First post here, but not new to cars or car forums. I have been in a "new only" car buying philosophy for quite some time. Recently though, I was helping a friend pick out a previously owned car and discovered there are quite a few gems out there. I'm not sure if it's the down economy or I just overlooked the used market in the past, but there seem to be some great used cars at great prices on dealer lots right now.

Originally, I was looking for something along the lines of an A4 with Quattro, a Legacy GT, or 3-series with Xdrive. Research of the all-wheel-drive vehicles lead me to the AWD IS250, which is plentiful on used lots right now. With Lexus' CPO deals at 2.9% right now, that's doubly good. I think ideally though, I would like to wait until after the snow is gone before purchasing, but who knows if I'll have that much self control.

After reading numerous reviews on the IS, the IS350 also entered the picture. On used lots, these are just barely more expensive, though more rare. Without the AWD, but with 100 more hp, I'm not sure which way I'm leaning here. RWD in the winter wouldn't be new to me, but it's been a while.

Since both of these cars come with the 6spd auto, how does that feel? Does it feel like it's shifting all the time? How responsive is the transmission in "manual mode?" I've driven both good and bad shiftronic cars, with the good being fun, and the bad being so slow that it's laughable the feature is even available.

I don't have a CPO dealer within probably 35-40 minutes of my house, so I haven't been out to drive them yet. That, and I loathe car salesman. This distance brings up another problem/question - maintenance. One of the reasons I shied away from BMW, is their maintenance that is pretty-dealer-specific. Is this similar with Lexus? I do know that for their being a lack of luxury dealers near me, I see a ton more Lexus than BMW, Mercedes, etc. My daily work commute is a whopping 1-mile. Going home for lunch makes it 4 miles a day. Trips to grad-school (MBA, Lewis University) put about another 40 weekly miles on the car, so I could buy a car with moderate mileage and not "wear it out" too quickly.

I look forward to learning more about this car, as I try not to buy one for as long as possible -ha.

Thanks, Mike

Hi Mike,

Hopefully I can help you out here as I live in the Chicagoland area, northern suburbs. I've always bought new cars, back in late 2005 I bought an 05 Lancer Evolution. That car combined with a dedicated set of winter rims mounted with Blizzaks could not be beat. I've experienced some bad snow storms up here and that car dominated any SUV on the road. I owned the car for 2.5 years and decided it was time to part with it. It costs way to much to maintain and it was becoming a money pit because I was addicted to modifying the car. In 2008 I bought a IS250 AWD brand new fully loaded. I loved the car as it was the first luxury car I ever owned and going from an Evo to an IS feels like your riding on a cloud. Well after owning the IS250 for a year I could not deal with it anymore (1) it was way too slow, it was depressing when Civic SI's were faster than you. Sure speed isn't everything but I must have power on tap with any car that I own, it's more than just riding in luxury. (2) I didn't particularly care for is IS250's AWD system, it was no where near as advanced as the Evo's system. The car did very well in the snow but it still put 70% of it's power to the rear. It's supposed to transfer more to the front when needed but it wasn't equal distribution. I feel that the reason the car did so well in the snow was because of it's lack of power, it just was hard to go out of control. About 3 months ago I decided to sell the IS250 and look for a used IS350, it would be the first used car I have purchased since highschool but I found an amazing deal on one that I couldn't pass up. I purchased a 2006 IS350 back in July with 38,000 miles and it was the best decision I ever made. I can now ride in style with having amazing power on tap, just as fast as the Evo. Sure it has RWD but i'm not worried even with Chicago winters. I'm running high performance summer tires and I don't plan to swap them out in the winter. I don't know what your looking for in a car but to me Navigation is a must. I found that IS350's were about $3-4000 more than an equally loaded IS250. I could barely find a IS250 that was under $30k in the Chicago land area. If it was less than $30k then it didn't have all the goodies.

The IS was the first auto I owned in 7 years and it doesn't bother me one bit, actually I prefer it now. It shifts just fine but to me the paddle shifts are pointless as they shift way to slow, it's just a gimmick anyways. Who needs paddle sifters in anything other than a supercar? Put the car in power mode and you'll be more than happy with the shifts. The other nice thing is that since it has a 6 spd tranny you get great gas mileage. When not in power mode it will put you in 6th pretty quick, same on the highway. I average about 30mpg on the hwy and with 306hp on tap that's not bad at all.

