2009 Is250 Awd - New Owner Questions & Comments

[Lexusinlex]

Hello Lexus Owners:

I just purchased my 09 IS250 AWD - pearl white, NAV, Backup camera, HID's, Ventilated Seats, and ML Audio. I had a 2007 Mercedes Benz C230 Sport which was a great car, but terrible in the snow and the rain. I had been looking at cars for quite a while including Mercedes E-Class, Hummer H2, Mercedes GLK, BMW 3 Series, and a Lexus RX. I went to the lot for a final test drive on the RX. I saw the IS and thought - why not- so I test drove it and feel in love. Not to knock Mercedes, but the Lexus is a very well made car. BMW is just okay- good performance, but you have to spend an additional 14K to get all the options versus my Lexus.

We had a good amount of snow fall this morning and I would be apprehensive in my Mercedes driving in the snow. Previous to my purchase of my IS, I did a 180 degree turn in the middle of a three lane highway in my Mercedes. I am a very cautious driver and wasn't doing over 25 mph, but there is no controling the Mercedes with the large rear sport tires.

The Lexus went right on this morning, no hesitation, not even a spin. So I feel very comfortable driving to work in my new car. I am in love and MY INSURANCE IS CHEAPER THAN MY MERCEDES- WTF?

Anyway, I have a couple of questions for the group:

1) In the very cold weather we have - mornings in the 10's and 20's, is it hard on the NAV system to display? It just seems to me that the LCD screen would not be operable in this type of weather.

2) Is there anyway to start the car to warm up and lock it? I usually start it up and leave the fob with me- atleast a theif isn't going to get very far.

3) The engine seems to be louder than other cars I have driven- especially at Idle- Has anyone else noticed this? I think I am not used to the "Lexus Sound".

4) Any cool modifications that are easy to do?

Thanks for all your comments and look forward to reading your responses.

~Justin- Lexington, Kentucky.

[BillyShaft]

Hey Justin! Welcome and congrats on your new ride.

You sound like you are going through the same shopping process that we have gone through each time we update our cars. I like the Merc, love the BMW, appreciate the Cayenne; but we just can't justify the upcharge.

I can only swing on one of your questions...we have never had an issue with the LCD NAV display on any of our RX's. We get some pretty cold temperatures here in Utah and the display has never given us issue.

Oh, and one more thing...post a pic of your new ride! It sounds beautiful!

[smooth1]

Hello Lexus Owners:

I just purchased my 09 IS250 AWD - pearl white, NAV, Backup camera, HID's, Ventilated Seats, and ML Audio. I had a 2007 Mercedes Benz C230 Sport which was a great car, but terrible in the snow and the rain. I had been looking at cars for quite a while including Mercedes E-Class, Hummer H2, Mercedes GLK, BMW 3 Series, and a Lexus RX. I went to the lot for a final test drive on the RX. I saw the IS and thought - why not- so I test drove it and feel in love. Not to knock Mercedes, but the Lexus is a very well made car. BMW is just okay- good performance, but you have to spend an additional 14K to get all the options versus my Lexus.

We had a good amount of snow fall this morning and I would be apprehensive in my Mercedes driving in the snow. Previous to my purchase of my IS, I did a 180 degree turn in the middle of a three lane highway in my Mercedes. I am a very cautious driver and wasn't doing over 25 mph, but there is no controling the Mercedes with the large rear sport tires.

The Lexus went right on this morning, no hesitation, not even a spin. So I feel very comfortable driving to work in my new car. I am in love and MY INSURANCE IS CHEAPER THAN MY MERCEDES- WTF?

Anyway, I have a couple of questions for the group:

1) In the very cold weather we have - mornings in the 10's and 20's, is it hard on the NAV system to display? It just seems to me that the LCD screen would not be operable in this type of weather.

2) Is there anyway to start the car to warm up and lock it? I usually start it up and leave the fob with me- atleast a theif isn't going to get very far.

3) The engine seems to be louder than other cars I have driven- especially at Idle- Has anyone else noticed this? I think I am not used to the "Lexus Sound".

4) Any cool modifications that are easy to do?

Thanks for all your comments and look forward to reading your responses.

~Justin- Lexington, Kentucky.

Welcome to the LOC.

[IS250_rookie]

Anyway, I have a couple of questions for the group:

1) In the very cold weather we have - mornings in the 10's and 20's, is it hard on the NAV system to display? It just seems to me that the LCD screen would not be operable in this type of weather.

2) Is there anyway to start the car to warm up and lock it? I usually start it up and leave the fob with me- atleast a theif isn't going to get very far.

