BippuLexus

I had a chat with my friend the other day: he seems to be more of the person to gets the car Pre-FaceLift instead of waiting for the FaceLift model. While I'm the person that would rather wait for the FaceLift.
IE: He would buy the 2014+ Lexus IS while I would wait for the 2017+ Lexus IS.

So - I'm just seriously curious what the general idea is - What would you buy? Would you buy the car when it first come out? Or wait for the refresh?

JDR76

It depends on the car.

When I bought my GS, they had both the pre-facelift GS and the post-facelift (2016) GS on the lot. I went with the 2015 because I liked the 2015 front end and didn't see the improvements in the 2016 as being significant enough to warrant the extra price I would have to pay. Same when I bought our Highlander.

But on the current ES, I didn't like the pre-facelift version but found the facelifted model to be well worth it. If I were in the market for an ES, I would have bought the refreshed model, without question.

BippuLexus

Good point. It definitely depends on the car and how much it changes. I definitely agree. Current gen Facelifted ES was definitely better than its pre-facelift.

Thanks for your input! I'm just curious what the general population of CL users feel. There are some people that only buy pre-facelift and there are some people that only buy facelift.

EDIT: Curious - would you be a consumer that would purposely wait for the facelift model? IE: You were in the market for the Lexus IS and you have no clue what the 2017 FaceLift Lexus IS would be like. Would you choose to wait until the 2017 Lexus IS is released prior making a choice between the 16/17 models?

RXSF

In general, I am a post facelift/new model kind of guy since it doesnt make sense to me to buy an "outdated" vehicle. Be it resale, or in terms of the design language and interior updates. A refresh usually addresses a lot of non cosmetic issues as well such as increased feature content.

In particular of the IS, I almost like the exterior design of the pre-face lift, but would certainly take the post for the sake of the larger navigation screen!

BippuLexus

Interesting take. I think I learn more towards what you just mentioned. I'm more a facelift (post-facelift) guy myself because I feel like the facelift models address the issues of the pre-facelift model making the car whole. A good example was the Lexus IS Navigation size as you mentioned.

Question: Would you purposely wait a few years for the facelift model though? IE: Lets say in 2014, you were car shopping. Would buy the Lexus IS then or wait 3 years until 2017 to buy the facelift?

RXSF

Even though I know it may be a bad decision to buy first model year cars, I have usually done so. 1999 RX, 2004 RX, 2010 RX, 09 C350 (2nd model year), 17 E300. The thing that has attracted me most to those vehicles is that they were brand new coming out, and makes me look at my current "outdated" car. I try to buy the car when coming out new so that it looks new as long as possible. So to answer your question, yes, I would likely hold off on buying anything after the 3rd model year and rule it out as a choice.

BippuLexus

When you said - "buy the car when coming new so that it looks new as long as possible" - were you referring to buying it on the first model year and so that it stays new longer before the facelift model comes?

Ahh. Interesting. Similarity - would you hold off on buying anything after 3rd model year of the facelift, as in 3 years into the facelift model?

Johnhav430

Is this in general, or just Lexus? If I use my 335i as an example, it is pre-LCI (Life Cycle Impulse), and I prefer them. You can spot them because their side mirrors are relatively small. The LCIs have huge dumbo mirrors, as well as led tails (never seem to be BMWs strong point), and led fronts. I prefer the original. Believe it or not, I prefer my H8 angel eyes to leds. They were in fact very cool in 2007, whereas today, they seem dim and yellow. It's character, why put leds in a car that didn't come with them, rather have it all original. Also, the pre-LCIs have a lot of stuff that was removed in the LCIs. Dumb stuff. Ashtray door. Sound deadening on hood. On and on.

RXSF

Yes, you got it. I want my car to look new as long as possible and not outdated. Buying in the first or second model year gives me more time. lol

Johnhav430

I bought a 2006 LS430. If they made it 2001,2,3,4,5,6, wouldn't 6 be the worst decision, because you almost could have had a '07? But many of us think the '07 is not attractive. That's why I think it depends.

The flip side is the 4,5,6 look different than the 1,2,3. I prefer the former.

BippuLexus

Just in general. It doesn't have to be Lexus. It can be any brand. I'm just curious about the general idea of what CL forums users think about Pre-Facelift vs Facelift within their own experiences.

Thanks for your input! I do fine the Halogen Angel Eyes to be more aggressive looking than the LEDs - especially you make halogen ones deep yellow.

Johnhav430

Another example, I bought a 1998 Nissan Maxima. I clearly remember being in Montréal, and a 1995-96 and a 1997 were side by side, and I COULD NOT decide which tails I liked better, I really couldn't. Later on when I got the 1998, I did like the 97-99 tails better. But the 95-96 had glass headlamps that never got foggy. For wheels, the SE got 15's in 1995. I liked the star 16's better which showed up in 1997. When the 2000 car came out, I thought it was really ugly. It's kind of all over the place, unless you can look back. Sometimes the newer one is not as nice as the older one...

RNM GS3

BippuLexus

Ahhh - interesting. So would you likely do the same for facelift models? IE: Lets take 2nd gen Lexus IS for example. Would you buy a facelifted 2011 Lexus IS, so it stays newer long before the next generation comes out?

I think your experience with the 2006 LS and 2007 LS example holds true to a lot of Acura owners. At the start of Acura's peak grill, quite a bit of Acura costumers bought the older design w/o the beak grille instead of the newly designed one with the beak.

Definitely agree it depends on the model/brand. I too do not like the Camaro facelift - I think its much worst than the pre-facelift. I feel the same for the Mustang was well. The pre-facelift Mustang was a bunch better look than facelift model.

How do you feel about pre-facelife vs facelift personally, though? In your experience/buying habits - would you likely wait a year or 2 for the facelift model before deciding what to buy? Or would you likely buy the pre-facelift straight up w/o waiting for facelift?

arentz07

I had a similar situation. I was shopping about a month prior to the '17 IS arriving at the dealership. There was a sale going on, which was supposedly ending, and I got a decent amount off my IS since they wanted it gone before the '17s arrived. If I could do it over, I'd probably at least wait to test drive the '17.