McShmoopy

I ended up getting my mum a 2009 SE-L IS250C for an absolute bargain as a cat d write off, car had very minimal issues to address and I have driven it a fair amount as well as my IS250 F sport so I can provide a few insights. Doors are definitely longer in the 250C, and the car seems a wee bit longer but still just as easy to drive and just as easy to park. Comparing my F Sport the extra weight of the hard top and mechanism makes this car a little more sluggish compared to the saloon but it’s still plenty fast enough for daily driving. Shame they didn’t have 350s in the Uk As well as the 350C as that would be perfect speed wise for the hard top! With the roof tray packed away in the boot, you do get an adequately usable sized boot. I did manage to fit a few suitcases in there to take to the airport but with the roof tray expect only a few shopping bags at best to fit in the car. interstingly the IS250C is the only car that I’m aware that came with the built in TPMS, I don’t think our standard 250 Saloons come with that. They don’t come with a spare tire as standard so that could be the reason why I suppose. The back seats are only really usable for storage, and Small children and the occasional short journey and if you’re over 6ft it is very unsuitable for passengers however’ I’m only 5ft7 and thr passengers I’ve had aren’t moaning too much haha . that being said, if you can pick one up at a good price and practicality isn’t an issue I think it’s very much worth it and it’s a lovely car to drive!

E10 should be suitable for cars after 2010 but if the E10 does linger for a while in the car I have heard it can mess with fuel lines. That being said I’ve noticed the economy on E10 is significantly worse than E5 so I know what I’ll be sticking with!

My mums IS250C has some issue with lifting the boot, the gas struts have worn out so I'll need to get these regassed or changed, haven't found a straight swap as a replacement and the dealer want £100 per strut 🙄

I had a very similar thing with my IS250 F Sport when I first got it. The MOT stated something to the effect of corrosion or grease substance covering brake pipes. See my post belpw After showing fellow members, they advised my vehicle looked absolutely fine and because its a high mileage motorway miles car this seemed fairly normal. After taking it to a Lexus specialist local to me I asked them about this and they just told me its oil or grease on it and the brake pipes are absolutely fine, some MOTs can be quite over zealous but mine cleared absolutely fine. I've attached my latest MOTs and notice the third one mentions corroded brake pipes but this has been cleared now as of my latest MOT under my ownership. You definitely need a second impression, I wouldn't take what the LEXUS dealer say at their word as they want to make some money! Take it to a toyota / lexus specialist closest to you and see what they have to say.

Thanks for the info guys, I've just checked in the 2009 IS250C SE-L I have available and my personal saloon 2010 IS250 F sport and only he IS250C had the tyre pressure monitoring. It is strange they only introduced it in the convertible but could it be because there is no spare tyre with the convertible compared to the saloon?

I wouldn’t bother paying anyone to install it for you, it’s better to DIY it as you have access to everything and know where it all is. If you need some help i don’t mind helping out if you’re fairly local or a fellow forum member closer to you if yoh prefer!

Hi Gaurav, if you're wanting Apple CarPlay the best way to go about it is an android unit to integrate or replace your existing infotainment. You have two major options, the first being a generic option to provide android / apple CarPlay or you can spend a bit more money and invest in a GROM VLINE or a similar other system which fully integrates into the OEM system and retains all original controls. I'll provide some examples for your below. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000904190972.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.df0873ccE7xh8h&algo_pvid=27c3d093-d010-43a2-91ff-6ea823411bcd&algo_exp_id=27c3d093-d010-43a2-91ff-6ea823411bcd-0&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"10000010481521254"} https://gromaudio.co.uk/select-lexus-2013-2018-grom-vline-vl2-infotainment-system-upgrade-video-interface-lex8.html#Description_0 If you don't care for audio quality (Or lack a Mark Levinson system) a cheapo android head unit may be the way to go. If you do however care about your audio quality or retaining the original OEM controls such as climate control I'd steer in the direction of the GROM. I personally have a 2nd Gen IS250 F sport and because audio quality was very important to me I shelled out for a GROM and while it wasn't at all cheap, it was certainly worth it at least in my case.

I was under the impression the IS250 2nd Gen didnt have a tyre pressure monitoring system! Was this included in all trim levels or only a few of them?

I don't think it's something to get too worried about. The Americans have lower quality fuel than what is the lowest grade in the UK (95 Octane) so if it is a point of concern you could be using Shel V power occasionally or add an engine cleaning additive to stave off carbon build up. I know this was addressed with the 2009 facelifts but I don't think there are very many horror story cases in the UK for carbon build up. Doing that combined with regular servicing either yearly or every 5k to 10k miles the car shouldn't give you any major issues.

