ApriliaNut

Howdy everyone... I'm intrigued w/the above referenced hardtop/convertible with the f-sport package, am thinking about purchasing a used one, and figured this was the "go to" forum to fire away and get my questions answered accurately.

So here are my ?s:

1. What was the first year the f-sport package became available with the 3.5L engine?
2. How many were produced each year?
3. What were the changes, significant or otherwise, year to year? [e.g. engine/chassis/braking improvements; safety; interior, etc. etc.]
4. Any year to stay away from. [That might be a non-sequitur given Toyota's legendary reliability but thought I'd ask anyway]
5. Were there any packages available within the model like Beemers sport, & premium packages, to make the car further "loaded"?.
6. And finally any other pertinent information that would be helpful in understanding this vehicle and its characteristics?

This will be my 1st Lexi [is that a word?!?} but I have had my share of interesting rides from Alfas [3 starting with a 59 Giulietta Sprint w/a 1600 & a 5 speed shoe horned in that was purchased from an Alfa Mechanic in my college days in the early 70s; Rover 2000TC {pretty incredible car for the time; just had to carry an extra condenser w/me because of the infamous Lucas electrics. Loved the thoughtful manual fuel reserve valve on the left hand side of the floor next to the seat which saved my *** during hurricane David in 1979 whilst relocating from Miami to New Orleans when I staggered into Mobile Alabama and finally found fuel], 2 Jag S-Type Sports, Audi UrS4 [sold with 350k miles with nothing but oil changes and one coil pack, to a tuner who drove from Phoenix to SoCal area to pick it up!], 2006 BMW 325i with sport/premium/xenons/Dakota leather/i-drive [btw which I did not find counter intuitive contrary to all the snobby journalists reviews of the time; merely a typical German somewhat complex design. I learned in a perfect way by driving back from CarMax in 2 hours alone at night time with no passenger, no radio on, in short no distractions], the damn thing even had automatic rear & manual side window shades!!. Pretty much everything but comort access, and 2008 Volvo C70.that I sold soon after purchase b/c it exacerbated my already trick back and spine issue that I have. So much for the much ballyhooed Volvo seats!

Anyway, looking forward to this next adventure and your replies! Thanks in advance!
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lockedlex

Welcome. Coming from BMWs, I felt the same way as you did. I'll try to answer what I can about it, considering too that I followed a similar journey to yours.

1. 2010 had a special run of about 100 units labeled F-Sport, but that included upgraded brakes which weren't part of the package in later years (but available as a dealer installed option. The consensus is that the stock 350 brakes are really good anyway--and note they are about an inch larger than the 250s). After that year, they were generally available as any other package, just depended on whether the dealer wanted to order it. For what it's worth, my 2014 w/o the f-sport already stickered at 58k, which I'm afraid is a crazy price for this car. I'd be in Porsche territory and if I were buying it new, I'd have gone with that instead, lol. That said, many dealers didn't add the F-Sport since that could add 2500-3k to the price of an already pricey car.
2. Can't say I know, but they were not that common.
3. The 2011 and higher have different headlights with the LED strip and the 2013+ don't seem to suffer from "melting dashboards"--but we're seeing lots of 2012+ owners w/o that issue either, so it would seem to affect older cars and mostly the sedans. For 2013 they changed the temp. adjust buttons to colored red/blue which I always preferred and hated that they were just white buttons for the prior years. No other changes to speak of that were substantial, since in 2010, Lexus already started installing better Nav systems with a nicer interface (2010 was the first year for the ISC).
4. nope
5. In the US.. the Pre Collision with radar cruise was pretty much impossible to find, even more so on the ISC. I happened to have been on the lookout for it and found one car that had it, in 9 months of searching, in the condition I wanted. It's a must for me though, since my other cars had it. There was also a headlight washer option (useless, tbh). Mark Levinson audio is somewhat rare too, but they are out there. Otherwise, they will usually always come with the Luxury package/Navigation package. For me, I wanted the saddle tan interior, which was also very rare, so I went without the F-Sport since that package meant a black interior with silver trim (too Teutonic for me) (I also didn't like the rim style). Then I just added the F-sport package, which is great since most cars with it would have already had worn shocks/bushings/etc. So it gave me a chance to "refresh" my suspension and feel what the car would have been like new. I also replaced the steering ECU with the ISF steering ECU (look up that mod) which had a significant improvement in "feel" and "weight" and also has adjustability (you press the POWER button and it will make the steering heavier).
6. Yes, it will feel less connected on the road than your BMWs, has about the same "dead" feel as your AWD S4 as far as steering goes. It's also pretty heavy, so even with the F-Sport, isn't quite as lithe as the sedan or a comparable BMW Vert. Power is excellent though and the fact that it's NA forgives a lot of its deficiencies... because it's quite reliable. In fact, the 350 is probably one of the most reliable engines/drivetrains ever made and Lexus used a lot of it for many years, so it's been tested.

