Is Premier Spec Worth Extra Cost?

[ganzoom]

Which spec to go for on the 300h?

I wondered if people who have gone for the Premier spec model could share their thoughts on if they think the blind spot monitor/stereo etc is worth the extra cost over Luxury spec with electric leather seats?

Currently we are going to order Luxury with electric leather and pro Nav, which brings the cost not that far off the premier spec which will give us memory seats which we would find useful. Just trying to work out if the other features are useful enough to justify the cost :)

[DJP]

I think it depends on what's important to you. I listen to talk radio so wouldn't need or wish to pay for the upgraded stereo. TBH when I do whack on the music from my Iphone it's very good quality IMO.

The blind spot monitor is a little light that comes on in the appropriate wing mirror. If you do lots of lane driving then possibly more useful than if you do town commuting.

The memory seats come with auto dipping mirrors on engaging reverse, which also fold in when the car is locked. I find those features really useful, the actual memory function I never use as I'm the only driver.

As someone once posted and I had to goggle, YMMV!

Have fun choosing

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

[ColinBarber]

you can always spend the extra £900 to upgrade the seats to ventilated with memory and driver lumbar adjustment which will be the same as the Premier.

[is200 Newbie]

Sounds like this is a similar spec to the older 250 SE-L model ?

[Greenfield]

I ended up with Premier primarily because the dealer had the vehicle in stock (new) with a great discount and the general feeling that if I didn't have the extra goodies I would regret the decision as I am intending to keep the car long term, in my opinion:

• Pro Nav is only good for the reversing camera as I have no idea how all the connected services work and don’t own a smart phone which apparently you need to make it all work.
• The Levinson music is fantastic now that I have got the hang of it.
• The Blind spot monitor is also very good on the motorway and when you then drive a car without it you really appreciate it.
• The Blind Spot monitor is also good when reversing out of a car parking slot as it alerts you to traffic approaching (although I do tend to reverse park when I can).
• The auto dipping mirrors on engaging reverse are really useful for reverse parking.
• The memory seats are not really essential as I'm the only driver however I am extremely fussy about my driving position and it can take several months in a new car to find the optimum, I tend to save 3 slightly different settings and keep swapping between them to find the final one (said I was fussy!!).
• The main down side of the Premier was the standard 18 inch wheels which were not to my taste, they have a slight chrome finish and too few spokes which all seems out of character for the car, I opted to have them changed for the standard 17 inch wheels from the Luxury (which are a factory option).
• Having moved from an IS250 Advance I was also not happy going backwards in terms of equipment especially when spending this much money, so again the Premier was the ideal choice.

Hope this helps.

[Rabbers]

Except for Nigel's dislike of the standard 18" wheels, I agree with everything he says.

Having bought my Premier straight out of the showroom at a good price based on a mutually beneficial situation

whereby my willingness to take the car off the dealer's hands was matched by his anxiety to make a quick sale,

I really did not need to ponder whether I wanted the top package or not. Not that I would have been likely to

decide differently since my previous four ISs (two 200s and two 250s) were also top-spec models that yielded

higher-than-market trade-in values and therefore satisfactorily supplemented the cash discounts negotiated for

the new. In other words, it has been my experience that dealers find top-spec second-hand models easier to

re-sell and will therefore value them at a relative premium upon trade-in.

Except for when I bought my first IS200 twelve years ago, I have never sat down to figure if, apart from simply

pampering myself by buying the top package, I was also getting value for money and/or actually had a

practical need for all the gadgetry. As regards value for money, I recall that upon appraising the contents of

Lexus packages by adding up the average prices Mercedes-BMW-Audi were asking for their optionals, Lexus

was significantly better, and although the gap appears to have narrowed to judge by a glance at current price-

lists, probably still is. As regards the need for gadgetry, I like to think that I could live without much of it but am

probably not alone in finding it difficult to judge when something becomes indispensable after having been

merely useful.

[RossCo74]

I bought a Luxury model with premium sat nav and electric seat pack in April and I've been more than delighted with it. I paid for the electric seat pack thinking that came with memory seat function too (that's what the dealer told me all along) so was a bit gutted to find that was not the case when I picked up the car.

However, my dealer phoned me last week to offer me a spectacular deal on a brand new Premier model in the same colour (Sonic Titanium). Having just bought winter tyres for my current IS300h, they have thrown in a set of winter tyres for the new one (since the wheels are 18s rather than 17s), the Supagaurd paint protection, the transfer of my private registration and they are paying the deposit! I'll have a very small increase in monthly payments but I though it was worth it for the upgrade! I miss the memory seats from my old Avensis, I'm looking forward to the auto-dipping / folding mirrors which sound very useful (I'm often manually dipping mine when parking and always fold my mirrors in) and can't wait to try out the Mark Levinson audio system! Should get the new one by the end of the week with some luck!

[ganzoom]

The only feature that we're really after in the premier spec is memory seats, but because the colour combination my wife is after is so rare (titanium with ivory leather), we're going to have to order brand new, so sadly no chance of pre-reg savings :(

Looking at it again there's a £3k difference between luxury spec we want and premier spec....so with my financial head on we should forget about premier spec....but at the same time buying a brand new car is hardly something we would have considered had the IS300H not impressed us so much....afterall we all know it basically throwing away £8-10k in deprecation for the sake of been the first owner :)

[ColinBarber]

£3k is quite a bit just for a better stereo, BSM, RCTA and a few trim upgrades. What did you test drive? You may not like the ride as much with 18" wheels, although you can specific a Premier with 17" if you want.

[rayaans]

Here you go - http://www.drivethedeal.co.uk/

One very good website, one very good price. Ordered my car from them - no issues, same as going to a dealer, just a better price.

IS300H Premier, Sonic titanium with Ivory leather, brand new, 12 months road tax, 3 year warranty and free delivery to anywhere in the UK - £33303.56 subject to taking out the 5.9% finance or £34303.56 to buy outright.

or.....

IS300h Luxury, Sonic titanium with ivory leather, premium nav + electric leather seats £30382.64 subject to 5.9% finance or £31382.64 buying outright.

Hopefully those prices can entice you to get the premier a little more. Atleast you can be satisfied you got the one with all the toys ;)