Advice on Lexus ISF From ISF ownerss!!
11-10-18, 03:14 AM
#1
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Advice on Lexus ISF From ISF ownerss!!
Hello fellow Lexus members,
I need some real people advice.
i make 50k a year gross salary, which is about 40k annually, and I’ve been wanting to purchase a high mileage ISF under 25k. However, I’m worried about maintenance and costs when things break and if I would be able to afford the repairs. I have read many different threads on how the ISF is amazing and ect, and the 333,xxx miles ISF that was purchase and only needed a few wear and tear items. But my thing is, if I’m making 40k a year, would I be able to afford this car without stressing the next month for rent and other bills. I need some real time numbers, please from other ISF owners.
I need some real people advice.
i make 50k a year gross salary, which is about 40k annually, and I’ve been wanting to purchase a high mileage ISF under 25k. However, I’m worried about maintenance and costs when things break and if I would be able to afford the repairs. I have read many different threads on how the ISF is amazing and ect, and the 333,xxx miles ISF that was purchase and only needed a few wear and tear items. But my thing is, if I’m making 40k a year, would I be able to afford this car without stressing the next month for rent and other bills. I need some real time numbers, please from other ISF owners.
11-10-18, 07:38 AM
#3
I bought mine for 22k, had just about 100k on it and I made the same as you around the time of purchase. I had some money saved so if something major did happen I would be okay. My only real big scare (still is) is the valley plate. Other than that I wouldn't worry much at all. I've owned the F for over a year now, only problem I had was a bad brake switch, it was $50. I guess it also depends on how much your putting down on it and what your monthly payments would be. Mine is around $220, but I still throw $500 at it every month to get out of the payments as fast as possible and I'm still able to modify it. I've done pretty much every performance mod except supercharger or nitrous. I say get it, you wont regret it!
11-16-18, 05:15 AM
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I bought mine for 22k, had just about 100k on it and I made the same as you around the time of purchase. I had some money saved so if something major did happen I would be okay. My only real big scare (still is) is the valley plate. Other than that I wouldn't worry much at all. I've owned the F for over a year now, only problem I had was a bad brake switch, it was $50. I guess it also depends on how much your putting down on it and what your monthly payments would be. Mine is around $220, but I still throw $500 at it every month to get out of the payments as fast as possible and I'm still able to modify it. I've done pretty much every performance mod except supercharger or nitrous. I say get it, you wont regret it!
11-16-18, 08:13 AM
#6
If you can find one well taken care or or with a warranty, you shouldn't not consider it. Maintenance is fairly cheap. I did rotors pads brake fluid plus spark plugs and oil change in may at 60k on my 08, cost me under $1k at my buddies shop. The worst things to go wrong are valley plate(quoted about $1500 or less), manifold cracking(leading people to go to headers whether they like it or not), water pump(maintenance item), and digitizer on screen going out. Overall the car is fuel efficient if your commute allows it. I avg 20-22 with 50 mile round trip drive with traffic during the week, can crank it up to 28-29mpg if i keep it 60-70. Of course if your commute is short miles and idling then MPG can easily drop to the teens. The car is loads of fun whether as a daily driver, at autox or drag strip. I've put 51k miles in 2 years on mine(81k miles total) and nothing has broken other than front headlight had some condensation. I even bought a warranty in october 2016 when I bought it at 29k miles, and only used it on the headlight.
What is expensive are modifications, though compared to M3/AMG they are actually pretty cheap. The cheapest decent coils are $1200-1500. Catback about $1k minimum. Headers are $1700, but require ceramic coating($300) otherwise your starter may fail. Tune is $650+. Upgraded quality headlights which people try to hold off but still end up going to the 2011+ style are $1200+. Oil changes at the dealer range from $120-170 depending if they like you, plus it's 10 quarts. Wheels can't cheap out and get some knockoffs, so probably $1500 minimum plus tires. Unless of course you decide to keep it stock, which is perfectly fine! But you have to know the 08-10 ride pretty harshly and can eat the front tires as it needs upgraded LCA bushings, $300-350.
