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Steve don't leave us in suspense...what did you pay for them???

I think that's pretty cool. It's different and unique. I understand you guys love for the LS400 in standard form and to you guys they should not be messed with and I respect that. Different strokes for different blokes tho lol

I don't think I'm in the wrong forum but thanks for your advice. Even porsche owners discuss fuel economy. There's nothing wrong with having these discussions after all that's what theses forums are for aren't they. looks are a matter of personal preference. I'm sure the IS owners would say the 250 is a better looking car. Lastly I think both engines are great and after driving german for 20+ years I'm gonna see how well the GS treats me.

Something worth checking; When I repaired my transmission oil pump last week, I noticed that there are four jubilee clips clamping the heat shields to the exhaust section around the cats. (2 each side). All four had broken and there was some rattle on start-up until the exhaust had warmed up slightly. Its worth checking that this is not your rattle, first of all. They only took me a few minutes to fit and they were about a £1 each. Worth a look.

I traded my 2007 IS250 for 2009 GS300 for "family" reasons. In terms of milleage, in IS I got 26mpg city / 33 motorway. In GS300 I get 23 mpg city / 28 mpg motorway. Accellaration and general comfort is way better in GS300 although in my opinion ML sound system sounds better in the IS

Will you please stop?!! I've just reserved a Ser 4! (-: Originally I'd contemplated a 430, ideally the 6 speed. But, really, the Ser 4 is more than enough car. (I wonder if Lexus ever thought of licensing Citroen's suspension system/)

Keep the 250 (if its an auto)as any diesel will feel so unrefined after it. After a year there wont be much difference in cost, taking into account fuel price, servicing ect.

We considered the Mercedes C200 petrol before ordering the Lexus. I doubt very much the C200 will get half it's claimed mpg in traffic, which is what most of our driving will be in the IS300H. Equally the poor reliability of our BMW 3 series has made us very weary of buying another German car. I think most motoring magazine are very biased toward BMW/Audi/Merc. The main complaint of 300H is the noise on acceleration, but in reality it's no worse than any small capacity engine. Best bit of the IS300H....Since ordering ours in early December, in total I've spotted 4 on the roads, in contrast there's about of the 6 Merc C classes parked in various driveways on our street.....So I'm glad we didn't go for the 'commoners' car :)

Hi George, I commute daily to work on my Lexus IS250 Auto. The journey is 2 miles from home and the engine doesn't usually reach its normal temperature before I park up at work or back home. At the moment, I'm averaging 22mpg.

I've just got mk3 gs300, had it since October. It has the direct injection engine and i always use the v power shell fuel and i can't complain about the fuel economy. I do short journeys mostly and i get around 26 mpg local, I took it to London 2 weeks ago and I managed to get 41 mpg, but then again I don't have a heavy foot either.

the GS is quicker but not by much depending on which year and model of the 350CDI you go for.. both models will have most toys you would need i.e. parking sensors, xenons, reverse camera, folding mirrors , DVD, CD,cup holders, cruise control, bluetooth, mp3?? unless one is quite fussy both models will have all one needs for thier driving pleasure. if you will be using the car for majority motorway journeys then 350CDI wins in terms of mpg..maybe 8-10mpg more. no difference in mpg for both model in town driving so one wont save much if they went diesel. Lexus is smooth refined and less noisy compared to some idling 2014 diesel's i have heard at the traffic lights. not a lot in it for road tax if one went 350cdi over 450h worth comparing servicing cost of both models thats if you will be using dealers petrol is cheaper than diesel at the pumps lexus is know for thier reliabilty of petrol/hybrid engines. how far DPF,turbo and injector issues on diesel models has improved over the years i cant tell but these three are well know common issues on diesel cars. Lexus is exclusive on the roads Merc is not they are every where. check if the boot space on the GS450h will be enough for your needs as its smaller for some. if you ask me i'll say test drive both and decision is yours to make ...as all cars have something they lack when compared to another competitor but will all boil down to which faults you can live with.

Hands down reliability goes to Lexus. Merc doesn't come close in this regard, especially the E class model you have mentioned. Performance - Again goes to the Lexus. Specs say it does 0-60mph in 5.9s whereas the E350 CDI is 6.9s. What the specs dont tell you is that the Lexus has progressive power the higher you go up in the rev range. The Merc is turbocharged which means it runs out of puff higher up in the rev range. The Merc will probably feel more lively due to the huge torque figures but the Lexus is more relaxed and is actually faster. Maintenance - Best bet is to check servicing prices at dealers. Some people are still scared of buying a hybrid - dont really see why as there have hardly been any problems with them whatsoever. All in all if you do high mileage - maybe 20k a year, get the Merc as it'll have better economy over long distances. The GS450H is built for the city where you'll get great economy and a more relaxed drive + the engine is silky smooth!