Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Toyota and rear in the case of the Lexus). Both the engines are Toyota-engineered . The first one has a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 132hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 245hp one.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Lexus IS offers a considerable difference of 20% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Toyota with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the Lexus badge with 4.9 out of 5. The same official information place Avensis as average reliability-wise, and IS is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Avensis rank it on average as 4.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Lexus is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 230 kilometers per hour, 30km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Avensis, averaging around 6.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (46 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 15% difference compared to Lexus IS.

Verdict

Lexus appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Lexus IS offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Lexus outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Lexus. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.