How has that turbo 4 cylinder pan out? The torque at low end and better gas mileage sure is enticing, however, I am worried about the reliability, I think I saw some people complaining about it on the forum but don't see the threads.

 

Only issue is the turbo valve regulator which isn't really the engine itself. It's a simple replacement and definitely covered under warranty. Also, the 4 banger turbo doesn't get much better gas mileage than the V6 variants unless you're driving like a grandma 24/7. I average 25 MPG mixed driving. The best I got was 32 MPG on a road trip going the same speed for hours. Haven't seen that since haha.

 

Just as Flash above said, the turbo valve regulator is about the only issue I had in 3 years. It went bad and they replaced it in a day.

Gas mileage is terrible, I average 19.6, never improves and just consistently goes down lol. The 'improved' gas mileage nonsense is BS.

It's a overall nice car though. The interior feels small for many people, but for me I am on the slim side and dont have passengers ever, it's perfect and never had issues. I love the 'cockpit' feel to it and there really hasn't been another car that I've enjoyed the interior as much. I know there are others on here who would disagree, but its minimal, comfortable and layout is clean. 2 thing about it that are inconvenient, one is how the screen is pushed back and the angle of it is odd so when you are looking at it the lower bottom is hidden depending on how low you sit. Second is how bad the navigation is. Don't even bother to try to use it, your phone is faster and more convenient.

Exterior is sharp and flows smoothly. The 2017+ tail lights to me are horrible, 2014-2016 was better (sorry, just being honest). Make sure you get the F sport trim. No other complaints.

There is a noticeable turbo lag, which may bother you at first but you'll get used to it lol. Don't expect this car to be 'fast'. The stock blow off valve for this car is tasteful, not too loud nor too low.

If you decide to get it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it depending on what car you'll be coming from. As for reliability, I'm sure you've seen the ratings for it, I wouldn't worry even though it's still a relatively new engine for Lexus.

GL

 

I average about 17-18 mpg on my 2019 300 F sport which is the 4 cylinder with turbo. I do drive city 90% of the time.

 

Other than the vacuum regulator valve for the turbocharger wastegate, should be no issues I would worry about.

I did swap in new GS F front lower control arm bushings, but that's to mitigate front inner tire wear and improve handling.

Fuel mileage doing 70/30 highway and city, I'm seeing between 25 and 32 MPG. I only see worse if I'm doing lots of city driving and mashing it. Traffic in the GTA sucks. If I'm doing primarily highway with little stop and go, I can actually get better than rated MPG, something like 40+ if I'm just light on the throttle.

I wouldn't get the turbo-4 if you're doing lots of city driving.

 

I had a strange startup/misfire issue. I think it was a very one off situation and the car is perfect now. No other reliability issues to report other then the westgate.

Also Im getting bad gas mileage too, in day to day driving but in the highway i can get like 32 to 35 lol.

 

I have recently purchased a Lexus IS 300 and I did some preventative maintenance through the dealership, some time after the car was having issues jurking when accelerating took it back to lexus and they said nothing was wrong so I drove it for some more time and the jurking got worse so I took it to a independent shop they diagnosed that it was the vacuum line and vacuum control valve so they did the work and it fixed it mostly but there is still a jurk in first gear and drop in fuel pressure and the shop said they could investigate it but no guarantee they could figure out what's wrong so they recommend I take it to the dealership I was wondering if someone could help me to figure out the problem.

 

Do you think it could be a transmission problem? It only seems to occur in first gear, right?

 

From what was wrote up on the diagnostic paper I don't think so but I noticed it yesterday but don't know exactly what gear and why would the fuel pressure drop if it was the transmission also I have taken it to a transmission shop and they said nothing was wrong

 

I bought my 16 IS 200 used in 2019. It now has 52,000 miles. No issues. I bought the Lexion units two years ago and it works great, with
the 10.25 inch touchscreen. It's now a one unit system. I highly recommend it for CarPlay/Android Auto. There's a bit of a turbo lag because,
wait for it, it's a turbo. lol I love the car. I transport my bass gear and one of my guitarists and his gear in the car to rehearsals and gigs.

 

Hello,
The best course of action would be to do a data log by scanning with OBD tool and using TechStream. So, basically you should find a Toyota/Lexus shop that are qualified for this.
Is it a new car? How many miles?
If you never cleaned the injectors, or need new spark plugs, or change the ATF fluid then you could start throwing money in that direction, but you won't be sure that you are addressing the issue properly.

 

Have an IS350 FS and it’s a guzzler, as low as 18 mpg doing short trips for a week to 21 if there’s a fair amount of freeway driving we did that week in the city. On a actuall cross state road trip … 26mpg although driving pretty fast. Shame the 4cyl isn’t much better. I’d love to see a hybrid tuned for performance getting 25 in the city, maybe next generation (if there is one).

 

The jerking for sure was due to the vacuum regulator, this is a known issue and there was even a TSB for it. Check whether the boost is fluctuating up and down when idle? If there was nothing wrong with your gearbox before fixing this vacuum issue, it shouldnt appear now, do a check on their work instead.