mss354

Oh ok, so im looking to buy a Used IS350 AWD in a few months and im a bit stuck. I keep hearing about audi and bmw is a better choice to go with. I've worked at Toyota for 8 years in parts and my father is a mechanic there for over 15 years, so I know about the reliability is good, but is it better? And i know that Lexus' parts pricing is a bit more then toyota's but i don't know if it is the same as Bmw or audi. Im looking to have a car to be a daily driver (drive about 35 miles a day to work) and a sporty luxury car on the weekend. I do like to drive fast at times and love a car that has grib and can hold it's own. I want a AWD with some power to play with. I do drive alot just to drive around for the hell of it so I want comfort and realibilty. The IS350 seems to fit but again i hear people tell me to go to for a bmw 355ix or a audi A4 are just a better picks. Also if i were to go with the 350, is the F-sport wheels, intake, springs, and exhaust worth adding? or anything else? I would like to keep the car close to factory as possible

1JZsoarer

Its just the fact that the AWD is soo retarded in the IS. You're still going to get stuck everywhere like you were before.

spwolf

drive all 3 and decide for yourself? I had GS350 AWD, car would never lose traction with winter tires... never.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I'd go with the IS350. A good set of winter tires makes all the difference

mrraider

Hogwash. I ploughed through 5 Canadian winters in my 250 AWD. The IS AWD actually feels like a proper RWD car 90% of the time, when teh AWD is not needed. Only teh Infinti is better IMHO.

Fizzboy7

Test out the cars and get what you like. It doesn't matter what others like. You are the one who has to live with your decision, not them.

Mr. Burns

The BMW is the newest of the 3 so that's the best bet, but it's also more expensive. I'd wait until the new IS later in the year.

bagwell

+1....just depends on how much you want to spend....newer model will always be better tho.

spwolf

apsolutely... while it is fun to reccomend things to others on forums, we are not talking about TV's here... one drive will make all the differences when shopping for cars.

1JZsoarer

Well it depends on what you need. Because in Quebec, I've had multiple friends who used to drive RWD most of the winters and they had recently bought AWD IS. It would stop them in the middle of the driveway because the tires were spinning. Pretty dangerous. It would simply cut down the power up until the tire would gain traction again. He almost got hit while trying to get out the parking of a mall one time because he got stuck in the middle of the road. He had to disable traction control and he was able to sort it all out in time. When going up hill to most of the ski resorts he would get stuck midway and have to walk the rest of the way, or put sandbags in his trunk like he used to do. It might be fine for some mild winters, but not for the winters and all the hills we have here in Quebec.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

It's all about the tires and all seasons usually stink.
RWD with dedicated snow tires will work better than all seasons on AWD.

mrraider

Interesting, since that's exactly where I live. Yes, you need to kill teh traction control because it's over aggressive sometimes. But that has nothing to do with the AWD, Toyota just has an over zealous traction control.

If you set the transmission to snow mode, and turn off TC, the car will do fine going uphill. I drive uphill to work everyday, and I have left some FWD SUVs in the dust with their wheels spinning.

1JZsoarer

Its a no brainer, since we have laws over here that force you to use winter tires from December 15th to march 15th, we've had that for 1 or 2 years.

Also, don't worry I know the tires make all the difference in the world, and that some tires are not good on some cars,just like Hankook winter tires on Subarus are really awsome, they are just bad on some other cars.

Its just the way AWD works on the IS.

oldcajun

The OP says he is considering a used IS350. This is significant since used BMWs and Audis can have lots of reliability issues and be costly to repair. For new car purchases, there might be reasons to choose any of the 3, for used cars it must be Lexus.
Steve

Brian@Vossen

Tough!