TheShaddix

You'd feel the exact same way about an ISF! I thought my 350 was great, then I drove an ISF and knew right away what kind of car I want next.

Obscene14

Haha, there's two things that will prevent me from getting an ISF. First is my wallet. It's not deep enough for an ISF. I don't lust for that which I can not afford. Second is my license. It would be suspended or revoked in short order. An ISF would be a bad idea.

Obscene14

Disregard. Double post!

TheShaddix

I'm in the same exact boat then. As much as I would like to have an ISF or an m3/m4, I know that's probably the only fun thing I would have in life as I would not afford much else, let alone modding the car. With this being said, I'm starting to like my 350 more and more. I think I just need a slightly louder exhaust... But I'm sure my opinion will change the second I get to drive an RCF or similar...

Audioholic

New Lexus IS350F owner here. I ordered my in black with red interior. Overall I'm happy with the car but since I worked out such a killer deal I leased it with the option to buy in 3 years.

I really had my heart set on a BMW M235i but my wife hated that car and we have kids which makes it difficult to load them into the backseat of a coupe. I almost closed a deal on an Audi A4 with Sline but it was $60 more/mo for a 4CYL with H-rated tires. I couldn't do it! The IS350f is much quicker too.

A few things I wish were different:

• No place to put my wallet or cell-phone. The SD card should have been placed somewhere else
• No memory seats (standard feature in my 07 Acura TL Type S)
• No nighttime in-cabin LED lights on interior roof or foot-wells. I really miss that in my Acura.
• Poor grip from the stock tires. Really no excuse for this on such an expensive car.
• All in-cabin lights should be LED instead of incandescent
• You should be able to engage sport suspension + stiff steering in all modes, not just Sport+
• Cup holders too far back
• Side arm rests too hard making it uncomfortable to rest leg
• Fuel economy could be better
• Front grille is too big and made of cheap plastic and only acceptable looking to me with the black paint color choice
• Mediocre sound system. Hey I'm an Audioholic

Aside from all my b1tching, it's still a nice ride. It's plenty quick, very quite interior and good driving dynamics and build quality.

The buyout price is a bit high, like $28k. So in 3 years I may look into a slightly used RC350F or maybe the new $30k+ Tesla

Im2bz2p345

Nice idea & sounds like a good deal you got - I like your thought process and those cars are legitimate choices. Who knows what kind of goodies Lexus might add in 3 years time to either the IS or RC350F.

I'm praying the $35K+ Tesla Model 3 is revolutionary & shares a lot of styling cues from the Model S (has to look sporty/nice).

I wouldn't even mind saving up for a used Model S if it comes down in price & faces no problem with longer ownership.

~ Im2bz2p345

Audioholic

Yea it just kinda worries me about how you service the car and the expense of maintenance. CR gives such rave reviews of the Tesla that seems almost too good to be true. I think they boost the ratings b/c of the efficiency of the car more than just drive dynamics. But, I've never driven a Tesla so I can't speak first hand.

Slust

#1
Why not put your phone and wallet in the center console? I agree there is limited space (not happy about it myself) but at least the car is teaching me not to leave useless crap in the car. Flashlight, knife, assorted weapons, sunglasses and phone all fit out of site and I keep my shades in a case to prevent scratching.

#2
Stock tires aren't great, we can all agree there but you are also coming from a FWD car so it is going to feel different. When you throw this car in turns and get used to how RWD behaves you will realize how well this car sticks. My passengers say this car turns on rails ...and that's coming from people with no control of the vehicle. It's a lot harder to trust a vehicle you are not in control of.

#3
Interesting, had not thought of that. Now that you bring that up it would be nice to customize the suspension. That is the one thing I did like about the Q50. Though I sure wouldn't want steer-by-wire to obtain that.

#4
The cupholder placement just sucks in general. Only nice thing I can say about it is that at least it is out of the driver's way unlike the 2IS.

#5
You playing Twister in your car?

#6
It gets better as you stack on the mileage. I first started out getting 21-22mpg. Now I'm getting 23-25, mostly 24mpg.

#7
Comparing the quality of plastic to other cars with plastic grills, I find it to be better. I was just scoping out a bimmer grill the other day while at the gym. Probably a perception thing since the grill is so big.

#8
Agree, it's a let down. I was expecting better from the ML system, but while I wouldn't call myself an audiophile like you probably would I do lean towards audiophile quality gear and have listened to some friend's high end audiophile gear.

FinaLpeace

Finally someone agrees with me

Also those who disagrees just cant accept the fact the 250 is an unsuccessful engine.

And yes Lexus is dropping the 250 in 2016 over for a turbo i4 which would probably go from 0-60 a second faster than the IS250. Fuel efficiency would probably be 23 city up from 21 in the IS250.

The new IS turbo replacing the 250 would definitely attract more customers looking for speed and fuel efficiency. I hope the numbers of IS350 customers won't be pulled away, but of course there are still those who rather have a v6. Totally a good model combination to do business!

Now to think of it, a v6 turbo might be too much for the IS350. If Lexus were to give the IS350 a turbo replacement than the GS lineup would be totally different as well.

SlangBlade

They've been using it for 10 years, it's hard to call that unsuccessful.

I do agree that the turbo V6 might be too much for the IS though, maybe they'll detune it a bit? I think all their engines are going to be FI with in a few years.

Obscene14

I'll accept that the 2.5 v6 is successful in the Toyota line.where the cars weigh at least 500 lbs. less. Accepting that kind of power delivery in 3700 lb. Lexus with a tranny that insists on being in the highest gear possible to promote economy at the expense of usefull acceleration is utter fail. I'll go out on a limb and say that if you can live with the drive-ability of the 250 you really just want to be seen in a Lexus and nothing else.

When other cars pull away from you in rush hour traffic unless you go deep into the throttle it becomes total fail.

SC300Es

Lexus would disagree with you especially in NYC since you rarely see a 350 here. Mostly 250 AWDs. Also, not everyone mashes the gas pedal in rush hour traffic.

Obscene14

In tight city traffic the 250 might actually be ok. The 250 has an overly aggressive 1st gear. It has a high 1st gear throttle setting so it can jump from a stop sign or red light. The big issue with the 250 is gears 2-6. The throttle settings are very low so when combined with the limited torque output the car just has unacceptable acceleration. So basically as soon as traffic opens up to say 30-50 mph the 250 has absolutely no ***** to keep up with other mediocre cars. The cars I'm talking about are basic Accords, Altima 2.5's, Hundai Sonatas and similar cars. This is where I got pissed off at the 250. If my 37k Lexus can't keep up with a Sonata there is something wrong with the way Lexus is doing things.

When I say keep up I mean the that the gap between me and the car in front of me doesn't keep getting bigger. The only way for the 250 to maintain the gap was for me to press the pedal harder and the car to constantly drop a gear to keep up. Repeat this over and over and it gets old in traffic.

wednesday

Really??? I am by no means a right lane speed limit driving slow poke who has no business driving an IS and while yes I would like a 350 the times I would use the extra hp by no means justify the bigger payment and poorer gas mileage. The 250 handles well, is reliable and solid and it looks great, that is why I drive one "not just to be seen in a Lexus."

The IS350 snobbery on here gets pretty freaking old.....

tea

The snobbery is on all forums with cars that have two or three engine options. They like to validate their purchase by putting down the smaller engine