I have both a 2010 F sport and access to my mums 2009 IS250C, there is no window movement with any of the standard saloons so there could be a mechanical or electrical issue with your drivers side. Might be worth taking it to a Lexus dealer and see if they can diagnose it, otherwise hopefully someone else on the forum has experienced this issue and can help you resolve it!

Easiest option is to buy a pretty bog standard aux to Bluetooth adapter and that should give you pretty good functionality. I don’t think steering wheel controls will work so you could consider one with physical buttons to allow you to change track aswell as other Bluetooth options. UGREEN Bluetooth Aux Adapter Car Aux Bluetooth v5.0 Receiver Wireless USB Audio Adaptor with 3.5mm Jack for Car / Home Stereo Music Streaming Built-in Microphone Plug & Play Auto on Handsfree Car Kit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081GGB53R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_T218KPAY0PBHHNSTKB19?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 There is also a way to retrofit somewhat native Bluetooth into the IS250 stereo also via a product like this, I’ll link to the forum member who mentioned this.

I’ve got a Texaco right next to my house and have been filling up with the E10 there and I’ve noticed significantly worse economy compared to their super unleaded E5 before September. Even with a somewhat light foot I’ve been getting roughly 22mpg in my tank average! On top of that the fuel prices are an absolute joke at almost 150 per litre so on the occasion I’m driving past Derby I’ve been filling up at Costco as it was significantly cheaper (125) until recently and that’s now at 140ish. I think with my next full tank I’ll be sticking with the E5 exclusively as the extra £10 to £15 should hopefully bring me back up to high 20s and low 30s! If things keep getting worse I may have to consider getting a hybrid or consider an LPG conversion 🙄

Definitely, the good thing is with yours being a pre facelift vehicle I believe the GROM works 100% OOB unlike mine which required some work haha. I believe there is a group guy going on for the GROM unit on the Facebook group so you can get roughly £100 / $100 off so that might be worth a look! https://www.facebook.com/groups/696386090967018/permalink/950461345559490/

To be honest it is alot of money to part with, however it depends what you are after. With your vehicle being a pre facelift, you can easily get a much cheaper android head unit for as low as £100 and it will provide the full android experience as well as Apple CarPlay. Now while you get this, you will lose the OEM functions of the cars infotainment and you'll need to tinker to get your existing parking camera to behave with the android unit. Not to mention Climate Control will not be as it was (sometimes this will be via buttons or a dedicated climate control app) and audio quality will be seriously degraded due to the cheapo Chinese DACs and components. Now putting all that into perspective, if you don't care about the audio quality and retaining full OEM functionality the android unit does seem the better option. The benefit of the GROM is that it keeps all the OEM functions intact, and the biggest thing for me (being a musician / audiophile) the quality of the audio is not degraded in a significant way and my mark Levinson system sounds fabulous. For me that alone was worth the money as I sought out my facelift IS F sport for a while because it was one of the new facelift vehicles I've seen with Mark Levinson audio as they seemed to not make it a standard option!

SGS engineering would be your best bet, two of the struts I've linked will allow you to open the boot with minimal force and can be done with your finger. If you want the boot struts to open automatically when the button is pressed, a suggestion that Ahmed made to me is If you add a medium load compression spring to the struts this will provide enough force for the boot to auto open but still allow it to be closed with ease (the caveat of higher strength springs that it makes it harder to close the boot) so this is a good alternative! I haven't got around to this myself but you should ask him for specifics https://www.sgs-engineering.com/gsc2655-lexus-is300-boot-strut

I think I heard this tip from Chris Fix, but using a a Ceramic Coating to seal the headlights may be a good option to ensure they do start discolouring too soon!

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I may have an interesting update for everyone. I've got my mums IS250C with only the one key, and the key itself is somewhat unreliable in opening the car despite multiple battery swaps. I've got the car booked in with Lexus Nottingham to diagnose the car for me but I've also arranged a guy from CAT AUTOKeys to pop around on Friday to supply me with a replacement genuine OEM key and program it for £250 all in. They're a local company to me in Nottingham but they seem to cover a range of areas in the midlands and reviews seems to look quite good. From what I saw they've managed to do a Genuine RX450h key based on their social media. I'll let you know how I get on, but I'll ask what's the procedure if both keys are lost and how they can get into the vehicle also as well as prices... could be handy including finding out if we can programme keys via toyota tech stream!

