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I am not new to CL, but I am new to the ISF part of the forum. Previously, I owned a 2007 IS350. I decided to get rid of it a couple months ago after some progression in my career. I drove around my dad's beater, an 02 Mazda Protege5 with 250,000 on the clock for about a month while I looked for an ISF. I finally came across what I believe was a real gem, local to me here in Nashville, TN. It was a 123K, one owner, clean title, clean Carfax, dealer maintained, Starfire Pearl, 2008 ISF. I went and test drove it and fell in love with the car. It is in excellent shape inside and out and seems to be very well cared for. I firmly believe that it was garage kept. I actually called the Lexus of Nashville dealership prior to purchasing it and they immediately recognized the car after a brief description and thoroughly reassured me that it was well taken care of by the original owner. I was sold at that point and purchased the car for what seemed like a pretty fair price of $20,499 from a dealership in West Nashville.
Other notable things:
From what I could tell, it has had all of the major regular maintenance services done, up to but not including, the 120,000 mile service which I will have completed in the near future.
The touch screen was recently replaced.
Battery less than a year old.
Michelin Pilot Sport tires have always come from Lexus of Nashville and the current set only has 6,000 miles on them.
A few different recalls have been performed and there are no open ones according to the CarFax (Gas Pedal, Radiator Screw/Radiator, High Pressure Fuel Gasket and Sensor, Air Bag)
Both headlight assemblies and HIDs were replaced at the owner's request and cost due to oxidizing and still look brand new
The wheels have been refinished by Lexus of Nashville.
It was detailed at literally almost every visit to Lexus of Nashville.
It came with 2 sets of extra ISF floor mats and a set of the all weather floor mats.
Things that concern me that were never addressed:
No valley plate service noted - Coolant has not dropped yet after ~1,200 miles in my possession.
No water pump service noted - I don't see any leaking in the usual place which seems very odd.
Ticking sound upon startup - I presume the headers are cracked after researching here.
Transmission feels pretty good, but it probably could use a fluid level check after some research here.
I would love to know if the previous owner was here and could provide more insight into the car's service history! Also, if any of the senior members of the forum were willing to take a look at the service records on the Lexus Driver's site using my VIN I would really appreciate it, just send me a PM.
My Current Mods:
1. Installed my ScanGuage II
2. Muffler Delete
3. aFe Dry Air Filter
Last edited by Kenny88880; Jul 31, 2018 at 01:07 PM.
As for your headers - try sniffing around for exhaust fume leak in the engine bay - that should be a more definitive symptom of cracked headers (usually by the flanges).
Congratulations and welcome to the F family! It definitely looks like it was well maintained and with records as well- that's a solid buy. There are a bunch of high mileage F vehicles still being driven on the roads, and it has been more often than not very solid and low maintenance. Various things should have been addressed already, but just in case they haven't, things such as spark plugs and engine mounts are items to take note in making sure your ownership experiences also remains low maintenance.
Congrats on your new to you ISF, it’s a fun ride! I wish you many happy miles! You seem very educated on the platform, kudos to you for being aware of the common discrepancies. I wouldn’t worry about The Valley leak plate. Not all ISF’s were affected.
Stupid question, but what's the common denominator of the affected ones? My '10 seems to be ok so far.
There is no common denominator, unfortunately. I have seen them on 08s - 13s, including mine at like 20k miles. Some high mileage Fs have never had it.
Congrats and enjoy. If it starts leaking, just cross that bridge when you get there. It looks like the dealerships charge about 2000 to fix it, so it’s expensive but not the end of the world.
Stupid question, but what's the common denominator of the affected ones? My '10 seems to be ok so far.
Not a stupid question, if I’m not mistaken there hasn’t been a solid explanation as to why this occurs. Other than the sealant failing. There has been posts commenting as to ISF’s originating from warmer climate regions being affected more. It’s just bad luck, unfortunately. Like Jwconeil mentioned, there’s no common denominator.
Originally Posted by Jwconeil
There is no common denominator, unfortunately. I have seen them on 08s - 13s, including mine at like 20k miles. Some high mileage Fs have never had it.
Purchased my first ISF
