Knightshade

You get a year free with many of the Garmin units... After that you have a choice of $129 lifetime or $50 per year. Considering Lexus gets $300 a year just for new maps (that's $75 per year with Garmin) it's yet another area the OEM unit sucks. In your opinion. I'm pretty sure it's not an opinion that $75 is less than $300. I'd even go out on a limb and suggest it's not opinion that $75 plus $129 is still less than $300 :P And so, of course, even if you only update the maps once EVER (and I'd suggest a lot of people would benefit from doing it more often... I live in a metro area with a lot of Lexus drivers and a LOT of new construction too, and I'm sure I'm not alone) you're still saving some additional money on top of the several grand you saved in the first place going aftermarket.

You get a year free with many of the Garmin units... After that you have a choice of $129 lifetime or $50 per year. Considering Lexus gets $300 a year just for new maps (that's $75 per year with Garmin) it's yet another area the OEM unit sucks.

Lexus OEM nav in the ISx50 does not support traffic at all, has nothing to do with if you have XM or not. The only thing you can get in the 2IS via factory XM is the radio stations. XM -is- one of the providers of traffic data (there are 3 common ones... XM, FM TMC, and MSN) but unless your nav unit supports it you don't have it...and the Lexus unit does not. The OEM nav in the infiniti supports traffic via XM. Garmins GPS support traffic via all three of those options, depending which GPS you buy. MSN is the better option of the three IMHO because you get all the extra realtime data besides traffic (the local movies, fuel prices, weather, stock quotes, etc).

They claim that because they don't want to do the work... nobody has yet shown even a 1% reduction in actual stopping distance with the TSIB pads.

See that's what I was talking about earlier when we were going over the portable features vs. the in-dash stock unit. The stock head has touch screen radio controls and a calendar, and your phone book, and is integrated with the car much better. I wouldn't call it nav, as much as I would call it the central media control center, and it has nav, and the back up camera and all the blah blah blah's that come. I just think it enhances the driver control over the car much more effectively than any attempts in past cars I have seen. Just opinions here. But, dang!!! It's $550.00 a month!! FI-Fity!!! <_< Yes, but the $300 garmin does all of that too (calendar, phone book, bluetooth, etc...)...plus the slew of added features the factory unit does NOT have. The only loss is the backup camera, and the IS is so small it's kind of a silly feature (but you can get that TOO in the aftermarket for a couple hundred bucks) You get the -exact same- control abilities of the stereo and climate without nav, you just use a physical button instead of a virtual button for them.... and the radio, honestly, I use the steering wheel controls 95% of the time anyway...but the head unit buttons do the same thing as the ones on the touch screen would. Now, the ML option, in contrast, I specifically ordered that... because it added $752 to the total price, and there's no way I could have gotten that good an audio upgrade from the aftermarket for a total of $752 installed with a 4 year warranty. Not even close really. So I don't mind paying extra for an option when it does more than I can get for less elsewhere... the nav just don't qualify for Lexus though. This is one area the G35 outshined the IS350 during my test drives (one of the only areas, hence my buying the 350)- the factory nav on the infiniti DID offer realtime traffic and some of the more advanced multimedia features the Lexus system was lacking...and it cost less too. Some car makers are even offering the other advanced MSN direct features on their nav systems now (the realtime local fuel, movie, weather, etc info).... Lexus is just still pushing a VERY dated technology setup for a VERY premium price these days.

I paid cash for my 08 IS350, I certainly could've afforded Nav. The way I was able to pay cash for it was by not spending several grand extra on stuff that did less though :P The $300-400 price tags I quote are for units that do MORE than the factory unit... they do nav, and bluetooth, and ALSO do realtime traffic, weather, fuel prices, movie times, stock quotes, picture viewing, currency conversion, etc... Use a friction mount and the hassle is 10 seconds of moving it to the center console. Done. Then leave it there so you don't need to remember to take it with you, it already IS with you. You'd be as likely to use it as anything else at that point. Now, the screen will be 4 inches instead of 7, that's true... but I've never had trouble seeing the screen... and if you do you can spend the $2000-3000 you saved on LASIK and enjoy the benefits even when NOT in the car! :)

