2007 Lexus IS250 five star safety rating
December 20, 2006 by Alborz Fallah
Sometimes I really wonder about these safety ratings, seems like most new Japanese cars are doing really well with safety, specially those from Toyota, Subaru, Honda and even the locally made Mitsubishi 380. So it was no surprise that the Lexus IS250 was awarded the highest rating of five stars, for driver and passenger protection in Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) tests.
So what does it take to get a five star safety rating? Well it all starts with airbags, how many? Eight airbags as standard and including world-first twin-chamber airbag technology. The Lexus IS250 has a new twin-chamber SRS front passenger’s airbag and driver and front passenger’s SRS knee airbags. The front passenger’s airbag is designed to lessen the impact of airbag deployment on the front-seat passenger. In addition to the eight SRS airbags, IS250 Sports Luxury has a breakthrough Pre-Collision Safety System (PCS).
You might be wondering if all these new techno gadgets actually do anything useful? Well the pre-tension technology has been around, but the Lexus version activates under 3 different scenarios
- the inter-distance ECU determines a collision is unavoidable;
- the Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and electronic braking ECU determine that emergency braking has been applied;
- the vehicle is understeering or spinning.
The car also comes with an advanced V shape to create a depression in the centre of the airbag upon deployment and better distribute physical impact to the shoulders and upper torso. Both the driver and front passenger airbags are designed to deploy in two stages according to the extent of the accident impact.
Although these days it seems like everyone is getting a five start safety rating, the IS250 was amongst only 2 others (Subaru Tribeca and the new Mercedes-Benz B Class) to get the 5 star rating.
“We are pleased that manufacturers are responding to ANCAP’s call for a full airbag package in new vehicles,” said NRMA vehicle safety expert Jack Haley.
Curtain airbags are usually not standard equipement on many models these days but Lexus has a point to prove, Lexus wants to be the best in everything, they set out to defeat Mercedes and BMW in their own game of Luxury, Reliability, and Safety and so far they have done an amazing job!
Its good to see that a great deal of people take safety into consideration when purchasing a new car. Its really simple actually, the difference in driving a car with traction control and one without can mean the difference between going sideways into a tree or regaining control of your car! It doesn’t matter how good of a driver you are, you can always do with more safety features!
Print it: 
Safety is great. You can have all the gadgets in the world which can assist is preventing or avioding an accident.
But when you have a Lexus IS250, you want to crash and destroy the car, just so you can claim the money on insurance.
Thinking of an IS250? Think again.
First Service (approximatley 1200kms)
- Seat “crackling” noise, solution – “retightening” of seat
- Sunroof “squeeking”, solution – “lubricant” in the seals
- 1 day in service
Second Service (approximatley 3000kms)
- A pillar knock/rattle, solution – check and reinstall of a pillar
- Dash scratching sounds, solution – removal of dash and completiong of TSB
- squeek/rattle from roof lining, solution – replacement of “warped” roof lining x2!! (two roof linings on the service report!)
- 8 days in service!
Third Service (approximatley 3005kms – thats right, when i picked up the car!)
- Passenger Door lock jambed
- 1 day in service
Fourth Service (approximatley 3005kms – Again, when i picked up the car after the 3rd service!)
- Passenger door trim (the one where the lock was “fixed”) hanging loose, from broken clips!
- 30 mins wait for them to fix it again
Recent Issues (approximatley 3500kms)
- Lubricant seeping from gaps in the dash!!!, especially when the weather warms up
- Sun visor screw caps physically damaged coming loose when using sun visors
- Audio system completly out of alignment, LHS, you can see the chassis of the dash!
- More squeeks from the roof lining behind the sunroof
These issues seem to stem from the first and 2nd services i had!
All these issues in under 4000kms, and less then 3 months ownership. Suffice to say i will never buy a Lexus again. Do yourself a favor pay the extra dosh, and get the BMW.
For me this was a tough decision. Once you have owned a BMW, and you are buying a new car, you typically want to buy the new model. I Drove the new 325 more than 3 times and back to back with the Lexus IS 250 and then the A4 and C series. I have previously owned 2 x 3 series and a c series in past. I must add that both the 3 and C series are South African built and the quality is a shambles, but what do you expect when you use scab labour in a 3rd world economy to stick the German badge on the South African car. Yes it is a pity that German cars are not German and it is a pity when you start to look at the detail of what you are actually buying that has been assembled by these poor uneducated souls is rubbish.
Enough on the South African cars and their quality!
The IS250 is simply superlative in all areas, superior performance and bang for buck, superior equipment such as the smog sniffer that changes your ventilation over when you find yourself behind an old Mitsubishi Magna belching blue smoke, it is truely ingenious the way it works. The keyless entry can be a bit intimidating the first few times you use it, but again, true genious, you never have to fumble for your keys again. Heated and Cooled seats… wait until the Germans figure out how all this works and can add this one to their South African list of options….
As far as Luxury, nothing – NOTHING comes even close in refinement, quietness, smoothness, agility and sheer driving pleasure! Sorry Mr BMW, you lost that phrase to Lexus. I have done the ownership and the drive thing with you twice now and its over, you and I will never do business again.
