damascus

guys,

i am thinking about picking up an early IS350 and have zeroed in on two. they both are one owner cars with perfect (& documented) service history. no stories. Lexus dealership service since day 1.

* 2006 IS350 - Sport Package, HID, NAV, Park Assist.
-or-
* 2008 IS350 - Luxury Package (w/ HID), NAV

They are priced about $500 apart - that's not a factor. The 2006 car has super low mileage.

I've learned from enthusiasts here on CL that the 2008 cars received updated steering dynamics. I do prefer a sportier (stiff) ride and would guess the 2006 Sport Package equipped car may have the suspension feel I am familiar with. OR, was the 2008 IS car much improved over the early 2006 IS model? Would I really feel much of a difference between the two? Which would you prefer? Why? Thanks!

Jeff Lange

iTrader: (1)

I would take the car with lower mileage and/or in the best condition. The suspension on the 06 will be noticeably better for handling. The main draw to the 08 for me would be the ability to disable trac/VSC by pushing the button. The rest goes to the 06.

Jeff

BlckGhst

The newer one. Likely fewer issues. E.G. - less worn leather, instrument cluster not dim, navigation touchscreen still works, etc

Not that these issues cant happen in a 2008, but the first year of a new generation is always the year with the most kinks

I always knew I did not want a 2006 when I was car shopping, because of what I mentioned above and from experience with other car manufacturers and early years of a generation

flynryan

Do yourself a favor and pay a mechanic to check the cars out. I didnt do this and bought a lemon. People can clear the codes for check engine lights. If you are buying from a dealer you probably will get some sort of warranty

Solara350

2006 F sport ? if yes i vote 2006, i regret it that i got Luxury package Top of the line all option available, guess what ? i never touched those or used them, and im looking to lower the car,

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

Whats the interior and exterior color scheme on both?

Jeff Lange

iTrader: (1)

While I agree with some of what you've said, mainly regarding issues that can come up on a first model year, things like how worn the leather and gauge cluster are will be almost solely related to how much use the car got. If it has a not insignificantly lower mileage and/or it was taken better care of, the 2006 could certainly be the "newer" of the two cars. I'm not sure as to how much worse (if at all) the 2006 touch screen would be compared to the 2008, I mean in theory it may be older, but they both used the same screen. From what I've seen, the issues seem to be similarly common on both years, but I don't have nav, so I'm not always on the lookout.

There was no F-Sport in 2006, however the Sport Package and Luxury Package in 2006-2009 both included almost the same feature set. They both got the heated/cooled leather memory seats and HID's, along with the power steering column. The Luxury Package added woodgrain, illuminated aluminum door sills and the power rear sunshade while the Sport Package added non-illuminated door sills, aluminum pedals, and sport suspension (stiffer shocks and springs, slightly lower in the front).

Jeff

MWIS350

2008 for sure the newer the better.

Antoniobro

I agree, whichever is in better condition is the one you should choose. You don't want to pay a lot of maintenance fees down the road because all of sudden, multiple things need to start being replaced.
I suggest you:
Do research on any recalls or known issues with each year of each vehicle

Do research on the dealership you plan to go to ! Are they trust-worthy? Are they desperate to sell the vehicle? Has the price been going down steadily over 10% each week? Desperation is a bad sign..

If possible, get a PPI. (Pre-Purchase Inspection) Find a reputable shop willing to check the car top to bottom for a low cost before you purchase the vehicle, so you are confident you are not buying a lemon

I wish I would have done many things differently before getting my Lexus. There were a lot of "ghetto repairs" I had to fix from the previous owner

Got mine for a good price though.

Hope this helps ! Have a good one!

Bichon

When the codes are cleared, so are the readiness monitors. That's why state inspection programs that relies on OBD-II to verify that emissions equipment is present and working will plug in their scanner and confirm that all the readiness flags are set, and will fail a car if they aren't. It takes about a week of combined city/highway driving to reset all of the readiness monitors after clearing the codes.

Rezno

iTrader: (1)

Well first things first, make sure you get both cars inspected by a mechanic. No one wants to be surprised with a huge maintenance bill right after you buy the car, so check all the mechanical and electrical parts first. Personally I'd go with the car with the least miles on it. If you will modify your car and do even slight suspension mods, it is entirely possible the sport suspension it comes with won't be as useful if you're changing parts. It just seems like you get more for your money with the luxury package instead of the sport package. Modding the suspension on the car with the luxury package won't really 'waste' (for lack of a better term) anything. The park assist though is incredibly useful to have.

I feel like the main thing it comes down to is how different the mileage is between the two cars. If its a huge difference, get the 06. If it isn't that much, go for the 08 and do all the suspension tweaking you want.

This is the main reason why I went with an 07 instead of an 06.

Bichon

You can swap an '07+ skid control ECU into an '06 to get that functionality. I see them on eBay all the time for around $200.

808newbie

if this matters to you, 2006 doesn't have the sharkfin. makes cleaning the roof waaaay easier.

how is the leather on both interior driver seat. low miles is always a plus, but do you plan on daily driving the 350?

do you plan on getting aftermarket suspension upgrade?

i'm leaning towards 06, but its a tough call for sure. i just like the original 2is without the sharkfin antenna

flynryan

Im going to have to look into the readiness monitors. Is that something that a decent scanner can see? My scanner got really good reviews but was on sale for $100 from $200

Bichon

Yes, most scanners show this. On the cheapies, there is usually an LED indicator that lights red if you have codes, yellow if you have pending codes or readiness monitors unset, and green if no codes and good readiness. The better scanners also show you the status of each individual monitor. Look at the picture of the scanner above, a mid-priced model sold at most auto-parts stores. See directly above the "P0488" code a bunch of dots that look like a pinout diagram for a connector? Each of those 11 dots is a readiness monitor status icon. When it is black, as all of them are in the picture above, it means that the monitor is ready.