Lexus IS 350 vs ES 350

[Vertabreaker]

All wheel drive > all.

Go with the IS350

[kyle]

Yuck, the front end of that IS-F is garbage..

How much are you looking at for the fully loaded 350 Exo? 35?

Um, the fully loaded IS350 will probably come out to be about 43k, which should be brought down to about 39-40 since they really seem to want us to buy it from them badly lol... so yeah, pretty good deal... about 550 in monthly payments for a 3yr lease.

However, does anyone know how much I'm looking at as far as insurance is concerned? i'm paying about 400 for my mazda 6 right now (which is approx. 380 a month in lease payments..)

Probably around 400 also, my cousin is 20 and pays $418 of insurance. And yea, they'll probably lower a couple of thousands off of it.

[Exoduso]

That sounds good then, I was afraid the insurance payments will skyrocket because it's a more expensive car.

I'm 19.5 atm.

[kyle]

That sounds good then, I was afraid the insurance payments will skyrocket because it's a more expensive car.

I'm 19.5 atm.

You should be good to go then.

[Po]

You guys talking ~400 in insurance for the year? Or twice a year or what?

[Exoduso]

Young driver insurance is off the roof, that's per month.

[Boyiee]

depends on your state. In jersey i pay 500 4x a year for an 07 accord with a perfect driving record. I can't imagine what i'd be paying if i was dumb enough to buy a lexus instead, happy i didn't.

[Exoduso]

I guess California just sucks then.

Either way, not a big deal for me.

[Boyiee]

jersey is no picnic either when it comes to car insurance. 2k a year for a non-sport car honda is retarded. Im afraid to look at what i would be paying for the lexus.

[Quixotic]

the IS is RWD not AWD

400 dollars a month is ouch for the mazda 6, but yeah the IS will probably be around the same amount insurance wise because both cars are considered "sports sedans" (I believe anyways)

[Cymry]

CA '07 IS350 owner here, thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I wouldn't worry about the rear interior room unless regularly transport 3-4 people. The car is comfortable enough short trips with your friends.

350 only comes in RWD - if you want AWD, it only comes on a 250.

You _can_ get the car with the memory seats, but it only comes on the "top of the line" (Luxury + Mark Levinson) package. This drives up the cost of the car by ~$2500 and you'll also get the upgraded stereo and things such as illuminated scuff plates, rear sunshade, etc. IMO, the things you get aren't really worth the additional price, but it's the _only_ way to get upgraded stereo - that's the main reason people pay for it.

You seem set on a 350, but I think you should test-drive both the 250 and 350 before you decide. As you mentioned, both cars are nearly identical exterior and interior-wise. The main difference is the more powerful engine on the 350. Of course that's sounds nicer, but if you live in say, LA, would you really be able to take advantage of it? Do you consider yourself a responsible enough person to handle the car (avoid racing other people, not drive at 100+ MPH "because you can", etc.)? The 350 _is_ a very fast car - can you handle the temptations that brings?

Other things to consider between the 350 and 250:

Availbility: Lexus has reduced production of 350s in favor of producing more 250s. It's much easier to get the 250 in the color/options that you want. Of course this translates into:

Cost: In CA, you can get a 250 for 1,000 _under_ invoice. For a 350, you'll be paying much closer to the MSRP. For comparably equipped cars, the difference is probably around $8,000. I know you're leasing, but that affects your monthly payment.

Options: You can't get the "top of the line" package in the 250 - it's only availble for the 350. Of course then we're talking probably a $10,000 difference between the cars...

Gas: I just filled up my 350 today - I got a whopping 16.7 MPG on my last tank. CA emissions and gas ftl. $45 for 200 miles of driving. The 250 will get much better fuel economy.

Insurance: Alot cheaper for the 250, I'm sure. 300 HP cars + 20 year olds = $$$$.

Some misc. things I wanted to point out:

Non-refundable down-payment on a lease = FAIL. You're giving them money up-front to loan you a car at a slightly lower monthly payment. Spend some time to figure out the intracacies of a lease (money factor/cap cost/residual/etc.) and figure out how to lower your payment elsewhere. Then get your dad to give you the downpayment you just saved him, lol.

BMWs by far give you the most bang-for-the-buck when leasing. They purposely give super-low money factors and inflated residuals - this means you can get much more car for a given monthly payment. You can lease a $50,000 335i for like $575 and 0 extra cash down if you negotiate correctly, lol. Also, they have free maintanence over the warranty period - that will save you that cost ($1,500) compared to the Lexus over the life of the lease.

[Exoduso]

Thanks a ton for your input Cymry... yes, i'm responsible enough to control the speed (since the Mazda 6 is still a fast car... I used to drive it verrrrrrrrrrry fast, but it's nothing like the acceleration of the 250 I test drove or the Infiniti G35 that I took for a ride as well.... and not to talk about my dad's LS460L lawl..)

But yes, i'm pretty set on the 350. If the extra luxury package with the seat memory is 2500~ it's not worth it, not like i'm going to let anyone else drive the car haha...

And I got about 3k under MSRP just because we buy so many cars from them... and that 3k under was on the 350 too... they did tell me i'm going to have to tell them ahead of time the color/combination that I want so that they can order it, and if not order then swap it with some other Lexus dealership in the area.

