The Lexus IS Thread

Lexus IS sedan departs South Africa after 27 years

Yet another sedan has quietly departed the local market. Yes, the Lexus IS nameplate has officially been discontinued in South Africa after a run of some 27 years…

- Lexus SA has pulled the plug on the IS sedan
- Sedan had been on local market for 27 years
- Updated version not on the cards for Mzansi

Though it felt like only a matter of time, it’s now official: the Lexus IS sedan nameplate has been discontinued in South Africa after a 27-year run on the local market.

We recently noticed the IS – a compact executive saloon conceived to battle the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class – was no longer listed on Lexus SA’s website, so we asked the Toyota-backed luxury brand’s local division whether its smallest sedan had indeed been put out to pasture.

“We can confirm that the Lexus IS has been discontinued in South Africa and this reflects the significant shift in customer preferences away from traditional sedans towards SUVs,” Lexus SA told Cars.co.za in a statement.

“For us, this means aligning our product offering with market trends, particularly the strong demand for premium SUVs, as seen with the introduction of the Lexus GX locally last year,” the Toyota-backed firm added. The GX, of course, started breaking sales records for Lexus SA soon after its local introduction.

In contrast, local sales of the IS sedan have slowed over the years, with only 27 units sold in 2023, a figure that fell further to just 19 units in 2024 and then a mere 11 units in 2025. A lone example was furthermore registered in February 2026, reported as a so-called “single” registration (that is, a vehicle Toyota SA Motors kept and licensed for its own use).

With the flagship LS axed locally towards the end of 2023 and the rear-wheel-drive IS now gone as well, the ES is the only surviving sedan in Lexus South Africa’s line-up. For the record, the 8th generation of the front-wheel-drive ES is expected to launch in Mzansi later this year.

 
FiestaST said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2031425433405739084
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Been on autotrader for almost a year now. Called them, made an offer, but its one of the owners personal collection, so he wont budge on the price.
I Almost bought another white on white package last week. Very neat and clean car, 174000kms, advertised as full lexus service history.
But i cancelled the deal when i checked the service book. Most recent service at 170000kms is 4000kms overdue and there were 8 x years and 60000kms unaccounted for in service history between 66000km and 128000kms. Plus one service recirded is at some autotech service center.
When i asked him about it, he says he just focused on the sevice book and saw the latest service was done when he bought it. Then i asked, maybe it was serviced elsewhere and they never stamped the book, check the folder for receipts. He says there were a bunch of receipts that he threw away because the service folder wouldnt close.

That guy went from R599k to R540k to R495k to R440k then R430k, i still declined. Then he whatsapped me yesterday and offered the car to me at R415k.
I politely told him no thanks, with the uncertainty of service record, im willing to pay R300k.
 
Bunta said:
Been on autotrader for almost a year now. Called them, made an offer, but its one of the owners personal collection, so he wont budge on the price.
I Almost bought another white on white package last week. Very neat and clean car, 174000kms, advertised as full lexus service history.
But i cancelled the deal when i checked the service book. Most recent service at 170000kms is 4000kms overdue and there were 8 x years and 60000kms unaccounted for in service history between 66000km and 128000kms. Plus one service recirded is at some autotech service center.
When i asked him about it, he says he just focused on the sevice book and saw the latest service was done when he bought it. Then i asked, maybe it was serviced elsewhere and they never stamped the book, check the folder for receipts. He says there were a bunch of receipts that he threw away because the service folder wouldnt close.

That guy went from R599k to R540k to R495k to R440k then R430k, i still declined. Then he whatsapped me yesterday and offered the car to me at R415k.
I politely told him no thanks, with the uncertainty of service record, im willing to pay R300k.
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Did you try calling Lexus or Toyota to check history? sometimes dealers forget to stamp but they will have it on their system or on the Lexus app? I doubt it wasn't serviced for that long (would have been under service plan) but then either way its running fine for a while now. Offer 400k
 
bennyblanco said:
Did you try calling Lexus or Toyota to check history? sometimes dealers forget to stamp but they will have it on their system or on the Lexus app? I doubt it wasn't serviced for that long (would have been under service plan) but then either way its running fine for a while now. Offer 400k
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I asked the seller for the VIN number so that I can check with Lexus.
He then sent me a long Voicenote explaining why it "probably was serviced by a non lexus centre and I'll be wasting my time trying to find the service history, but the car was "well taken care of""

Yeah, nah, its a 2010 model, the services missing are 2014-2019 (61000 to 66000kms), then in 2019 it gets one service from JV Autotech performance centre or something, then 2023 it the next service at 128775 at Fourways lexus. Both period are outside the service plan / lexus warranty period.

I see there's now another one on Autotrader with 154000kms for R499k. Wonder if thats the dealer that bought the other one I looked at before this one. I was one day too late for that one. When I messaged the seller to ask if I can come view it, he said it got sold to a Gauteng buyer the day before, which was 3 weeks ago. That one had 179000km's though. But i hear dealers have no qualms "massaging" mileage on cars nowadays.
 
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