Good luck with your search!

ApriliaNut

Hey Lockedlex thanks for the helpful reply.
You know, that's a great idea: upgrading a regular IS C 350 suspension to the f-Sport spec one. How much did it cost to do?!?
It certainly gives one more color combinations to choose from!
Forgot to mention one car in my history: 91 Taurus SHO with that glorious Yamaha engine! Sold it with 250,000 miles and it was still running like a scalded cat! Surprised many with it believe you me. And if I'm not incorrect, didn't Yamaha design the heads for the 3.5L engine in these units?!?
Thanks again.

lockedlex

I added the F-Sport intake, coils, shocks, sway bars, steering ECU and badges, I believe it was around 3000. All the work was done by myself, but I did have the dealership do an alignment.

That SHO is still a great car to this day, I remember being in high school in the 90s and thinking that's a sleeper!

IZA350c

The very knowledgeable lockedlex gave you most of the answers... the only one I can share some light on is the production numbers which I found to be crazy low!

This is for the 350c only...

2010 -- 4,720
2011 -- 1,778
2012 -- 1,516
2013 -- 897
2014 -- NO INFO AVAILABLE
2015 -- 648

At the time of the article there was "no information listed in the Lexus USA documents." Maybe that information has become available somewhere but, with the pattern of declining numbers I think it's safe to assume somewhere between 700 and 900 produced in 2014?

lockedlex

To add to IZA input, these are the sales for the IS250C, in comparison the 350C has been selling at a half to a 1/3 of the 250. This bears true to what I've noticed on the road, I've seen 4 other 250c since I've bought mine, but no other 350c. So basically, it's going to be a rare car. The only thing rarer than an IS350C is the IS350 AWD.

YEAR UNITS
2010 9123
2011 3673
2012 3379
2013 1979
2014 NA
2015 1688

ApriliaNut

Man those are crazy low numbers....Maserati Spyder low!!

lockedlex

yeah, it's kind of crazy that Lexus even bothered with the convertible. It's probably why there is no 3IS convertible, the numbers just weren't there. Makes me wonder if these might become more valuable over time (probably not). But I know that 1990s SC coupes, in good condition, lowish mileage are going for 12k, this is a car that should otherwise be worth 3-4k. I wonder if the rarity and exceptional drivetrain of the IS350C might make it desirable in 15 years too.

ApriliaNut

It might very well be the case; you never know.

I guess only time will tell, eh?!?

Talk to you in 15 years!!

shadowmite

Thanks for the sales figures! Can I ask where you sourced these? I was looking for this awhile back and couldn't find it.

IZA350c

Under the 2IS FAQ section.

I'm pretty impressed that every time I go to the FAQ section, I discover a DIY link or bit of information that I didn't see last time.

TomDac

I also came from BMW (2004 M3 convertible)... Looks like many of us are on that same path.. Love the BMW driving experience, but not the $$ expense)

lockedlex

Same model/year I had Tom, with SMG. I sold it in 2009 with 16k miles before anything started to break, the only good thing was I sold it for not much less than I paid for it. Unfortunately, I kept my other BMWs and sunk about 35k maintaining those, so it still got me in the end! It's nice to have something that doesn't trigger my anxiety of something breaking every time I drive it.

TomDac

Yeah.. I had the 6MT and kinda had planned on keeping that car forever... things change and I'm happy with the ISC now.. I had 60K on the M3 and stuff was breaking all the time... YIKES. upkeep was just too expensive.

lockedlex

It's funny, as I've gotten older, I've gotten less patient with stuff breaking. It's true that the ISC can't touch a 10-14 year old E46 Vert in handling (I currently have a E46 330ci, 6mt), but I replaced all 6 ignition coils 40k miles ago and one just went last week, which means all 6 needed to be replaced. After 40k miles?!?! Ugh.

Although, tbh, even today's 3 series Convertible don't drive as well as the E46, lol.. so I guess the gap is not that bad when compared to our ISCs.