I8ABMR

Buying an ISF at 248,000 is looking for trouble.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Or a good rolling chassis for a track car. Trouble is a relative term.

AZN Lex

How about an ISF with 160k? Would purchasing an ISF with that many miles be a bad idea? Serviced though Lexus.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

From what perspective? You dodged the bullet on paying $55k for one to get a pristine example as those of us who bought new did. Hopefully your expectations for a used one with 160K are not unrealistic. If you are thinking you can buy a car with that much mileage and have all the benefits of a new one, you're kidding yourself. If you expect you'll get one on the cheap and won't mind worn leather, broken exhaust manifolds, possibly leaking valley plates, soft bushings (or dead bushings because the previous owner lowered the car but didn't do it right), scuffs, dents, dings, minor tears, paint chips, dried sunroof seals, yellowed headlights from sitting in the sun, and all the other myriad issues a higher mileage car may have; then go for it.

I've spend a couple of grand on my F in the last 6 months or so just because I don't want to see any of this aging. It's bad enough when I look in the mirror every morning.

AZN Lex

Thanks for the input. My expections would be to have a fun, reliable car for weekend and nice days. I'm certainly not expecting a car with immaculate paint or interior. I can make a pretty easy determination of whether the appearance is something I would accept but my main question would be the reliability of the engine, tranny, etc. I know there is no diffinitve answer but was curious what others with ISF's think about the reliability of their ISF. Mainly higher mileage ones. Perhaps not 248k as the OP mentioned (sorry for hijacking the thread), but how about something around 150, 160, 175k etc?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I have about 135k miles on mine and there are no indications the abuse I have dished out have created any unusual problems. That said, there was a guy who bought a used IS F with well under 100k, and it was hammered. Needed a new differential, likely because the previous owner drifted it mercilessly.

If the car has not been abused, you shouldn't have any worries about reliability. But that's a big if when you buy a used car.

kolyan

What about trannies with life time fluid? After doing some research it looks like that lifetime fluid is the reason for many transmission failures on 250/350s because owners never replace it. 120-150k and old fluid = potentially dead tranny

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

We have not seen this in this community. I have sent my ATF to Blackstone for analysis, and found even over 120k miles, the fluid was still in good shape. I did swap out a large quantity of ATF when I recently did my valve lash inspection, but it was more for peace of mind than anything else. I replaced the original filter - it was still in fine shape visually - and ended up with about 5.5 US quarts of fluid being swapped out. Lexus did a really impressive job with this gearbox and its supporting cooling systems so the fluid really doesn't get beat up like the other 2IS models.

Gearbangin

iTrader: (7)

Its not exactly apples to apples but my TRD FJ Cruiser had 190k on the clock when I bought it three years ago. I will hit 250k this spring. Toyota builds them right!

Diesel350

Just curious when you say that the owner lowered the car but didn't it do it right, what do you mean by that specifically? Just wondering what the right way vs the wrong way of lowering an IS-F.

CleanSC

I think he's referring to the bushings. They are pinched solid at the pivot point and designed to flex slightly with suspension travel. So the "zero point" of the bushing would be at rest, or stock ride height. If you lower the car, you move this rest point lower, and the bushing is in a perpetual state of flex. It eventually tears.

The right way is to loosen the control arm bolts, which releases the bushings' pinch hold. You then let the car rest on the wheels at it's new ride height and retorque the control arm bolts which repinches the bushings at their new zero point.

This applies to many cars of all makes, not just the IS-F. Every time you change the ride height, you have to do this if you have the stock style of fused-in bushing that does NOT freely rotate.

If, for example, you replace your bushings with polyurethane which rotate freely, then it's not a problem.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Exactly true, and one of my biggest concerns buying something used which may have been lowered by someone who does not understand this.

The factory service manual describes this procedure in detail to ensure the bushings are set as close to neutral as possible. It actually improves ride quality too.

Diesel350

Ahh ok gotcha and they probably don't even have aftermarket polyurethane bushings for our car so you probably have to replace the entire arm.

Diesel350

Yeah I'm going to have to look into this because I have no clue if my installer followed the procedure when installing my springs. I wonder if that why my ride quality has suffered greatly since lowering.

CleanSC

Probably not, as lowering usually comes at a comfort cost. Perhaps there's a contributing factor there but yea... lowering always makes the ride harder.