Sean K.

I'm the friend Randy is referring to with the IS250. I CANNOT fathom how in the world Lexus designed a transmission with no service schedule for the "life" of the vehicle. Look, I'm a huge Toyota fan. Myself and immediate family have had 7 Toyotas now (NONE of which ever had to go back to the dealer for ANYTHING) and this is my first Lexus. I (apprently mistakenly) believed that Lexus quality would be on par with Toyota's or even surpass it since you're paying a premium for the Lexus badging. But here's the problem as I see it: Lexus has obviously done its marketing homework and somewhere along the line, they adopted the ignorant philosophy of American car manufacturers whereby they build in planned obsolescence. They've done the research that the intial Lexus owner doesn't do their own maintenance, and only keeps the vehicle for 5 years or less.... The problem with this errant philosophy is that the 2nd owner of the car inherits a transmission that will likely fail just after the vehicle reaches the end of its warranty. Since extended warranties are hot sellers on these vehicles extending coverage to 100K miles, my guesstimation would be that somewhere just after 100K miles, you're going to have your transmission fail. Now what will this do to Lexus (and Toyota's) image of "preceived quality"? Undoubtedly it will tank. Think about it: marketing research proves repeatedly that dissatisfied customers tell on average 10-50 people. What do they think that's going to do to their long term viability as a car manufacturer? Sorry I'm ranting....I'm just a little more than *BLEEP*ed at this point. I'm a very self sufficient person. I don't let the dealer touch my vehicle if I can help it. I do all my own maintenance and am pretty anal about how it gets done. I was told by the salesman (never should have taken his word) at purchase that the tranny was flushed at 50K and that the 50K service included changing ALL the fluid in the vehicle (trans, rear end, coolant, engine oil, brake fluid) for $400-450. That's a reasonable price for the work involved....but there isn't even a 50K mile service interval in the owner's manual. I realize I'm the atypical consumer of ANY automobile, much less a higher end luxury car, but DAMN, for the amount of money I spent on this car, it really could be designed with the "long haul" more in mind. I guess my only saving grace at this point is that my car is eligible for the AZ lemon law for recurring electrical problems and I can get rid of it. On the one hand, I love the car in terms of the looks and styling, but at the end of the day, emotional attraction to a vehicle probably isn't the wisest way to determine whether or not you should buy another one after lemoning the first. Practicality says dump this thing and get a new Accord.....but it just doesn't hold the same level of excitement for me the way the IS does. I dunno....just venting I guess. Sean