Honda Civic vs Lexus IS220d

[arfur sleep]

Need something diesel and economical for the commute but must be usable as family / very occasional business use car. Budget circa £8-9k.

It’ll be company car too so low CO2 is required. Switching from a Focus ST-2 so fully appreciate that all bills will be cheaper but it’ll also be less fun 

So far, I have seen the following local to me which are of interest…

Honda Civic 2.2 Cdti EX, 58 plate 2008 model

Lexus IS220d, 08 plate 2008 model

Both reasonable mileage and well spec’d so would mean the commute wasn’t complete torture.

Leaning towards the Civic at the moment as cheaper all round. Likely that I will only stick with this for 12-18 months as plan is to then move into something brand new.

Any thoughts / comments?

[ajb85]

Not a great deal to add other than bein surprised at how unpleasant a Lexus IS220d is to drive. It was the snatchy but long throw on the gears I hated and really, reaally tiresome clutch. Maybe this was just to specific to the one I was using.

The Civic is a good all-rounder and has always been a very positive thing to drive.

[mark944gold]

Lexus is a nice motorway cruiser and very comfortable but fuel economey you will not get much more than 40mpg depending on how you drive it also service is every 10,000 miles and not the cheapest if done at Lexus dealer. Having said that I am more than happy with mine

[arfur sleep]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Seen some comments about clutches / flywheels etc on the Civics so was aware there are some problems.

Anticipated the Lexus would be more expensive of the two to run but disappointed to hear about the gearing / ride.

Commute is a mix of Motorway and A & B roads (which is in the ST) so would appear the Lexus isn't going to be best thing for that.

[Mr Gear]

Are Japanese diesels ever any good? They are a bit of an afterthought for us Europeans, right?

Why not try a hybrid petrol instead?

[arfur sleep]

Mr Gear said:

Are Japanese diesels ever any good? They are a bit of an afterthought for us Europeans, right?

Why not try a hybrid petrol instead?

I understood that the Honda diesel is pretty good.

Hybrids not looked....looked, no thanks.

ETA - hybrid search

Edited by arfur sleep on Wednesday 23 January 12:55

[thismonkeyhere]

My 2p worth:

I went out recently with a similar shopping list, looked at the IS220d and others. Ended up with a Toyota Avensis tourer 2.2 D4-D.

Ok, not many points in the style or excitement stakes, but it's a great car for the commute and business trips. Smooth, quiet, comfortable, economical, solidly made, reliable (early days for me, but they have a great reputation).

Worth a look?

[gambisk]

Owning a civic 2.2 for the past year I think its a very nice car to sit in, on the motorway and major roads its great and the engine is widely acknowledged as one of the better modern diesels as the power delivery is very linear and not the VAG 750rpm sweet spot.

One thing that does let it down is the suspension as its quite crashy, very comfortable on a good road but i nightmare over speed bumps. As far as the clutch goes I think as long as you are sensible i.e no remaps or hard acceleration under 1.5k then its pretty good. Also to the best of my knowledge there is no DPF so no nasty bill in the future for a new one.

As for MPG at the minute with the snow and mainly city commute to work the trip computer is showing 37.5mpg, on a long run its high 40's easily and into the 50s with a bit of care.