Get a 350, I wish I did!!!!

 

IS250 is faster than very few cars: Prius, Hybrid civics mazda 3 (maybe).
Seriously , it is a very slow car. and you really need to work for the power. The power is not available as it is on bmw, on low RPM, you need to push it past 4k.
I would say test drive it seriously before commit as a lot of people have buyer remorse.
Get the 350 and get power, not carbon build up problems. IS250 engine it's a joke.

 

You really should test drive both 250 and 350 before buying. You might find you want the extra power or the 250 is fine for you. Both cars are almost exactly the same except for the engine.

 

I traded my 328i for the IS250 and I wish I had gotten an IS350.

 

Do yourself a favor and get a 350, you will not regret it. Don't test drive one until your ready to buy because once you drive the 350 you will be sold. I drive my 350 around for no reason, just because I love this car. I bought mine abiut a month ago.

 

I was thinking about buying a used 07 IS250 with low miles but due to the carbon buildup issue with the 250's I decided against it. I know there a 9 year warranty with the CSP but the car i was looking at was reaching the 9 year mark with a little over a year remaining. If the issues happened after that CSP expired, I would have to pay out of pocket for the carbon cleaning which would not be cheap. Was not worth the uncertainty and headache for me.

 

If power is what you want go with the 350 because you will regret the 250.

I specifically bought the 250 because of the 6sp and I have not looked back for one second. I cannot do an auto I don't care how much power it has. I also have a 500hp Subaru in the driveway for my fast fix so the 250 wasn't a big deal for me.

 

You are coming to a Lexus owners forum asking if you should trade your BMW in for a Lexus and expect honest feedback?

 

Unfortunately a sample rate of one (and an anecdotal experience at that) does not constitute compelling evidence. It would be useful for current (such as myself) and would-be Lexus owners if we could have access to a broad data bank of information (for example, percentage of IS250 that develop c.b. within 100K miles, officially released by Lexus). And asserting that those who don't have problems don't post, though quite possible true, is really just an argument from silence. So, those of us who own 2006-11 IS250s can only cross our fingers and hope to replicate your experience. (I have 7000 km on my 2009; I doubt I'll get anywhere close to the mileage needed to manifest piston ring sealing issues before the nine year extended warrantee has expired.)