arentz07

Sorry for the double-post, but I have to say, one thing I simultaneously like and dislike about this car is the haters. What do I mean? Well, you can take pretty much any other car in the segment, be it a BMW M340i, Audi S4, or even the large-and-in-charge TLX Type S, and people will mental-gymnastics their way into saying the IS 500 is worse. I think it is easy to find things to pick on the IS 500 for, which is probably why a lot of YouTubers and others who reviewed the car have come in with a lot of skepticism. I do kinda like, in a way, that people are going to underestimate our cars.

Another source of hate that I've heard of with this car is owners of F cars. I've heard of folks saying the IS 500 is a wannabe F car or something along those lines. To be honest, I don't agree. I do feel blessed to have the 2UR in our cars, but it's like saying the LC 500 is a wannabe F car. It's just not trying to be that, and because the LC 500 is such a different car from the IS 500, it doesn't get that kind of hate. My take is that the IS 500 is trying to be a hot-rodded F Sport, and I like that about it!

carlosclarkmd

I agree arentz07! I think this car relates to people of a certain age as well. Most of the negative reviews online are from the younger generation that have no idea how it was back in the day with just regular old V8s and no turbo charged 4 cylinders or even a lot of v6s for that matter. They are also super picky about the tech not being state of the art and the latest version. To me, this car has plenty of tech and I don't even care that it has a CD player to be honest. I grew up pressing the button and switching tracks on my 8 track tape player! So what if some BMW or Mercedes has a few more tech gadgets and my have 0-60 in a few fractions of a second faster! The IS 500 will last 3x as long as the others AND have cheaper service bills!!! This car stands on its own and anyone with any car history will respect it as it is with no problem or question. (Just my two cents) no offense to the young'uns..

madpistol

Just got the car today, but my gripe is... no ambient lighting. Gonna have to get creative with some aftermarket lights I guess.

DLPTony

Let us know what you come up with! I don’t think the ambient lighting was a thing for Lexus until recently. E.g. The NX & RX I do believe.

My ‘06 & ‘16 IS models didn’t have them either.

HJP12

I grew up with 60's and 70's cars where even basic family Chevys, Buicks and Fords all came with V8's. That being said I jumped at the opportunity to get rid of my EV and grab what will probably be the last of the V8s, thank you Lexus. I do love this car for what it is and not for what it is not. This car is meant to be fun when appropriate and the desire hits but not beat you up as a daily driver. U Tube reviewers nit pick about insignificant things especially focusing on how outdated this car is. However that is precisely what makes Toyota/Lexus so reliable, they don't change things for the sake of change but constantly improve upon what works. This V8 engine although around 10 years old is constantly rated as one of the best ever built. The exterior is a timeless beauty and the interior fit and finish is as good as it gets, and if you want to keep this car for 20 years and 200,000 plus miles it will be happy to oblige. Now to what I don't like so far is the temp slider control as I'm always missing my target temp, sorry I didn't mean to nit pick........

macmaster

Ambient lighting means diddly squat. I once rode in a KIA Seoul back in 2012. It had ambient lighting, one of the first to do it. So what? It was a crappy car.

Bechtold

I just tap at the top or bottom of the slider and it goes up/down 1 degree for every tap. I never bother to slide on it. I wish it was an actual button but you can treat it like one.

SpudsMcD

Dude, Bose is terrible. Just awful. Everything that makes the Levinson great (smooth frequency response, esp. at the mid and high frequencies, low distortion, great dynamic range, and the ability to resolve low-level transients) is absent from the Bose systems. Bose is an affront to sound, and Amar Bose was a complete charlatan and set the hobby back at least 20 years. Remember the ridiculous Bose Wave Radio? What an unmitigated POS that thing was, yet people lapped it up. Bose is like a poor-man's B&O. Same bad sound, just at a lower price point and not as flashy as B&O.

The only real tragedy with the IS500 Levinson system is that the car itself is just way too noisy (road noise, not engine noise). Try listening to a great recording with the engine off, then compare that to listening to it while driving. The difference is stark. The very high noise floor of the IS500 (relative to the LS or LC) negates most of the benefits of the Levinson system. I would have skipped the Levinson, but I had to include it to get the Molten Pearl paint package. BTW, I agree completely with your recent post above about younger folks just not understanding this car, or prioritizing stuff that is basically irrelevant to the joy of driving.

HJP12

I think the Bose 901's were revolutionary in their day and put Bose on the map. Before Bose did auto sound they actually started with enhancing the sound of Zenith console TVs. I do agree that they are not what they used to be and the ML sound system in Lexus is a s good as audio can be in a vehicle and that is my point, these are moving vehicles not isolated sound rooms. If you want the best sound in a vehicle buy an LS with an ML system.

Bechtold

I know it's off topic so I'll make it quick. Bose's slogan was "better sound through research" but a more accurate slogan would have been "better sales through marketing". Their marketing was tops and their lawyers were active. Their accuracy was not there, especially on those horrible sub/sat (I'm being generous) cube Acoustimess systems. In College I did with a team a frequency response graph of one of those things with a unit we had that audio magazines of the day would use. It looked like a bad comb. Bose in some cars is much better (say a Corvette) than some others but it is not my first choice. I like the Mark Levinson system even if it really is more like Harman Audio OEM not true ML stuff on par with their home audio stuff. I am pleased with it and it does nearly everything I want in a car system.

IS500SM

100% Agreed. I must be an "OLD GUY" myself, but having physical HVAC buttons is amazing, The youngn's can have their screens for everything. Before the 500 I was dailying my 06 M3 so the 500 has plenty of tech, it's a matter of perspective. I also think the younger generations are much more in the 3-year lease and upgrade crowd so they are qutie used to the latest, fanciest tech. But give me good ol' fashioned buttons. Buttons are a lot cheaper and easier to replace > screens.

DLPTony

::chuckling:: What does ambient lighting have to do with a crappy car? Whether they’re waiting on a tow truck or not, some folks love them.

That’s what I do, tapping is the way to go. 😎

95bat

DLPTony

LOL!! I knew someone would say something, I just didn’t know what. 😂

Bechtold

At least no one went in this direction...