I just got back from Tustin Lexus where they had the new IS350 on display for a few hours. Before I say anything about the car, I just want to say that I had very high expectations for the car, perhaps too high. I have been following this car since the New York auto show on a daily basis when I “knew” it would be my next car.

I drove up to a very crowded parking lot and ended up parking on the street. I noticed several people gathered around a car and figured that had to be it. I parked, walked up to it and had a first reaction that wow; this is much smaller than I thought it would be. I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures and the front end always seemed long in them, but it seemed very short in person.

With several people there, I had to wait my turn to try out all of the seats and toys in the car. I got in the back seat first and it is definitely tight back there. I figured it had to be because the front seat was all of the way back, but nope it was most of the way forward. To be fair, I am approximately 6 foot 2, so I’m not exactly short. My head was touching the roof when sitting in the back, so I would not want to have been back there for a long trip. Since no one ever rides in the back seat of my car, this does not bother me very much.

The front seats were much better, plenty of leg room and a little head room. I would not want to be any taller though. The navigation system is absolutely amazing, very clear and bright. The driver’s seat was a little tight for me with the steering wheel, but after I adjusted it I think it will be ok.

Now to my complaints. The material used for the dash feels like rubber, which to me feels cheep. Also, the leather felt more like fake leather to me, so I hope both of these materials are changed before release. I did however like the ventilated seats.

The Lexus representatives did not know anything! They did state that pricing will be released on October 7th, Yes October 7th! The car is supposed to go on sale October 14th. I of course expressed my displeasure with not knowing pricing yet and them setting a price one week before release. Supposedly Lexus USA is in negotiations with Lexus Japan due to the exchange rate. There is supposed to be one car in every Lexus dealer by October 11th. The reps also confirmed the lack of the ML stereo without a custom order. According to one rep, a custom order takes 120 days to arrive and another stated 60, go figure. A “fully loaded” minus active cruise control and ML is targeted at $43,000. The reps also confirmed that if you order the “sport” package, you cannot have wood trim. All of this information is directly from the reps.

Sorry, I’m not interested in the IS250, so all of my questions were targeted towards the 350.

Overall I am still considering this car, but am not sold on it like I was before. I truly hope my opinion changes after I see the production model and get to take it for a drive.

 

That is correct, it will have the silver faced trim. Only the other packages like the Premium Luxury Plus package will have wood.

 

p.s. I think we are getting slightly confused - when they say there wont be ML, I believe they meant (or should have meant) that there wont be ML without NAV... which is what everyone figured for a while i believe ;-)

p.s. rubberized material? You mean soft touch plastics? And was the car with moonroof?

 

DAMMIT...if i only knew that the IS 350 would have been at Tustin Lexus, i would of been there! its only like 20 mins away from me how did u know that the IS was gonna be there?

 

I think this assessment provides us the sum of all our hopes and fears...

The car is small -- we can't deny that the IS is a compact car. The back seats are small; thank goodness I drive alone 95% of the time. The front seats should be comfortable; it was called "throne-like" in an earlier review. The quality of the leather and plastic should be up to par with Lexus standards; let's not forget that this car is a prototype. The Nav and ML systems should be awesome.

The big question still stands: How well does this car perform and handle to our personal standards? We'll find out soon enough...

 

I don't know if soft touch plastics is what they call it, but it covers the whole top of the dash. I really felt like the rubber from a tire to me.

Edit: Yes this did have a moon roof, which was very cool. The roof does not slide on top of the car, it slides in between the roof and the head-liner so it basically disappears. This might be a lexus thing, I don't know but my Mercedes slides on top of the car.

 

Phillip31,

Sorry, I should have posted this information yesterday when I knew. The car is there until at least 4:00 or 4:30, so if you hurry, you might make it.

 

So the IS which showed up at Glendale must have moved on to Tustin...

BTW, that 'rubberized stuff' is placeholder material and won't appear on the production model (higher quality), as explained here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=26

 

I agree that this is more likely the case. With the exception of perhaps Hawaii, ML without Nav should be a special order indeed.

I just hope it's just some miscommunication going on, or most of us will be truly disappointed.

 

I'm disappointed to hear the car appears smallish. I am really considering this car but I'm a big guy. It can't be too small. The new bimmer e90 is 178 inches long and looks okay to me. The new IS is 180 inches...should look and feel much bigger than the old IS which is 176 inches. Over 300hp...in a car lighter than the GS...I have to check this out.

 

If I really want ML, I won't mind waiting for one. Keep in mind many of the MB's & Bimmers have to be custom ordered for specific option combinations too, & a 2 to 3 month wait for the German built models is not uncommon. If you don't want to wait, you just have to pick one off the lot.

 

Yeah, when you say this car is really small, what are you comparing it against, just the pics you saw on the internet or are you comparing to the car you currently are driving. It would help for you to clarify this a little more.

You can always NOT order the sunroof that would help up front but the rear is what is bothering me. So more details would help us that have not seen the car in person.

 

I wonder if the back seat is the way it is because a) increase over old IS and B) NOT cannibalize $30,000 Lexus ES 330 market...

 

Approximately how much more room is there in this IS then what was in the first gen?