, I am beginning to pine for another Bavarian car….knowing all the hassle that goes with it. The dealers are rubbish; There's one in front and behind you on the outside lane of a motorway: They always cost a fortune to fix….

But I will resist….I will resist….I will resist temptation!!!

I think when it comes to cars, you have to buy with your head, not heart. The problem with the Lexus is that it wins over your heart so quickly, and then all of sudden your head says do it!!

Haf · November 8, 2013

silver arrow - if was to buy with my head rather than heart then all roads point to the BMW 320ED in terms of the sensible car to go for and save a ton of money. While I have had audi/merc, i've never had a bmw as I just see so many 3 series everywhere that it just wouldn't feel right..

on the plus side I have ordered the 300H F-Sport on a 3 day test so hopefully that will come soon and I can get a proper idea to see if it is indeed a serious option for me. The numbers stack up reasonablly well so its now all about how it drives.

DJP · November 8, 2013

It will be very interesting to hear your thoughts on the drive. It is certainly a little different but that certainly doesn't equate to bad IMO.

Silver Arrow · November 8, 2013

Sounds good Haf - as DJP says it would be good to see what you think, given like me you're not a loyal or die hard Lexus nut.

Rob64 · November 11, 2013

I have now done 1100 miles in my Premier. I never expected to get anywhere near the official fuel consumption figures, especially as the test method seems to really flatter hybrids. I thought I would achieve about 45 mpg. In fact, I am getting about 42mpg on short trips (7 to 8 miles) and around town, about the same on a long motorway run at 75, and 51 mpg on cross country drives (mixture of A and B roads). Overall, the average is about 46 mpg. I don't use the eco setting, and only use the sport setting to overtake.

Haf · November 11, 2013

That seems a bit low versus published figures so I will be interested when my test car turns up. Have asked for a f-sport for a 3 day test and intend to do my typical trips for a compare versus current merc e220D.

Though its generally true that mpg does improve as you drive the car more so will have to factor that in

Haf · November 14, 2013

Got my test drive booked (Lexus IS300h F-Sport 2500 Hybrid 4Dr Saloon ECVT) Fri-Mon 29th Nov so looking forward to that.

I'll have to think through how i make the most of the time to ensure i get a good feel of the car.

I will do my 2 most common routes as a start as they both contain varying roads/speed plus they are routes I do all the time in my current care so will give a good comparison.

Route 1 : warwick to central london so M40/A40/london-centre

Route 2 : warwcik to birmingham centre so 50mph A roads and inner city roads

After that I will test out all the technology so Satnav, Phone, etc

I will attempt to cover all 3 driving styles to see the impact on mpg (gentle, mixed, aggressive)

Let me know if there is anything in particluar i need to check out

Silver Arrow · November 14, 2013

Haf - given that you've well and truly done the "german car thing", take a good look at the centre console and the quality of it - I was disappointed with it and it put me off a bit. It would be good to know what you think of it quality wise, creaks, etc.

Roger Bill · November 15, 2013

Hi Haf,

In addition to fuel consumption I think the two other most important criteria to compare against your Merc would be ride comfort and refinement. I haven't driven an E class Merc but I'd guess it might have a more comfortable ride whereas in terms of quietness and smoothness, the Merc diesel should be bettered by the Lexus hybrid system.

Most problems/irritations reported on these forums relate to the phone, nav and audio systems so I think you should see if you find:

The mouse easy to use or, if not, whether voice commands are a viable alternative.
The nav system response times are fast enough.
Your particular phone pairs and connects consistently and that it works happily with the Inrix traffic system.

As Jonas suggests it would certainly be advisable to listen for rattles, squeaks, etc.

Some journalists have said that the regenerative brakes make it difficult to stop smoothly and that the CVT gearbox blunts the acceleration and whines at high revs. However, because I haven't seen any complaints from owners, I think these maybe non-issues.

I'm planning on having an extended test drive with a view to placing an order in January, so I'll be very interested in your views ad feedback. I hope you enjoy your test drive.