To answer your other question about maintenance, it's a Lexus isn't that enough said? BMW is BMW, if you need to fix your BMW you bring it to a BMW dealer who will charge you up the ^&*. A Lexus is a nicer Toyota. Toyota's are already known for their outstanding realiability but Lexus gives Toyota the edge it doesn't have. I bring my car to the Lexus dealer for any warranty work that needs to be done. Any maintainence gets done at a regular Toyota dealer. I have found that they do the same work, if not better for less than half the price.

Thanks, that is helpful to know that Toyota will do service to a Lexus vehicle. It would be pretty-lame if I have to drive 40 minutes (either north or east, I'm south of Plainfield) to get to a Lexus dealer when something needs fixing. There are several Toyota dealers nearby though, so that is a relief. I wouldn't expect a Lexus to be nearly as maintenance needy as a BMW or even Audi, but if I do need to get something fixed the easier the better.

Glad you like your '06 IS350. 06s and a few 07s have been mainly what I've come across in my pricerange. I knew before this idea of Lexus ever came into my head that I wanted to spend ~$25K on the car, which would get you a fairly nice new Accord/Camry/Sonata, but if I can put 2-3 years and 30K miles on the car pre-owned and end up with something much nicer and still with warranty, that seems like the wise choice. (I have found plenty of IS250AWD and IS350 in that pricerange, btw). A bad economy is good for some things.

Keep in mind that Toyota will do general maintenance on a Lexus like and oil change and transmission and rear differential fluid changes. Anything that is a reapir will most likely have to go to Lexus unless it isn't very major. However I doubt you'll need to do any major repairs outside of the warranty until you get up above 120,000 miles.

I have a 2006 IS350 that I bought prior to the model introduction. The dealer is 40 miles away. When I had TSB's done I just dropped it of, any time of day, and they gave me a loaner, either an ES or a RX for free. I then picked up my car at my leisure, a day or two later, whenever I had time to go there. I got a CEL over the weekend and took the car to the dealer today. They took care of it and I was in and out in an hour, having had premium coffee and muffins and watched the big screen TV in the cozy waiting area.

You might want the dealer to pull up the service records to show that all the TSB's have been done. There were several fixes done to the IS 350's, nothing serious, but they should have been done.

From a maintenance or standout-issues standpoint, are there any significant differences between the 250AWD and the 350? Who has taken a 350 (or 250 Rwd, I suppose) through a snowy winter? Results? My heart would say take the extra 100hp, but my brain keeps saying AWD would be better.

Froma maintenance standpoint they are identical. The cars are virtually maintenance free. Transmissions and differential fluids are lifetime although I do not agree they are good to 100k. I just had my rear differential fluid changed at 40,000 miles. There are many that drive their 350's in the winter, although they either have all season tires or a dedicated set of winter rims with snow tires such as Blizzaks. It's just like any other rwd luxury car such as a bmw or mercedes. They are only as good as the tires you put on them.

I think you will regret the 250 AWD. The 350 is loads better. Just get you some snow tires and or chains and you will be fine. Because honestly if you think about the amount of time you actually drive in weather like that it is probably less than normal weather. I own a 350 and sometimes get a 250 as a loaner. There is no way I could live with the power difference. Like someone said before...a 4 cylinder Honda Civic Si is faster. Just test drive the 250 and 350 then you will see. But once you do you won't ever want to get into a 250 again.

I'm in this side of the forum because I'm in the market for a 250/350 but i currently own an rx300. I can tell you that my local Toyota dealer which is 4 miles from my house will not service my Lexus or even sell me [arts for it. The nearest Lexus dealer is 33 miles away. Luckily I do most maintenance myself and also have a great indy shop that has no problem doing great work on my Lexus for things over my head. I'd just be sure that your local Toyota dealer will in-fact service your Lexus if your in need of the dealer service.

wait, you have an RX300 and the Toyota dealership won't do an oil change on it? That's stupid! You should call the Lexus dealership and explain that you have a Toyota Camry and live 2 miles away, if you brought it in would they be able to perform an oil change service on it for you? See what they say.

To answer just a few questions.

The IS350 is pretty stinking good in the snow if you do a few things. In casual snow you simply need good snow tires and the car goes very well. Throw a few hundred pounds in the trunk and it is even better. When conditions get really slick the car does well AFTER you disable the traction control. This allows a little wheel spin and a little yaw without interrupting. The car stops better than an car I have driven in the snow. You have to know how to drive and keep your head out of you rear. The car is extremely stable without the driving aids!

Go drive an IS350 and see how the tranny feels. Personally I don't care for it that much but, I'm a guy that loves a clutch and a shifter.



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