By announcing the fuel economy and CO2 numbers for the new IS 300h hybrid, Lexus claims that this car has such low maintenance and running costs – thanks to its low consumption, tax benefits and incentives – that even super frugal diesel sedans cannot match.
That remains to be seen after a few months of ownership, but with numbers like 65.7 mpg combined cycle economy and 99g/km CO2 emissions, they do have a point. What;s more, a Lexus sedan is probably as reliable as cars ever going to get.
The IS 300h in particular has features that make it virtually maintenance-free. It has no clutch, and its starter motor and alternator are integrated into the system and don’t need to be replaced over the car’s entire lifetime. The engineers have even ditched the timing belt and replaced it with a maintenance-free timing chain.
Because this hybrid car features regenerative brakes, the tyres and brakes wear out a bit more quickly than cars without this system. To get around this problem, the IS300 runs with 20 per cent higher tyre pressure, which helps reduce shoulder wear. The perfect weight distribution will also help with that.
Going on sale in the UK from July, the new Lexus IS 300h has a base price of £29,495, and residual values of 37 per cent predicted by CAP.