Overall it's a very solidly built car and still fairly competitive today. I love driving it year round and am lucky to see another F owner once every month. Not many people know what it is, and it surprises a lot of STI and pony cars with ease. I've had 23 cars prior to this and this is the only car that I've kept for 2 years, and am even planning on keeping it another year or two. What really sold me was that a new 5.0 mustang with similar power was about $30-40k and will drop like a rock in value over 2 years. The ISF won't. Just make sure the records are good.
What is expensive are modifications, though compared to M3/AMG they are actually pretty cheap. The cheapest decent coils are $1200-1500. Catback about $1k minimum. Headers are $1700, but require ceramic coating($300) otherwise your starter may fail. Tune is $650+. Upgraded quality headlights which people try to hold off but still end up going to the 2011+ style are $1200+. Oil changes at the dealer range from $120-170 depending if they like you, plus it's 10 quarts. Wheels can't cheap out and get some knockoffs, so probably $1500 minimum plus tires. Unless of course you decide to keep it stock, which is perfectly fine! But you have to know the 08-10 ride pretty harshly and can eat the front tires as it needs upgraded LCA bushings, $300-350.
Overall it's a very solidly built car and still fairly competitive today. I love driving it year round and am lucky to see another F owner once every month. Not many people know what it is, and it surprises a lot of STI and pony cars with ease. I've had 23 cars prior to this and this is the only car that I've kept for 2 years, and am even planning on keeping it another year or two. What really sold me was that a new 5.0 mustang with similar power was about $30-40k and will drop like a rock in value over 2 years. The ISF won't. Just make sure the records are good.
11-18-18, 10:46 PM
#7
Before my ISF I got the IS250 AWD that I still have as my daily driver. Comparing both cars they are fairly about the same to maintain other than the ISF being a little more thirsty on gas lol. Tires aren’t too bad since I got some tires off eBay (legit brand that is tested on the track). Brakes wise it’s not too bad and it depends on your driving. Oil changes at the dealer run me about $150 for full synthetic. A full tank of gas is roughly about $50 or so depending on how much is left in the tank. Reliability is there so I’m pretty confident in the ISF. Bought the car with 138K miles this year in March and now I’m at over 150K and zero issues. Long live Lexus and the F line!
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11-23-18, 11:21 AM
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Before my ISF I got the IS250 AWD that I still have as my daily driver. Comparing both cars they are fairly about the same to maintain other than the ISF being a little more thirsty on gas lol. Tires aren’t too bad since I got some tires off eBay (legit brand that is tested on the track). Brakes wise it’s not too bad and it depends on your driving. Oil changes at the dealer run me about $150 for full synthetic. A full tank of gas is roughly about $50 or so depending on how much is left in the tank. Reliability is there so I’m pretty confident in the ISF. Bought the car with 138K miles this year in March and now I’m at over 150K and zero issues. Long live Lexus and the F line!
If you can find one well taken care or or with a warranty, you shouldn't not consider it. Maintenance is fairly cheap. I did rotors pads brake fluid plus spark plugs and oil change in may at 60k on my 08, cost me under $1k at my buddies shop. The worst things to go wrong are valley plate(quoted about $1500 or less), manifold cracking(leading people to go to headers whether they like it or not), water pump(maintenance item), and digitizer on screen going out. Overall the car is fuel efficient if your commute allows it. I avg 20-22 with 50 mile round trip drive with traffic during the week, can crank it up to 28-29mpg if i keep it 60-70. Of course if your commute is short miles and idling then MPG can easily drop to the teens. The car is loads of fun whether as a daily driver, at autox or drag strip. I've put 51k miles in 2 years on mine(81k miles total) and nothing has broken other than front headlight had some condensation. I even bought a warranty in october 2016 when I bought it at 29k miles, and only used it on the headlight.
