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To be fair, the is500 has been available for about 1.5 months? I guess it may feel longer for some of us here since we’ve been eagerly waiting since March 2021 haha.
The markups will fade away once Toyota ramps up their production this year.
I've been lurking this thread forever and appreciate all the info I've gotten from it. Recently allocated a black on white which is supposed to be getting on a ship this friday according to the salesman. Now I'm very nervous about this CEL crap and checked the VIN to see if it was close to other numbers but I'm stumped bc the last several numbers of VIN are letters and numbers. It does show up in the app as IS500.
When then last 8 numbers are a combination of letters and numbers, that is the temporary vin# assigned to the car. Once the car is built, there will be numbers after the "N" which signifies Model year 2022.
I pray that will be the case. The alloy Enkei wheels look horrible with ultra white. Lexus should have offered the black BBS wheels as an option for the 2022 models and charge a premium. I would prefer the red suede interior from the RCF Fuji or LC500.
That is the whole point of the IS 500 F SPORT Performance. The car was built to suit a specific buyer and price point. Lexus knows people will upgrade the wheels, brakes, suspension, and etc on the car to their liking. It's a great blank slate for someone wanting to customize this IS they way they wanted it. Add BBS and suede, you automatically bring up the price.
Now if IS F was built in place of this, you will have the usual people complaining about how overpriced the car is and there needs to be rebates and trunk money for it to sell. Well here it is folks, a great V8 powered RWD sport sedan which is priced right...and is selling. Even the IS 350 F SPORT both regular and DHP are still the hottest cars selling on the market Since the IS 500 F SPORT Performance is a much more limited production car in comparison to the IS F and its other F counterparts, I feel the Lexus product and pricing planners did it right. Toyota pioneered TPS (lean manufacturing) and it definitely shines today.
I've been lurking this thread forever and appreciate all the info I've gotten from it. Recently allocated a black on white which is supposed to be getting on a ship this friday according to the salesman. Now I'm very nervous about this CEL crap and checked the VIN to see if it was close to other numbers but I'm stumped bc the last several numbers of VIN are letters and numbers. It does show up in the app as IS500.
Don't be too nervous. By the time you get your vehicle, most of these issues will be well-studied & resolved/solved. There's been a lot of information about CELs on this forum which is good for all of us. However, it's easy to misinterpret this information as pure negativity.
FYI, I measured it, and its 1.25cm. But a defect is a defect nonetheless
If you measured it and it was 1.25cm, it's certainly a defect - LMAO - couldn't resist.
Sad news about the Tahara plant and further delays but I knew this would happen with Omicron and increasing staff shortage/pressure globally affecting parts and all...
And on the CEL's, don't overreact, lol! We all love Lexus because of reliability. A CEL doesn't automatically make a car unreliable. We all knew going into this that big companies we either short staffed or hired employees off the street/unqualified (or both) to try to ramp up production/maintain previous year profits/make current year projections. With that done, obviously the quality will fall off, but rest assured, Lexus has your back. Other brands have issues and more of them as well, lol. Buy with confidence!
V.
Having experienced first hand Lexus unapologetically not having my back on an issue that put the lives of myself and loved ones in danger, as well as actually costing the lives of others, I sadly cannot share your steadfast belief in Lexus' infallibility.
My take is if it's an easy fix, no question about it, Lexus will fix it. But if it's a tough or unknown fix, prepare to have things dragged out for months if not years while Lexus does everything they can to not have your back. At least I did not die in a fiery inferno like some others did while Toyota/Lexus actively tried to hide that issue (a court ordered Lexus to buy my car back for this issue in spring 2008, 18 months before this story broke on a national level, and six years before Toyota/Lexus quietly settled for actively hiding the issue - https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyot...ry?id=22972214). Having learned later that my issue wasn't the isolated issue as Lexus was presenting it, I feel tremendous regret not doing my part at the time to make sure others knew about it. People died subsequently to me knowing about this danger, and I didn't do anything to make it more widely known.
