AKK

I think the extended warranty is good if your planning on keeping it past it's factory warranty and if you drive a lot. $2500 is too much though. You should get a 100K/7 yr Warranty for like $1500 max. Another option is getting "mechanical break down insurance" via your car insurance company. I have that for a new civic I got. It's like $3.00/month, and you have to start it when you buy the car new (they give you a 1 year grace to get it). Then you keep paying. So after 48 months, you've paid $144, and during that time you've been under your factory warranty. From 48 months to 100 000 miles your under the $3.00/month warranty. It's bumper to bumper cept for brakes etc. The catch is that it has a $250 deductible. From 50K to 100K, your really worried about major repairs, trans etc falling out. $250 is almost nothing considering how expensive Nav units, and Transmissions can run. So if you add up 72 mo $3.00, plus $250 deductible, your still way cheaper than the $2500 warranty from them. Plus you didn't have to pay it upfront or with interest. IF you sell the car, then your done. The other catch is if you get 400 speeding tickets, your insurance will go up. So this is for responsible people.

Well, my friend works at a Bay area Lexus dealer and he said: -The rattles are the #1 complaint from owners about the IS250/350. -The techs give feedback to Toyota, and their #1 complaint to them was the rattles in the IS line, and Toyota "didn't seem to care". (quoting)

I was told my dealers in CA that this package comes on all CA cars. I.e. this is the 'minimum' package. Is this true? Does the car come in just the LL package (which is the one like the below w/o the 18 inch wheels) I know you can "custom order" anything, but you wont get a car at 'invoice' if you do that. I also am aware they are more package combos that are available. Is this the package they are talking about? LT Luxury Plus Package info $4,325 $3,460 Luxury Plus Package Includes perforated leather seats, heated and ventilated front seats, 3-position driver and passenger seat memory, exterior electrochromatic mirrors with memory, power tilt and telescopic steering wheel with memory, Bird's Eye Maple wood interior trim, power rear sunshade, bi-Xenon high intensity discharge (HID) headlamps with adaptive front lighting system and auto-leveling, rain sensing wipers and 18" alloy wheels with 225/40YR18 front summer tires and 255/40YR18 rear summer tires. I was also told I can have it for Invoice, which is $32,142 + TTL. Does this sound right? I've seen some Cali people talking about getting an IS250 Auto for 32500 OTD, are they referring to this car with this LT package, or a base car? (Do Base cars exist? I've been told no, it's a special order)

All the people saying dealer service prices are fine and "an investment" and "only lexus should touch it" are dealers. Any place can change the oil. Cars depreciate fast and are not an investment. In reality, it would be better to drive it to 100K and pay for 14 oil changes and sell the car. That would be saving money. Most lexus people aren't gonna drive it for 10 years, so why spend a dime on anything besides oil changes?

