Hey all!

just picked up my IS350 last night!! See SIG for details.

picked it up with 53 miles on the odo...now at 300 due to a long night of not being able to stop driving!

thought i'd share with you my immediate first impressions compared to what i've been reading on here.

Build quality is the best i have ever seen...ever. No, i've never been in a bentley, but i feel its more well put together than a BMW, mercedes, infinity, or jag. The leather is untouched by any rival car company...its glove soft and vat died, so you're not going to get cracks in 2 years. By far the most comfortable car i've been in to date of this size and class.


this car is insanely fast. the power mode really does make a difference. puts it in a much more spirited driving mode. my traction control button "off" does work. i flick it and i can spin the tires and nothing kicks in. nothing to be said about the fact that it might come back on at 30mph. oh well...i have nowhere around me to drive that spirited anyway.

paddle shifting isnt that great. i'm coming from a 5-speed short throw manual maxima, so any type of paddle shifting or tiptronic shifting will ever satisfy a manual driver....unless its an indy car or ferrari. I consider myself a very good manual driver, and there is no way i could shift faster than the auto tranny does in "D", but i could shift faster manually than the paddles allow me to.

voice commands work flawlessly. it loves my voice, so thats all that matters. hasnt missed a phone number or command yet.

navigation screen and all other functions are very user friendly and easy to navigate.

stock stereo is very good. I dont know what people are talking about when they say it sucks, but it does not suck at all. Is it a 1000watt aftermarket dual 12" subwoofer setup? no...it isnt...and you shouldn't expect that. Sound is clear, soundstage is great, and it hits most frequencies that my $5,000 Klipsch home theater setup does.

headlights are excellent. i've never had HID before, so its quite a treat. The AFS is a really nice feature. I was skeptical as of how big a difference it could make, but it really does illuminate where you should be looking. speakingn of headlights, the rear power shade is very nice when the auto dimming mirror doesnt quite do the job.

pictures to come tonight! but you've all seen a SGM IS350 by now



Negatives: Too quiet for my taste....but thats just my taste. I'll take care of that this spring with an intake and tanabe.

 

Looks like the car really suits your preferences. That's great.

I guess you subscribe to the more aggressive break-in technique by spinning your tires and playing with the power mode so early on.

I have an SGM too. Best Lexus color, I think.

 

Congrats! Exhaust and intake are in my roadmap too. BTW, great color.

 

What "free stuff" did you end up getting from your dealer? You were asking in another thread...

Did they just offer or did you have to ask?

 

i do subscribe to the "break it in how you'll be driving" it mentality. The way i figure it too, if you have any troubles before 50,000 miles, its a warranty issue anyway..and once you get past 50,000 miles without any issues, it should be pretty clear sailing.

as far as free stuff, I got leather key fob cases, a t-shirt, and some water I had to ask for the t-shirt. they didnt budge with the free floor mats...apparently i got a pretty good deal on the car. its okay, i'll order some online for cheap.

 

Did the shirt say something like, "I spent $40K on a car and all I got was this lousy t-shirt?"

 

congrats on the new ride! any reason why you had 53 miles when u picked it up?

 

hahahaha, well played. Unfortunately, just a lexus symbol

it had 53 miles on it because they found the car up in NH at another "Herb Chambers" lexus dealership. thats why i got it in 6 days. Herb Chambers own almost everything in MA, so they all trade around.

how many miles were on your car when you got it? how many are normal for "brand new"

 

Very minimal amount. I picked up my car with 5 miles on the odo.

 

^ agreed.

i had four when i picked mine up. three were to get them off the boat, onto the truck, into the dealership and out on the lot. one of them involved driving to a nearby gas station for its first full tank and a full-service wash.