Hi all!
Newbie here!
I have been in search of a used hardtop convertible for at least 6 months or more😳. To say I’m extremely picky is funny 😁. I’ve finally narrowed my search down to Lexus and Mercedes. Lexus was winning because of the 4 seats. If I choose Benz, I can’t take my 2 young grands with me 😢. However, I JUST learned if the top is down, I am not able to open the trunk without putting the top back up?!?!
Could someone please verify if this is true?!
I’ve owned several Lexus’ in the past, but hubby would never allow convertible. He passed away last year, so now I’m taking the plunge! I’ve wanted a hardtop convertible my entire life.
Thanks so much!

 

Completely false (unless something is broken).

In fact, you will find that the IS-C has the largest top-down trunk space I've ever seen on a hardtop convertible, and is why I bought mine. It's not a lot of space, but it's more than you'll get in a BWM, Volvo, or Benz SLK. CLKs are a little bigger (and have four seats, albeit much smaller rear seats than the IS-C).

 

I believe that you will get everything you need in an IS350c.

There is probably a good foot of so of space available behind the folded roof when you open the trunk. I have done some lighter grocery shopping trips with my wife and still been able to keep the top down on the way home.

I can't speak for other convertible hard tops, but I know that 95% of the SC430s did not have spare tires, and likely alot of other hardtop convertibles don't either, but ALL of the IS convertibles will have one. Thank the Lexus engineers and their ability to get a spare into the packaging constraints!

If you haven't read about the different engines on here, I would go for an IS350c over an IS250c (which I'm guessing you already are, judging from the title of your post) because you get almost 50% more power, bigger brakes, and you get to avoid some of the common issues that plague the IS250s

 

"you get to avoid some of the common issues that plague the IS250s"

Yoshiman - what common issues are these? I'd be intrigued to know. Here in the UK we were never offered the 350 but my experience and belief is that the 250 is most reliable.

 

The 250 isn't a bad car by any means, but the main issue with the 250s is that they have direct injection only, as opposed to the 350s which have the Toyota D4S system with both port and direct injectors.

The port fuel injectors in the 350 allow fuel to flow past the valves, which cleans them on the fly, wheres the 250s (along with many other engines with a similar fuel induction system) allows carbon deposits to form on the backside of the valves, which is an unfortunate side effect of direct injected engines.

The valves eventually cake up with large carbon deposits, which chokes the engine and causes rough running and stalling, requiring the deposits to be mechanically removed by either disassembling the top of the engine, or trying another method, such as walnut blasting, which has varying degrees of success.

I can say that I had the intake off of my 2012 IS350c pretty recently, and with almost 130k miles, the valves were squeaky clean.

You can read more details about it here:

https://www.clublexus.com/how-tos/a/...mize-it-367282

 

Yeah he's correct.

You can open the trunk and the space is quite large in comparison to competitors

 

Thanks so much for your feedback guys. I’ve done extensive research on my own for the last 6 months or more - as much as a gal can do - and ask questions of my son when I need an answer. He’s never had (or wanted a Lexus-only now he’s seen
the LC 500 I told him about ❤️). He’s a BMW, Porsche and Mercedes man. I had eliminated the IS 250 very early on. I have not been able to locate a Benz 4-seater hardtop. When the HONDA dealer, who has the IS 350 I wanted, told me about the trunk thing, I knew I had never seen anything in all of my research, so my son told me to come here. Said owners shoot straight (good and bad info) and won’t BS me like it sounded like to him (and me) the unknowledgeable salesman was doing.
Thanks again. Greatly appreciated.