So I went to Lexus of Concord in the bay area. I got their name from the Costco auto program. They assured me that no BASE Lexus IS250 exists in the US, ie the one quoted for $31 425 mrsp or invoice $27 653. They said I could order that car, and it would be 3-6 months, but they aren't making more 07's, so I'd have to wait until Sept to order an 08 and then wait 3-6 months. Then he showed me how when the year is new, the Costco price is $2000 over invoice. And every 3 months it gets adjusted down, so maybe in the 2nd quarter of 08 I could order a base one for "invoice". He was trying to steer me away from the base as much as possible. So, what does Lexus offer for an Auto 07 IS250? He told me the 12 western states get the following "minimum" package. That every lexus sent to them has these options as a "minimum" HID lights Vented seats/wood 18 inch rims and summer tires that wear out in 15 000 miles. Lip spoiler. So the 'cheapest' lexus comes to $35 696 MRSP. The costco price is "invoice" which is $31 531. So on Edmunds, the MRSP comes to 35627, and Invoice of $30726 So maybe they added some extra things to their price (wheel locks, mats etc).(His price may include dest) I'm disappointed Lexus does the BAit and switch, I suppose I was warned. I mean Honda does the "dx" w/o AC so they can go "Started at $15999", but then the dealer only has LX/EX's on the lot. Lexus does want to maintain the brand and image that every lexus on the road cost atleast $35-40G's.. there's no such thing as a $30K lexus. So does the above sound correct? I really don't want 18 inch rims as the rubber is so expensive. The cheapest replacement for the backs is $186.00 EACH. While for normal 17 inches, they are $89 each (or cheaper).( I drove a new set of 17 inches to 92K miles once.) I thought I could get an OTD price for 30K for the IS250, but it's looking more like: 31531 * 8% tax = 34034 OTd as a minimum in California. (no NAV remember). People are getting a Nav TSX for 27.5K + TTL = $29700 Or $28200 non-nav. So equally equipped, It's 28.2K for a tSX vs 34K for a IS250. An almost 6K difference. TSX W/ Nav is $4500 cheaper. That gives me blue tooth, nav and all the goodies. So why do I want the IS250? Cuz I already have an 04 TSX and wanted a change. But 6K is hard to justify... Anyone knows a CA dealer that can do 31K OTD for a 'base' IS250? (again, whatever Base is defined as). I'll drive to any dealer in CA to get it.

Ok, but does Lexus even make the base model? The lowest base I've seen is an Auto, no nav and the PT package (vented seats) and the 18 inch wheel packages. I could handle buying the PT package, but I dont want the 18 wheels due to cost and cost of replacement tires in thats size.

Does anyone know or seen a base IS250 with just the nav? Do dealers even have base IS250's to sell? Or is it like the Honda civic DX and they dont even stock the model, or make 10 just for pricing purposes?

Can someone confirm if Lexus makes the Base RWD /Auto car with just the nav option? After researching, I'm under the impression that Lexus does not offer that combo at all. That if I want the Nav, I have to get some 5K package first. Can anyone give me info on this? My budget was 30ish, not 40ish. I'm astonished Lexus doesn't have an Internet "rep" going around on these forums answering questions.

Well, I finally drove one. The dealer had 18 inch wheels on all of them, so I had to drive that. Does that make a big diff in the handling vs the stock 17 inch wheels? The car is a bit small if your a big person, ie 6 ft. I'm 5'6 and my wife is 5 ft, so we fit good. In the back seat, there's like 3 inches of head room for me. If my wife drives, she puts the seat 100% up, so there's enough room for me to sit in the back. Of course, i'm only thinking about the once in 6mo we have to drive with 4 adults, 99% I'll be in it myself. The forward facing car seats will fit fine. The huge bulky rear seat ones may have trouble. They will fit in the middle, and may fit on the side seats but it will be tight. Fit and finish is great, the seats were the vented/heated and were very comfy. Are the base seats just as comfy? The vented seats were very nice, I'd love to get that feature, but I dont want to get that and the nav. So if I had to pick between the two, I'd probably get the nav. Better resale with it, and probably more useful considering in the bay area the climate is 70 deg all the time, so I wouldn't really miss the vented seats. The car drove very well, It is more refined than the TSX, and the tsx does feel a tad sportier in terms of suspension/road feel. But just a tad. The acceleration was smooth and linear, it wasn't as high revving as the Vtech, but I never floored it, or went past 50 mph. Steering was nice, and the turning radius is short. I will say the perforated steering wheel on the tsx is 20X better. I've never felt such a comfy/nice steering wheel. The base stereo sounded better than the base TSX. The sales guy did'nt know if I could get a base IS + just the nav. He was implying the nav ones have an extra package on it also (like the seat package). The sticker says 24/32 mpg, is that realistic? Question: When driving, if u dont have a route set, can you see your car on the map, and then scroll around the map, zoom out etc? I understand u can't input an address. Can you search/input for anything? Warranties: Has anyone heard of the extended warranties offered by Geico? They are saying for $3.00/month extra ontop of my normal car ins, they will warranty everything to 100 000/7 years, and the catch is that the deductible is $250 per repair, and it must start at 15 000 miles or before. That doesn't seem like a bad deal, cuz I can have 5 repairs before I reach what I would have paid for the extended warranty. And Lexus is 50K anyway, plus 70K for the power train, so that seems like a good deal. Thoughts on this? Has anyone tried to buy a new IS and demand the dealer does the TSB on the brakes before taking possession of it?