As to the CEL, it is not clear at this point that they actually know what the root cause is. I'd recommend any potential buyer HOLD OFF on buying an IS 500 until the root problem is firmly known and understood. Otherwise you could be in my shoes ... $67k into a car that spent all but it's first 22 hours sitting at a dealership service department with no end in sight. Interestingly, yesterday I called the service tech to pass along Macmaster's fix and asked them to check for it. Was told an hour later that loose gaskets/etc was the first thing they checked for, making it sound like they had checked again, but according to the Lexus app the car hasn't been started since last Saturday. I don't know why they wouldn't check a second time given they first checked on a busy Saturday and an incredibly similar issue had been fixed hours earlier by doing so. When combined with it taking 5+ days to get an off-the-shelf part from Texas rather than a taking what is readily available from nearby parts depot, things are starting to not really add up.
If the CEL oxygen sensor is proven without a doubt to be a cheap defective batch of sensors, then go on and buy this car so long as no other issues start popping up. It is a blast to drive. But I would wait until that is a certainty. If we instead start seeing repeat after repeat, especially on cars that have already been 'fixed,' then we know it's something bigger like the unintended acceleration issue (albeit far less dangerous) and your ownership experience could turn into a complete nightmare.
Also DO NOT BUY from an out of area dealer and plan to drive back. The dealership I bought from was 400+ miles away, and they were fantastic to work with (LHM Spokane), but in retrospect I got VERY lucky to make it home prior to the dashboard going off like a Christmas tree the very next morning. Macmaster made it only two miles and got stuck two states away from home. Here's to hoping the easy fix they found gets him back. Regardless with this car you will want to be using the service department of the dealership from which you bought - at least they will be trying to make a recent customer happy.
I'll stop harping on this issue and past poor Lexus experiences, focusing moving forward on keeping this forum updated as to any fixes/delays/codes/etc on the CEL oxygen sensor issue. Just want to make sure potential buyers know the possibility that Lexus ownership can be a great experience, but it can also be an outright nightmare.
I understand we have our own levels for tolerance for the unknown, but I've discovered after joining this forum that some of us love drama and are downright paranoid. If you're unhappy with the car, then return it or cut your losses and sell it and move on. It's time to move the IS 500 CEL issue to a new sub topic. Thank you for sharing the information, but damn, enough of the drama! Sorry....couldn't take it anymore!
Agreed, if more discussion on the CELs is needed, we should continue in a new thread to cut down on noise. I'd say this thread is more a general one and not meant to deep-dive on any one particular facet of the IS 500.
Jororo - You should never feel apologetic to share your feelings and experience about your situation. Trust me, with all the hype and wait that was done for us to get the car, I can totally appreciate your disappointment and frustration. Your past experience with the brand has certainly left a bad taste in your mouth and that is also something no one should ever question or knock you for it. Anyone who has been burned by brand will always have that experience stay with them for a long time. My gut feeling tells me this will not be a major issue and I still feel they will diagnose the problem. I am just surprised that others who have had the same issue haven't had updates from their dealer to report here but maybe there are no updates. What makes things worse is that with VOVID, parts are extremely scarce and that is not just on the IS 500 but I had a friend who's Ford F 150 broke down and had to wait 2 months to get a replacement part but they put him in a rental but still.
The advice about trying to buy local is very wise at all time, although it is usually less of an issue when the brand is as reliable as Lexus but until we hear back on what is the root cause of the issue, I am approaching this with a bit of caution too - No car will ever be perfect and I don't think this is a design issue. I still say that it is one 3 scenarios:
1. A bad batch from their reliable supplier
2. A bad supplier to off set part shortage
3. Something that went wrong through the assembly line
This car is not using a brand new design or something radically different from what they use all the time so I think it is a minor issue but just a matter of pin pointing what the issue is...
