SS1990

I'm buying a 2012 Lexus IS 250 RWD with 60k miles on it from an original private seller this week. A few questions for the IS forum members:

1) Is Premium fuel absolutely required? What are the ramifications for using Regular? I've read about engine pinging, but have also heard that computers re-adjust for the fuel type.

2) What scheduled maintenance do you recommend at 60k? I'm doing brake pads, rotate and balance tires. The previous owner has been using synthetic gas; I may switch back to conventional and change every 3-5k miles.

3) How does RWD perform in winter conditions? I know the car has the snow traction functionality. The car has 18" all-season tires on all 4 wheels. I guess I'll have to see how they perform this winter in Michigan.

4) Anything I should know or keep an eye out for?

08treefidd

iTrader: (2)

Why is it you want to minimize everything on this car? IE: regular gas and conventional oil when the manual an previous owner advise different?

jr4div2

1. Yes, but if you really want to limit carbon build-up, use top-tier fuel. If you don't know what that is, google it.
2. I assume you mean synthetic oil and not gas. Synthetics are recommended to reduce carbon build-up.
3. I haven't driven in snow yet, but expect I'll get the chance although I'll probably get my Ridgeline out when snow starts here. However, I've read plenty of people say with the right tires, the car performs pretty well in snow, but not deep snow. Deep snow, you're a snow plow or a snowboard with as low as the cars are.
4. Carbon buildup, Water pump, carbon buildup, alternator, inside wear on front tires, carbon buildup and did I mention carbon buildup. It's not a issue limited to our engines in the IS250, it's all direct injection engines that don't supplement with port injection to wash the intake valves. Just use good low ACK synthetic oil and top-tier fuel and you'll do a lot to limit build up.

Welcome to the club.

XSV

iTrader: (1)

Don't be cheap. Use premium fuel and synthetic motor oil.

bbaugher47

Stick to premium fuel. The price difference is negligible in my opinion. The possible issues would not be worth saving three dollars in a fill up. Also , being that it’s RWD , you can not rotate the tires due to them being a staggered setup. You may be able to dismount , flip, and remount per axle if your tires are non directional.

SS1990

Appreciate the response!

1) In my area in Michigan, premium fuel is anywhere 30 cents to 50 cents more per gallon (with credit card; prob 10 cents less if I use cash). That equates to $5-$7 per fill-up and I drive 15-18k miles per year...
2) The previous owner of my IS 250 replaced all 4 tires with the same 18" tires all-around. I was told I can get them all balanced and rotated together now.

Mrfix

nah...go ahead and use the $h!ttiest gas you can find and save your money. I wouldn't even worry about the oil, Walmart brand should be great. Just put the key in and go....

SS1990

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me why if I put regular gas in my car and use fuel cleaner to take care of the carbon buildup, it will be an issue... Synthetic oil I get. I need to see if I'm losing HP and MPG by using Regular vs. Premium...

08treefidd

iTrader: (2)

I have answers to your questions from my own knowledge base and references by using google for 30 seconds.

If you are prepared an committed to buying a car already, that you have all these questions about, did you not research what you are buying? I'm not trying to be a ****, but if you want to buy something to drive 18k miles per year, having a couple people spoon feed you answers won't give you the greatest comfort when you go test drive an look them over. If you don't want to pay $3 an oil change for synthetic, you sure as hell aren't gonna want to be paying a dealer to fix it when things fail on you from short cutting recommendations.

So either then or now, do a bit more reading on these car's. I'm a 350 owner, so apples to oranges somewhat for your questions. However, the information is out there. Synthetic and premium or find a Kia and run that into the ground on 87 for half the price.

jr4div2

The engineers designed the engine in the 250 to run optimally on premium fuel. Yes, you can run regular and the engine will adjust the timing, etc to swallow the crap. However, there is a theory that in adjusting to doing so, the PCV gases that are recycled into the intake of the engine are worse than when the engine is running at its optimum on premium gas. Therefore, you will get carbon buildup faster and, well, worse-r (lol). Trust me. I've read the board up, down, left and right about carbon build up. You go run your regular gas and in two to three years, pay $800-$1000 to get Lexus to do a half-a$$ upper cleaning job or find someone to do a walnut blast where they dismantle the topside of your engine and put it back together. You're going to either pay as you go or pay later. It's your choice.

And no, adding fuel cleaner occasionally will not necessarily help. The problem as I understand is the combination of bypass gases mixing with your oil and getting recirculated into the intake. The times you don't put in fuel cleaner will just add to the problem.

But, hey, it's your car. Drive it until it starts shuddering and stalling and throwing codes. Don't listen to us.

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

It sounds like you dont grasp the severity of what carbon buildup is. Believing a seafoam or something similar will be the solution with regular gas would be foolish

Anywho, id check to see if the 2012 are covered in the 9k unlimited warranty for carbon build up.

The 250 sucks in snow. Get dedicated winter tires and weight and you might have a better shot. I had mine out twice with the best rated snow all seasons, and had to turn around both times.

SeanO

iTrader: (1)

The manual says premium fuel. That tells you what you need to know.

Invest in some good winter tires you won't be disappointed.