Hey There!

I just purchased a 2010 IS250C a few days ago. I believe its Tungsten Silver with a like cream color interior. I saw it come up for sale at a BMW dealer in Austin for $10,980 and was able to get them down to $8,800. I was lucky to get to drive it alone without a salesperson annoying me and I pretty much fell in love with it instantly! The car has about 88,600 miles on it and I had inspected by a 3rd party. They only said that the cabin and engine air filters were dirty and everything else looked great. I was able to do the engine one yesterday and will do the cabin tomorrow. The car was local to Austin its whole life with two owners. Unfortunately, the previous owner probably took the car to a small shop/one man place or did the maintenance work himself as the Carfax only showed registration every year. It did get a new battery in March 2020 so I hope the person took care of it. The leather is worn but not torn yet. The detailer at the dealership he would refinish my seats and center console for like $350. Is that too good to be true? He was mentioning that he would be sanding down the leather and recoloring it? I don't want to ruin the interior any worse. The backseats and door panels still look great. Also, is it worth fixing the Bluetooth module for the car? I just want to stream music and the AUX jack works fine for me with an adapter to my phone. Anyways, super excited to have a fun little weekend cruiser versus driving my tacoma everywhere. There are a scratches and dings, I think I want to get the bumper repaired eventually. I will admit, it still looks great even with the bumps and scrapes. Also, you can see I am still learning to back the car into the garage!

Also, is an extended warranty worth it? My credit union offered me a 3 year/36K mile one for $1,800. I doubt I will drive 36K miles on this car in 3 years. I have seen people comment about the top and potential problems. I have been using the top and it seems to be working just fine along with everything else.

 

Beauty!! Congrats. I'd normally say no to the aftermarket warantee, but if the top malfunctions, it's a pricey fix... Make sure the top mechanism is covered if you go with the credit union warantee.

 

Nice. A 2010 with 88k for $8,800 seems like a great deal.

 

When you change the cabin filter make sure you switch the button on your dash to Recirculate or you'll end up damaging internal parts.

 

I am in Atlanta, I am purchasing a 2010 IS 250c with 93k for $13k so I am jealous about your deal! Mine is Matador Red with cream interior and 1 owner. Haven’t been able to find one any cheaper! I, too, am questioning whether or not to buy the extended warranty but appreciate the advice of making sure the top is covered if I do!! Congratulations !!

 

Is this “detailer” going to do the seats and console as an employee of the dealer, or as a freelance job? If it goes south, the former gives you some recourse, the latter might leave you high and dry.

Leather refinishing is an art, IMO, based on having some experience with it restoring my old BMW. The seats are surface dyed, so the color is only on the outer surface. Are your seats cracked/crazed? Will detail guy fill in the crazes with suitable flexible filler before wet sanding? In inexperienced hands the sanding can turn leather into suede, and there is no going back. Recoloring dye is best when sprayed, rather than brushed. But a decent spray job requires serious masking off, or better, removal of the seats.

I’d get more info before handing the car over to “detail guy.”

To bad you live in a front license plate state. The ISC front end is much more attractive without a plate covering its nose.

My ISC is a 2013, with around 30K miles. So far, other than routine services, it has needed only a set of tires and a battery. Tire life on the ISC is short; my dealer said 20,000 miles is about the best to hope for, and the replacement tires are pricey. The battery is difficult to find. IIRC it’s a group 34 but not all batteries in the group will fit this particular car. The catch is that it cannot have any ridges, projections, side handles and such in order to fit the ISC enclosure - it has to have all flat sides.

 

Congrats on your purchase! I moved from Atlanta (ITP) late last year so I know how high the prices can be over there. I remember seeing so many cars at places like ALM with good prices but the CarFax was horrible. That red is a sharp color too. I financed the car with Delta Community CU and they were the ones offering the $1,800 warranty for 3 years/36K miles.

 

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The seats are creased and somewhat cracking but nothing is ripped yet. He would be doing it on the side and it would be done at the dealer. I would not covered by the dealer. I am definitely thinking it through though. I have only driven it handful of times and it will be parked in the garage so I feel I don't have to rush with the seats. I was told about the tires as well. The mechanic who inspected it said the tires were relatively new on it for front wheels. That is interesting on the battery! When I changed the engine air filter I saw it was an interstate battery that was changed 3/20 so I hope it lasts awhile.