The facelifted 2009 Lexus IS range have been unveiled in the UK this week (though at first sight I cannot tell what on earth has changed with the design), and it is now more accessible with the cheapest model (which is the IS 220d SE) costing £22,490. The entire range has also got price slashes, some by more than £1,000. This is probably an effort to keep up sales volumes in these tough times.
The IS 220d is now more environmentally friendly, with a small drop in CO2 emissions from 168g/km to 163g/km. In the UK, this means it moves down a band for vehicle excise duty from E to D. The owner of a facelifted IS 220d will save £25 a year on his road fund license and reduces the Benefit in Kind (BIK) rate for company car tax calculation to 23 per cent.
Other changes include VDIM as standard on all models, and folding rear headrests. A Satnav option is available for £1,825 on SE and SE-I models which include Europe GPS maps, a 7 inch 640×480 LCD display with touch screen operation, Bluetooth hands-free, a rear parking video feed monitor and a 13-speaker audio system with an in-dash 6-CD changer. This pack can be upgraded to a Multimedia Pack on the SE-L for £2,710 which includes the same stuff but adds a 14-speaker Mark Levinson system with a 6-DVD changer.
Look after the jump for more shots of the facelifted Lexus IS.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2009 Lexus IS Facelift
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo
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After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
hmmmm..
not much changes though..
but it still look masculine..
Are there more space at the back yet?
The backseat are so crumbed i cant even fit my dog in there.
I spot the differences
1.The rear tailight
2.Side mirror light
HAHAHAHA
hmmm wanna see the sound system.any pics of the interior?
Seems that the sales is quite poor… That’s why they need to cut their price…
still looks too similar to a toyota, remove the badge and stuck the T badge on it and i doubt people without much automobile knowledge would be able to tell the difference.
and what’s with the bling chromed wing mirror indicators? looks so tacky like those add-ons that people can buy from any accessory shop…
using BMW way to identify their diesel…
lexus really like copying from the germans
like 220 sounds like a merc…
den da “d” is frm BMW…
lolz !!!
couldnt see much changed except wing mirror! which i might suggest it as an Ear-Lift instead! ~boring~~~~~~
Waste of time. Get the new Audi A4 2.0T Avant.
i see no changes. but the mark levinson sound system, FU YOH!
yawnz….zzZZzzZZzz…..
the worst small premium luxury sedan
Francis KethoN said,
November 13, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
I spot the differences
1.The rear tailight
2.Side mirror light
HAHAHAHA
_________________________________________________________________________
True!! And a slightly bigger grille (can’t actually know unless someone tells u).
Francis KethoN said,
November 13, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
I spot the differences
1.The rear tailight
2.Side mirror light
HAHAHAHA
________________________________________________________________________
3.New rims
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Lexus going if it looks alright, don’t change it.
IMO, this is the only car in the Lexus range that looks beautiful. The rest are ugly.
a 22k car, and still no AUX port. Upcoming honda city also has that.
the improvements are even less obvious than that of the bmw 3er
the rear looks very bold….
looks bold, but to drive it, its rubbish
lol, the British wouldn’t buy this even with a price drop. As Jeremy Clarkson puts it: “I mean seriously, how can anyone say ‘No, I don’t want to buy a BMW, or a Jaguar, or an Audi or a Volkswagen Phaeton or a Mercedes cuz all I want from a car is reliability.’ That’s like saying all I want from a girlfriend is punctuality.”
good one. too bad in malaysia thats what people expect of their girlfriends(explain the toyota’s here)