3) The engine seems to be louder than other cars I have driven- especially at Idle- Has anyone else noticed this? I think I am not used to the "Lexus Sound".

4) Any cool modifications that are easy to do?

Thanks for all your comments and look forward to reading your responses.

~Justin- Lexington, Kentucky.

1)With 10's - 20's there shouldn't be any problem. I don't have a NAV but my LCD displays freeze up and are slow to react when it's really cold. But that's normal.

2) There is no way to lock it. Think of it this way, how would it be different if you had a key instead of a fob. Also, once you start it, a thief doesn't need the fob to drive it.

3)Lexus is pretty quiet, maybe not as quite as other models since this is supposed to be a sporty model(sigh).

4)What kind of mods are you speaking of? I know you can select personal settings at the dealer.

[tex2670]

Hello Lexus Owners:

I just purchased my 09 IS250 AWD - pearl white, NAV, Backup camera, HID's, Ventilated Seats, and ML Audio. I had a 2007 Mercedes Benz C230 Sport which was a great car, but terrible in the snow and the rain. I had been looking at cars for quite a while including Mercedes E-Class, Hummer H2, Mercedes GLK, BMW 3 Series, and a Lexus RX. I went to the lot for a final test drive on the RX. I saw the IS and thought - why not- so I test drove it and feel in love. Not to knock Mercedes, but the Lexus is a very well made car. BMW is just okay- good performance, but you have to spend an additional 14K to get all the options versus my Lexus.

We had a good amount of snow fall this morning and I would be apprehensive in my Mercedes driving in the snow. Previous to my purchase of my IS, I did a 180 degree turn in the middle of a three lane highway in my Mercedes. I am a very cautious driver and wasn't doing over 25 mph, but there is no controling the Mercedes with the large rear sport tires.

The Lexus went right on this morning, no hesitation, not even a spin. So I feel very comfortable driving to work in my new car. I am in love and MY INSURANCE IS CHEAPER THAN MY MERCEDES- WTF?

Anyway, I have a couple of questions for the group:

1) In the very cold weather we have - mornings in the 10's and 20's, is it hard on the NAV system to display? It just seems to me that the LCD screen would not be operable in this type of weather.

2) Is there anyway to start the car to warm up and lock it? I usually start it up and leave the fob with me- atleast a theif isn't going to get very far.

3) The engine seems to be louder than other cars I have driven- especially at Idle- Has anyone else noticed this? I think I am not used to the "Lexus Sound".

4) Any cool modifications that are easy to do?

Thanks for all your comments and look forward to reading your responses.

~Justin- Lexington, Kentucky.

1--It barely got out of the 20's here in Penna last week--no problems with the screen. I've also had a Honda with nav for 5 years, and never seen the weather cause a problem with it.

2--Cannot be done.

3--I was coming out of an Acura, so it sounded odd to me too. But it's normal.

4--My only mods are the Lexus Personalized Settings.

[mr_raider]

1) In the very cold weather we have - mornings in the 10's and 20's, is it hard on the NAV system to display? It just seems to me that the LCD screen would not be operable in this type of weather.

2) Is there anyway to start the car to warm up and lock it? I usually start it up and leave the fob with me- atleast a theif isn't going to get very far.

3) The engine seems to be louder than other cars I have driven- especially at Idle- Has anyone else noticed this? I think I am not used to the "Lexus Sound".

4) Any cool modifications that are easy to do?

Thanks for all your comments and look forward to reading your responses.

~Justin- Lexington, Kentucky.

1. As temp drops all your LCD displays will slow down and image changes will lag. It may not be evident at 10 or 20 Fahrenheit, but at -20 Celsius, it is apparent.

2. There's a another thread about that somehere. The consensus was crank up the heated seats and get a block heater. There is no easy way to do it.

3. The 4gr-fse develops much of it's power in the higher region of the power band. Because it's a small V6, it will easily rev up to that speed to develop the needed power and thus the noise. Also. lexus made a conscious decision to tune this car more aggressively than their usual geezer mobiles, seeing as the intended market is different.

4. Plenty. None will give you power.

On a side note, be very careful with the Lexus AWD and all seasons in winter. This is a heavily RWD biased car. The AWD and VSC mitigate that somewhat, but the back will come loose much easier than a FWD car, especially with VSC off. I spent the weekend on an ice covered race track and I can tell you that it can be handful when traction is limited. The point is, drive slow. AWD won't save you once all four wheels break loose.

