mk_lon

On 9/2/2024 at 1:04 PM, Linas.P said:

I would definitely agree with it being shed of... many years now. Value for money is hard to beat, but also it is still 19 years old car now... so yes it is little bit of shed, but still very good shed, very well equipped shed and to most part still very reliable. It is good buy for a cheap.

I see this statement often and I just don't agree with it, I don't believe there is anything wrong with journalism, the problem is that their criteria is much different from what we used car buyer is looking for. Nowadays we have "new format" journalists who reviews used cars, also this "shed of the week" column which specifically caters to used and older car buyers.

I completely agree with you that compared to same year BMW E90 generation or Mercedes W204, I much rather be in IS250, I agree with you that it aged better than any of those cars, better than Audi, it was better built, better equipped car. However, this is what we know with hindsight, we not paying £30k+ for brand new car, we not specifying option out of catalogue in the dealership... we see something that costs £4000 and has a lot of value in it, many options that even modern cars lack (like cooled seats). The value proposition todays is very different from that of 19 years ago when car was brand new and compared against brand new BMWs and MBs.

First thing - journalists do not care and should not care about long term reliability. Why? Because manufacturers do not care about it and most of the customers do not care about it either. Remember - the only people that matters in it's life cycle are the original buyer that buys it new. Second hand market is irrelevant, that is basically an afterlife from the perspective of manufacturers and original buyers. So yes - IS250 is way more reliable long term than any other car, I would easily put it in maybe top 100 most reliable cars ever made category (which by the way would be filled with Lexus/Toyota models and maybe few Hondas and Mazdas), yet it is irrelevant for somebody who bought the car 19 years ago on 3 years long lease and did 40k miles in it, BMW, Mercedes and Audi - all would have been just fine within those 3 years and 40k, or 60k miles. And again to be fair - all revies I have seen said "it is not the most potent car in the world, but it is likely to last million miles". So they do say it, however for new car that is just one of 100s of criteria and nowhere near as important as it is for say 15 years old car. 

Second thing - performance and choice (and to some degree taxation). When IS was new, there was very limited choice of engines available, with limited options. In short - when advising potential customers on the overall choice between 3-Series, C-Class and Lexus IS, the only logical choice for journalist is to say - "germans have it all, they have any engine you may want, any option you may want and you can build perfect car for yourself, Lexus has only this specific, borderline anaemic V6, mostly auto, manual is kind of agricultural, or IS220d which only has manual for some inexplicable reason". So it was niche car, for a niche buyer... if you exactly wanted NA V6 with smooth auto and if you were buying cash and planning to keep the car for 10 years + only then the car was perfect for you and you probably represented 0.1% of market. Also what killed it was the taxation, also UK buyers prejudice "2.5L V6is huge engine" (no it is not!)... so basically it was unfairly judged as "gas guzzler" in the times when diesels were the first choice for everyone. Could be said bad timing as well. And IS220d without auto just absolutelly idiotic (although I am happy about it, the last thing we want is more of those turds). BMW and MB is easy to recommend, because they know the market and they play the game - they have every engine displacement in 0.1L increments from 1.6L all the way to 6.2L, they have any gearbox with any engine, you can have fast car, you can have economical car, there is car for everyone in the line-up. With Lexus you just get same V6, which is great if you looking for that particular size, but only if you looking for that particular size.

All this flips upside-down when the car is 10+ years old and you are buying it as 3rd owner after 90% depreciation. It does not matter anymore that it was £3000 more expensive than BMW 320d 10 years ago, because now maybe it is £500 cheaper. Also it does not matter than road tax is £415 compared to £115 or even £30 on BMW, because you know BMW will be endless trouble costing thousands just to stay on the road... and on IS you most likely only going to replace oils and filters and consumables like tyres and brake pads... and that is it. Then suddenly it is totally different value proposition, totally different perspective. That is how we end-up with paradoxical situation where "SC430 is voted worst car of the century", yet nowadays it is fairly decent car compared to competition like BMW 645Ci... but in 2002 it was horrible value proposition. Not worst car of the century for sure, but I would not want to be parting with my £62k back in 2002 to buy it either. And journalist simply never even pretend to cover it... it is just something one needs to be mindful of when reading reviews - they are not for used car buyers, they not for long term ownership. They are for most common type of buyer (3 years lease) on new car, considering the qualities of new car. As long as you know that, the reviews are generally quite accurate and fair.

I could not have put it better myself, thank you for summarizing this perfectly. I would also add that living in London where roads are full of potholes, speed humps and speed cameras. The Lexus IS far better ride than a BMW with sports suspension, massive alloys and low profile tires... 

Whenever I read reviews on the 2nd gen IS like this it always makes me smile. It is a brilliant car in so many ways that car journalists simply don't understand. 

Ride quality, reliability, comfort, equipment, safety and build quality. 

Whenever I see it parked next to a e90 3 series or a w204 c class or the early 2000s a4 it is better looking and more modern, in fact it has aged well over the years compared to them. 

As with any car, colour, interior colour, wheels and spec make a big difference. 

I've had it twice, front and rear. I left it for around a year (local indy I use told me not to worry as they have seen alot worst), got them changed when my discs and pads needed replacing too. Parts cost me around £45 a pair. 

The same thing happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago. He was driving a E46 BMW coupe. He contacted the insurance company and managed to buy the car off them and repair it privately for £800. Kept the payout too. 

18 hours ago, Spark plug said:

I think mine is original apart from new pipes welded in between the first and second cats. The egg smell is coming from the cats. I run mine on BP Super, use Red-x often, and never get the egg smell...

uer

Interesting.... I use shell v power but didn't know red x solves the problem. I thought it was the cats nearing end of life... Do you know why it happens and how often do you use red x? 