I still got a couple of months to go, so i'll look into what the best luxury package is because I do want the navigation system and the bluetooth and the backup camera and satellite radio and stuff like that, so I want to make sure that everything I want is in there, and their website's building feature kind of sucks since they just list everything instead of letting you choose stuff like let's say infiniti.com ... but yeah, gonna have to actually read through all the different packages and see what I actually really want and what I can give up on.

BTW, what color did you get it at Cymry? I want a Black exterior, and it seems like Black interior is the only thing that will look nice with it.

[sekaran]

I'd go Legacy GT specB too.. but out of those two, the IS350 by far. There are many cars in that price range that are more appealing to me though.

[Exoduso]

BMW 3 series and Infiniti G35? the 3 series just looks ugly imo, and the IS350>G35 tbh.

[Cymry]

And I got about 3k under MSRP just because we buy so many cars from them... and that 3k under was on the 350 too...

I got 4.8K off MSRP. That was still $1250 above their invoice. Lexus built in ALOT of wiggle room between the dealer cost and MSRP of the car. So, I'm sure you could get more off.

Honestly, they're probably using your relationship with them against you in a way. They throw out a moderate deal. You feel good about it because you didn't even have to endure negotiating with them to get 3K off, and they still make $3,000 profit off you + the profit from the lease + money that Lexus pays them for selling a car.

Well, I'm just sayin' - if I can get that much off, you should be able to get a comparable price on the car if you negotiate with them. $3,000 is alot of profit to be giving someone for a car sale, in general. We live in CA - there's like 8 Lexus dealerships in a 50 mile radius of where I live, lol. Lots of competition, amongst themselves and competing brands like BMW/Infiniti/etc.

I still got a couple of months to go, so i'll look into what the best luxury package is because I do want the navigation system and the bluetooth and the backup camera and satellite radio and stuff like that, so I want to make sure that everything I want is in there, and their website's building feature kind of sucks since they just list everything instead of letting you choose stuff like let's say infiniti.com ... but yeah, gonna have to actually read through all the different packages and see what I actually really want and what I can give up on.

Yeah their website is confusing. It's pretty simple 'tho - they have a million options in theory, but they only build certain combinations to sell. For the IS350 in CA, it's (from cheapest to most expensive):

1) Premium Plus, 18" wheels, HID, perferred accessory package
2) same as 1) w/ Navigation
3) same as 2) w/ X-Package
4) Luxury Plus, Navigation + Mark Levinson

XM is a port-installed accessory. They can add it to any of the 4 above. Navigation includes the bluetooth+backup camera. Check out the X-Package - it might be to your liking. It's the "sporty" version of the car - the only one that comes with the "sport" suspension, for instance. Definitely test drive a car with the X-Package before you buy it 'tho - loved the rims, but was way too jittery a ride for my taste.

BTW, what color did you get it at Cymry? I want a Black exterior, and it seems like Black interior is the only thing that will look nice with it.

Smokey Granite w/ the Sterling interior (grey/grey basically). Black+Cashmere or Black+Black are both nice, in my opinion.

[Girl]

I didn't really read any responses, but I'll post mine. I worked at Lexus and have had quite a lot of experience with these cars. When I looked at your topic, I couldn't really figure out why you'd even debate between these 2 cars, unless there's something special that you like about the ES or maybe the price difference which I'm not really too sure of. But I would definitely take the IS over the ES. The IS is a faster and better car with a better race feel to it when driving. Unless you're not into that and want a bit more comfort and luxury then you can go with the ES. I'm not sure about these new ESs, but the IS250 comes in an AWD package which you might be interested in depending on where you live. The IS350 also has an option of a manual transmission as well if you are into that.

But the bottom line of my opinion is that I would definitely go with the IS instead of the ES because it's just more my style. It's sportier and younger than the ES which just seems to be as a normal kind of car.

[Exoduso]

Yeah I know, I wasn't really comparing them though... it was more like one or the other, since the ES did look nice on the road when I saw it the last time, so I was wondering if the differences were big enough for me to still want the IS (which I wanted in the first place, before seeing the ES's.)

The sporty package includes the sporty seats right? I was talking to them about it, but it doesn't really do anything for me... especially when they want another 2500 added to the total price for it. If the extra luxury/sporty package isn't that big of a deal i'm just going to stick to everything BUT that... he did tell me they will have to send the car somewhere else to get the XM installed, but I don't really mind since I want it. I'm not really into the suspension either, so we'll see.

[Quixon]

Between the the two IS is by far what I would go with. I'm a convertible guy myself I just took order my brand new car last week.

We have different tastes though. I test drove a 2006 EvoVIII MR, Honda S2000, IS350.


Evo was a friggin BEAST but the interior leaved much tobe desired. IS350 was fantastic but wasn't really my style. I went with the Sdeuce in white. It was either white or yellow both looked awesome. I want the carbon fibre hard top made my Mugen but it's like 8 grand just for the roof, and I would obviously loose the convertible-ness of the convertible lol.


IS350 all the way for you my friend

[Po]

Exo you could go with the BMW M3 for like 50k

[Exoduso]

Not into BMW's tbh.