You still get XM/Sirius ready and you still get a 6-disc CD changer without nav... the only things you get with nav are... nav... which the garmin does better... and bluetooth which the garmin does equally... and the backup camera which the garmin doesn't do (though some other aftermarket navs DO offer that) As for resale- http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-0...sale-usat_N.htm "Built-in navigation systems increase the depreciation of a car or truck, a startling fact that has some car companies rethinking their approach to the $2,000 factory-installed systems." Two reasons that navigation isn't worth much in a used vehicle: •Used-car buyers are looking for bargains, not technology, says James Clark, senior manager of consulting for ALG. Clark's example: A high-end 2007 Acura TSX sedan should be worth 55% after three years without navigation, 53% with. The $2,000 navigation option winds up adding no more than $600 to the value of the 3-year-old car, he says. Other technology that usually depreciates fast, according to Clark: adaptive cruise control, night vision, cooled seats. •Technology changes. "The development cycle on these (portable) units is a year or less," says Ted Gartner, Garmin spokesman. (so by the time you sell your already feature-outdated-from-the-factory nav car you're selling ancient technology that doesn't do half what a $100 unit will do)

Nav is actually -bad- for resale value. Take 2 months of the extra nav payment and buy a Garmin. Or take 4 months of the Nav payment and buy a Garmin that does -more- than the 90s-era Lexus factory system does. A nuvi will easily fit in the center console, so it's always "with" you when you need it... and you can use it in a rental car if you travel too. For $300ish you can get one that also does bluetooth so you can call the restaurant you're going to, and it'll ALSO be able to do realtime traffic, which the Lexus unit can't. And it won't cripple itself when you put the car in drive like the Lexus unit will. Nuvi'll run for hours off the battery too so you don't need to use the cord much if you don't want to. I specifically ordered my IS -without- nav because I couldn't see dropping a few thousand on a unit that did less than one costing a few hundred. You DO lose the backup camera, but the IS is a small car, so it's not much loss... On a suburban I could see it being really usefull... and you could add an aftermarket one of those for a couple hundred if you HAD to have it.

I actually forced them, to add to my "permanent record" that my car is never to be washed at a dealership... the one and only time they did it (because I hadn't yet added it to the record in their computer and the guy I dropped it off with didn't pass the message along I gave him) it got a scratch... they touched it up and said they'd comp my 10k service for it, but that was enough to make me take the extra step to insure the wash idiots never touch it.

If you look at what is actually -done- at those 5k services the vast majority are just oil changes and "inspections" where they don't actually -do- anything. Won't stop the dealer from charing a bunch of $ for it though :P There's some additional services at some intervals that you're still much better/cheaper doing yourself like the air or cabin filter changes... and then a couple of services that are probabably worth hitting the dealer for. By and large my suggstion is to change my oil at intervals that make sense for the oil being used (ie 5k for normal dinosaur oil, 7.5-10k for something like mobil 1, and once a year regardless for something like amsoil) and get that done however it can be done properly for the least money- which will pretty much never be the dealership. Do the filter changes yourself. Document that you're doing things on a "regular" basis otherwise in case there's every a warranty question. Hit the dealership for the couple of major services it makes sense to do so.

Absolutely not true. Now, the tricky thing is, Lexus tends to build certain combos of options for specific areas of the country. So it's possible that dealership never sees a car the way you want it. In that case you can check with other dealers in your region. But it's even possible the dealers in your region will never see one the way you want it, in which case they can check every dealership nationwide for your car, and get it for you from them. But it's even possible no dealership in the country will get one the way you want it. In which case you can special order EXACTLY the car you want from Lexus. This will take anywhere from 2-4 months before you get the car, and some dealers, stupidly, don't like to do special orders. You'll need to find a dealer who IS ok doing so and will still give you a good price (and it's certainly possible to find both, just not necessarily easy). My own IS, an IS350 with the sport package and with Mark Levinson WITHOUT navigation, doesn't get shipped by default to any dealer in the US...so I found a good dealership willing to special order, and offer a good price while doing so, and a couple months later I had the exact car I wanted, with the exact colors and options I wanted.

Starting in the Mk4 Supra they came up with a clever design where the fuel pump sat in it's own small reservoir... this avoids several common problems with fuel pumps- 1. The problem where with low fuel the pump isn't being properly cooled... since you'd now have to run it to pretty much bone dry to exhaust the fuel in there cooling the pump 2. The problem where the pump sucks air because the level is low, the tank is poorly designed, and when you floor it all the fuel sloshes to one end, away from the pump pickup. The ISx50 uses this same design.

It certainly should be given it's considerably lighter, and it's not like either has enough power to have traction issues when launching.

The G35 sedan and IS350 are in a similar class of car... but when I test drove both it was a pretty easy choice to pick the IS. Nice color choice, it's what I picked too (though mine came with cashmere carpet) and is my favorite color combo on the 2IS :)

He bought a used 07, I suspect he's well past 5000 miles. I'd suggest you read the 100k warranty the infiniti dealer gave you, it should be pretty explicit about what is required to maintain it.