What is expensive are modifications, though compared to M3/AMG they are actually pretty cheap. The cheapest decent coils are $1200-1500. Catback about $1k minimum. Headers are $1700, but require ceramic coating($300) otherwise your starter may fail. Tune is $650+. Upgraded quality headlights which people try to hold off but still end up going to the 2011+ style are $1200+. Oil changes at the dealer range from $120-170 depending if they like you, plus it's 10 quarts. Wheels can't cheap out and get some knockoffs, so probably $1500 minimum plus tires. Unless of course you decide to keep it stock, which is perfectly fine! But you have to know the 08-10 ride pretty harshly and can eat the front tires as it needs upgraded LCA bushings, $300-350.
Overall it's a very solidly built car and still fairly competitive today. I love driving it year round and am lucky to see another F owner once every month. Not many people know what it is, and it surprises a lot of STI and pony cars with ease. I've had 23 cars prior to this and this is the only car that I've kept for 2 years, and am even planning on keeping it another year or two. What really sold me was that a new 5.0 mustang with similar power was about $30-40k and will drop like a rock in value over 2 years. The ISF won't. Just make sure the records are good.
What is expensive are modifications, though compared to M3/AMG they are actually pretty cheap. The cheapest decent coils are $1200-1500. Catback about $1k minimum. Headers are $1700, but require ceramic coating($300) otherwise your starter may fail. Tune is $650+. Upgraded quality headlights which people try to hold off but still end up going to the 2011+ style are $1200+. Oil changes at the dealer range from $120-170 depending if they like you, plus it's 10 quarts. Wheels can't cheap out and get some knockoffs, so probably $1500 minimum plus tires. Unless of course you decide to keep it stock, which is perfectly fine! But you have to know the 08-10 ride pretty harshly and can eat the front tires as it needs upgraded LCA bushings, $300-350.
Overall it's a very solidly built car and still fairly competitive today. I love driving it year round and am lucky to see another F owner once every month. Not many people know what it is, and it surprises a lot of STI and pony cars with ease. I've had 23 cars prior to this and this is the only car that I've kept for 2 years, and am even planning on keeping it another year or two. What really sold me was that a new 5.0 mustang with similar power was about $30-40k and will drop like a rock in value over 2 years. The ISF won't. Just make sure the records are good.
11-26-18, 04:19 PM
#11
^^^ This is solid advice. It depends entirely on what you plan on doing in the future. If you have money saved up already and low bills every month, you could make it work comfortably. You might be stagnant money wise and not be able to save, but it's completely up to you. From everything I've researched, the maintenance isn't too bad coming from the IS350 I have now. The biggest regular maintenance difference are the brakes, tires, and oil changes. I'd just make sure to always have backup savings ($2000-$5000) in case of a major incident to be safe.
Last edited by Zosopage; 11-27-18 at 01:51 PM.
do what make u truly happy
11-26-18, 05:17 PM
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^^^ This is solid advice. I'm close to 80K gross and waiting another year or two to purchase a 2012 ISF. It depends entirely on what you plan on doing in the future. If you have money saved up already and low bills every month, you could make it work comfortably. You might be stagnant money wise and not be able to save, but it's completely up to you. From everything I've researched, the maintenance isn't too bad coming from the IS350 I have now. The biggest regular maintenance difference are the brakes, tires, and oil changes. I'd just make sure to always have backup savings ($2000-$5000) in case of a major incident to be safe.
11-26-18, 05:40 PM
#14
I make about the same as you, own my ISF since May and with a mortgage and bills i still have some left for the payments and some to put away for savings. Maintenance wise so far Ive done OEM plugs and oil changes and that ran me about $200. The biggest expense I would say are gonna be the brakes and tires, fortunately previous owner took care of that. Otherwise I would say it would run me about $1500-$1800 depending on what i go with. Another expense at least for me is insurance, paying about $100 a month full coverage. If you arent considerably in debt and not a huge spender I think you should go for it. But of course, you should jump in one with some money put away in case something does happen, goodluck!
11-26-18, 10:15 PM
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