tea

People complain about Brake dust, battery drain, and old engine technology

SlangBlade

I wasn't even considering Lexus until I sat in a loaner 2014 IS250, and now I own a Lexus. The seats blew my mind and I was sold.

Agreed, I had the same experiences with the Japanese-made Hondas. Then I bought a 2012 Accord and couldn't get rid of it fast enough. The US-made ones just aren't the same.

FinaLpeace

Americans are lazy, lazy, lazy! I totally agree with those who felt North American made Japanese cars aren't up to the same level as Japanese made. Unfortunately, the Lexus ES which is Lexus' best selling sedan would soon be made in the U.S! Hopefully Lexus is strict about hiring their employees for that new plant. If my IS350 were soon to be made in Japan I wouldn't be too happy about it seeing how the reputation of Lexus is soon to not be genuine Japanese made and shipped vehicles. Well the RX is made in Canada and it still runs pretty reliable, I guess it's just the discipline of the company and their employees.

This is out of the subject, but I found out that a base 1 year old base IS250, IS350, GS350 trade in price range is about 4-5k differences according to KBB and many other sources. It was just surprising to me how the GS has kind of a cheap base price, they need to increase it to 50k+.

OrionLex

Are you talking about the F-Sport seats or the non-F Sport ones? I honestly haven't compared them very much...

FinaLpeace

I am familiar with both the seats since I've owned both a luxury package and an F Sport. Leather is hands down more comfortable and smooth, but nuluxe from F Sport holds you better in place since it's more bolstered yet it's harder to sit on. I think you would get use to it though unless you came right out of a luxury package to an F Sport seat then you would notice the huge difference.

goshawk823

Seriously? WTF?

With your prior rant, don't you mean made in the US, not Japan?

What an asshat.

SW17LS

If you read the posters previous posts you'd realize what the rest of us realized, he's not worth responding to lol

AgentX

^^ Thanks for the comments.

Took a look at the TLX V6 this weekend, only FWD but at least the looks and feel of it is similar (other than driving performance).
Actually not a bad looking car in person. LEDs lights all around, which is pretty sweet! Styling is a little bland, but looks like Acura went back to their roots of the 3G TL on this one...i would say that the TLX is an upgraded 3G TL. + for them doing this as the 4G TL looked out of place.
Performance-wise, it drives smoothly and quietly. However, when driving ~45mph+ and coming to a quick complete stop, the car has this slight rocking motion as if the car is rocking front to back for 2-3 short cycles, which i thought felt weird. Does anyone notice that on the IS? When I test drove the IS, i didn't quite notice it but also was test driving in heavy traffic so i couldn't get above 40mph and no quick braking.
Electronic gear selector is a neat concept, but i can see issues with this in the future...and it's also hard to get used to. I still prefer a stick to shift into P, R, N, D.
TLX feels a little bit larger interior than the IS....but not by much. Took at look at specs for both cars after the test drives, and it's only about 1-2 inches larger than the IS...so doesn't matter much to me.
ELS sound system is better than the Mark Levinson sound system, but to me i don't blast music too loudly anyway, so it doesn't make a difference to me.
I like that the TLX has more storage room/cubby space in the car. The sunglasses holder in the car is a plus! I didn't see any holders in the IS350.
Hard to see to the front left/right of the car when making turns or parking. The side mirrors seem to be "in the way" if you're parking in a tight space. The IS350 on the other hand, you have a little more vision to both sides of the front.
Steering wheel felt comfortable on both cars. Actually like the steering wheel controls on the TLX more than the IS.
Voice recognition is ok, but not great on both cars. i guess i just tend to talk too fast sometimes.
The dual LCD screens are hard to use and will take some getting used to, but i like that the TLX still has a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard available if you don't like using voice commands. I don't really like the mouse/cursor of the IS350.
TLX tech and advance package both have memory seats, which for the IS is only offered on non-F Sport models. Not a big deal, but I like it as there will be 2 drivers on this car so I would like my settings different from her settings. TLX Adv package also has ventilated & heated front seats...whereas IS350 F Sport doesn't have ventilated seats.
TLX side mirrors point down when in reverse. I like that option as it helps with parallel parking.
TLX has multiple views on the back-up camera, and the guide lines will curve with the car if backing up into a space perpendicularly...which i find very cool. IS doesn't have that feature...but this feature is still not a deal breaker for me.
TLX = Timing belt. IS350 F = Timing Chain.....Timing Chain FTW!

