azmojo

My local dealer (Bell Lexus, Phoenix, AZ) just called and made my appointment tonight to see the new IS and take a test drive!

Will be going over their expected allocation and probably placing an order or reserving one that is coming in.

One question... I see as an option the paint protection film. Is that worth it? It is pricey.... I don't plan to keep the car more than 80k miles...

SW17LS

Cool!

I have it and I am very happy with it. I wouldn't get it from the dealer, find an independent installer and have it done right after purchase. It'll be cheaper and probably a better product and install.

Mike_1GO

iTrader: (2)

DEFINITELY worth it! will save you from a bunch of nicks in the future and keep the paint underneath it clean**. Try to talk the dealer into offering the PPF free of cost since your buying the car brand new or maybe they can work out a better price for you. $800 is pricey. I did mine myself using 3M film for under 30 bucks and it came out great. Just takes time to cut the film as precisely as you can. Good luck!

azmojo

Edmunds shows the option at $259 Invoice and $429 MSRP.

What kind of shop does this? Is there a product name or do I just look for PPF?

SW17LS

On a car with as complex a front end as the 3IS, thats a professionals job for sure IMHO.

I paid $700 aftermarket to have it put on my GS. I've seen the OEM kit, its crappy.

Just search for Paint protection film installers near you. Do some research, you also need to decide which film you want to use.

Ramon

I don't have it on my 2IS and wish I did

azmojo

Just returned from the dealer and test drive. Here are my first impressions as a current 2008 IS350 owner. Going in, I was going to go for a fully-loaded luxury 350 rather than the F-sport. The main reason being the availability of cooled seats (not avail on Fsport). However, after seeing all of the things offered by F-sport and unavailable otherwise, I have decided to forego the cooled seats for the F-sport instrument cluster (kick-***), and the 3D-ish nav, the contoured seats, the grill, the wheels, and the VGRS.

They had an IS250 in Deep Sea Mica and an FSport 350 in the utlra-white. It was equipped with the Blind spot monitor, VGRS, and Mark Levinson/Nav.

The trunk is cavernous, especially after you fold down the rear seats but even before you do that. The extra room in the back seat will make it practical to haul around 3 other adults.

The F-Sport seats are fantastic! I love how they contour around you. It felt REALLY nice.

As far as driving, I didn't play with the different modes, I drove around in S+ mode. Driving-wise, it really felt just like the 350 I have now. The overall drive did feel a tad more refined (but could also be just a factor of driving a brand new car) the handling was even better, but I can't describe how.

The only annoyance I can come up with is the blink switch. It doesn't stay in detent any more. You can flick it up for it to blink a few times for a lane change, or a longer movement keeps it blinking permanently until you turn. I found that if I went to cancel it, I tended to start the blinker going for the opposite direction. Something I can easily get used to.

I'm going to talk with them again tomorrow after they research some ordering questions and I will be placing an order. Was told it would be 3 months but it could be shorter or longer which I'll find out soon enough. They place their orders on the 20th of every month.

I am going for the Atomic Silver, which I was told would be only 3% of all IS's, and only 1% would be Atomic silver F-sports.

They are checking whether or not I can order it with the pre-collision system, which is the only other thing I think I really want above and beyond the version I saw. I'd like to have a few other features from the luxury package, but they are not available.

Base MSRP: $39465
F-Sport: $3620
VGRS: $400
Nav/ML: $3225
Delivery: $895

macmaster

Thanks!! I'm test driving a 350 F sport tomorrow.

I'm interested in the same configuration as you. What do you think the final price is after TTL?

corradoMR2

Macmaster, any pics you can sneak in and further comments after the test drive, please post!

TXDriver

Paint Protection Film, commonly called a Clear Bra, is very much worth it. I've had one on my car for 7 years. However, in AZ much like in TX, you can't expect them to last forever. My first clear bra lasted about 3 years until it started to break down. It was replaced under warranty and looked new again... until it too broke down. I removed that one myself and it was a PITA. But underneath the paint was perfect. I had to polish the car with an orange pad and swirl remover and the car looked showroom new. In its place I applied that new 3M Spray on clear bra. For $25 it is not bad but tricky to apply the first time. I'm not certain how it will last, but that is why I'm testing it on my current car so when I get a new car (perhaps a new IS) I'll know which product to use.

Research clear bras and go with a respected brand name and make sure is has a replacement warranty.

azmojo

The other fees were:
Doc fee: $489
Tags: $801
Other fee: $268 (explain as optional, "docs or dots" or something to put ID/tracking numbers on the cars parts so they can be recovered or something? I think I will decline).
Tax: 8.3%= $3959

Out the door: $51557.


TXDriver, thanks. Looking at my current car the hood is fine but it's the front bumper that seems to really need the protection. But on the new IS, most of the front bumper is the grill. I hope the finish on the grill can withstand the road gravel...

Wunko

For around $600-700 at an independent place you can get a whole front end rock chip protection film package done. When I bought my 2011 IS, the dealership wanted $1200!

If the dealership can get close to around what the outside places cost, then you could consider letting the dealership do it. I had my headlights replaced recently by another dealership and their in-house pricing for the headlight film installation was very similar to the independent places nearby so I just had the dealership do it for the headlights.