My 2 cents
I'll say it again because it needs to be stressed, you have every right to be upset and disappointed and we are all in here WITH YOU and FOR YOU so don't give up....and vent any time you need to!
I understand we have our own levels for tolerance for the unknown, but I've discovered after joining this forum that some of us love drama and are downright paranoid. If you're unhappy with the car, then return it or cut your losses and sell it and move on. It's time to move the IS 500 CEL issue to a new sub topic. Thank you for sharing the information, but damn, enough of the drama! Sorry....couldn't take it anymore!
Definitely not paranoid or a drama lover. Just trying to help others see the full picture prior to buying, which is exactly what this thread is about. But thanks for the advice !!! Sorry if this thread isn't being limited to only the glowing positives of this vehicle, of which there are many.
For those who've been following the drama, I just wanted to say I made it home safely last night around 1am and the CEL never turned on again. I now have 870 miles and a USB IS500 sitting in my garage.
Huge props to Lexus of Santa Fe for not adding mark-ups or add-ons, letting a non-local buy it, helping put me up in a nearby hotel, and quickly resolving the issue with their Master Tech. We're both fortunate things didn't get ugly. Yes, I was ready to return the car. I even booked flights home yesterday afternoon that me and my wife cancelled for refund during our drive home through New Mexico. And thank you again to @jjc1111 for posting about the car. Yes, I was the one who jumped on it and called them about 20 seconds after your post. I hope you get your $200 referral bonus in the mail soon.
This was arguably the craziest weekend of me and my wife's lives. Exactly a week ago I was stewing over the fact that my local dealership said there wasn't a USB within 1000 miles and that I wouldn't be able to get one this year, and if/when they got one, they'd still charge me the $6200 of add-ons. I'm not sure why Santa Fe never popped up on their radar, but that might be the very reason I was able to get the car in the first place. In other words, nobody knew about it until jjc1111 personally dialed the dealership. Santa Fe is an interesting town and from what I gathered, an odd place for an IS500....yet they got two (mine and a LE which is going to Bellevue WA). Most of the residents in Santa Fe are older and their weather is on the cusp of needing AWD. I think that's the reason why they let me buy it and I'm glad they got the sale rather than needing to move it to another dealership.
Here's the car while we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel in AZ. They seriously need more of these in CA. It's delicious!
For those who've been following the drama, I just wanted to say I made it home safely last night around 1am and the CEL never turned on again. I now have 870 miles and a USB IS500 sitting in my garage.
Huge props to Lexus of Santa Fe for not adding mark-ups or add-ons, letting a non-local buy it, helping put me up in a nearby hotel, and quickly resolving the issue with their Master Tech. We're both fortunate things didn't get ugly. Yes, I was ready to return the car. I even booked flights home yesterday afternoon that me and my wife cancelled for refund during our drive home through New Mexico. And thank you again to @jjc1111 for posting about the car. Yes, I was the one who jumped on it and called them about 20 seconds after your post. I hope you get your $200 referral bonus in the mail soon.
This was arguably the craziest weekend of me and my wife's lives. Exactly a week ago I was stewing over the fact that my local dealership said there wasn't a USB within 1000 miles and that I wouldn't be able to get one this year, and if/when they got one, they'd still charge me the $6200 of add-ons. I'm not sure why Santa Fe never popped up on their radar, but that might be the very reason I was able to get the car in the first place. In other words, nobody knew about it until jjc1111 personally dialed the dealership. Santa Fe is an interesting town and from what I gathered, an odd place for an IS500....yet they got two (mine and a LE which is going to Bellevue WA). Most of the residents in Santa Fe are older and their weather is on the cusp of needing AWD. I think that's the reason why they let me buy it and I'm glad they got the sale rather than needing to move it to another dealership.
Here's the car while we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel in AZ. They seriously need more of these in CA. It's delicious!
That's fantastic! Screw the referral, I'm so happy you got it! Beautiful color...Enjoy!
01-18-22, 06:46 AM
