Hey everyone, so I have been looking for a used 3rd gen Lexus and I have come across the AWD 300IS F sport and the AWD 350IS F sport. I was just wondering if there are any major differences between the two (besides like the hp differences)? I’m leaning more towards the is300 because it is cheaper and better financially for me since I am a college student.. I heard they are pretty much same any thoughts? Since I feel like they are basically the same, if I end up choosing a 300 and modding it, would 350 mods work on the 300?
Do you guys think I would get hate for choosing a 300 over the 350?

Currently looking at a 2018 IS300 AWD F-Sport white with red interior which is going for $26,740 (def negotiable) but with 44k miles.. is this a good deal?

 

The engine in the IS300 and 350 is the same but the IS300 is detuned to 250 horsepower at the crank. I am pretty sure, components (brakes, suspension, etc) wise, the rest is the same, so the mods will be the same. People here are going to tell you to get the IS300 and use the RR tune and get it to the same horsepower (if not more) than the 350 which runs around $500-550 and also increases redline to 7200RPM. In your case, the 300 might be the better option because I know in Jersey it was tough for me (2-3 years back) to find a nice 350.

Personally speaking, I've read a decent amount of issues on the tune on this forum. I can't find the threads but you can search for them, people said the car runs weird, sometimes have intermittent throttle issues.. Bought a Lexus for reliability and not have to worry about issues like German cars so I don't get why I would get a tune. But for a 250 / 350, the tune really doesn't make sense because it only adds like 10-15 horsepower. People will ask me "what are the issues with the tune" and I specifically remember seeing them, another person with the RWD / 8 speed (AWD is 6 speed) had their transmission slipping. Big note for you, the tune is for models up to 2016, not 2018 so technically, this isn't even an option for you.

I have the 250 and I've never felt like I didn't have enough power but car enthusiast will say 200HP isn't enough. If you really are worried, I would bite the bullet and try to find a 350 to avoid any BS. The pre-owned values between a 300 and 350 shouldn't be that much.

As for value, KBB has it at 24.1-26.5. If you can get it to 24-25 I think you'd be good, 26.7 isn't bad either.

 

The tune is available for 2017 but you have to ship your ECU to them to flash and the stock tune on the AWD 300 is 260hp.

 

I would buy the car you want, and not try to mod a car into something that it is not. In other words, get the 350 right from the start and enjoy a stock Lexus without any potential issues from a tune.

I used to have a hot hatch and I modded that thing with various parts, a couple of custom tunes and it turned out to be too loud, too binary in the power delivery and just not very good at daily driving. It got better after I went back to stock on some parts, but some issues remained. Looking back at everything, the only mods I would have done would be a short throw shifter plate, Bilstein dampers, better tires and better driving skill.

In summary, get the 350 and don't look back.

 

The Tune is different(accounting for the power difference), and the 300 dose not have the adjustable front dampers like the 350 FS. As someone who initially started looking at exclusively 350FS but ended up getting a 300FS because I could not find a local really clean 350FS; I don't have any regrets personally. I went with RR racing to acquire a 'stock' 350 tune, as well as there full power 7200RPM tune. Have not had any real issues and my cars been to the dealer for maintenance with the tune in place and they never mentioned it(Although I would put the stock one back on if I ever needed warranty work). For the 2018+ cars D3 offers a similar service.