IS250 SE 4dr Saloon Auto

Very Reliable, Smooth, but Likes Fuel!!

This time last year .... I had reached a crossroads in my motoring experience: I was bored of manual transmissions, and the poor condition of UK roads! I needed a very reliable car with an automatic gearbox, and a reasonably smooth ride. Enter the Lexus IS250!

The car looks reasonable for a 13-year-old car. The lines and shapes are a little dated now, but no worse than a BMW 3 Series of the same age. Lexus obviously galvanized these vehicles well - no rust, apart from a very small/old stone chip .... you can barely see it, and it isn't growing.

The interior is straighforward and quite classy. My vehicle doesn't have a satnav built into the dashboard, but I hear that they can be troublesome in their old age. The seats are fairly confortable, and so is the driving position. There isn't much headroom. After a few weeks of driving, the dashboard starting making rattling/cracking sounds, which were annoying. After searching the Internet for info, I discovered that the issue is well-known. I solved 95% of the noises by stuffing black neoprene foam segments (1cm thick, folded over) in the gap between the dashboard and the windscreen. Lexus can also solve the problem for you for approx £700 ... I'd rather spend £15 on foam thank you :-)

The car is very nice place to be - the seats are comfortable, and I could drive this car all day long. The automatic gearbox is very smooth, and the Sport Mode gives you some control over the gears. This isn't a performance car, so don't bother racing anything!

This isn't the most practical car. The boot is of reasonable size, and the rear seats don't fold.

The reliability has been nothing short of incredible - no problems in nearly 20,000 miles of driving on some pretty awful roads. No bulb failures at all! The 2.5 litre engine is well-known to burn a little oil, so I check the oil level on a weekly basis. I drive thousands of miles between top-ups, by the way. In my opinion, Lexus should be selling many more cars in the UK, however ..... badge snobbery is alive and well. If this car were a BMW or an Audi .... car journalists and buyers would have gone crazy for it.

The fuel consumption is "reasonable", but it's a small price to pay for such a reliable, relaxing car.

Report as offensive