February

New owner soon (hopefully) but would like to hear your thoughts on whether to go with a CPO 250 or non-CPO 350, both 2012.

The CPO '12 has 30k miles, complete 5,000 mile interval service history and of course the peace of mind of being under the CPO warranty for the next 3 years. Asking $27,900

On the other hand, for the same price there is a '12 350 that has 40k miles. Also complete 5,000 mile interval service history and ~1year/10k miles of factory warranty left.

Coming from BMW/Audi, I would never buy a (German) car that's not under warranty as the repairs/maintenance add up quickly. But what about Lexus? I know Toyotas are built like a tank and can easily go for 10-15 years without major problems, is the same reliability there for Lexus?

ckorbel

The reason I bought my 250 was the CPO warranty. I will have to look at the repairs that it paid for, but I know that it was well worth it. It really come down to what will make you happy, the piece of mind that when something fails its paid for, or the acceleration you get when you stomp the pedal down on the on-ramp. Did they give a reason to why the 350 is not a CPO?

February

The 350 is from a Toyota dealership so no CPO, probably someone's trade in. Also forgot to mention the CPO has nav/premium whereas the 350 has nav/luxury. Truthfully I don't really care about all the extra gizmos in the luxury package.

Can I ask what sort of problems you've had with your 250 and what year it is?

iRock

iTrader: (12)

350 no brainer. Reliability is great just minor things. I've taken my car in three times for a squeak from the dashboard. Could be just from the dealership putting back together wrong though.

Phresh2010

iTrader: (3)

you can always buy an extended lexus warranty

February

Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding of the extended Lexus warranty is that it can only be purchased at the time of sale and if the car is purchased at a Lexus dealership. So I can't buy a used is350 from a Toyota dealership and then separately buy an extended warranty from a Lexus dealership.

tomiv9

Test drive them. You will prob like the 350 more.

pheonix72

iTrader: (6)

Definitely the IS350! Especially if you are coming from Audi/BMW. Go test drive both and decide for yourself but i am almost guaranteed that you will pick the IS350 (and will regret it later on if you pick the IS250).

February

Oh I have no doubt I'll like the 350 more, I drove the 250 earlier this week and it was nice but a little boring. I imagine the extra horsepower in the 350 would be a lot more fun to drive.

The main thing I'm trying to get at here are some data points regarding the reliability of the 350 once it reaches the ~5 year/50-60k mile age.

February

One more quick question

I'm looking up the service history of a car through the Lexus owner's website and there's a bunch of lines where the Service Type, Date, Service Provider, Mileage and Repair # are filled in but the 'Description' is missing, and it occurs at almost every service interval.

I've looked at probably 15 cars and this is the only one with something like this. Is this just a buggy system or some sneaky way for a dealership to do some repair work without listing it in the system? Am I overthinking this?

B16da9

iTrader: (7)

I would personaly got with the 350 as they have no carbon build up issue like the 250 engine.

idoke1

iTrader: (5)

I recently sold my 07 is350 with 170k miles. Never had an issue. I even drove it hard and nothing broke. That car is bullet proof.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

Get the 350. Although you're worried about potential problems, the main problems with each one is the 250 cas the "carbon build up" issue (you can search that topic). The 350 has the cam gear rattle which has some to have had their entire engine rebuilt. The 350 is the most powerful and it's been said countless times here that people regret not getting a 350. Doesn't waste much more gas btw.

EDYGRIFFIN

have the VIN checked at lexus to see if the recalls have been performed....they can do the check rather quickly.

Get the 350 and if you are worried about something going wrong get the extended Vehicle Service Agreement aka extended warranty..........

Tro209

The IS350 easily. These cars are belt solid. Take a look at Edmunds consumer reviews for the car and you will see that everyone gives this car top marks for its reliability. The IS250 is fairly reliable too but it does have a Carbon Build Up issue that plagues these engines.... also it has like 100hp less sooooo......

Also the IS350 has more options too so you honestly should just go for that. Because if you DO get the IS250, chances are you will be regretting it later on when the car has to go to the shop for the carbon build up issue and you start to realize that you actually wanted something more fun to drive on a day to day basis but also has more features on offer.... I am biased tho lol (IS350 owner with sport package/ Mark Levinson/ NAV) but everytime I drive my brothers IS250 (Premium/NAV) I think "Wow this is so tame by comparison" lol. Also his has less features and paid about the same that I paid for mine (Both 06 models ) His main argument being that he gets better gas mileage BUT that's only like 1mpg better than the IS350 so thats a pretty mute point. OH! And the 350 is rarer too!!!

Good luck with your decision and I hoped I help persuade you to the 350.

Tl;Dr

The is350 is Faster, more reliable, rarer, funner, and easier to work on

The IS250 saves 1mpg