jameslathr

Hi guys..I am a big "car guy." I am working on racing wheel to wheel one day, and love to drive at COTA. I work on my brutal/painful street/track hybrid Porsche 997 911 in my garage. Hence I needed a car for work that would be comfy, and hold up to alot of abusive drives!

So I bought a 140k mile lexus IS350 used. Am I an idiot? I figured the engine/trans will last for half a million miles, and everything else I can order parts for and fix myself.

People mention parts being expensive...maybe I am mentally destroyed from paying porsche prices, but damn the 350 seems cheap maintenance wise.

Any good advice for fellow road warriors? Glad to be here; I must say this IS350 is solid as a rock. It feels like a tank; not a single rattle, good service history (like 9 pages of service histroy by some OCD owners). I feel like it's a real hidden gem as a DD.

Only thing I REALLY need to do; find a way to get a clean satellite radio install. It isn't ready; no hardware installed.

Really happy so far with this purchase...I feel like I have the same quality/luxury my old E92 M3 had with just a bit worse handling and power...with way more reliability. Kind of amazed these things are selling for so cheap.

Keo

iTrader: (9)

Welcome to the Club ! seems like you know your stuff very well. 140k not bad, I bought mine at 120k still solid as a rock like you mention.

Advice I would say since you point out the handling and power, is to get a Sway bar because it makes a big difference in handing with the is350. Power wise I'm not so sure what to think of beside bolt on.

jameslathr

Nice! Yeah to be honest I am not dissapointed at all..I mean I bought a car with 140k miles...

That said it's kind of disturbing how close it comes to the nice-ness of my old E92 M3. That said, I won't get too far into modding this puppy. It's my daily. Swaybar I might do just because the car rolls quite a bit. But I won't go any futher; attempting to get it to feel like my 911 will be a total waste, and getting it to feel like my e92 m3 dynamics wise i'm sure would be pointless and expensive as well.

The power is just fine for a daily; how many other 300 hp sport sedans with this kind of reliability, refinement, and tech exist for

jameslathr

Weird...it won't let me type more than that on my post...

Anyways, my plans are to leave it stock, wrap the aged/faded interior parts with CF, install Sat. Radio, and install a new shift **** as the old one is all eaten up. Love this car man...

A little secret advice to those buying used cars...when the car is "tracked" that is generally a good thing. Owners who track their cars generally replace parts BEFORE they fail in order to stay safe on track, and generally just care more about maintenance. I got this car with so many replaced wear/tear mechanical components that it drives incredibly solid. Just the engine/transmission i'm sure have wear as it has 140k miles.

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

Welcome to the forum. Def a solid daily and pretty much worry free for the most part. I just passed 180k on my 2007 and zero issues given. I replace things prior to failure and stay on top of regular maintenance but that's basic for any car. Congrats on the purchase but I doubt you'll be able to stop at just a sway bar ^_^

Zyoxx

Hi and welcome. I have a '06 IS350 that i'm about to sell with just over 140k miles on it. It has been a daily driver and have not have one major issue with it the whole time. It still runs like it did when it was new. I think you will enjoy the IS.

nosurprise

iTrader: (1)

You must do at least the rear sway bars! You can get additional 3-5 HP pretty cheaply with JoeZ or Lexus cold air intake.

rxonmymind

Sweet. The IS350 is a solid feeling vehicle and feels "just right" for a daily. No put-puts for me thank you. I recently took it for a long drive(400 mile) over concrete highways, cobble stone roads and sweet new paved ones and I'll say the ride was LIGHT years of anything my old Mazda RX7 convertible ever had or any Mazda. Shocks were supple but firm and steering would definitely be improved with anti roll bars otherwise a great car as it is.
Welcome to the club.