Zelfiris

I'm looking to purchase between one of the two options below. The 2007 is much more affordable but I'm very paranoid for the maintenance/repair cost at high kilometres/miles. The 2011 F Sport purchase price is also affordable but I'm not very comfortable with buying an used car for 40k

So questions for you guys:

1) what is the most expensive maintenance you had to pay? what mileage is your IS350 at?
2) Would you be confident to drive it 200,000km without any major issues?
3) And lastly, which of the two options would you pick?

A) 2007 IS350 RWD - $15,500 ($17515 after taxes)
- 140,000KM currently
- Comes with winter tires
- Has navigation, leather seats, backup camera, mark lev sound system
- Only water pump replaced. Other things such as brake pads have not.

B) 2011 IS350 RWD - $41257 (after taxes)
- Has 44,00KM currently
- Has the F Sport Package
- Still has factory warranty
- I do not believe anything was replaced yet

If I go with option A I would spend some money to repair the car (currently light blue), get a spoiler, front lip, side skirts and maybe swap the headlights.. plus the F Sport exhaust. If anything major breaks down.. what can really happen?

If I go with option B.. no mods.. except the F Sport exhaust when I find a deal

I plan keeping the car for next 8 years.. hoping the reliability will allow that.

Let me know what you think!

EDIT: Typo on poll, updated prices after tax in this post

Jake

If the price is in CAD or even USD the price for the 11 is way too much! You should be paying low to mid 30's If you want to keep the car 8 years, definitely go for a newer car, like this 11. You will at least have warranty left for a few years and lower miles. Long term the 07 with higher mileage and age, you'd start to have issues a lot sooner.

iRyan

iTrader: (7)

option B is way too high in price..

Zelfiris

Thanks guys.. I got clarification on the 2011, its actually $41,257.68 but definitely not much better

My option C which I have been monitoring for a while is:

2011 - IS250 RWD - $34,600 (after taxes)
- 18,600 KM
- F Sport Package
- Nothing replaced
- Does not come with winter tires
- Has $11,000 on accident claims on paper - saw the damage, it was only cosmetic but will hurt resale value

I know I will appreciate the extra 99 hp in the long run but the market for used IS350 is small and I'm starting to lose hope

MikeyK02

iTrader: (7)

Option A...you'll be able to upgrade your entire vehicle, and have cash in the bank for any repairs

Smashin

If You're going to spend over 35k$ you might as well buy brand new IMO... December is the best time to buy a Lexus

jdmSW20

iTrader: (12)

thats exactly what i was thinking. if you are going to spend that much you might as well get a brand new car.

me personlly i would choose the 07 if i absolutely had too. even if you think long term, the real differences of the 07 vs 2011, is mainly cosmetic and can be bought and you STILL spent less than the 2011 itself. but if warranty is your selling point you might as well get a brand new car if you are going to spend over 35K

Sidenote: i bought an 07 is350 with 140k miles for 15k, and all the major recalls were done already. so to me that price sounds about right. if the one you are looking at has the ML sound system thats an even better deal than i got

RDIS250AWD

iTrader: (7)

I would skip on both.
Option A is too high mileage for you since you plan on keeping it for the next 8 yrs. You're paranoid yourself that mechanical issues may come up. When you plan on keeping a car for that long and are buying and not leasing you should want the car to be as new as possible.

Option B like Ryan said is too over priced. You might as well get yourself a 3IS.

I would keep looking. With the 3IS on the scene now expect to see some trade ins so you will have more to choose from. Also the prices on 2IS's have dropped due to the 3IS

Zelfiris

Thanks! Unfortunately that's exactly what I did today. I contacted both sellers and told them I will be looking at other options

Slammer1

I'm not so sure 140,000 km (86k miles) is too high for an '07. I bought my '06 three years ago with 72k miles and it has about 95k on it now. No serious issues so far...Price for the '07 looks reasonable too. My '06 still books for close to what I paid for it (just under $20k). See what else is out there, but keep the '07 in mind. Our cars are well built and very reliable. Have to keep that in mind too. Buying a Toyota product with 86k miles is much less worrisome than buying a Chevy or a Ford with the same mileage.

flomtony

iTrader: (2)

What about a 08-10 ISF?

Zelfiris

I'm in Canada and an IS-F would go around 48-55k before 13% tax.. its a little much for me at this point

Jake

Like what was said, keep looking for exactly what you want. If you want to pay a good chuck of change for a car. Why not buy new? There are a bunch of options you will have to weigh.