jetblast

Hi, all! I'm new to the boards and am currently in the market for a new car. I've looked at all the competitors (3 series, a4, G sedan) and have come to the conclusion that the IS makes the most economic sense.

I test drove both the 250 and 350 and it seems to me that the 250 has the "tighter" handling and an overall smoother ride of the two. The salesman told me that I was crazy and that they are both the same car with the 350 having more power (and boy does it have more power). If I truly am crazy, then I'd be stupid not to go with the 350. If he was lying to me and my previous judgment was correct, then I'm going to have a lot of thinking to do the next few days. My current standing is that I will sacrifice the power for the tighter handling and the smoother ride. Does anyone else feel the same way I do or is it all in my head?

Also, is there any harm in getting a used Lexus? My dealer has a 2007 black on black IS350 with 32,000 miles and the navigation system for only $29,500. It's certified and it seems like a real no-brainer to me.

Thanks for your input guys.

iSpeed250

if you think that the handling on the 350 isnt tight enough for you you could always get the fsport sway bar set. that should tighten it up a good amount

iRock

iTrader: (12)

I would get the used 350 if I was u

eternal07

if you want to get used....is250 might be better than is350....

bnizzle87

the price seems pretty high considering its pre-owned and has logged about 15k miles a year since 2007 (counting till end of 2009). first, id bring in a mechanic friend, someone who can diagnose engine and electrical problems that are visibly shown or could potentially cause problems later on after the purchase. if all checks out, definitely negotiate. lexus CPO is highly regarded with its thorough inspections prior to a customer purchasing one of its vehicles, but definitely check with a mechanic first...and by mechanic, i dont mean one of lexus' technicians. not saying those tech guys dont do a good job, but they're kinda biased for the most part- after all they do work for lexus. all in all, the '07 350 seems to need some negotiating. i say lowball them first and see what their counteroffer is. if anything, it'll get them thinking about how to make a sale over how much profit they can attain from another customer (however long that may take).

best of luck my friend!

syzygy

Handling is exactly the same, but as others have pointed out you can further enhance (significantly enhance, in fact) the handling of the ISx50 by adding the f-sport sway bars.

As far as smoother ride I'll tell you a quick and easy secret - if you want the ride in the IS 350 to be smoother, especially in stop and go traffic, put the car into snow mode. Snow mode forces the transmission to choose only gears 2 through 6, and the throttle sensitivity is severely decreased, making for a much smoother transition from a stop.

Try out snow mode in the IS 350 if you want a smoother ride. When you want maximum and immediate acceleration with high throttle sensitivity, throw it back into normal mode.

Here you can check out the performance statistics for the IS 350 done by road and track:

http://archive.roadandtrack.com/asse...car_dp.pdf.pdf

As you can see, the fantastic thing about the 350 is that you get so much more performance for not much more $$$ over the IS 250, at least in the U.S. (in canada the difference appears to be higher).

The IS 350 is a no brainer for me, you will love it. Don't settle for the IS 250, especially after test driving the 350.

tex2670

The dealer is right. I didn't look up the specs, but I'm sure the 250 is lighter with the smaller engine, but I can't imagine that on a typical test drive, you would notice "better handling". Get the 350.

funnie

iTrader: (14)

get the is350. u can always get f-sport parts added to help increase the handling. there are some is250 owners that regret not getting the 350 to begin with. GL and make sure to haggle the price down a bit. dont be afraid to walk away from the deal. its your money, u decided who u want to spend it on.

Infra

iTrader: (1)

You aren't crazy. The IS350 has over 100 more pounds up front, and is a little nose heavy compared to the IS250. So, yes, the 250 handles a little better. There is no difference in the "ride" though - that's all in your head.

However, there really is no replacement for horsepower. Depends on what you prefer, I guess.

The price seems about right considered it is a certified pre-owned - that adds about $2,000 to the price, similar to what you'd pay for an extended warranty (but the CPO warranty is a bit better).

syzygy

Yeah pretty much this.

Let's put it this way.

There are some IS250 owners who wish they had the IS 350.

But there are virtually no IS 350 owners who..wish they had a 250 instead even if the 250 apparently has some advantage of being less "nose heavy."

jetblast

Thanks for your help. I think I'm just going to stick with the 350.

This is completely off topic but I went to a Toyota dealership next door to the Lexus one and they had a 2009 IS 250 (no nav) that was leased for only 9 months before the owner decided to get a Tacoma. He logged 18,877 miles on it in just 9 months and the dealer is asking $37,453 OTD. That's beyond ridiculous, no? I'm thinking that's at least overpriced by 10K. I mean I wouldn't spend more than 27K on it. It's been sitting on their lot since November. I'm not serious about buying this car, but how much do you think it should be selling for? I just need a simple figure to know how much I would be dealing with in the future. I'm in Houston if it makes any difference.

If that is a reasonable price, then I'm just going to buy new.

Ludovic

$37K, that's the price of a standard 350 - seems very expensive for a second hand 250 with no nav indeed.

I'm surprised everyone here is recommending the 350: there's still quite a price difference between a 250 and the 350, and most of the time you won't be able to use the extra power the 350 would give you, right? Plus, the 350 will cost more in fuel.

They don't sell the 350 in Europe, so I'm wondering: is it correct that it looks different from the 250? A bit longer? I've seen it on pictures, and it seems to look nicer than the 250, but maybe the pics I saw were just misleading. The 250 on the other hand seems identical to the 220d.

By the way, I almost can't believe what I'm seeing here: http://www.lexus.com/models/IS/features/pricing.html. In the US, the difference between a 250 automatic and 250 manual is not even $200?? An automatic transmission would cost thousands of euros (which is what, millions of dollars by now? ;-)) more here in Europe.

GoGators

My '09 250 decked out with NAV, 18s, and adaptive headlights w/10.5K miles was way less. Anyway you go, you cannot go wrong with a Lexus. The car is awesome. Smokey Granite Mica to boot!!.

gc86

iTrader: (26)

That price isn't bad and stick with the 350. We've all seen too many threads where people are begging for mods to add horsepower to their underpowered 250's.

Ludovic

A 2.5-liter 204 hp car is "underpowered"? Seriously, what do you guys do with your cars? :-)

Although I do have to agree that the price difference between the 350 and the 250 is rather small, given the differences between the engines. I guess it just depends on what you want to do with your car - for most people the 250 is more than powerful enough.