StayTunedF

Hey guys so I got my IS250 F Sport almost 2 weeks ago and I love it but ever since I joined this forum and have been doing research, I've realized that I leased the wrong car as I'm craving some more power. Anybody ever upgraded their lease after a couple of weeks? Also anyone coming from the 250 to 350 that can definitely convince me that the power difference is night and day?

Jbreezie

Goodluck because you will lose a lot of money trying to trade it in or return it early. The difference is night and day. I wish I got a 350 as well. I actually want the 200t now.

StayTunedF

Damn man. She is sexy though so guess I'll cruise around and hit the sport mode from time to time

is300sport

what are the lease payments ? put it up on one of the lease trader websites

Ctrl-F

You'll read many posts that the IS 350 is an entirely different car. Should have test drove one.

My previous car was a '12 IS 250. I thought that was decent at the time. A few months ago, I leased a brand-new, IS 350 F Sport. I knew that I wanted to upgrade from the 250. It's a huge difference, 100 more hp. And, the 350 F Sport only has the AVS/Sport S/S+. Never going/looking back to the 250.

ddvette9

Here is what I did.

Add lighter wheels, lower your car, add a strut tower bar and underbrace and an intake and exhaust and you will find your 250 more enjoyable. All of those things work in combination to increase driving feel and pleasure. The 250 is a very very average cruiser in stock form but if you spend a little bit of money on it over several months you can begin to enjoy it. Would I love a 350, absolutely. But in that price range I would have jumped in too many other cars.

The lighter wheels decreased rotational mass for a little better acceleration and much better braking.

The lowering springs and front end tower bar and undrebrace firmed up the front end for a very sporty, responsive and darn right sexy feeling car.

The exhaust and intake made the car louder and sportier increasing overall pleasure and driving feel which is almost as important as going fast.

Stay in your lease, mod your car a little bit, and grab a "faster" car on the next go around. I spent some time where you are now, so take my advice as coming from someone who was where you are now.

My0gr81

Notice you didn't have any issues with the 250 until you joined this forum and started reading about the "virtues" of the 350? That is group think in action. Enjoy your car as you bought it, spend a little bit as ddvette9 said to increase your enjoyment, but since it's a lease don't go too crazy. Keep your original parts so you can part out when your lease come due and sell the upgrades for another forum member to enjoy.

Dizordered

Last August, I was shopping for an IS250 basic model. But since it was end of the year, they only had premium package and higher left. After some negotiation time, they gave me an okay deal on the premium package... when we went to the color choices, there wasn't any choices left : black mica, atomic silver, nebula grey all with interior beige (parchment or flaxen not sure), atomic silver had black interior option. Those weren't my favorites.

I almost left Lexus without a purchase, then the salesman came up with the F-Sport package... the red interior was my favorite and I wanted the Nebula Grey with red interior!

Then, I took the weekend to think about it. I was watching youtube videos and reading on google... ended up hesitating a lot between 250 and 350 due to lack of power. On Monday, I decided to test drive both of them. The first time, I test drove the premium 250. This time, I started with the 350. They let me leave with the car alone... which was the best thing they did! lol

I drove the 350 for about 10-15mins... came back to the dealer, switched to the 250 and did the same thing. And man!! It was such a difference! So in the end I went with the 350... but they didn't have any Nebula grey with interior red. They had a white 350 with red interior right in the parking lot. Took that one!!

But it is true that you'll lose a lot of money by trading it in that early!! Ohhh and one thing though, MPG sucks with the 350 when you're having fun. And honestly, I'm having fun very often with this car... which hurts when you fuel up. I'm doing 99% city... I've been doing 15-16mpg for the last 2 weeks. I wonder how the 200t drives...

kinglexus99

If it makes you feel any better, I have the 350 and will be seriously considering the 200t when my lease is up. The gas mileage my 350 is horrible (15mpg avg) and the new tranny doesn't really let the engine shine like it use to (2IS 350).

PKSkull77

If you're a horsepower junkie, the IS350 isn't going to satisfy you for long. It's faster than a 250 but it isn't anything to write home about, and frankly you'll want something else in a few more weeks. I would recommend two courses of action:

1. Wait it out and make sure your next car is what you want.

2. Find someone to take over your lease, and make sure your next car is what you want.

Anything short of the aforementioned will not put you in the car you want at a price that is feasible.

dmanmtl

As posted previously I have moved from a 2011 250 (same engine as yours) to a 350 - I was able to take the 350 demo on a test drive myself for about a half hour and this for me was the deal maker.

The car is in an absolute other world in terms of power from the 250 I have, its about 50% high HP and torque.

EZZ

The issue isn't the 350 being fast enough, it's the 250 being embarrassingly slow. At 5.6 to 60, the 350 is average in terms of speed for a sports sedan but at 7+ to 60 for a sports sedan, it's just not good enough (hence the 200t).

I could see the OP being frustrated with the lack of power even if he isn't a horsepower junkie. A 350 would most likely fix that frustration easily as it's decently powerful.

PKSkull77

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. If someone is having leasers remorse after two weeks, this upgrade isn't going to make them happy for long. Next it will be I should have gotten an IS-F or RC-F (etc...)

In my book, and take that for what its worth, if you buy an IS-350 because you want a car that goes fast you're going to be disappointed. The car isn't terrible, but I wouldn't put it in the category of fast. Given the limitations around tuning this car, it's also not something that you can easily fix.

EZZ

I think most people that get the 350 think it's fast enough. It's the best balanced car in the segment for it's price. It's the best value in the segment. Conversely, I think the 250 isn't a great value for its segment.

StayTunedF

Payments are $360 12k miles/year