 

I was in your shoes, i had narrowed down to the IS350 vs the Mercedes as well but I wasnt too keen on the Mercedes repair bills. we have owned Toyotas for many many years but never Lexus as even though i wanted too just couldn't afford it. When we started the hunt for my convertible I started out wanted the Lexus but hated they didnt make them anymore. (except for the new LS500 but way out of my price range) We test drove every convertible out there and I kept going back to I really wanted the ISC but took us months to find one. I am so glad We waited, I absolutely love my ISC350. I have done many shopping trips with placing things in the trunk, With top closed the trunk space is HUGE. We just got back from FLorida and had the very large suitcase as well as the 24in suitcase and multiple other things packed very well. With the top down I have been on many weekly grocery shopping trips and all fits just fine.
We also just had our first drive with 4 adults and I was shocked it was actually comfortable. @ large men in front and me and my mother in law in the back, she normally complains about everything and I heard nothing but compliments! Success in my book! Good luck!

 

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Keep in mind that while there is limited room in the trunk when the top is down (and the inside trunk curtain is drawn back and locked). But for items such as a golf bag or a couple of medium suitcases, or one cart's worth of groceries, there is a narrow wide area towards the back. With a couple of grand kids or medium size adults, sitting in the back isn't a problem. A long trip with adults in the back might be a little too confining, though. You can always use the back seats for carrying a bunch of stuff back from the store--just pad your seats with a sheet to keep them clean and safe. I use the floor of the back seat area to carry some things I don't use much, like some tools, jackets, hat, water bottles, jumper cables, etc. Some stuff I might want to get to, but not so valuable that it would be costly to lose.

At nights at a motel, or parking in a questionable or isolated spot, I just put the top back up while I'm away. Not a problem.

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would you say a standard sized checked bag would fit with the top down as well? I have also been wondering this for myself .

 

Not in the trunk. You're not even fitting a standard sized carry-on in there with the roof down. Though spacious, the storage area with the top down is very wide and narrow, and more shallow at the top than at the bottom.

You can fit two standard size checked bags (soft-bags. both standing on the short side) in the trunk with the roof up, though it is a bit of a squeeze.

 

alright thank you man, currently drive a normal is250 and I still would like to get the is250c or is350c but the lack of space just worries me lol

 

On my drive from Florida to California, I had 1 small checked bag, a backpack, one regular duffle bag, a huge duffle bag that had the majority of my car equipment, along with what ever random groceries I bought on my trip. With the top up, I had a lot of room in the trunk, managed to fit all my stuff in the trunk alone and only had my small duffle and my backpack in the back seat along with some grocery items mainly due to convenience/easy to access. If I wanted to, I can fit everything in my trunk easily, although it will be stuffed.

With the top down is where you have to get creative. My small duffle bag, checked in bag, and backpack had to be in the back seat while my big bag was in my trunk, mainly because most of the items I had taken out and so i can use them but still had the boxes in my trunk. I also tried to shove as much stuff I can in the nooks and crannies AFTER the top is down. When its time to put the top up, its best to take some stuff out the trunk so nothing gets caught. I do admit having the tap down was a pain in the *** due to going back and forth from the trunk and your rear seat deciding who is worthy of the back seat and whos worthy of the trunk along with being worried something might fly off.

Long story short, make the best use of your back seat with the top down and use judgment to work around the trunk. Hopefully this helps.

 

Thats extremely helpful to know! It sounds like the trunks are about the same when the top is up which is perfect honestly, and if I can still fit my checked bag in there on its side while the top is down instead of having to put it in the backseat that’s amazing

 

Okay, I think you're missing this. You completely misread their post. A standard "checked bag" is 30" tall when sitting on its wheels, 18" wide, and 12" deep. There is no way under the sun that a bag of these dimension will fit in the trunk of a IS-C with the roof down. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

A smaller, soft-sided, "carry-on" bag (22"x14"x9") may fit laying on its side if you can compress the new top (actually side) of the bag longitudinally to fit within the more shallow top of the compartment when compared to the bottom.

Look at this picture with a small golf bag in the trunk and tell me how you're going to fit a full-size, checked bag in there. I'll wait.



And this car has the biggest roof-down trunk space of any hard top convertible. It looks like you're just going to have to ride from the airport to your destination with the top up or put stuff on the back seat, sorry.