H3XME

Wasn't the SR grade in the UK basic though? Cloth seats, no touch screen, no heated bums, only lip kit and manual gearbox, no? I was looking at them before bought mine, but other than the slight exterior differences.

Perhaps.. that being said, there is A LOT of cars that are still being sold only domestically.. I said that only because Mark X was actually sold from 2004, (a year earlier than IS250) developed as a successor of the (JZ)X110 cars, Mark II, Chaser, Verossa and such. While those were still current (up to ~2003), the Altezza or IS200 was already there developed as a direct competition to 3series in the compact saloon category. I think it just made sense to them to continue doing IS and since Mark X was already around as a successor of the Mark II etc. they used that platform. But who knows. We can only go off what's online since we don't work for Toyota lol.

That's only because IS is sold worldwide and Mark X is sold domestically in Japan, as pretty much all other cars of that type, Crowns, Alphard etc. In Japan they actually have the Lexus equivalent from Toyota, such as Toyota Celsior / LS400, Toyota Mark X / IS250 and so on. Lexus was literally just a luxury export brand for them, hence why they keep Toyota equivalents domestically as well. BMWs are more sporty, there's no question about it, but the reliability and luxury aspect is far inferior, so not quite comparable? When I was window shopping for cars, I was looking at imported options.. If I was to get something nice, I'd be heavily leaning towards Mark X GRX133 with the 3.5L 2GR engine.. with only 36,000 miles on the clock, this car is a bargain at £15k delivered + registering and paying tax on top. This is the G's version as well, which was later on renamed to GR Sport as it's got the factory body kit, bigger brakes and such. Definitely one of the best all rounders for the money. 5 seats, over 300hp, good brakes, LSD, nice interior, lighter than an IS250. https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-toyota-mark-x-2013-for-sale-60e4e766bbcf391d3e82ba89 Or slightly bigger and less sporty Toyota Crown with the same engine at 40,000 miles for only £13k + tax. https://carfromjapan.com/cheap-used-toyota-crown-2013-for-sale-62aaf61981eab3d9082b8fae

Insurance is not a problem. Plenty of Import specialists about. Adrian Flux for example. You won't get anything better for £8k though..

More like Sh1tty Edition in this case 🤣

@stocknapping Just to add my 2 pence in here.. I can't comment on the 200d/220d as I never owned one. I never even considered it, but the amount of issues (not all major) that have been documented, it's honestly silly to go for one today. Especially now that the cars are older with high mileage, diesel being more expensive and the knowledge on this forum. Speaking from IS250 manual point of view.. I'm on over 172,000 miles now, arguably the car has seen the rev limiter more than any other car on this forum. I change the oil every 6,000 miles and it's not burning any. In the past 2,5 years and 44,000 miles of ownership, other than servicing (brakes, oil, filters) I only had to change the original clutch (although this is still a "consumable") on 140k, battery on 145k and that's it. Like others have said. The tax is high on the manual, yes.. unless you get '55 plate IS250 manual, Road Tax is around £300 then. MPGs aren't bad. Around town you get high 20s, low 30s, depending on how hard you're trying. On the motorway, at legal speed on cruise control it's returning around 44mpg. Last week I drove to Goodwood, then Bognor Regis and back to Birmingham and got home with average of 42mpg. That's not bad at all for a petrol V6. IS200s, they start to rust now, they get abused as they're in the same category as E36/E46 cars. Cheap RWD toys. Interior is way inferior, but that makes sense, it's an older gen IS. They're similar, if not worse on fuel than the IS250. It's a lazy 2L I6 that doesn't make a lot of power. Honestly, if you want a diesel, go for VAG or BMW. Lexus diesel is far from even just "alright" and the few quid you spend on fuel won't cover the bill from your local garage WHEN something goes wrong.

How much are they, just out of curiosity? I'm only asking as I needed a battery a couple of years ago and I just went into Halfords and got the cheapest one rated for my car and it's been absolutely fine for less than £100.

I think it's the footwell design. I'm 6'2 and my seats are always fully lowered, but sitting in the passenger seat doesn't feel as comfy/good as sitting behind the wheel. Though it is much better with my IS300h seats as they're not electric so go quite a bit lower than the original seats.

Vlad, don't take this the wrong way but just because one loses traction for few seconds doesn't mean it's drifting. Linking a whole track would be impossible without clutch kicking with this power/weight. Especially on dry tarmac.

I don't think there are any major issues with carbon build up in these cars in Europe, are there? Isn't it mainly the US with their poor quality fuel that contributes to this. Speaking of IS350.. I saw a couple for sale on the FB Marketplace over the past few months. Maybe get one of those Linas! I was tempted as £7-8k is reasonable for ~60,000 mile car.. people pay that for IS250s these days, but I think I'd miss the third pedal too much for what I use the car for. Though there are people in Japan that drift 350s...(auto) - it's possible because of the power difference. Auto 250 would have no chance.

