Bob,
Having driven Toyota brand cars for 16 years now, I'm quite a bit sad to suggest that maybe you should consider a BMW convertible hardtop. I'm beginning to wish I had.
I was one of the first people to buy an IS 250 C June 1009 and I LOVED the car for 11 months. Then last May an indicator light comes on as I am driving home from work
one evening an indicator light comes on to check the engine. I immediately diverted to Lexus service. Once there, one of the advisors checked out the car with I think was
a portable machine that reads the car's computer diagnostic system. (Sorry, I don't have much tech knowledge here.) After a while, he asks me how the car was driving and
I responded that I hadn't noticed any problems just the indicator light. He told me he was going to turn off the light and to come back if it came on again. About halfway into
my drive home, I started having signs of transmission failure: lurching at times, delay in acceleration, then not getting above 3rd gear (the display has a setting that indicates
what gear the automatic transmission is at.) So, I turned the car around and went back to Lexus. The advisor took the car for a drive and agreed there was a transmission
problem. I got a free loaner for a week and Lexus replaced the transmission under warrantee.
Thing is, today on the way to work the same indicator light came on! After work, I took the car to Lexus. I was told there was "only one advisor for the night shift" so it took
a little bit of time before I was asked what problem I was having. Again I was asked if I had any problems with the car's performance and I responded not at the moment but
last time it happened the transmission died soon after and he responded "Yeah, I remember." (There aren't many ISCs on the road and my car is bright blue so I think my car
is probably fairly memorable.) After about an hour, he came out and said "I'm going to get you a loaner. I'm swamped tonight and I don't want to blow you off and have the
same problem driving home as last time."
So here's the deal, I don't currently know what is wrong with my car if anything; and the people at my local Lexus are TRYING but I'm thinking I'm seeing signs that Toyota
is a sinking ship and I can't really advise anyone to get on it. I joined this forum to find out if anyone else has had problems with the IS C actually. MIne happens to be one
of the oldest ones on the road having bought it the first month is came out so I'm wondering if we're going to start to hear more of this sort of problem soon. The issue
with my car seems like what I've read the ES had. Or maybe it is just MY car and I was just unlucky. My experience tonight felt a bit ominous about things to come. The
people I dealt with were all very nice and tried to be accommodating but I didn't really get my car serviced. I didn't even get a cup of coffee: there were pots but they were
all empty. And no, coffee alone isn't a huge deal but is an indication to me that they have cut staff. Like I stated, they are TRYING but they are obviously understaffed and
not really providing the luxury service Lexus promises when you buy the car.