Ahh.. i was quoting a friend... I dont own a lexus. So your probably right. It's worse.

I, for one welcome that move. I have purchased an extended warranty with my 7-series BMW and it paid for itself within the first 6 months of ownership. Granted Toyota makes the most reliable cars in the world, there is still that off-chance that something might go wrong - however little it is in a Toyota product. You just got yourself some peace of mind. And $1300 is not that much to pay for it, in my opinion. I will definately consider buying extended warranty when it comes to purchasing an IS. Buy the extened warranty. $1300 is a good deal. My tsx had one, and I used it for the Nav, AC and 3 sets of rotors. I got my money's worth for sure. Today repair are so expensive, and in CA,they are charging $80/hour for labor. A simple repair in 100K miles can easily cost $500-$1000. Plus the feature of the Lexus make it more difficult to take it to any cheaper mechanic. My tranny died on my 626 at 70 000 miles, if I had an extended warranty, it would have saved me $3500.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm married and have a 3 yr old, so I'm not concerned about adults in the back, just 1, possibly 2 car seats. My only concern for adults, is like maybe once every 6 mo if we have to drive with my wife's family and another short person needs to get back there. (Everyone in our families are short). Nav: I'd like to get it, since I have it on the TSX, but I really don't use it that much. I like how all the audio controls are on the touch screen etc. Plus MPG info, past fill up MPG history, predicted range etc. I dont know if the lexus one has all of those featuers. I'd also like to get an extended warranty, I don't think I could swing both, so I'd have to pick one over the other. I love the finish of the TSX, i'll hold judgment until I test drive the Lexus. Anyone bought a lexus via the Costco program? Another question: I read some review of the IS250 from England, and they get real time traffic info on their nav? Does the IS here in the US get that? I do not have Costco, but I do have AAA. They did not have a special price. My insurance co has a price negotiations service, but when I told them the price I had (about $700 over dealer invoice), they said that they could not do any better--they shoot for Edmunds True Market Value Price. Nav does not offer Nav Traffic. If I were you, I'd put the money into the nav rather than the extended warranty. I got the warranty for my 2000 TL from Honda Finance (not some 3rd party), and it was a total waste. First, it wasn't a true "bumper to bumper" warranty--there were a lot of exclusions (they wouldn't cover my auto-dimming rear view mirror because the warranty excludes glass/mirrrors, even though it was the stuff inside the mirror that went bad, and even though I ended up reading later on a TL owner's forum that this was a common problem that the mirror maker took care of for FREE). There was a $50 deductible. And, frankly, I didn't have $1200 worth of stuff go wrong. The one thing you should be careful about is the "possibly 2 car seats". If that means maybe another one in the future, facing backwards, I think that's going to be really tight. The IS has, on the dash, MPG (immediate, average and tank average), range, avg speed, outside temp, current gear. I've got good use out of my extended warranties in the past. I've had the nav changed, AC compressor, and 3 sets of rotors. I paid $1400 for it. If Lexus makes a car for 30 somethings, how can car seats not fit in the back? Don't they by law have to fit?(latch requirements?) For 35K, they better fit. They fit in a Civic just fine.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm married and have a 3 yr old, so I'm not concerned about adults in the back, just 1, possibly 2 car seats. My only concern for adults, is like maybe once every 6 mo if we have to drive with my wife's family and another short person needs to get back there. (Everyone in our families are short). Nav: I'd like to get it, since I have it on the TSX, but I really don't use it that much. I like how all the audio controls are on the touch screen etc. Plus MPG info, past fill up MPG history, predicted range etc. I dont know if the lexus one has all of those featuers. I'd also like to get an extended warranty, I don't think I could swing both, so I'd have to pick one over the other. I love the finish of the TSX, i'll hold judgment until I test drive the Lexus. Anyone bought a lexus via the Costco program? Another question: I read some review of the IS250 from England, and they get real time traffic info on their nav? Does the IS here in the US get that?