AND....the LARGEST PET PEEVE of the TLX, although it doesn't effect performance, is the LAME half-hidden half-exposed dual exhausts! WTF? Either fully show them or fully hide them!

Overall, both IS and TLX are great cars. I guess now it just depends on me. Love the IS350 F Sport's overall design, but would rather have the TLX's technology. But seems like I'll be leaning more towards the IS350 F Sport, if the dealer can give me a good deal after I showed him an estimated sales invoice that Acura was going to offer me if I pre-ordered the SH-AWD trim, ~MSRP $46k but dealer is willing to only charge half of the destination fee and also $1000 off for Acura/Honda loyalty program (currently own a Honda Civic).

Slust

You might want to wait for the 2015 if you really are leaning toward the IS350 ...though to be honest, it sounds like you are leaning toward the Acura.

2015 IS 350
- F-Sport getting memory seats (believe it is tied to the key fob vs buttons)
- F-Sport getting ventilated seats
- F-Sport getting heated steering wheel
- Getting Dynamic Lines on reverse camera
- Getting automatic pointing down mirrors on reverse

When I switched the mouse control to remove Haptic Feedback and increase the speed it works a lot better. If my PC mouse had haptic feedback I would hate using the PC.

The lack of sunglasses holder and slim cubby space is common complaint of the IS. I do not feel any rocking motion while in drive, that is just weird. Shame you never got the IS above 40mph. The car loves to drive and taking it in fast turns really points out how the superior the handling is to the competition.

If you talk with the Lexus dealership again, you need to tell them mid-$40k range. NM only has two dealerships as well and they are owned by the same owner and you can get a IS350 for mid-$40k here. That is purchase, not lease.

SlangBlade

Originally the Non-F sport, but I sat in the F-Sport later on and also found it very comfortable. While they do have differences, I found the shape fits me very well and felt could sit in either for long distances (also due to the cushioning of the seats, not just the shape). I did not feel that way about the Benz, BMW, Audi, or Cadillac. I hated the seats on my last car so I was very sensitive to this when looking for a new car.

OrionLex

I knew about the 2015 F-Sport getting ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, and dynamic lines on reverse camera - but are you sure about the memory seats and the auto-tilt down on reverse mirrors? Can anyone else confirm or deny these?

OrionLex

So it sounds like you liked both! But did you prefer one over the other? I guess I don't have a choice anyway since I ordered an F-Sport vehicle, but I'm just curious how they compare...

OrionLex

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying - what do you mean by Nuluxe holding you better in place? Do you mean that the Nuluxe material has more grip so you slip less on it, or do you mean the bolstering of the F-Sport seats provides more side support?

Nuluxe is just the material, and can be had on both F-Sport bolstered seats as well as non-F Sport seats (it just happens that in the U.S. all F-Sports are Nuluxe only, but not so in other markets). To be honest, when I compared the real leather to the Nuluxe I could hardly tell the difference between the materials - so when you say things like "hands down more comfortable and smooth", "harder to sit on", and "huge difference", I don't know if you're talking about the material (leather vs nuluxe) or the actual seat shape and cushioning (since they're different between F-Sport and non-F Sport). Maybe you can clarify?

Slust

Actually it looks like I am wrong about those two features. They look tied to the Luxury Package.

