A1cntrler

iTrader: (2)

Hell there CL! I don't currently have an IS, but have begun looking as a replacement for my wife's car. We got her a Chrysler 300M Special back in 2003 (actually shopped it against an IS300 but with a newborn, the M had more room and won that battle). The Chrysler has been nothing more than a hassle with transmission issues (started @ 4k miles and every few thousand it was something else)/charging problems/cooling system and a check engine light that has spent 80% of the cars 77k miles illuminated because of EVAP system issues. Moving to Cali 4 years ago has meant a lot of clearing the code and praying at the SMOG check stations..

Anyways it is her turn for a new vehicle. She had wanted a BMW E92, but I have been able to turn her away from them after I explained to her all the stuff we would need to go through to do something as simple as replace a burnt out light bulb or even change the battery (I've always enjoyed wrenching on my own cars). It seemed that most anything you need to do to a BMW requires a trip to the dealer to reset something in the system (So the car knows you've put a new battery in it... yet the car says "take me in so that BMW can program the car to work with a new battery..." eesh.)

Looking around at reliability of vehicles (I said I like wrenching on things, but not every weekend) I came across the IS. It is sporty looking and has the performance to back it up. First I was looking at the 250. Then I hit the carbon build up issues, plus when I read anywhere on the internet about the 250, the one regret that pops up everywhere is "It isn't a 350". Although the 250 seems like it is easier to find because there are so many for sale, I wonder if the reason is because they have the carbon issue and hit the secondary market sooner because of that.

So it has been narrowed down to the 350. We've seen several online at various dealers around here for sale (even with the ML audio system when would be nice). Really ave been looking for under 90k miles and under $20k. Looks like we will be into a 2006-2008 with those requirements.

So when looking at them online, she notices that a lot of them are missing the gear shift ****.. Mostly dealer images. Somehow she notices that in a lot of the ones we look at. Is there some reason for this that anyone can think of? Is someone test driving these and pocketing the shift **** or is is some sort of "theft deterrent" that the dealer does??

Looking forward to doing less lurking here and more participating.

Oh--I saw an IS today here in SoCal with a Sewell Lexus plate frame. If I didn't frequent this site I wouldn't have even thought anything of it, but it seems that a lot of people mention Sewell in parts posts here. Does the club have a deal with them?

jgr7

iTrader: (1)

The shift ***** are removed to stop theft and Sewell gives a club lexus discount when you register with your club name. Welcome to the club.

SubieChik

iTrader: (1)

I'm somewhat new too, but I'll say welcome anyways!

The Sewell discount is definitely a nice one!

A1cntrler

iTrader: (2)

Theft of the *****, or can you not select a gear without it in place?

A1cntrler

iTrader: (2)

Thanks! I see you're from VA. We moved to Cali from VA almost 4 years ago. We lived in Chesapeake, but I grew up in Stafford and still have family in Spotsylvania. What part of the state are you in?

SubieChik

iTrader: (1)

Hampton

I love California! When I joined the military my tech school was at Port Hueneme. So I was in Oxnard for 5 months.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

The shift **** is an EASY thief target, so dealers will simply remove them. You can totally still drive the car without it though.

Since my purchase of my '06 IS350 back in April '11 I've enjoyed every second of it! Yes, there have been recalls; but FREE recalls nonetheless. Besides the recalls and NORMALLY routine maintenance, I've done nothing to my car.

A1cntrler

iTrader: (2)

Oh awesome! I was in the Navy for 12 years. My school was in Pensacola though and the furthest west I had ever been prior to moving to CA was to Fallon, NV for the Topgun school. CA weather is the best (I've been in shorts all winter, minus a couple of days in the 60's) but everything here is really expensive compared to other places I've been.

Are you still active duty?

SubieChik

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I'm coming up on 11 years in the Air Force

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

I lived in Pensacola from '98 -'03; went to the Naval base many times! Gotta love those Blue Angels!

A1cntrler

iTrader: (2)

I was only in P-cola for about 4 months for Air Traffic Control school. It was in 1996, and our class was one of the first to go through the new schoolhouse and barracks there on Pensacola. I think the Navy was sending all Avation "A" schools to there consolidating them into one base.

Being 19, fresh out of boot camp and studying hard to try and get top of the class for duty station preference, I didn't venture out into town too much there. Not having a car didn't help that much either.

Nice to meet ya!

A1cntrler

iTrader: (2)

Awesome! What do you do in there? I assume you are at Langley being in Hampton. When I was in VA I was stationed at Oceana NAS twice and in between there I did my sea duty out of Little Creek. I did Air Traffic Control at a RADAR facility and talked to the Langley F-15's daily as they flew offshore into my airspace to train. I did 12 years in before I got a medical discharge after a botched surgery on an injury that I got in the field on deployment. Managed to stay in fighting to stay in for 5 years after the surgery though. They finally wore me down and got me out of there...