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.

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!

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!

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!

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.