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Mon 2 Mar 2015 20:04

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Cluedo

Hi all - I am thinking of ordering a new Lexus IS300h as my next company car to replace a MB C220 cdi. Does anyone have any experience/views on the car.
For a number of reasons the IS works out about £150 a month cheaper than the equivalent 3 series and C class so is looking very tempting.

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Tue 3 Mar 2015 11:55

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - balleballe

A work colleague has one of these.

Very nice on the inside, feels solid and well put together. The ride was quiet so must be well soundproofed

The only criticism I have - which is shared by my work colleague is that the accelation is a little lacklustre.

He commutes 12 miles each way to work and gets around 46mpg (measured brim to brim)

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Tue 3 Mar 2015 21:27

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Wukl

Don't want to teach you to suck eggs, but I'd seriously urge to drive one if you haven't already. I had one as a courtesy car and it was very different to any car I'd driven before. Initially fascinating (all electric mode, LMP1 noises from regen), it soon began to grate with its piped sound and associated weirdly disconnected feel from the CVT. And it’s not that quick.

Financially it will make sense I’m sure, and biggest bonus you’ll be spared the diesel drone and questionable eco-credentials, plus being a Lexus it likely be more reliable than German diesel products. Depends what you value more, how it feels to drive or how it treats your bank account.

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Wed 4 Mar 2015 11:54

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Gary T

I've had mine since last June, my fourth Lexus IS (all three generations) which might tell you something. Amongst them I also ran an E46 BMW 323 for 5 years.

My commute is 10 miles each way in heavy traffic, max speed 40mph so not really suited to modern diesels but the IS300h is brilliant at this. It's also a great motorway cruiser. It doesn't have the instant grunt of a turbo but is actually deceptively quick, especially as there are no gearchanges.

Fuel wise I can get 4 weeks commuting plus weekend use from a tank, my previous IS250 auto and the BMW gave about 2 weeks of similar use and my diesel Lexus IS220d gave 3 weeks. On motorway trips it is easy to get over 50mpg on the trip computer (which reads about 3mpg optimistic).

I would suggest you take a look at the Lexus OC forum, plenty of people on there have one and nobody seems to complain about the way the car drives. Most gripes seem to be about the satnav/infotainment. I've only seen one report there of a breakdown and that was a loose connection on the 12v battery.

By the way the synthesised sound is easily turned off.

Edited by Gary T on 04/03/2015 at 11:56

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Wed 4 Mar 2015 12:07

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Avant

Indeed - go for a long test drive and see if it suits you. If you're looking for sharp handing and what the testers call a 'driver's car', it may not tick your boxes; but if you want to waft from A to B in a relaxed way and above all reliably, a Lexus could be just right.

I think the biggest difference you'll notice is the lack of diesel rumble; and if it would cost £150 pm less than the BMW and Mercedes then no wonder it's tempting.

Edited by Avant on 29/05/2018 at 12:14

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Tue 29 May 2018 11:35

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Hadrian

A little late in the day to reply to this thread I know but,

We have recently bought a 2105 is300h as a replacement for our Civic hybrid. We would have bought another one but they no longer sell them in Europe (bad move).

We've only had the Lexus for a couple of months but are really pleased with it. The display tells us we are getting just under 53mpg, and road tax is £10. The model we have doesn't have all of the bells and whistles like speech recognition. Which most say is more trouble than it's worth. The on board satnav is just too complicated to use when driving. We also get a fair bit of road noise, but this may be down to the Yokohama tyres ? I'm told they are known to be noisy

It's comfortable, and having experience of a CVT gearbox, find it at least as good as Honda's. If you are the type of person who like driving on the bumper of the car in front, and must have a German badge on the front, this may not be the car for you.

Just a shame that most car reviewers don't like cars with CVT gearboxes, and are obsessed with how long a car takes to get from 0 - 60. Also wanting to constantly compare Lexus with German brands.

All in all, it's a very nice car.

Edited by Hadrian on 29/05/2018 at 11:40

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Tue 29 May 2018 12:14

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Avant

Good thread to resurrect, perhaps even more timely than it was three years ago.

I see I commented on it then. About then I had a good long test run in an NX200h: as you imply, this is a very good car for relaxed driving. I'm a relaxed driver, and like you I abhor tailgatilng - but I do like a good burst of acceleration when appropriate, and as with all Toyota-based hybrids, the revs go skywards if you put your foot down.

It'll be interesting to see what the promised new Toyota 2.0 hybrid engine is like. I've read that Toyota are anxious to make their cars more fun to drive (although the existing ones in my experience are a lot better than the magazine testers make out). There are lot of good reasons for buying a Toyota or Lexus, and the reasons are getting stronger.

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Tue 29 May 2018 12:24

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - SLO76

“We have recently bought a 2105 is300h as a replacement for our Civic hybrid.“

Crumbs, a time traveller in our midst. You don’t have the next 87yrs worth of football results so I can earn a few quid too?

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Tue 29 May 2018 14:53

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - skidpan

I'm a relaxed driver, and like you I abhor tailgatilng - but I do like a good burst of acceleration when appropriate, and as with all Toyota-based hybrids, the revs go skywards if you put your foot down.

You are a brave man saying that. When I said pretty much the same thing several months ago (pointing out that I had not driven a hybrid - been a passenger on several business trips in a colleagues and had driven several CVT's) I was rounded upon by the usual crowd of hybrid junkies telling me I did not know how to drive one. If I did the revs and speed would increase together instead of the revs flying skywards and the car eventually catching up.

So I asked where I (and my colleague) were going wrong and what alternative there was to pressing the accelerator to gain a healthy dose of speed for overtaking. Guess how many answers I received, that's correct, a number just below 1.

A plug in hybrid would have suited us just fine for a second car (excpet the CVT) instead of the Fabia. Only one trip on a normal week would have used petrol (wifes visit to her mother - 100 mile round trip. But assuming a PHEV would manage a real world equivalent to about 80mpg (taking recharging into account) and the Fabia's current mpg of 50 (which should get better) we would save about £320 a year on petrol. Over 3 years that is about £1000. We paid £12100 for a high spec 110 PS Fabia so which PHEV could we have got for just over £13000. Answers on a postage stamp please.

One day we will drive a hybrid of some description but not just yet.

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Tue 29 May 2018 19:58

Lexus IS 300h - Lexus ownership - Avant

You and I have thick skins, Skidpan - we can take it!

"One day we will drive a hybrid of some description but not just yet."

My feelings exactly. At the moment PHEVs are either too expensive, or have the CVT revving problem, or both. But they'll get there in the next few years, just as no doubt pure EVs will have more efficient batteries with longer ranges, and remote charging will become possible.

I greatly admire pioneers. But I can't afford to be one with my own money.

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