Hey Sean, 

I got an 07 auto, with 88k on the clock. It's still got its original exhaust. It's been welded when a small hole appeared in the in the middle pipe in 2019 and currently smells of egg when I floor it in the cold but other than that it's fine. 

Wow that sounds horrific!! 

I'm so glad that you and your girls live and tell the tail without any permanent damage. 

Testiment to lexus build quality and safety. 

If your looking away from the is250 and don't mind a bigger car then the GS is a great choice that won't break the bank compared to it's bmw/merc/audi counterparts

On 1/7/2023 at 12:31 PM, Sundance said:

Looking good Mo. But I'd very much like to see the same picture in 6-12 months time as there seems to be no mention of replacing the UV protection in your product description. As others on here have already stated it is a replacement layer of UV protection that appears to be the key after cleaning, a view that I readily support.

Thanks Sundance, I forgot to coat it with UV protection then the weather turned bad on me thus I became lazy. When summer arrives I will do it again, this time I will use UV protector too. I suspect it will probably become yellow again by then. 

I used K2 PRO LAMP DOCTOR Headlight Restorer Cleaner Scratch Remover. 

I have a 07 plate IS250 with bi xneon headlights. I cleaned the lights using flash kitchen spray then applied using a old dirty car sponge. Left it for 20mins then spent literally 1min buffing with an old micro fibre cloth which had not been cleaned or used in years.... It worked with excellent results, just see the picture.

@Linas.P thanks that makes sense. I will keep an eye on it and get back to you, I have a fealing it could be MAF or 02 sensor but I dont know enough to be sure. @SeanR its been when the AC is off, when I first start it up and have been driving for the first 20mins or so.

I had this too, noticed it was happening during the winter when them temp drops below the 10 degree mark.

The spark plugs were changed in mine during a service in Jan 22 and the problem went. It recently came back during the cold snap but usually goes away after about 20mins of driving so I did'nt investigate it any further. I would be intersted to see if the cause is found on this thread as I am useless at DIY car mechanics 🙂

Mine doesn't have a sunroof but whenever I park it in the winter the windows always gets steamed up very quickly 

On 9/3/2021 at 9:46 PM, Lex_utor said:

the automatic cars only. Nothing for the manual

Take it you bought a manual then?

Also sounds like you have an SEL - top spec

My pleasure, the guys on this forum are great and highly knowledgeable! 

Quick questions - did you get an auto or manual? Was it the SEL spec? What's the mileage? 

With regards to the questions I can only answer number 2. That's not normal I'm afraid. 

Welcome to the family 

I have an IS250 Auto 07 plate with 80,000 miles on the clock for 5 years now. Apart from wear and tear items like pads, discs, callipers and oxygen sensors it has never had a single engine part replaced. 

Yes the parts are expensive but these cars are solid..... FSH is a must and there is a is250 buying guide on the form too.

Unless you have a deep dislike of auto's I would advise you to buy an auto. It suits the car better, cheaper to tax and run.

On 8/6/2021 at 1:13 PM, Tyre Tread said:

Wait until you see the repairs and finished car. You will be surprised I reckon.

 

Yea I saw the second one too. Really impressive and fascinating too 

Awesome find!!

Really interesting to see how solid it is despite being abandoned for so long.... Lexus build quality proves itself again!

23 hours ago, Sundance said:

Hey Mo, plenty of links on here and elsewhere to help you understand. Up to you to check if your car's not compatible, but if it isn't, then your right! 😉

Thanks Sundance, I checked up and found that my one is not compatible 😞

Unless I have misunderstood this thread then it would seem that from Sep21 we (the pre Sep07 IS250 owners) will have to fill up with 99ron and pay an extra 10p+ a litre 😔 unless we wish to damage our cars ...

A quick glance through this forum will show that a large proportion of the posts are to do with problems with the diesel. In my opinion your better off with the petrol with a automatic gearbox however they are thirsty.. 

reassuring to know I am not the only one 🤞

I agree but I can't figure out what it is for the life of me... I took it a part and put it back together again 5 times... 

1 hour ago, Mr Vlad said:

Blimey Mo. One reason the mirror isn't seating right is there's probably still some silicone sealant there. That's what was stopping my mirror seating right. I can't believe you had a problem with the mirror casing. I found it dead easy and even when on the car.

Well done however on transplanting the motors. You wiped the floor with me there m8.

Bless you Vlad, 

That casing drives me mad, I literally spent 1 hour on the bloody thing, still not flush... I have attached some pictures of it in its current state. 

I've seen like 9 videos on YouTube they make it look so easy... If only 😞

1 hour ago, nicnac said:

I feel the pain as well ................I have repaired my Sc430 mirrors which in essence are the same . I think you got off to a bad start because someone had done a bodge before you . There is a run through on you tube to follow . At this stage I think you are probably better getting another unit . The small motors can be repaired as well , but you need to be deft to take them apart and clean the commutator and retention the wiper brushes. 

Hi Nicnac, thankfully everything is working smoothly now minus the bloody loose mirror plate and gaps in casing (pictures attached). I'll see how it goes for a bit and if it drives me mad I'll cough up for a new unit with my ego in tatters 

On 3/20/2021 at 11:01 PM, Mr Vlad said:

Hi Mo. The motors and inners are possibly the same But to get them out is a nightmare. I bought a pair of ebay as they were really cheap. I thought about swapping the inner bits but for the life of me I couldn't suss out how to strip them completely. I sent them back and bought a black one same price as the pair but hey ho you live and learn but the price of the mirror was very fair at £50. Mine was driver side I had a problem with. 

I finally figured out how to get it open. I had to use a hammer and a thin screwdriver and snap the side clips off... But it worked