Probably zero, just like all the other air intakes for the 2IS Well, you might see 3-5 hp from the smoother tube, but you'd see the same from the Joe Z intake for $200-300 less money

Factory XM is in the trunk actually...I'd be surprised if the Sirius unit didn't go in the exact same place.

I'm not talking about a 3rd party company. Troy is selling genuine Lexus factory extended warranties... Exactly the same thing your local dealer sold you, but hundreds of dollars cheaper. ANY toyota or lexus dealer can sell a factory extended warranty so long as your vehicle is still in its original warranty period. It's probably true that the folks who do all their service at the dealership get some extra special treatment, but I'd be shocked if it usually added up to anywhere near the extra cost of the dealer service.

Skip the service plan. With a few exceptions the car won't require anything but oil changes or a few air filter changes you can do yourself in that time. It'll require 10 oil changes (if you use dinosaur oil) or 5 if you use a good synthetic. That's hardly worth $1800+ dollars. As for the warranty, you can get it considerably cheaper elsewhere. Email TDietrich@FactoryDiscountWarranty.com He works for Toyota of Greenfield in MA. (Any Lexus or Toyota dealer can sell you the same warranty)... you should be able to get the 7 year/100 k warranty for at least a few hundred less than you're being quoted for the 75k one. As to the warranty being worth it, if you plan to keep the car that long I think it is, doublly so if your car has expensive-to-fix options on it (Nav, ML, Adaptive cruise, etc)

It's not just Lexus, this is going to be the norm before long. There's already a number of other cars with "never" intervals for transmission fluid changes because they're designed to be lifetime sealed systems. There are BMWs that don't even have an -engine oil- dipstick anymore.

The IS350 is not the IS300. It's a vastly nicer car inside, and a vast;y better performer in stock form, but it doesn't have a 2JZ under the hood. There's little to nothing you can do to it to add significant power for any reasonable amount of money. There's barely anything you can do for UNreasonable amounts of money honestly.

Reply to Knightshade, What you are saying about the injection isn't what Lexus tech tells me, however when the injection works isn't important to me !!! Yes the intake is the F sport, I didn't pay the price I mentioned, I purchased mine from Lexus for much less, the KNN air filter also fits in the new air box, Lexus claims 5 HP increase due to less restriction with the extra hole that pulls air from behind the headlight, clean airflow & openings that allow more air equals more power, the V-6 tested at 5.3 seconds 0-60 is plenty quick, the IS-F V8 416 HP is 4.6 seconds 0-60, I know the 5.3 is shown on some reports and 5-8 on others... The one I have has all Lexus offered in the IS-350... I have 31,600 miles so far with no problems... Lexus folks tend to lie a lot- http://www.turbomagazine.com/features/0511...s250/index.html "this setup runs only the direct injectors at high loads." http://www.cartest.ca/2006_best_car_best_truck_bes.htm "When the engine is running under low or medium loads at lower speeds, both systems are used... under heavy load, it automatically converts to a direct injection-only system." http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z14607/Lexus_IS_350.aspx "the 3.5-liter V6 differs chiefly in that it augments the direct fuel injection with port fuel injectors. In light- and medium-load conditions, these additional injectors help produce a precise burn, increasing power and efficiency." etc.... The -stock- air intake on the IS350 already provides more air than the engine is capable of using, so honestly, more airflow just means more noise... which is worth the $ to some folks. It's extremely difficult to actually add measurable power to these cars, Lexus did a pretty tremendous job of engineering them well to begin with... (and an uncrackable encrypted ECU doesn't help either)

At full power (WOT) the IS350 -only- uses the direct injectors. The port injectors are only used at light/mid throttle, and mainly to lower emissions and improve economy. If you're talking about the F-sport intake as far as anyone can tell it's a Joe Z pipe for 3-4 times the cost that also replaces the lower airbox piece with one that has an extra hole cut in it. Oh, they toss in a reuseable filter for the extra $200-300 you spend on it over the Joe Z too.... the extra hole does likely increase the noise though if that's your thing.

Sorry, I should know this but, what is CL mean? Thanks. Club Lexus Here's the link to the thread- http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236728 The impossibility of it gets explained in increasing detail as the thread goes on, including several diagrams and references from the Lexus service info

it has a water/oil cooler mounted on the side of the transmission. COOLANT lines run to the heat exchanger, so there is NO ACCESS to the fluid without removing the cooler completely. There's a 5 page long thread on CL over this. It's a sealed system. You really, truely, honestly, can not change all the fluid without considerably more labor than would be involved in replacing or rebuilding the transmission.