My 2013 Camry recently got totaled in an accident, and told myself if I was going to buy another car it would be a Lexus.
My budget fits a 2014/15 Lexus IS 250 CPO.

I wanted to get some ideas/reviews/tips from you guys.
How is your '14/'15 IS 250 F Sport holding up? If you can reply with any issues you've incurred, anything to look out for?
I will be planning to keep the car for a while so any response is greatly appreciated!
I've read issues such as battery drainage and Carbon Build up. Should I be worried about that now or has Lexus made a fix for all that?

I know a lot of people would want me to go to a IS350 but its simply not in my budget nor do I want the extra HP.

Thanks!

 

I was in a similar boat and recently picked up my '14 IS250 earlier this month. I sold my E46 M3 and knew that I wanted a Lexus (work commute). Lexus dealership had a deal and apparently December is a really good time to buy. Financing options are really low, so the first thing I would do is ask A LOT of questions. This is one of their biggest times of the year so yo can be a little picky. Find out what type of warranty is offered and what kind of maintenance plan you can roll into that. I managed to get a car with 11k mi that is covered until 2020 (warranty/maintenance) for less than their cheapest IS350 CPO.

Also, talking to the guy I went through a bunch of cars and figured out which ones they were willing to let go much cheaper. Some inventory has been there for 60+ days which usually means they're losing money and want it gone asap. Use that to your advantage when haggling. My car had only been there for a few days so I didn't have much leverage other than cash in hand.

In terms of things to look for, so far I haven't had any issue but it's only been about 2.5 weeks. Obviously you want to do the test drive as not all cars were aligned properly and some had more wheel vibration than others. The battery and carbon stuff is something I'm keeping in mind. Coming from a bimmer a Lexus IS really easy to care for. None of the problems are catastrophic and can be remedied fairly easily.

 

You can get better deals on the 250s simply due to inventory. 350s are rare compared to the 250.

 

Wow thanks for a very detailed response! I will definitely keep those in mind. As far as the battery issue, I believe a TSB was released by Lexus and I am pretty good with maintenance.

Are there any any other known issues I should know about? Rattles inside the vehicle? Vibrations? Etc?

 

 

If you're going the F Sport route, remember that the 15 will have ventilated seats and the 14 won't, if that's important to you.

 

Yes! I did realize that the '15 does have ventilated seats and steering wheel warmer! I really appreciate all the responses!

 

Also, if I don't buy from Lexus CPO, do you guys recommend getting an extended warranty somewhere? Toyota forums usually had a "guy" who would sell cheaper extended warranties.

 

keep in mind that you can't buy out of state any longer. that aside, i bought an extended warranty because i wanted peace of mind, but many here will tell you that it's an unnecessary purchase.

 

What is your budget?

 

Sorry for the late response.
My budget is 30k OTD

I did find a 2014 Lexus IS 250 F Sport, Black Obsidian with Rioja Red interior with 37k miles.
Has the F sport package, included with Mark Levinson sound.
The price was given before taxes, titles, and fees, 26,000.
I live in Northwest Suburbs in Illinois.

Do you guys think this is a good price?

 

Kbb on my fully loaded 2014 is350 f sport is $28k with 51k mikes. I'd say no, that's not a good deal for an is250.

 

I did do a KBB price value check from a dealer.
Entered miles 37k
i selected the f sport package, but also selected mark levinson sound, black color, heated seats, etc. I got a value price of 28k..

what would be a good asking price?

 

The number of IS250 that come with ML system is close to none. I had to special order mine to get that in my IS250.
28k sounds like a good number to me already.

 

i also have the mark levinson system in my 2014 is250. rare bird, indeed.