Check out Lexus.com--ML is not "standard" in any IS. In some areas of the country, you need to special order to get ML (definitely in the NE for a 250). Check out the threads--special order is 3-4 months. Why does Lexus make buying their cars so difficult? Acura is so simple..every thing's included, only option is trans if that, and then Nav. Sigh.. I wish the new TSX was out, then I would get that vs the IS250.... I still may go that route if Lexus is gonna be a hassle.

Sorry I don't have an answer, but I'm also curious (or should I say 'concerned') about this. I am thinking about buying an '07 IS, but the ability to put car seats in the back is a deal maker/breaker for me. I took a test drive yesterday and crawled into the backseat to sit down myself (I'm about 5'10" on a good day). It was small back there, but it seemed to me like I should be able to get a couple of car seats in there w/o the kids having to sit with their knees in their faces. Dunno.... maybe it was just wishful thinking. I'll know for sure next weekend, though (The dealer is loaning me the car for 24 hours so that I can see how it works out for me and my family.) As for the putting a car seat in the "middle seat"; I put "middle seat" in quotes, because it doesn't really seem to exist. The left and right seats are slightly bucketed, and the "middle seat" is a very narrow (10" maybe?) section between the two buckets. I didn't catch whether there were LATCH connectors specifically for the middle, but even if there are none.... the back seat is small enough that you should be able to use one LATCH point from the left seat and one LATCH point from the right seat to secure a seat in the middle. I will say that if you put a child seat in the middle, you can probably forget about putting anyone else in the rear cabin. The car claims to be able to seat 5, but I don't think that's true. There may be 5 seat belts in there, but it seems like you can really only put two people in the back (or one, if they are in the middle). Anyway, like I said, I don't actually own this car and am just drawing on my hands on experience from yesterday when I was at the dealership, so maybe someone who actually has one will chime in here and lay down the law. I'll post my own experiences back here after I borrow the car next weekend. Thanks, I look forward to your response. No one else can answer my questions?

I have an 04 TSX now and want to get something else. I have some questions about the IS250 1) What other 'features' does the nav provide besides navigation? Ie is it used for the stereo, climate control. Any fancy music equalizer/display on it? Used for the bluetooth? Does it have MPG info? (I know it does the back up camera). How limited is it when driving? I've read you can't use much of it when the car is moving? 2) Is it easy to find the Base car + the nav, or is the nav option bundled with other packages? (I would only be interested in the Nav) If you don't get the nav do you miss the MPG info, tire pressure info(?) 3) Does a child seat fit in the back? Can it fit in the middle seat? (Latch is for the middle as well, or only the 2 side seats) When I ask about the seat, i mean physically does it fit, since the back is so small. 4) My wife is 5 ft, so if she's driving could a 5"6 adult fit back there? I've heard about how cramped it is and am worried. With short people in the front, can adults fit back there for a 1 hour drive? 5) Brake dust: Does that just mean they get dirty, or someone else is wrong? Brake squeaking: Is this a major problem? A performance issue? Does the dealer fix it? 6)Does Lexus offer any special financing? I got a new Civic for 4.9% from Honda. My credit score is 832, so I should qualify. I've bought acura's in the past and they've got me 4.9% regardless of special 'limited deals'. Anyone have exp with this? 7) I presume Lexus offers extended warranties, how much can you negotiate those for? (Bumper-to-Bumper for 7yr/100K) 8) If anyone had a TSX, how was the move to the IS250? How do the cars compare? Thanks!