Lexus IS review - price, specs and 0-60 time - MPG and running costs

The Lexus is still unique in offering a sub-100g/km emissions choice, but rivals’ diesel development has seen the IS 300h’s usefulness as a company car choice diminished. Officially the IS 300h returns 65.7mpg and emissions of 97g/km, though that’s only in SE specification; choose any other trim level and while there’s no leap in consumption the emissions rating of 101g/km (and 107g/km for the F Sport) means you’ll have to hand over a tenner to the Chancellor for your road tax each year and jump a couple of company car tax bands. No huge deal then, but those official fuel consumption figures are wildly optimistic, the reality more likely to be two thirds of the quoted figure if you’re sensible and even worse if you’re not. You might just find running a diesel rival cheaper.

That’s for the IS 300h; things get worse for the IS 250, its rating of 199g/km making it all but unviable for business users and costing over £100 more in road tax per year above a BMW 320i. Official fuel economy of 32.8mpg - and less in daily use - puts it very much in the fine-if-you’re-expat-in-an-oil-rich-country category. Lexus servicing should be manageable though, with fixed cost options, while the customer care - as many, many awards testify - should be exemplary.