I am kind of bored of my IS250 now after almost 3 years. It's a great car, I don't think it's that bad on fuel either for what it is, but I won't be selling because I won't get anything for it with the amount of miles I put on it. Just today, I did my 15mile journey to work, mixture of normal town roads, dual carriageways and motorway. Reset my AVG mpg before I set off and arrived with 39.2mpg.. These really aren't bad on fuel if you try. Of course there are cars out there that will return good mpgs without particularly trying.. good for people with a lead foot. I have also (FINALLY) test driven an RC200t the other day after not so pleasant experience driving the RC300h. The car didn't have anything I was wowed by in terms of cockpit environment & infotainment system. Heated and cooled seats I already have, touch screen, camera I already have too.. RC200t was obviously a little faster than my manual IS250, but it didn't necessarily feel it because of how well built the car is, and frankly it's not a "sports car", it's more of a "luxury grand tourer" so it was expected I suppose. I was VERY impressed with how the engine works. Such a smooth power delivery, no turbo lag, honestly really nice to drive. Gearbox seemed fine under normal driving speeds, pulling away from roundabouts, driving on dual carriageways, some 60 roads. However, as soon as you push it, it's a little hesitant in D. You step on it, it downshifts, takes you to 100mph then you let off, and it takes a good while to sort itself out and choose a cruising gear after that while the speed is slowly dropping down to 70. Putting into Sport+ and manual shifting with paddles was good, the gear changes weren't as quick as 370Z for example, but it wasn't bad at all. The only thing I was really disappointed with was the fact it didn't hold the gear. You take it to redline in a manual mode and it will shift for you... Kind of annoying, but even IS250 auto, or a non-M BMW and 370Z will hold the gear, so was surprised that a car like the RC didn't. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that It's really hard for me to find a suitable replacement for the IS250 that is around 20k from which you get the same amount of comfort, interior features, rear wheel drive, more power and Jap.. I'm gonna sound like @Linas.P and say the RC350 would be perfect for me, but that's not an option without spending £30k+ on importing one and you're talking RC-F money there.. RC200t would be a lot nicer tuned to 300hp & 300+ ft/lbs and with perhaps overwriting the ECU to let the car hit the rev limiter, but with the amount of 8AR-FTS engines in the UK, who will have the experience with this engine? Nobody.

Meh, £240 on eBay for some OE replacement : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112521866538 Seems a bolt if well made so DIY fitting!

I found it annoyingly louder with no back boxes, but then it will sound pretty weird with one on and one snapped off 😂

any tyre will slide with 70PSI in it! That's how I drift my 250 😅

Fair enough. In take case just re-use the stock top mounts.

No gain from getting new ones. Given the cost you're better off getting damping adjustable coilovers so you don't compronise on comfort as lowering springs on stock struts will be harsher than coils.

wow, do you live somewhere really dusty? Mine was a bit grey after 15,000 miles but not black like yours. That's crazy. 😲

I have indeed. I go every month for a Japanese meet.

Phil, are you suggesting we host a take over and promote Lexus some more? 😀

That's a road trip and a half!

@Marleez @McShmoopy @ahmed-abrar @Linas.P

It would be nice if we could get together one of the weekends at Caffeine & Machine just outside of Stratford-upon-Avon. Please let me know which dates suit you and we'll go with what the majority votes for. Thanks, Lucas

No clue Ahmed, but im up for it. Organise something? Maybe somewhere arounr Oxford or so? I think most people are down south

This is true. Remap on a modern NA car is 98% time waste of money. We have self learning ECUs etc. There isn't anything they can do in terms of fuel/air adjustment without changing the hardware. If you want power out of NA car then there is only a few options and not all very effective. I know this from tuning a naturally aspirated GT86.. bigger throttle body polished intake manifold for arguably a better air flow intake manifold spacers (better torque mid range, but you're worse off at the top end) exhaust system - remove all catalytic converters from your car, and then you can go for a remap and see real gains. Cat-back exhaust on it's own doesn't do much at all. aggressive air intake ("performance" air filter is nothing noticeable on its own) That's about it. No point adjusting fuel because you will not be able to force enough air into the engine to justify increasing fuel flow. Full cat-less system (headers and secondaries) and air intake will give you max. 15% increase after a remap. And at this point we're closer to £1500 for all of that. Just so your IS250 can potentially make ~230hp. Increase of 20odd hp is noticeable if you only have 200 to begin with, but 10 isn't. And you will get 10 after the right exhaust and the right air intake..and what is the right exhaust and air intake? Who knows. It's an IS250.. a platform that hasn't really been defiled by people who modify cars..yet. I would say, the only thing a remap can do without touching the hardware is better throttle response. That is generally electronically controlled, you can feel the difference if you switch to PWR in your auto IS250 - manuals don't have this button, so we essentially drive in "PWR" all the time. Something that is quite common on Nissans, especially 350/370Z is the fact that WOT isn't actually 100% opened until 4th gear. In 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, the throttle body opens to ~80%. 4th, 5th & 6th gear it's 100% open on WOT (wide open throttle). So with an ECU remap, you can unlock this and get 100% power in all gears.. but I'm not sure if this is the case on Lexus cars.

👀 I'm up for that