I love my 2004 IS300 and will miss it, but I am selling it because it just isn't practical for me at this time... and the gas is killing me!!
A couple of prospective buyers that have driven it mention hearing noise (humming, I guess?) from the rear wheels or axle. I don't really hear anything unusual, but I know it simply isn't a quiet car. I don't really know much about it though, being a 31 year old female, and my husband isn't exactly a mechanic. For the record, it has about 90k miles.
I think part of the problem is that people don't realize it is a performance car, and they are expecting the quiet ride you would get out of a larger Lexus. Most people that are looking at it are buying for their high school or college age children (must be nice, right?!?!). I think the parents just think "ok, a small Lexus would be a great car for my child".
There is currently a family that is serious about buying it, but want to be reassured that nothing is wrong in the rear wheels or axle. Conveniently, my husband is out of town on a business trip, so I am taking care of all this myself! I took the car to both NTB and Discount Tire yesterday since they are both close by. Someone at each location drove it and didn't hear anything unusual (at Discount Tire they went ahead and balanced them). They said that some noise is normal from these type of performance tires (Cooper Zeon ZPT 215/45R17 ... nothing spectacular, I know). Today the buyer-to-be and I went back to NTB to have them lift the rear so he could hear the tires spin while off the ground. Well, neither he nor the guy at NTB realized beforehand that the posi-trac (?) system won't allow them to spin. Makes sense, even to me! They were able to wiggle the wheels a bit by hand though, and the guy wonders if that is normal.
So... any suggestions from you guys?? Any links with more information I could reference? Next step is to take it to the dealership I guess and pay no telling how much to have it looked over. <_<