[kennyserb]

Hello.. what did you have to do to get the ML in your 250? I've been trying to locate a dealer that can special order that for me (the ML) and everyone is telling me they WILL NOT BUILD THAT. Is it because yours is an AWD? Thanks for your time, feel free to send a response to kennyserb@yahoo.com

thanks

[IS250_rookie]

On a side note, be very careful with the Lexus AWD and all seasons in winter. This is a heavily RWD biased car. The AWD and VSC mitigate that somewhat, but the back will come loose much easier than a FWD car, especially with VSC off. I spent the weekend on an ice covered race track and I can tell you that it can be handful when traction is limited. The point is, drive slow. AWD won't save you once all four wheels break loose.

One of my favorite features. Especially in snow :D

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

1) In the very cold weather we have - mornings in the 10's and 20's, is it hard on the NAV system to display? It just seems to me that the LCD screen would not be operable in this type of weather.

2) Is there anyway to start the car to warm up and lock it? I usually start it up and leave the fob with me- atleast a theif isn't going to get very far.

3) The engine seems to be louder than other cars I have driven- especially at Idle- Has anyone else noticed this? I think I am not used to the "Lexus Sound".

4) Any cool modifications that are easy to do?

1. Yesterday the temperature here was +8 farenheit with a windchill of -11 & I have never had any trouble with the display of my Nav or any other electronics in my car for that matter.

2. I don't know about our IS' but a friend has a Corolla and once the engine is started with the FOB inside & the FOB is removed from the vehicle you can still drive it. Only once the engine is shut off & you need to restart it do you need the FOB inside the car.

3. I'm coming from driving a Toyota Celica GTS so the engine is nice & quiet to me aside from the little roar of dealing with the outside cold.

4. I disabled that annoying seatbelt alarm & had all doors open from the touch of the driver's door handle. Also, you can have all the windows & sunroof open just by holding down the unlock button on the FOB for a few seconds - not a mod but cool to know.

Yes yes, PICTURES PLEASE!

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

I just purchased my 09 IS250 AWD - pearl white, NAV, Backup camera, HID's, Ventilated Seats, and ML Audio.

I didn't know you could get ML audio in the IS250 AWD. Possible to get this in the 2006 model? Would be awesome to be able to play DVD video & audio. I called a few dealerships, they're unsure of whether or not it's possible. Does anyone here know if it can in fact be done?

P.S. White's my fav. color for the IS, I had to settle w/black. PICTURES PLEASE.

[tex2670]

Hello.. what did you have to do to get the ML in your 250? I've been trying to locate a dealer that can special order that for me (the ML) and everyone is telling me they WILL NOT BUILD THAT. Is it because yours is an AWD? Thanks for your time, feel free to send a response to kennyserb@yahoo.com

thanks

Auto or manual? If you go on lexus.com, and look at the options page for the IS, ML is NOT an option for the 6MT, but is available on other models. If it's shown as an option, it can be special ordered.

[tex2670]

On a side note, be very careful with the Lexus AWD and all seasons in winter. This is a heavily RWD biased car. The AWD and VSC mitigate that somewhat, but the back will come loose much easier than a FWD car, especially with VSC off. I spent the weekend on an ice covered race track and I can tell you that it can be handful when traction is limited. The point is, drive slow. AWD won't save you once all four wheels break loose.

This is 100% true. Last winter was very mild here in Philly, and we had one snowstorm. We've had a few here so far this winter, and the AWD is not as sure footed as I would have thought--but this is my first car that's not FWD in 15 years, so it takes some getting used to. I do think the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE092's contributed to this--they are rated horribly on tirerack.com, especially in snow traction.

[IS250_rookie]

On a side note, be very careful with the Lexus AWD and all seasons in winter. This is a heavily RWD biased car. The AWD and VSC mitigate that somewhat, but the back will come loose much easier than a FWD car, especially with VSC off. I spent the weekend on an ice covered race track and I can tell you that it can be handful when traction is limited. The point is, drive slow. AWD won't save you once all four wheels break loose.

This is 100% true. Last winter was very mild here in Philly, and we had one snowstorm. We've had a few here so far this winter, and the AWD is not as sure footed as I would have thought--but this is my first car that's not FWD in 15 years, so it takes some getting used to. I do think the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE092's contributed to this--they are rated horribly on tirerack.com, especially in snow traction.

Yeah the tires are the main problem... I've hydroplaned a coupe of times(scared the crap out of me). They're all-seasons so you shouldn't expect anything good from them. The tread design is not deep enough for snow.