After driving the Lexus HS for about 18 months or so and not really liking it all that much (and it seems that a lot of CC readers are with me on that), I was ready for something a bit more exciting. Not too exciting, mind you – but more interesting than the HS (which wasn’t a big challenge). What I picked would turn out to be my last Lexus, for a number of reasons.
I was sticking with Lexus for a couple of reasons, one of which was the availability of some down payment money courtesy of a Lexus Visa card (and since I didn’t run a balance on the card the points for a down payment were free money). I considered another ES sedan briefly, but discarded that because a) the car wasn’t any different from the one I owned in 2008-2010, b) other than the 260+ hp V6 the car wasn’t particularly exciting, and c) prices and lease payments had gone up quite a bit since 2008. The IS sedan was nearing the end of its design cycle and seemed to fit the bill (rear-drive, possible manual transmission, sportier intentions) so I went to the dealer to find out what they had in stock. I’d thought about getting one of the first-generation IS sedans, and really thought about getting their short-lived SportCross wagon, but ended up with the ES in 2005 instead.
I ran into a few snags, however, in getting the car I wanted. Apparently I lived too far north for Lexus to trust me with a rear-drive platform (even though it doesn’t snow all that often here south of the Mason-Dixon line), so virtually all the IS models available in Maryland were all wheel drive. Manual transmissions are hard to come by here as well, probably because consumers aren’t that interested in them because of all the traffic (shifting gets pretty tedious when you do a whole lot of it).
The AWD/automatic added about $3600 to the sticker price as I recall, a lot of cash for options I wasn’t too keen on having. It also knocked about 2 mpg off the combined city/highway fuel economy, which at 22 mpg wasn’t that great. Also, a lot of the IS models available on the lot were equipped with navigation systems, which wasn’t exactly cheap. This wasn’t that big of a deal, since the non-navigation entertainment system was a bit primitive (the nav system had a pretty good interface for satellite radio and iPod connectivity while the base systems still had monochrome one-line LCD screens that made picking iPod songs or Bluetooth settings pretty finicky).
Finally, I would have preferred the 306 hp IS 350, but those were quite a bit more expensive (about $7000 as I recall) so I had to focus on the 204 hp IS 250. I wanted to get out of that HS, so they probably could have sold me on just about anything on the lot. We picked a dark gray/black IS 250 AWD with the navigation package and went home happy (in my wife’s case, because the car was reasonably fun to drive, and in my case because I’d unloaded that other car).
On the plus side, the IS looked pretty good in dark gray – the styling, although dating from six years previously (2006), was aging well and some redesigns to the wheels and taillights freshened it a bit. The navigation system/infotainment system was a touch screen that was close at hand inside, unlike the HS which had a top-of-dash screen and the odd haptic mouse control that I found a bit fiddly.
The story on the rest of the interior, however, was not so positive. The transmission tunnel intruded pretty severely on passenger space, particularly in the front where the footwells were small and the pedals oddly placed; rear legroom and headroom were both pretty tight; and the AWD system introduced an odd bump on the driver’s floor that was just distracting enough to be annoying. The car had one cupholder oddly and inconveniently placed in the center of the console, too.
The 2.5 liter engine was smooth and relatively responsive, but 204 horsepower being shoved through an automatic transmission and AWD in a 3,400+ pound car meant that I wasn’t going to win any drag races. As you’ve probably figured out from all the discussions on price, the biggest problem for me was that it was fairly expensive and still wasn’t quite what I wanted.
Each Lexus I leased cost just a bit more than the last, and by this time I was paying a considerable sum every month because I’d started out with a relatively affordable car and crept up to much more expensive ones every time I traded them in. Our Kia Optima turbo was significantly more fun to drive, offered many of the same features, and cost significantly less. I have to admit that I don’t have many more driving impressions to offer, because the car wasn’t that memorable to me.
By this time, I was spending a lot more time in the car every day because I’d changed jobs and my commute went from about 5 miles one way on relatively uncongested surface streets to 25 miles one way on pretty congested highways. It occurred to me more than once during a morning or evening commute that I was paying a ton of money for a car with some sporting pretensions but not really getting much out of it at 12 miles an hour in traffic.
I was also getting less willing to spend this kind of money in general on cars, particularly when I could get cars that didn’t have a prestigious badge but crept along in traffic just like the Lexus did. Finally, this was around the time that Lexus was taking criticism of its conservative styling to heart and introducing more aggressive designs. Some customers really like the new “spindle” grill and “look-at-me” styling, but it wasn’t for me (I couldn’t bring myself to spend a ton of money on a car I didn’t like looking at).
