bartkat

Haha. If I had all the money I spent on new cars back in the day I'd be rich.

http://www.is350forums.com/index.php?showt...st=0entry3196 Just a quick question... I have know clue how to read a Dyno Chart... but.. looking at it.. it has HP on the left side... so I am assuming that is the HP right? But.. I thought the IS350 has 306 HP and that just shows 252 maybe... What am I missing? The quoted HP from Lexus is the power at the flywheel, or "true" engine horsepower. Due to losses in the drive train, the power measured at the wheels by a dyno will be lower, usually maybe 25% or so. While the number may not be exact in this case, it does allow a direct comparision between stock, and modified in duplicate tests.

Most people wanting a IS350 aren't going to wait 3 years for a used one.

The looks are good enough. It's the feel of the driving that sold me.

I'd say a face to face visit is in order. Those guys can pull up every car in your region on their computer. They're probably lazy and also probably get lots of calls from just curious people. I had emailed the internet sales manager at our dealer. He told me they had a car. I told him when I would be there to see it. I showed up, made a decent deal for my trade-in and bought the car.

There's an easier way to do it. First time I saw it a tech posted it from the Toyota Avalon owner's manual.

No it's not always like that and no it doesn't cost any more to make a "special order." Sounds like your dealers don't want to cooperate. I know of several people who have got the Nav/ML on their 350's. They are scarce and are really selling well, but it's not impossible. I would suggest checking with some other dealers in the Northeast till you find one that's willing to order a car for you. Get on some waiting lists. Sometimes a car that was ordered gets turned down and goes to the next guy on the list. Be dilligent and be patient.

Congrats and Good Luck :D :D

Never had any hesitation. Got 3300 miles now. Been on a couple of trips. Don't know what you mean by "feel", but you can zip up to 100 MPH or so and not realize you're already going that fast. (IS350) Just went out and did some donuts in an empty parking lot with the VDIM turned off. She'll continue till you let off the gas or straighten up the steering wheel.

I don't know why someone would want to turn off VDIM every time they start the car, or very often at all. Takes all of about two seconds to do it anyway. Right foot tap tap, left foot tap tap. Then let her rip. Have you tried it with your IS350?

The valet key is made so the valet can only open the door and start the car. It won't open the glove box or the trunk. That's to keep the valet out of your stuff.

Recommended viscosity http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...pe=post&id=3751

IS300 has a belt.

The standard system sounds pretty good to me. It's better than the IS300 was and plenty good for my purposes. Suggest you take a CD that you like down to the dealership and play it in one of the cars.

Thank You for replying Bartkat the condition is excelent and the milage is 50000. I thought it was a great car too but just wanted to see what an owner thought awesome to see you liked it. I traded my 02 in for $17,500 and that was top wholesale, so $15,000 sounds good for a 01.

Brake pedal effort on the IS350 seems pretty low to me. I usually just need to use my toe on the brake pedal for normal stops. I made a panic stop from low speed the other day and she stopped very quickly with not that much pedal effort. I'd say it's easier to brake than the IS300 if that's any help.

OK, well I am not familiar with how Lexus works, but they have a massive markup between invoice and MSRP. For example a well-equipped IS 250 AWD has an MSRP of $39,630 and an invoice of $34,690, thats a whopping $5000!!!!! Compare that to a BMW 325xi MSRP $40,145, invoice $36,825 difference = $3,320. That is $1,690 difference between the markups on those cars, and you don't think Lexus has more room to come down? Even better if we look at Audi A4 2.0T Q with an MSRP of $39,635 and an invoice of $36,747 a paltry difference of $2,888, that is $2,112 difference between the markup on the Audi and the Lexus. I am more familiar with German cars and in a standard situation (not an M3, not within the first 3 months of production) where each dealer has 25+ cars sitting on the lot and there are 6 dealers within 35 miles they are more than happy to make a clean $1000 (+ any secret dealer cash they are making). I'm not sure why so many of you are opposed to the idea that you can bargain on your cars to get a better deal. yes if you bought your IS car within the first 90 days of production you probably paid a premium, but if you are telling me that the $5000 markup on these cars is not negotiable than I don't understand. They guy who offered me $2000 off anything he had in the lot or incoming knew he would still make $3000 profit, that is more than an A4 at sticker. Negotiate all you want and get the best deal you can. I'm just saying that you can't always go by the "deals" some buyers claim they got, because they don't give the total picture. Maybe you can get as new IS for $1000 above invoice come September if there are any out there that are equipped the way you want. Other than that, I wouldn't attempt to tell you anything.

Knowing what it is, it doesn't bother me a bit. Maybe if you put some more sound absorbing mateiral under the hood, you won't hear it as much.

That price is probably ok, depending on mileage and condition of course. IS300's are great cars. I had one for 2 1/2 years and just loved it. I'd still have it if they hadn't come out with the IS350. I like it even better.

If someone tells you they got a car for XXXX over invoice, then you have to ask them if they bought it outright or traded something in. Then you have to know what they got for their trade in. Then if they financed, you need to know the terms. All that info goes into the actual cost of buying the car. If all the variables aren't considered, then the XXXX over invoice price doesn't mean all that much.

Everyone with an IS350 or just everyone in general? I felt it in the car when I was in Idle but then I opened the hood, and it was really loud. Everyone with an IS350. Once we found out what it was, we weren't concerned about it. If you pull off the top engine cover you'll see that there's some pretty heavy sound deadening insluation on the bottom of it. That's the reason. The cover on the IS300 didn't have that thick sound deadener.

Here's a forum specifically about wheels and tires for IS300. You can browse or search. Most likely you wouldn't want 20's on a daily driver. 19 is getting pretty big for that car. http://my.is/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=95

If it's a ticking sound when the engine is idling, you can also hear it when you pull up next to a wall or somehing like going through a fast food drive thru, then it's the sound made by the direct injectors. It's similar to what you hear from a diesel but not as loud. That's not a problem. Every one that has one that I've talked to (over 40 people) have the ticking.

The first place I found was LOC UK. It was kinda fun to read the different language. Then I came over here.