Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

This is my second IS - the first 09 model sadly got written off. The one I now have is the facelift 2011 with the LED running lamps, nicer wheels and a few tweaks to the CO2 emissions, meaning cheaper road tax.

It drives just as nice as my old one, and has extras like memory seat, mirrors and steering wheel, electric steering wheel adjustment, rear sun blind, and wood finishings. The old pre-facelift IS250 from 2005-2010 had a better spec, which is odd; for example the Mark Levison hi-fi, memory passenger seat, and soft touch glove box lid have all been ditched on my one! A bit cheap and Lexus obviously thought that people wouldn't notice - quite a common theme with car manufacturers. My 2009 model seemed to have thicker carpets, quieter wiper motors and a lower idle speed when running a half cold engine. Not sure why they've changed it, but it's not for the better.

Atlantic blue paint with ivory leather looks great, but again the quality of the paint doesn't seem as good as Mesa red, which is a pearl finish - the blue looks quite flat a lot of the time.

When the engine is cold (same as my old one) it's very sluggish and noisy, and it takes ages to warm up. Sometimes you can be driving for 3 miles in temperatures of over 10C and it's still not warmed up fully. Rear leg room is also limited. The ride is firm for an executive car, but I don't mind that. I changed the rock hard Michelin tyres for another brand, and it is now better. Steering needs a little more response.

Negatives over, the car is lovely in the typical Lexus way. Build and finish are beyond reproach, super smooth and quiet once warmed up. Amazing spec, A/C by far the better than any rival, brilliant turning circle, so comfortable and very responsive using the paddle shift and kick down when required. It just feels like it will last forever - sit in an Audi for example and often the switches have started to wear, and turning the knobs sound cheap, as do the window switches - not Lexus. Everything is well damped and feels lovely to use.

Handling is excellent, visibility is OK, but the high rear end limits it a bit. MPG is very good. 75mph sees 38 MPG approx; the only car I know where the claimed figures are actually accurate!

The kind of car you would like to go for a random drive in, which cannot be said of many new cars where they just do the job (some other top end cars excluded of course). The dealer service has a great reputation and is good but slightly overrated in my opinion. The dealer where I bought the car from lied, never followed me up and did not do what I asked in terms of overall preparation. Hard to believe I bought it from a Lexus main dealer.

Overall a rare car that I love and would recommend to anyone.