Do your research and read all the reviews you can, as you will find after owning a German Badged car and then owning a LEXUS this will leave you wondering, why you would ever consider driving or owning anything else, I know for me that would be a significant step backwards.
Oh, and they pick it up and leave you a car when it is time for service. Did I mention the free car wash anytime I want one? Oh, and the services are FREE with my fleet plan.
It doesn’t come any more luxurious than this!
Couldn’t agree more with Stephen. I researched long and hard for 12 months – to make sure my hard-earned and long-saved $55K would go the furthest. I was set on buying a ‘European’. I researched and drove every model in the 45-60K bracket. I tried convincing myself that a ‘European’ was the way to go. Frustrated, I took a punt and test drove the IS250. Finally…what a relief…’game over’!! This was the car – and for the past 3 months, Ive been a thrilled owner of an IS250. What I learnt during my research was that the Europeans are all ‘talk’ whilst the Japanese just shut up and do it!
Audi and BMW in particular infuriated me with their massive options lists (eg. Audi A4 – centre armrest and remote boot release as options – c’mon give me a break!! – even a $13K Hyundai has that as standard!!). To ’spec up’ the Audi A4, the BMW 320 and the VW Passat to the same level as the Lexus IS250, would’ve cost me 20K+ extra – in a car that was inferior in build quality, driveability and reliability to the IS250 anyhow. If you want a BADGE, then I guess stick with an Audi, BMW, or Merc – however if you want the best CAR – buy the Lexus. Oh yeah, and the Germans could learn a thing or two (particularly VW) from Lexus on ‘customer service’ and ‘attitude’ too!
nothing
I bought my IS250 a few weeks ago. Was a prestige, with the pack upgrade (sunroof, mark levinson, reverse camera, sat nav and voice recognition phone kit) – i\’m absolutely ecstatic.
Main reason i looked at this was i needed knee airbags, due to a previous car accident. I looked around, a car with similar (but less) features was the Ford Mondeo. When i saw the price tag (approx $48k) the decision was simple. $48k for a ford, that within 1 week will be worth less than the fuel in the tank, or a prestige lexus with amazing features for $70k??
A little afterr my purchase, and it was time to start making payments. i began thinking, \”maybe i shouldnt have spent so much on a car\”… All until a woman pulled out in front of me while i was doing 100km/h, at night, in the wet. I braked, swerved, avoided her and got back in my lane – all due to the safety features in this car.
Its worth every cent. All 7 million of them!
I’d hoped to never drive anything but Volvos. Then Ford gobbled up Volvo, and so I decided to keep my old one, indefinitely. It lasted fifteen years and 430,000 miles. Then, someone in a giant SUV ran a redlight at 80mph, and slammed into the passenger’s side. I walked away from the wreck (after being awakened by emergency personnel) at least until I was put on a stretcher….
I’m writing from America. Hope my terminology is not too unfamiliar.
Anyway, I’d noticed the IS series. First attractive Lexus, IMHO. The Volvo had been the love of my life, and so I car-shopped with bitter, detached, cynicism. IS250 offered me Lexus status (to be blunt), high safety ratings, highest reliability in its class, and lowest cost to own in its class. Plus, it’s a beautiful car, which, like it or not, enhances my clients’ perception of my competence.
I loved everything about my 9-Series Volvo. Loved the velvet seats, lack of a sunroof, lack of metallic paint…all perfect for me. Ergonomically, the car was perfection. All this is to say that I was not amenable to being impressed by the Lexus.
At first, I was seduced by the feel of the leather steering wheel. And I thought that the lack of vibration was just a new car thing, until I read that Lexus put 80 separate vibration dampers into the IS. The car is really smooth, and feels like a big luxury car, despite its tiny size. It has the solidity of the old Mercedes. But the doors close with a plush precision that I cannot describe. I’ve had the car for eleven months and fourteen thousand miles. So far, everything has worked flawlessly. The three mileage displays (real-time, tank average, & overall average) are fantastic. That feedback is retraining me on efficient driving. I’m up to 30.9 MPG: significantly higher than the official mileage. I’ve yet to look under the hood (bonnet), or read the owner’s manual. Nonetheless, I’m slowly falling in love with the car.
The sound system, I will NOT fall in love with. I cannot use it. Even with the base and midrange turned basically OFF, there is a lot of infrasonic/base range. I do not wish to “feel” the music. The fancy schmancy sound system is worse than worthless to me. I have a few foreign language CDs loaded, but even they hurt my ears, after a few minutes. And there is more road noise than I’d expect. But the car is quiet enough for phone conversations at highway speed…something that became difficult as my Volvo aged. I am not a sports car person, and I am not happy with the lowness of the car. But I’m getting used to it.
Being pampered at the dealer’s took no getting used to. From the minute the salesman and Manager shook my hand and said “Welcome to the family.” I have been treated like royalty. This experience is SO different from the way that owners of Jaguars and Mercedes are treated in this town. They are treated quite shabbily. And I had previously known nothing but thinly-disguised disdain from dealers, in my decades of driving. So, to be treated like a potentate, every time I go in for service, is really a deciding factor for me. I will happily ignore my unusable sound system, if I can be pampered so royally by my dealer. I’d always wanted a Bentley. Now, I think I’ll just trade up for the long-wheelbase flagship Lexus, in two years.