Test Drove A Is250

[AKK]

Well, I finally drove one.

The dealer had 18 inch wheels on all of them, so I had to drive that. Does that make a big diff in the handling vs the stock 17 inch wheels?

The car is a bit small if your a big person, ie 6 ft. I'm 5'6 and my wife is 5 ft, so we fit good.

In the back seat, there's like 3 inches of head room for me. If my wife drives, she puts the seat 100% up, so there's enough room for me to sit in the back.

Of course, i'm only thinking about the once in 6mo we have to drive with 4 adults, 99% I'll be in it myself.

The forward facing car seats will fit fine. The huge bulky rear seat ones may have trouble. They will fit in the middle, and may fit on the side seats but it will be tight.

Fit and finish is great, the seats were the vented/heated and were very comfy. Are the base seats just as comfy?

The vented seats were very nice, I'd love to get that feature, but I dont want to get that and the nav. So if I had to pick between the two, I'd probably get the nav. Better resale with it, and probably more useful considering in the bay area the climate is 70 deg all the time, so I wouldn't really miss the vented seats.

The car drove very well, It is more refined than the TSX, and the tsx does feel a tad sportier in terms of suspension/road feel. But just a tad.

The acceleration was smooth and linear, it wasn't as high revving as the Vtech, but I never floored it, or went past 50 mph.

Steering was nice, and the turning radius is short. I will say the perforated steering wheel on the tsx is 20X better. I've never felt such a comfy/nice steering wheel.

The base stereo sounded better than the base TSX.

The sales guy did'nt know if I could get a base IS + just the nav. He was implying the nav ones have an extra package on it also (like the seat package).

The sticker says 24/32 mpg, is that realistic?

Question: When driving, if u dont have a route set, can you see your car on the map, and then scroll around the map, zoom out etc?

I understand u can't input an address. Can you search/input for anything?

Warranties: Has anyone heard of the extended warranties offered by Geico? They are saying for $3.00/month extra ontop of my normal car ins, they will warranty everything to 100 000/7 years, and the catch is that the deductible is $250 per repair, and it must start at 15 000 miles or before.

That doesn't seem like a bad deal, cuz I can have 5 repairs before I reach what I would have paid for the extended warranty.

And Lexus is 50K anyway, plus 70K for the power train, so that seems like a good deal. Thoughts on this?

Has anyone tried to buy a new IS and demand the dealer does the TSB on the brakes before taking possession of it?

[tex2670]

Nav is similar to Honda's--you see your car on screen if no route is selected. You can do lots of things with the nav screen while driving--zoom, change settings and POI, you just cant enter an address.

As to the Geico warranty, get a copy of it. With a $250 deductible, and I'll bet a long list of exclusions, you are going to need something MAJOR to happen for that to pay off. I had a Honda factory extended warranty on my TL. They replaced the seat heater that went bad, and maybe one other thing that I can't remember (which never could have been $250). They would not replace the auto dimming mirror, which stopped dimming. I called Honda Finance corporate to argue the point, and they said it's a mirror, and mirrors are excluded. Even though there was nothing wrong with the glass--it was the electronics/fluid inside the mirror (the dealer agreed with me, and comp'ed me the part). It was totally not worth it (even with only a $50 deductible). There's no way I'd ever get an extended warranty with a $250 deductible--that's why it's only $22/month. The actuaries have figured out that they are unlikely to lose out on this proposition.

[AKK]

Nav is similar to Honda's--you see your car on screen if no route is selected. You can do lots of things with the nav screen while driving--zoom, change settings and POI, you just cant enter an address.

As to the Geico warranty, get a copy of it. With a $250 deductible, and I'll bet a long list of exclusions, you are going to need something MAJOR to happen for that to pay off. I had a Honda factory extended warranty on my TL. They replaced the seat heater that went bad, and maybe one other thing that I can't remember (which never could have been $250). They would not replace the auto dimming mirror, which stopped dimming. I called Honda Finance corporate to argue the point, and they said it's a mirror, and mirrors are excluded. Even though there was nothing wrong with the glass--it was the electronics/fluid inside the mirror (the dealer agreed with me, and comp'ed me the part). It was totally not worth it (even with only a $50 deductible). There's no way I'd ever get an extended warranty with a $250 deductible--that's why it's only $22/month. The actuaries have figured out that they are unlikely to lose out on this proposition.

Can someone confirm if Lexus makes the Base RWD /Auto car with just the nav option?

After researching, I'm under the impression that Lexus does not offer that combo at all. That if I want the Nav, I have to get some 5K package first.

Can anyone give me info on this? My budget was 30ish, not 40ish.

I'm astonished Lexus doesn't have an Internet "rep" going around on these forums answering questions.

[Rx330driver]

AKK, you can special order the car from Japan. They could do a nationwide search for the one your looking for, and if they dont actually make it (although im sure they do), they can make the exact car you want within 3 months. However, if you have to wait that long, you might as well order a 2008 one.

[AKK]

AKK, you can special order the car from Japan. They could do a nationwide search for the one your looking for, and if they dont actually make it (although im sure they do), they can make the exact car you want within 3 months. However, if you have to wait that long, you might as well order a 2008 one.

Does anyone know or seen a base IS250 with just the nav?

Do dealers even have base IS250's to sell? Or is it like the Honda civic DX and they dont even stock the model, or make 10 just for pricing purposes?

[Bluey]

I've never seen a base model with Nav, and it wasn't an option on the base model here in Oz.

Only the Sports can have it fitted and is standard on the Sports Luxury model.

[AKK]

I've never seen a base model with Nav, and it wasn't an option on the base model here in Oz.

Only the Sports can have it fitted and is standard on the Sports Luxury model.

Ok, but does Lexus even make the base model?

The lowest base I've seen is an Auto, no nav

and the PT package (vented seats) and the 18 inch wheel packages.

I could handle buying the PT package, but I dont want the 18 wheels due to cost and cost of replacement tires in thats size.

[tex2670]

I've never seen a base model with Nav, and it wasn't an option on the base model here in Oz.

Only the Sports can have it fitted and is standard on the Sports Luxury model.

Ok, but does Lexus even make the base model?

The lowest base I've seen is an Auto, no nav

and the PT package (vented seats) and the 18 inch wheel packages.

I could handle buying the PT package, but I dont want the 18 wheels due to cost and cost of replacement tires in thats size.

You are contemplating purchasing a sports sedan for $32-34K, and what gives you pause is having to spend an extra $400 when you need to replace the tires? Also--there's nothing that requires you to buy OEM replacement tires; you can always look for something cheaper then.