what i mean is that i worked my a$$ off in school for this deal to come by, i proved to my parents that i can do good in school and i will keep doing good for them after they offered me this deal. yes i kno i am very fortunate to have these parents. I thought they were messin with me when they offered me a deal but my dad was like if u think im jokin, i can buy u a 94 civic and let u try to get girls in that..lol

as for the AWD IS350, i dont wanna spend a couple more stacks on something i dont want on my car. I would rather have a RWD anyday for drifting...

As for the ISF, like i said before, i cant afford a new F and my parents want me buying a new car

A few thoughts-

You mentioned minor engine mods at some point in the thread.

There aren't really any "go faster" mods worth doing to the IS350. You can do intake/axle-back exhaust without any warranty or emissions concerns but you're talking 10-12 rwhp combined gains.

And that's about it if you wanna stay legal/warrantied.

(If you don't there's always nitrous I guess, but not much else that does much).


That said, the 350 is quite quick even stock, and as you noted has the nicest interior, and excellent reliability.


A 3-series BMW has an interior stuck in the 80s, and (comparatively) poor reliability. But it's pretty cheap to add horsepower to it. It's NOT cheap once something breaks out of warranty though, and it probably will.

More relevant though is anytime I cross-shopped the BMW 335i was way more expensive than the IS350 once you optioned the 335i to have similar features to what my IS has. Like many thousands more. Like might as well get a CPO IS-F more.


Anyway- my suggestion- see if your parents are willing to get you a new IS350 (or a 1-2 year old F if you can swing it) and the 8 year Lexus platinum extended warranty.

Then stick to legal/non-warranty-risking mods like wheels, intake, exhaust, and suspension... and enjoy the hell out of the car for a lot of years.


(And don't get the warranty from your local dealer- there's several folks who sell it for about half the MSRP for the same warranty)



Oh, and one other thing.... any girls you'd get only because you're in a Lexus, you don't want. My first car when I went to college was a 1973 Pontiac LeMans Sport Coupe... (and this was in the 1990s). It never got in the way of finding women

lol i like the last part....

Yea im leanin towards the IS more than the BMW cuz of the interior and reliability. speed is not that big of a concern right now as the IS is already quick stock like u said. I was actually thinkin about a 07 08 TL also and moddin that out, what do u guys think, stock 350, or buy a used TL ( if i can talk my parents into it) and mod it

a TL is driving the wrong set of wheels...

Unless you're thinking about the 335, otherwise I don't see the point of getting the 3series than the 350.

Yeah, the TL (previous gen) is a nice looking car... but it's FWD... the TL-S is already on the verge of having more hp (at like 286) than the front wheels can reliably handle... when I test drove one while car shopping I noticed a slight torque steer on a bone stock TL-S.

Add more hp and it'd get pretty unpleasant.

I suspect that's why they put AWD in the newer ones with 300+ hp.... but that adds a bunch of worthless weight, and the current gen ones are hideously ugly too.

i hate the new TL. Love the 04-08 bodystyle. If i were to get a TL i would prolly get like a 07-08. But as of right now my parents want me to stick with lexus so ill most likely be getting a IS350. Im likin starfire pearl with black interior and F-sport tuning..

Leatherette seats and hpfp problems with the 335i. I'll pass and get a lexus. Go read on e90post.com. There was a guy that had been through 8 fuel pumps. Someone said its warrantied up to 100k but the inconvenience and down time sucks.