No worries, I'd recommend getting it from somewhere like Amazon. I bought a VLAND set of tail lights and headlights via the official VLAND website and they've lost my tail lights in the mail and I've had to open a PayPal case against them to send me out the tail lights! Customer service leaves alot to be desired so Amazon will be much better in that regard 🙂

Many documented cases on fellow members of their VLAND headlights passing without issue at MOT, however it depends which garage you take it too and how particular they are. The VLANDs will need adjustment out of the box so they may fail it on that basis if adjusted poorly. Yeah the VLANDs will fit the IS250C no problem

How are you attempting to connect the phone, I'm unfamiliar with Nokias and face-lifted IS's have bluetooth connectivity and USB connectivity supported as well as AUX. Your best bet is probably bluetooth or AUX, only USB sticks and iPhones/ iPods work in the USB slot im sure.

It was more an issue with American cars but thats down to them not using premium fuel I believe as well as their octane ratings being different, the IS350 didnt suffer from that as it had both direct injectors and port injectors I believe.

Hi mate I’ve got a 2010 F Sport and they’re fantastic cars but a few things to keep in mind. I picked up my 136k miler for around £4500 last year Christmas so see if there is room to haggle! These cars are best to be grabbed as high milers as they are over engineered for reliability so as long as the car wasn’t abused and had regular maintenance they’ll go on easily beyond 200k miles. Check the service records, 60k is the usual time to get the spark plugs changed but these are sometimes done every 100k miles. Could be a good way to get the price down if it hasn’t been done or is due. Generally as long as the car has been serviced every year you shouldn’t run into any problems, the car is also very easy to work on yourself so that can help with keeping maintenance costs down. The pre facelift/2009 versions had an issue with carbon buildup but this was addressed addressed with the first facelift so you should have a bulletproof engine 2009 onwards. Car should run fine on 95 octane fuel as well as the new E10 also if it’s facelifed. You can tell a car is facelifted by the presence of wing mirror indicators and a few styling queue. I love my F Sport but the ride is quite a bit firmer and the exhaust and engine noises are louder than a non f sport variant. It’s worth checking also the specs as the 2009-2010 facelifts and 2011 onwards facelifts are different. Certain things such as the memory settings for passenger and driver were oddly deleted in 2011+ vehicles but my 2010 still has this. Easiest way to tell is by the presence of the blue f sport badge or the white one on the side of the car, white will be the newer facelift and that has deleted a few options. If you can live without memory seats it’s still a fantastic car and overall I like the new wheels and f sport badging personally. the car will come with Bluetooth and iPhone / USB connectivity so you should be good to go with it infotainment wise. There is now an option to retrofit a GROM vline2 into these newer IS250s to get wireless apple carplay / android auto so that is an option too if you want to modernise the infotainment!

No worries mate let us know how you get on!

I've got a 2010 F Sport with a GROM VLINE LEX6 and only after some major back and forth with GROM were we able to get it fully working. In terms of your situation, you'd be much better off getting an Android Unit such as this to replace the screen unit to get a full android experience. Its quite difficult to convert from Non NAVI to NAVI and even then you may not get everything fully working such as reverse cameras or climate control. The downside of android is the AC controls can be hit or miss but I believe these units come with a UK compatible CANBUS so it should work fine, you will lose some audio fidelity compared to the OEM Pioneer but getting an android unit with a good DSP can help mitigate this. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001184644967.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.2a0d27fdrKO3dr&algo_pvid=1a4097d7-0593-4566-a3c2-12c3f28f1c43&algo_exp_id=1a4097d7-0593-4566-a3c2-12c3f28f1c43-19&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000016808205714"}

I’ve had my 2010 F sport since December of last year and I love it to bits. I have done a direct comparison between an SE-L with 18 wheels compared to my F sport with 18 wheels and the ride definitely firmer for sure. Whereas the SE-L wafts you over the bumps the F sport you definitely feel them. This could be down to how awful potholes are and road quality but it’s still a very comfortable ride. This can be further improved with better tyres and I’ve opted for continental eco contacts to help improve this as well as the fuel economy its worth noting that F sports have almost as good spec as an SE-L you do however miss out on heated windscreen, illuminated door sills, cooled seats and rear blinds. Certain 2010 /11 models come with further facelifts such as DRL headlights, new f sport styling and nicer alloys however the memory seats are deleted. For me the memory seats were a must so I’ve opted for a 2010 and I’m very pleased with it.