Advice Please... I May Have Scared Myself Away...

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12-22-13, 09:23 AM

#16

P128sniper

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Quote:

Originally Posted by tex2670

Keep in mind that postings on this forum are not the results of a scientific poll. It is much more common to read about problems that people have, because this place is an awesome resource to get resolution of an issue, and/or arm yourself with information to give to the dealer. Without it, I never would have known about all the TSIB's that I got resolved. On CL, we all knew about the carbon build up issues way before the CSP letters went out. Just because there are a lot (and really, how many is "a lot" when they sell 1000s of these cars) of CL posters that cite problems with the nav screen, does not mean that the screen is "prone to fail"--it may must mean that a small number of people are looking for a low cost solution on CL. No one is going to start a thread entitled "My Nav Screen is Just Fine" -- when you only read about problems, it skews the belief as to whether it is "common" or "rare".

As to the IS250 being the most unreliable Lexus per Consumer Reports--this is just not true. Every year, CR lists the IS250 on its recommended list for compact luxury sedans. In the April '13 car issue, it has has an 84 rating (out of 100), and is 5th on the list behind the G37, 328i, C250 and TSX. I'm looking at the year-to-year chart now for '07, and the Audio System is listed as much below avg, Engine Minor and Engine Major are listed as avg (I might assume because of the carbon build up issues), and brakes and trim are also listed as avg. Everything else is listed as above avg, and overall, the car is rated as above avg for that year.

The new 14 IS took a huge hit in CR's ratings, though.

Exactly! This is spot on in my opinion, like stated, no one is going to make a thread saying my engine is running just fine or I don't have any rattles. So most likely you are just reading all the problems which I think might be pretty rare and you are getting over whelmed. With that being said Lexus is really know for their reliability but I think that's mostly for back in the day with their inline 6 engines, they were practically bullet proof. It's still a Lexus and still reliable though. Obviously every make can have their problems but overall I think the 250 is a good choice when it comes down to reliability

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12-22-13, 10:05 AM

#17

MBTC

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvlngnrs

My concerns:
1) Consumer Reports has the Engine reliability rated as much worse than average and the Cooling, Power Equipment and Audio reliability worse than average for the 2007 model year.

Sadly, I've watched the state of Consumer Reports' advice diminish over the years to the point that I no longer trust it. Their recently published 2014 Buying Guide shows an average amount of problems for the 2007 model IS under both major and minor engine categories, yet their website indicates a huge number of engine problems exclusive to the 2007 model (as well as the other issues you've mentioned). It's a little hard to trust any organization that is charging money for data, yet can't seem to find their way to publish consistent data across multiple media sources. Some might say the web site has more up to date information, but what are the chances of them suddenly having gotten an influx of data about the 2007 model between the time the printed booklet went to print and the time the website was updated?

They also do not distinguish between the 250 and 350 in their ratings. Really? Two different engines with different potential issues with each and we're going to just consolidate the data into one rating?

So, I just don't trust them anymore. I suspect the noted engine problems relate to the carbon build up issue. There was a design change around mid 2010 which solved this issue, and I know Lexus was retrofitting the changes free of charge for a while in vehicles that had the problem. I'm not sure what the current status of that is, you could learn more about it here on the forum.

If I were you, I would check two things: (1) has the carbon build up issue been fixed on that particular car? and (2) if not, will you be able to get it fixed at no charge if you buy?

What I wouldn't do is buy a car that has a known issue, then foot the bill for the change for it yourself. The dealership will know if the engine fix has been done to the car or not.