Haidar360

I'm 17 years old and have saved around 7,000k. I'm a big Lexus fan and have been looking at a few 2006 and 2007 Lexus IS 250 models ranging from 95k-160k in miles. Do you suggest that I buy a car with around 130k miles for around 7 k or save up around 8-9k dollars and buy a car with around 100k miles. Also will mainanace costs be low? Please help me out with info I'm a newbie!!

bbaugher47

My wife is from Warwick RI. I love Newport and Narraganssant? So on to the question at hand. You may want to try to find an IS350 over the IS250. The 250s have a carbon issue that you'll be able to research here on the forums by using the search feature. The 350 has about 300HP so I'm not sure if that would get ya in trouble. Which ever car you choose to pursue make sure you carfax it , look at the history , maintenance records , etc. maybe try to source one that was driven in the non snowy regions of the country to prevent buying a rust bucket. The newer IS250s are less likely to have that carbon issue than the older ones. All things considered, the 2IS is an awesome car. You'll be just fine. But research, research, research!!! Buy the car right for you and don't buy one because you fell you're in live with the thing. The last thing you want to do is buy a lemon. It is just a car mind you. So if something doesnt feel right , WALK AWAY! Good luck and I hope this helps you out.

Haidar360

Omg thank you so much! it's great to see people from our tiny state! I'm from Pawtucket sir. Your absolutely right, I kind of fell in love with the IS 250 but I do have much better options for the money. I deff into will do my research and if I find a gem I will get! I also have a good friend who specializes in Toyota and Lexus car fixes with his father so that might help out as well. Have a good day and god bless.

jjc250

Why are you asking the same question again? Did people not give you enough opinion in your previous thread?

To answer your question, no. Don't buy one.The maintenance cost will not be low. The fuel cost will not be low. The insurance cost will not be low. This is coming from a personal experience. I was in the exact same shoe as you and I am now selling my 250.

Haidar360

Yeah I felt like I didn't get a set answer. Thank you for answering precisely

Aspect

My opinion is to buy the car with the lowest miles possible within your budget. Maintenance costs low? Not particularly. I got pretty mint example December 2015 12k CAD or 9k USD ~100,000 km or ~60,000 miles. Since then I've probably spent an extra 5-8k CAD 3.8-6k USD, albeit a lot of it was spent on mods, and I wanted to upgrade a lot of things, but now I feel like it's at a good place mechanically. First things I did - new Hawk pads F/R $200 CAD, new Centric Rotors $140 front $120 rear, replaced both rear calipers due to seizing $300 each incl labour, new pair of Michelin X-Ice 3s $500, transmission and brake fluid change $300, new pair of Michelin Pilot Super Sports $500, F Sport filter $80, Spark plugs + Install $250, new TPMS sensors for new wheels $240, new winter wheels since old ones were peeling and flaking $700, Airbag SRS light on - replaced passenger seat airbag sensor - $2500 parts and labor(f'ing 1700 cushion), replaced passenger rear drive axle $900. Then you have mods... but that's another story.

A lot of these things can be skipped or are optional. But that's been my experience living with it over the last year. In general it has been pretty reliable and most things were replaced with upgrades and I don't cheap out on tires. You should keep in mind what you need to spend to keep it running and what you want to do with it.

travelride

I would be wary of spending my only $7k on an expensive car with that many miles on it. If you can bring yourself to reign in your expectations, you could buy something much newer for $7k with much lower maintenance costs. (A $7k Toyota Corolla would last you 10 years if you needed it to). Save up and then buy a Lexus in a few years. I know that isn't what you want to hear and probably won't be what you do, but Lexus is a performance automobile with lots of gadgets and expensive parts. That's great for the first 100k miles or so, but once you get over that, what you start to end up with is worn out performance parts that are expensive to replace.

A car at 100k miles is likely to need shocks/struts and brakes if they haven't been taken care of by the previous owner. Watch for tire tread depth if you look at an old car. Tires aren't cheap for these vehicles because they are low profile 18" tires (at least that's what the 350 has).

Now, on the other hand, when I was 18, I bought a 10 year old Toyota Supra with 100k miles on it and it didn't give me one lick of trouble until it got to 150k. Then the whole damn car started falling apart at once it seemed. I sold it out of frustration at the constant hassle and expense at 178k miles. My lesson there is that at 100k, you might be ok, but you're the last person that's probably ok, so don't expect to sell it for much when you're done with it in a few years. I wouldn't buy a car with over 100k on it unless it was a one owner car with tons of documentation proving it was well maintained.

Not sure on the 250, but the 350 calls for 93 octane fuel, which is not cheap. It also only gets about 18mpg the way I drive it. I also say that unless you're a lot different than most 17 year olds, the 350 will get you in trouble. Speeding tickets at minimum. (I speak from knowing how I was when I was 17). One last thing I would caution on the 350 especially is that it likes to "tramline", which could be unnerving for a newer driver. If you don't know what that is, google it.

Good luck! Lexus is a great vehicle, but an expensive one.

Oh, yeah, the ones you are looking at are all part of a Takata Airbag Recall. Look at that. You get in a wreck with your girl in the passenger seat prior to that recall being fixed and the airbag could kill her. Is it likely? Well, probably not, but there are 11 confirmed US deaths so far due to these defective airbags. And Lexus's great suggestion until they can get to the recall??? Don't use the passenger seat! Seriously.

Elijah2016

I just bought a 07 IS250 for $8995 with 104,000 miles on it. It was worth spending a little extra and getting a car in close to mint condition. Now its time for some upgrades. Had to get the windows tinted the day after i bought it