Well, not myself, my longtime GF. She's had a long, long day. She was supposed to meet me at my house before buying the car but as she got on the freeway, she was rear ended on the onramp while at a stop waiting for the light to turn green. Damage was not that major, the rear bumper cover fell off and the bumper support looked like it got pushed in a bit. The other car, a 2007 Civic looked far worse for wear as it's hood was pushed in and the front passenger door could not open due to the fender being pushed into it. My gf was a bit shaken and traumatized however. So far, she seems okay physically so far. A little soreness, we'll see tomorrow.

She bought a Pearl White/Beige IS250 from Longo Lexus. Being a BMW lover, I have to say the IS is a very nice and comfortable car. I definitely like the car, the BMW is just more suited for me (sportier, feedback, prefer the styling on the coupe). My former car was a S2000, picking up a 335i via European Delivery in May. Back to the story. The steering feedback and lack of fold down rear seats are my biggest peeves about the IS, but it is still a great car. The rear seats and headroom entering the car are a little bit on the small side but we knew this before purchasing the car. The fit and finish of the interior is superb. The leather seats are very comfortable and the leather feels very soft. The ride is excellent.

FWIW, I have driven the IS350 several times at the Taste of Lexus and pushed it as hard as they would let me.

The car:
'07 Pearl White/Beige interior
Premium Package
18" Wheels
Navi

We purchased the car from Marc Fata (long time acquaintance, we have many mutual friends from the Import Scene dating back to 96 and on) who is the Internet Fleet Sales Manager at Longo Lexus. His service was top notch and we got an absolute smoking deal.

There was one hitch however, the Check System light came on right before we approached her house. I tried using the reset oil change method, did not work. Went to the gas station and checked the tire pressure, all tires read at 35. I went ahead and bumped them all up to 37 (I know the fronts are suposed to be 35 and rears are supposed to be 37). Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to bring the car back to the dealer to have it checked out. Hopefully it's nothing major but the car accident already did put somewhat a damper on the gf's day. Don't get me wrong, the new car definitely put a smile on her face though, she just is a bit stressed out.

Sorry for the long read and me rambling a bit, just wanted to share our crazy day.

Cliff notes: Before picking up the car, gf's old car got rear ended. Picked up the car and love it. However, at the end she had a Check System light come on the car. We will have to figure this out tomorrow. GF is a bit stressed despite loving her new purchase.

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear that, at least she's okay though - a bumper is fixable. And you're a good guy for sticking by her and offering support.
Good luck with the car and keep us posted.

 

Thanks, she actually bought the new car to give the old one (just a Corolla) to her little sister.

Bumper is definitely fixable, just a hassle, but c'est la vie. I will have to say that car is totally bad luck. It's been hit 3 times, her mom was driving, hit once by a red light runner and spun out, a tow truck (flatbed) driving out of a flatbed hit the rear with the side of his flatbed (and he tried to blame her, she was at a complete stop in traffic for about 2 minutes, I know, I was in the car in front of her. I wanted to kill the ese but that's another story.. ), and now this rear ender. I say her family should sell it, the car is cursed.

 

Where are the pics?

 

Got the car pretty late, I should have pics up next week, they are on the gf's camera.

 

marc fata? turbo93?

 

Haha, yes sir, he's been working there for 8 years. Small world, isn't it?

 

yea it is. i need to go talk to him for my next car.....but i dont like longo very much. ah well.

 

Update:

My gf was there, waited 2 1/2 to 3 hours until they offered her a new car. I guess she didn't mind that much because there's traffic but IMO that's a bit long. They think it's the tire sensors, not sure of the work they did but they said they adjusted all the sensors, reset the system, thought it went away but on the test drive the problem reoccurred. They told her to wait a bit longer to see if they could fix it and came back in 30-45 mins to tell her they couldn't. They gave her a loaner (IS250 w/Navi) and will give her a call tomorrow. To me, it's somewhat disappointing since this is a brand new car. The car has less than 50 miles on it.

Would Lexus offer some type of discount coupon for this since it's a brand new car? Such as a free minor service or oil change perhaps? I'm not saying we are entitled to get one, I'm just curious if this was something that's not unheard of. My family has a LX450 with about 150,000 and it hasn't had any out of the ordinary problems, I'm hoping this is just a fluke. Again, it's obviously not a major problem but somewhat disappointing that a) It's a brand new car and b) The service techs could not fix it.

Lastly, the dealer is 30 minutes away and there's often a lot of traffic headed that way, would Lexus drop off the car with a flatbed and pickup their loaner?

 

Hmm, it would seem ridiculously generous of them to offer you any sort of compensation for the problem since it was most likely caused by the accident. If anything, it's that Civic that needs to pay for the trouble...

But who knows. Good luck.

 

People, stop writing and post some pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think I need to clarify, the accident doesn't pertain to the Lexus at all. My GF's other car was hit on her way to my house. She was heading to my house before we headed to the dealership together.

See cliffnotes: Cliff notes: Before picking up the car, gf's old car got rear ended. Picked up the car and love it. However, at the end she had a Check System light come on the car. We will have to figure this out tomorrow. GF is a bit stressed despite loving her new purchase.

 

Calm down turbo, I'm sure you've seen a stock IS250 by now. :P

 

Update:

Picked the car up this afternoon. The receptionist was clueless when we called in. My gf called in and she was like I wasn't told of a car being picked up I don't have any keys. The service advisor told my gf that the keys would be there to arrange for Sunday pickup since service was closed. I insisted for her to call back, the receptionist said hold on and said oh I have the paperwork right here. No apology or anything. Sigh, oh well, I won't hold a receptionist against the dealer.

Moving on to the car, they said they had to reregister the TPS to the car. Done, car doesn't have the error anymore. Fixed. When my gf dropped off the car, she left the paper mats that mechanics usually use when stepping in the car. When we picked it up, those paper mats weren't there (fine, they probably threw it away after using it) but the mats were soiled. The driver's side mat had one footprint on it and some other marks. I tried to see if it was just light dust but I could upon close inspection, it unfortunately was not. The passenger side was turned over upside down. I put it rightside up and guess what, more footprints. WTH? The car has like 50 miles on it. It was NOT like this when we dropped it off. I went to talk to my sales person and he inspected them and he immediately said, I'll get you new mats sent out (without sending back the old ones). Mark is absolutely great, I asked him, do we have to pick them up? He said nope, I'll FedEx them to you. He then also said, give me a bill for the gas, fill it up, and we'll reimburse you. Now that's great service from Mark. He's definitely the man.

Careless tech who soiled the floor mats
To Marc for making things right