Lexus IS

Price Paid:  $34500.00 from Keyes Lexus

Year / Model Reviewed:
2008 IS250 RWD 6AT

Strengths:
Gas mileage is great 30+mpg Hwy. Power sufficient for daily driving. Great options here and there. Very beautiful styling and comfortable ride.

Weaknesses:
Heavy, Understeer

Summary:
Fully loaded with Navigation, Bluetooth and Back-Up Camera. Excellent car.

Similar Products Used:
Lexus IS300

Price Paid:  $0.00 from santa rosa

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 Lexus IS 350

Strengths:
Build Quality, silky smooth and very powerful v6, great auto tranny. Great handling and a stereo that will Knock your socks off !

Weaknesses:
Tight back seats.

Summary:
Great car. A little tight for me (6ft2 225lbs) but good comfortable seats but not much rear seat room. Great build quality as expected. Like the steering alot better compared to "heavy" feeling of BMW. Wonderful smooth powerful v-6 and great quick shifting 6 speed auto. Handles great and it will "catch" itself if things get too sqirrelly.

Similar Products Used:
BMW 540, Ford mustang gt

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $20000.00 from EEE Autosports

Year / Model Reviewed:
2005 IS 300

Strengths:
Looks, the car is just hot!
Balance just about as equal as you can get. The way the car is put together solid just like most Lexus/Toyota's are

Weaknesses:
No having one in the drive way

Summary:
I'm a Lexus fan!
I have always thought they made tight cars. The 300 has distentive styling filled with a lot of bang for the buck. It might not be the greatest on gas but if that's an issue but something else. The IS is made to be driven.
The standard list of options are all geared toward the driver. I love mine I suffered dearly trying to get one. Now that I have one it was everything I thought it would be and more. I noticed that others compared it to cars out of it'z class so what does that tell you? It belongs in a class all to it's self. The Mazda 6 is a great comparison basically the same cars in every aspect but the IS stock is more of a drivers car. With some work I have gotten my Mazda 6 close but think about it, if you have the money you can creat a beast in the IS 300. I have driven the 250 & 350 and they are nice basically geared more toward luxury the IS is my dream come true. It's nothing like driving on a curvy back road to understand what makes this car stand out. It's weight ratio makes it a dream to push to the edge of it's limits. The suspension is tight and you never get a feeling of not being in control, to me it's the perfect car!

Similar Products Used:
Mazda 6, Mazdaspeed 6, Chevy Malibu
I love my Mazda but my heart will always sway to the Lexus.

Price Paid:  $35000.00 from Park Place Lexus

Year / Model Reviewed:
2004 IS 300

Strengths:
The Engine, the manual tranny, the seats, and the headlights and foglamps, The front end of this car is very distint, especially at night.

Weaknesses:
I love speed and power, so more torque and horsepower would be better, but I have an unsatifiable craving for power. The more the beter( and the more dangerous).

Summary:
My Family has always bought from Toyota because they are dependable. I love our cars ( we have had 8 toyotas, The IS is our 9th toyota product) but i have always looked foward to moving up to a Lexus. We finally purchased an IS and love it. It totaly blew away my father and I's expectations. The suspension is smooth yet firm, the clutch stiff but not overly heavy, and the gearbox(5spd) is nice and tight. I love the inline 6, not a very common engine( same 6 as the Mark 4 supras). It is a great sports sedan.

Similar Products Used:
95 Mustang GT, Celica GTS, 3 series BMW,.

Price Paid:  $29900.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
2004 & Manual Sedans

Strengths:
Good Power, SMOOTH velvety engine, Styling, Always turns heads, Handling, Price, Build Quality, Reliability, Service Quality, Interior Comfort, Suede/Leather seat combo is sexy haha.

Weaknesses:
Premium Fuel only! $1.90/gallon here in Los Angeles. Gas mileage could be improved.

Summary:
Hello everyone. Currently, we own TWO IS300s. We have a Yellow 2002 Manual with 25,000 miles on it. The ONLY "problem" with this car is a mild rattle from dash when going over 75. With no other problems, we purchased a Bluestone Metallic 2004 in October which now has 900 miles on it. The main reason to buy an IS300 over a BMW or Audi is simply the reliablility record. Check out consumer reports. Audi and BMW both have HORRIBLE reliability. A friend of mine has a 6 month old 330Ci which has already broken down in the middle of traffic TWICE. The IS300 may not have the same power found in the 330 (but its close), nor the same handling, but it does have a much better reliability record and in my opinion, looks better. Lexus also offers much better service quality over BMW. Now, the best part is that the IS300 uses the SAME engine that was in the last generation Supra (minus the Turbo) That being said, there are uncountable custom options available. You can easily tune this engine to smoke any BMW. There are a lot of aftermarket parts. By the way, the IS uses a I-6 engine, not the same one found in the Camry, RX300, ES300, GS300 etc... which is a V6, as some people have said. The only downside I have noticed with these vehicles is relatively poor fuel economy. The Blue IS only sees Los Angeles traffic and gets 14.5 miles per gallon (not good at all) BOTH are 5-Speed Manuals. The Yellow one sees an even mix of highway and city driving and averages 20mpg both on Premium fuel. But most people like me who buy this car arent looking for just fuel economy, its about restoring the passion of driving. I test drove everything else out there. Every time I get back into my Lexus, I know I made the right choice, no doubt. Hopefully the IS430 will be out next year (so far its looking good) and this will knock away most audi and bmw sales. 0-60 in 6.7 seconds with the stick and 7.2 with automatic is far from slow. Some people are complaining about a lack of power? I havent experienced this but more power is always more fun. This is where the IS430 will steal everyones' heart. Overall for 30 grand there is not a better all around vehicle out there. The IS has Japanese build quality but does NOT have the typical Japanese conservative design (camry, es300, etc..) In additing to all these, there are also many IS300 "clubs" which allow owners to communicate with one another and locate parts that you may want. Anyway down to my final words. In the performance sedan category, the IS beats the pants off of the Acura TSX and Audi A4 in terms of power and I would take it over any 3-series just for the fact that its cheaper, looks better and is more reliable. Just think, with the extra 5 grand you save not buying a 330, you can get a supercharger for the IS pushing it into M3 territory. Couldn't be happier with my IS300s. If anyone has any questions about them/ thinking about getting one contact me and maybe I can help a little more. Xenons work great at not and arent blinding to other drivers like the courteous BMW designers who believe part of driving is blinding other drivers with your headlights. Solid THUNK when doors shut (good build quality) The handling is incredible My only gripes are very minor: I do wish the dashboard was slightly re-made. It looks a little cheap for a 30 grand car but thats very minor Stick shift needs a 6th gear As someone else has said, the deistinct figure of the car allows you to spot it from blocks away. Gotta love that (I hate blending into the other cars out there)

Similar Products Used:
My two IS300s are my first sport sedans and they will NOT be my last. I plan to only buy IS-series from now on. Going to replace the 2002 IS300 in a couple years with the V8- IS430