Marcoshary

Hi. Is it worth it to buy a Lexus IS250 F-Sport in 2023? There's one in great condition and very well taken care of, here. One thing to know, the IS350 was not sold in my country, so I can go only for the IS250 or buy something else. So, would you recommend it? Thanks

PersianOne

Definitely! If you can get a good price and it's been taken care of, it will last you a long time.

Marcoshary

Excellent! Thank you

1slowes250

Avoid it like the plague... 2014 through 2015 stereos are horrendous with issues and expensive to replace.

Marcoshary

Wow I didn't know about the stereos.

kj07xk

That’s probably a little harsh. Yes, some have problems, but I’m guessing most don’t, like my 2014, still working fine (uh-oh, did I just jinx it? ).

ScytheDC

It’s not harsh. The stereo issue is a well-documented issue on this forum. I don’t really see any posts about it happening on the 2015’s, but a new post on a 2014 stereo failure is nearly a monthly occurrence and even has a sticky thread about it.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-3rd-gen-2014-present/950239-all-about-lexus-is-no-sound-volume-amplifier-failure.html

kj07xk

I agree that it is well documented, and I have contributed to that thread. But the actual failure rate is unknown. Is it less than 1%, or greater than 90%? The issue, for the amplifier, is likely water intrusion into the compartment holding the amp. There was a recall for some number (or all, not sure) of these early cars due to lack of rust protection in the rear wheel wells. Maybe the same cars were also not properly sealed against water intrusion into the amp compartment. One could proactively seal the compartment from the inside, if concerned about it.
Bottom line, if a car ticked all the boxes of what I was looking for, and no other alternatives existed, would I skip it because it might have an issue (that hasn’t happened in the previous 9 years for that particular car)? No. But that’s a decision the OP will need to make.

Marcoshary

Thank you for the information. I've been chatting with the owner of the car I'm thinking of buying for quite a while now, I even had the chance to test drive it once when i visited his city. He's a Nissei (son of Japanese) and takes great care of the car with all the maintenance meticulously up too date. He's a great guy and honest and told me everything works great in the car, including the stereo, we even tried it when I test drove and it was working great. So, I think, it's a good chance to get this car. The only reason he's selling is because he bought a Subaru WRX.

ScytheDC

No one can tell you the percentage of 2014’s with stereo failures for a number of reasons. You can’t simply ignore that it’s happened often enough in the 2014s to be made a sticky. That means it happens more often than you would expect by means of random chance. Put simply, it’s expensive to fix and happens often enough for it to be a factor in decision - especially when in the real world there’s plenty of alternatives.

swaangin

Great car, I don't have any complaints with it. Reaching 100k miles, been driving since 10k.

Marcoshary

Great! Thanks

fastordiy

I just relocated my mark levinson amplifier because of this serious issue.

truu

I would avoid the 2014 due to the radio issue and possibly the 2015. I have a 2014 IS 350 and the radio went out. There is a previous comment saying that it is harsh but it is the reality and having no music really sucks. Many others have this issue and might as well go with a different year so it isn’t on the back of your mind.

I also have a 2015 RC F and some reported the same radio issue which is why I mentioned possibly the 2015 are affected.