For all these reasons, I decided to trade this in on something a lot cheaper – something that probably is the 21st century equivalent of the “cockroach of the road” A-body Cutlass Ciera’s of my youth. I lost some money up front by trading it in but was glad to be rid of it and its associated large lease payment. With that introduction, I’m sure that CC readers will be on the edge of their seats to yawn at what comes next.
Well…. Before the HS250h installment, my guess on the following vehicle was either an HS or an IS. Would never guess you eventually got both. This is an awesome car, congrats!
Btw, the replacement: I’m guessing Corolla?
I owned one of these that I COALed about a year or so ago. It was clearly designed for the Japanese market first, and the export market second.
That floorboard intrusion of the AWD hardware that makes it so awkward to operate the pedals? That would be the passenger side in Japan.
Another interesting JDM thing I noticed was memory settings on both the drivers AND passenger power seats. I’ve never seen memory on the passengers seat before, but of course in Japan this would be the driver’s door, and Lexus obviously didn’t want to have to make two different sets of door panels for a low volume car like this.
“I couldn’t get the RWD, the manual transmission or one without Nav, but otherwise it was exactly what I wanted.” 🙂
Although I am not a premium car buyer, it would irk me to spend real coin and still have to accept extra cost features I don’t want. I can do that buying much more modest cars.
Great to hear a real world perspective on the IS! I have always liked the looks of each IS, but they seem a little small like you noted. That was a good looking one you had, great color combo.
I have never leased a car, so I am curious: how does it work to get out of a lease early, like you seem to be doing with some of these cars you have written up? Do they just let you out of it if you are leasing again from the same make? Or do you have to pay the balance of the lease payments off?
I had this model (I think a 2010) IS 250 AWD and loved it. It was a bit tight inside, but I loved it, it fit me like a glove. When the lease ended I got the newer version, I think it was a 2014, the restyled IS250 AWD. I hated it. The already tight interior was made worse by the way too big and useless center console. That massive center console had no usable space. It was just a big hunk of plastic. The car also ate through tires. By the time winter rolled around the tires were nearly bald, so the benefit of having AWD was not there unless I wanted to spring for new tires. Couldn’t wait to get rid of it. I now have a 2017 VW Jetta GLI 2.0 Turbo, which is better than the IS in every way.
I’m not a Lexus guy but the IS (the pre-gaping maw ones, like the one featured in the article) were pretty nice. Once upon a time Lexus (and just about everyone else) designed cars that had crisp, clean lines and kept things stylish and simple at the same time.
My wife was considering one to replace her ’09 Jetta (non-TDI) over two years ago. The IS and any other sedans got crossed off of her list so she went with a ’15 Outback Limited.
I worked at a Lexus dealer around 2007, and couldn’t believe the difference between the IS250 and 350 models. The 350s were intoxicatingly fast, and we’re the second fastest car they sold at the time (next to the GS450h) and the volume AWD IS250s were painfully underpowered.
Granted, I live in Colorado, and at the time, the 350s only offered RWD, so naturally, nobody would touch them. I couldn’t help wanting to tell these people that they were just buying the watered down version for the sake of AWD.
In my opinion the 2.5 liter engine was created as a stop gap to help keep costs low and fuel economy higher, and it ended up outselling the proper models significantly. Similar to the one model year where the Toyota Sienna was offered with a 4 cylinder engine. (Although on the contrary, I’m sure nobody bought those)
Did you buy a second T-Bird?
That first pic of the Lexus has a Maroon looking T-Bird next to it. It looks like a T-Bird LX
I am going to guess that ether you bought a Toyota Corolla or a Subaru or a Ford Ranger/ Chevy S-10 which are indeed cockroaches of the road.
As far as I was concerned, this IS had some pretty big shoes to fill. That 1st gen is one of my three favorite Lexus’ ever, along with the 2nd gen GS and the SC 300/400. But it definitely did the job admirably, used to see them ALL over Brooklyn. I guess those were all leased cars because I never see any of them anymore, but I see the new IS everywhere. People around here must’ve kept it in the family, so to speak.
Anyway, yeah, just a handsome, clean perfectly solid car… as long as we pretend that odd beluga whale of a convertible didn’t happen.