As three others have said, your understanding is wrong, it has a timing chain.

I'd definitely go for the 350.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...liability.html

Another thing to consider is availability (much more IS250 than IS350 on the used market). I looked at a few places and never found a decent CPO IS350.

I personally chose the 250 because I didn't need power and went for ''the deal'' instead of ''the car''.

 

Just want a car that moves reasonably quick, but hits a great cruise around 85 on the highway. Can't believe the price of F's and the bump on 350's.

 

Hi there.

Did you end up buying CPO or from a private seller?

Remember I told you I did take the extended warranty when I bought my CPO... Well my steering started making some noise during wide turns so I decided to bring it to the Stealership. They ended up changing the whole steering column (1500$ parts and labor) because it was loose... Good thing I took the warranty. Still can't believe a 4 year old car with 50k miles can have this kind of problem, but ***** happens, right?

Moral of the story : CPO my ***, the Lexus dealership had certified it while it had a loose steering column. Back yourself up, you never know what kind of jackass is inspecting and certifying the car. I should write to Lexus Canada and file a complaint.

 

Like I tell every sales person trying to sell me any extra cost extended warranty, " If I thought it needed that I wouldn't buy it at all!"
Bought my 2007 IS350 & never needed the warranty, it has 95K miles & It's for sale because I got a great deal on a 2015 GS-F with salvage/rebuilt title which voids factory warranty. Same engine as my IS so I don't anticipate needing a warranty. Cars have a pretty easy life here in SoCA.

 

You mean GS 350? The GS-F has a V8.

 

I bought several cars in my life and had no major issues with them, so I guess it's a coin toss... You never know who has driven them when you buy second hand. Parts might start breaking 2 months after you buy, 5 years after or simply never...

Full coverage warranty (Extra Care Protection) ended up costing me 2000$ for 4 years / 80 000km, which I think is very reasonable for a 50k car. By the time warranty will end, it will mostly have had more than 2000$ of reparations. One thing is sure though: if they offer extended warranties, that's because they make profit out of it on a large scale. That's what capitalism is all about.

 

My first Lexus (2001 IS300) was a Lexus CPO. It was nice to get every little thing repaired/replaced for the first 3 years that I drove it. I think that experience endeared me to the Lexus brand. My second Lexus (2007 IS250) was used and purchased as-is from the same dealer who also sold me an extended warranty. After two warranty claims I came out almost even for what I paid for the warranty ($2500). Coincidentally, the biggest repair was covered for free by Lexus as part of a recall (replaced the motor). The biggest caveat with the extended warranty was that they wanted the car to be repaired with used parts and if I insisted on new parts, I had to cover the price difference out-of-pocket. Naturally, the dealership mechanics wouldn't do repairs with used parts so the repairs ended up being subsidized by the warranty more than covered.

Hindsight being 20/20 I would definitely go the CPO route if I were buying another used Lexus.

 

I almost bought an IS350 that was factory CPO, mechanically it seemed sound, but I could see bondo texture all over the trunk and rear quarter panel; most people didn't pick it up, I actually had to point it out to the dealer and the tech. I don't know how a vehicle like that that was just certified CPO would have such obvious, to me, body damage. I don't trust dealers, it's all about the "almighty dollar", a caring private seller is always the better bet, you end up saving, on average, about $3k, maybe more when you consider taxes and dealer fees. In most cases you will never get close to using 3000+ on repairs that you somehow missed...unless you miss an oil leak at the timing cover on a 350, or just do not know anything about cars

 

Certified doesn't mean anything in my book. It's just a gimmick to entice you to fork out thousands more because some geese monkey spent all of 8-10 minutes looking over the vehicles pre-owned checklist. The only thing you might get out of it is a warrant. Most of us buy these cars due to their reliability. If you are a car guy and can turn a wrench get a well cared for private party vehicle & save thousands!

 

You guys are all right!

They told you they'd replace your broken parts with used one? What kind of warranty is that?

I made sure to ask them when I bought mine... They told me I would have Lexus parts only (or worst case scenario - approved brands by Lexus if the broken parts weren't manufactured anymore)

I wouldn'T buy CPO for a 10k car, but I almost paid 25k for mine so CPO meant lower finance rate for me at that time and peace of mind knowing 99% of the parts were covered is something happened... Of course price is higher when buying from dealership, but you also end up saving $ in interest.