seouljahon

iTrader: (1)

id get a civic and keep the is for a weekend car

JadeRaven

I refer to "sensible" as econobox.

The purpose of the Lexus, Merc, et al for me is the luxury / comfort and general appearance of the car. Also safety is another concern and I'd rather something a tad larger/heavier than your typical econobox.

Don't get me wrong the Civics and Camrys are great cars and I loved my Civic Si but with my job etc it wouldn't be appropriate, and I have to admit I have been spoiled by the G35.

I am a performance guy too but this car would be for a daily driver / commute and the weekend car will probably end up being a Z06 or early model GT-R if I can swing it.

Believe it or not I had also considered the VW Phaeton which can be had for relatively little money, but the gas was just a killer for something I would only be going up and down the Interstate in.

Thanks for the replies everyone I appreciate the advice

Coconut

I've put 80k miles on my IS250 in the last 4 years and heres some things you might want to consider.

1. Cost of tires is expensive and they don't last long. A set of good all seasons will run you about ~$460 for the fronts which will last ~25k miles. The rears are $520 and will last you around ~32k miles. I've spent about $2500 for tires total for this car. If I drove a civic/corolla I'd only need to spend like $800 total.

2. Lexus parts are expensive. When you hit 120k you might start seeing issues with your transmission, shocks, navigation, electrical just to name a few. This will cost you probably 2-3 times as much as a "regular" car.

3. If I were you, get a cheap beater and a nice weekend car.

sprkplug

I drive 200 miles round trip four days a week. I bought a brand new civic off the show room floor in 2004 and it has been in the road ever since. It has 371000 miles and still going and it still gets 35 miles to the gallon. I also have the IS 250 and love the car but I would never consider driving it to work. If you want my advice buy a civic around a 2005 model and drive the tires off of it, you will not be disappointed! You can pick up one for around 7 grand and around 120000 miles. You can still buy an IS to pimp around on the weekends. The civic around this year are better than the new ones. They are having reliability issues witht the new civics. Just my two cents.

calvin2376

iTrader: (2)

Well frankly this should make your decision right there. I was approaching this thinking you were looking for a car that would be your only one, so it would have to balance not only fuel economy but fun/performance. If you're serious that you're going to be looking at getting a Z06 or GT-R, then it seems a no-brainer to get a high-mileage, high fuel economy daily driver you can buy and repair for cheap, rack up the miles and drive it into the ground. If you have a GT-R you're never going to drive the IS250 for fun. So why not get a sensible/econobox car for your daily driver at a higher trim level (with leather etc) to balance the luxury you're looking for?

JadeRaven

FWIW if anyone's interested, after shopping around I think I am going to stick with my current G35. After doing more reading and research, it pretty much boils down to depreciation and it makes more sense to put a lot of miles on my current car which is already more heavily depreciated. Unless I got a car with truly a lot of miles, the price would completely offset fuel savings in a 250, and definitely on a 350.

I looked into a couple econoboxes, particularly the '12 Ford Focus, but the 1st year depreciation hit even after discounts would be massive and probably negate any fuel savings anyway. Plus to get the features I want it turns a $16k car into a $26k car.

Thanks guys!

rockopico

Actually, the new piston, o-rings repair is around $5,000-6,000. Now dealerships are replacing the entire lower engine for the carbon buildup issue....and they're doing it well outside of the 70k warranty. It's their way on not having to execute a full recall on IS 250s. I got the VSC lights and all that crap, took it to the dealer and they're covering the full cost of the repair...and I have 83k in mileage. IF you have this issue, take it to you dealer and don't settle for a top engine soak.