Official 2015 Product Information


FACTORY OPTIONS
 18-inch wheels with summer or all-season tires; IS 250 mesh-style; IS 350 five-spoke
 Back-up camera with dynamic gridlines (for Display Audio)
 Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert
 Heated steering wheel (AWD only)
 Intuitive Park Assist – Front & Rear
 Lane Departure Warning with Smart Beam
 Dynamic Radar Cruise Control with Pre-Collision System

Navigation System
 Back-up camera with dynamic gridlines
 Bluetooth® 3.0 hands free phone and automatic phonebook download capabilities
 HD Radio™ with iTunes tagging (complimentary traffic and weather)
 Lexus Enform App Suite (subscription free): Bing™, Yelp®, iHeartRadio™, Facebook Places™,
Movietickets.com™, OpenTable®, Pandora®, Slacker, Stocks, Fuel Prices, Sports
 Lexus Enform Destination Services: Destination Assist, and eDestination (one-year trial subscription
included, requires Lexus Enform Safety Connect)
 Lexus Enform Remote: Allows customers to remotely view and control certain aspects of their Lexus
vehicle via a mobile application for iOS and Android smartphone users. Lexus Enform Remote application
is separate from Lexus Enform App Suite application (not on head unit). Requires Lexus Enform Safety
Connect and Lexus Enform Remote subscription (one-year trial subscriptions included). Customers must
register for service. Provides: Ability to use with multiple Lexus vehicles; email and push notifications;
Guest Driver Monitor; Remote Door Lock/Unlock; Remote Pre-HVAC; Vehicle Finder; Vehicle Status
Report; Vehicle Alerts.
 Lexus Insider™
 MP3/WMA and dual USB/iPod® audio input plugs
 Navigation System
 Voice command casual-language Voice Recognition system

Mark Levinson® with Navigation system
 Mark Levinson® Premium Surround Sound system (15-speakers, advanced discrete amplifier design with
835-watts continuous power at less than 0.1% THD, 7.1-channel speaker architecture) with Clari-Fi
technology

Premium Package
 Twin projector LED Headlamps (low & high beam)
 Heated/ventilated seats

Luxury Package (requires Back-up Camera, Navigation, or Mark Levinson)
 Twin projector LED Headlamps (low and high beam)
 Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert
 Rain-sensing wipers
 Outside rear-view mirror functions (electrochromic, memory, reverse tilt-down)
 Leather trimmed interior with contrast stitching
 Power tilt/telescoping steering wheel
 Two position memory - Driver’s seat, mirrors and steering column
 Seat heater/ventilation
 Wood trim
 Heated steering wheel (AWD only)


F SPORT
 Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS) with SPORT+ driving mode (IS 350 RWD only)
 Aluminum sport pedals
 Black headliner
 F SPORT 10-way driver (includes power lumbar) / eight-way passenger power heated sport seats with
contrast stitching
 F SPORT 18-inch staggered width split five-spoke wheels with summer or all-season tires
 F SPORT badging (side and rear)
 F SPORT tuned suspension
 Heated and ventilated seats
 Heated steering wheel (AWD only)
 High-friction(μ) brake pads
 Intake sound generator (Standard IS 350)
 LFA inspired TFT instrumentation
 Perforated leather steering wheel with F SPORT logo and shift ****
 Silver performance trim
 Stainless steel scuff plates with Lexus logo
 Twin projector LED Headlamps (low and high beam)
 Unique front fascia and grille (F SPORT package deletes foglamps)

Variable Gear Ratio Steering (Requires IS 350 RWD + F SPORT)
 Power tilt/telescoping steering column
 Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS)


Release Article

FinaLpeace

Leather is smoother than Nuluxe if you juxtapose leather and nuluxe seats. If you sat on an IS with leather package then sit on the F Sport with Nuluxe you will notice the differences right away. I've sat on my IS250 luxury package for 3 months which contains leather seats before trading it in for my IS350 F Sport and I saw the differences right when I got on those seats. It's not just because the F Sport seats are bolstered, but you can also feel that it's not genuine leather. Slide your hands and fingers against a Nuluxe seat vs a Leather seat and you will notice what kind of comfort I was talking about. Leather is softer and Nuluxe is harder or more firm and it's not simply because the seats are bolstered. I found leather seats more comfortable to sit on for a short and definitely longer period of driving time.