Took the wife's Lexus in for it's first service UPDATE

"The Stig's former college room mate" (das-stig) 09/28/2016 at 16:58 • Filed to: None

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It’s a 2016 IS350 F-sport. Due for its 5k, which pretty much is just a gallon of washer fluid and a free car wash. Oil is synthetic and not due until 10k, and it has staggered tires so no rotation needed. But it’s free and it looks good for the warranty so what the hell.

This is the first time I really had the chance to get on it. She’s all for spirited driving, but she’s also a chicken when she’s in the right seat so I can’t really push it when she’s in the car. But today I got to drive it alone. I was rather impressed. Good acceleration. Nice flat neutral handling. Responsive shifts in manual mode on the transmission. Even blips the throttle on downshifts. On my way home I’m gonna take it on the scenic route and give it a workout on the nice twisty road near me house.

If I like how it does, I may see if she’ll let me do a track day with it...

Update: Took it to Watkins Glen last Friday. Swapped a set of EBC yellow stuff on it and let ‘er rip.

Verdict: In Sport+, trans in manual and traction control/stability completely off, it was a lot of fun. It could stand bigger brakes and wider (not all season) tires, but it handled well. Fairly neutral handling, maybe a touch towards oversteer, but this is my wife’s car so I didn’t push it all that hard. Biggest problem is the car is too quiet and I kept hitting the rev limiter. Needs louder exhaust.

bob and john > The Stig's former college room mate 09/28/2016 at 17:13

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the IS’s were always surprisingly athletic cars. Sure, they arent no BMW, but they really arent that far either.

The Stig's former college room mate > bob and john 09/28/2016 at 17:14

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I work at a bmw dealer. I like her IS better than a 335

citizennick > The Stig's former college room mate 09/28/2016 at 18:07

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After owning a couple BMW’s I can safely say I’d rather have an IS350 F-Sport over what BMW has offer. I hope they plan on coming out with an IS-F in the future.

Audistein > The Stig's former college room mate 09/29/2016 at 03:27

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Lexuses are awesome. When I had my Lexus the only reason I ever went back to the dealer was for services and they cost nothing. They even let me park my car there for a couple weeks after the service when I went abroad...two years in a row.

The Stig's former college room mate > citizennick 09/29/2016 at 08:48

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An IS-F in the current chassis would be a rocket. The IS350 has a claimed 0-60 of 5.3 seconds, but some automotive journalists have recorded sub 5 second runs. Add 161 hp to that and it should be under 4 seconds.

The Stig's former college room mate > Audistein 09/29/2016 at 08:56

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Lexus has amazing customer service. They will cover just about anything under warranty. people that say their dealer sucks were probably just assholes themselves when they were in there.

Example: A girl bought a used HS250h from a used car dealer (not even a lexus dealer). It was 10 years old and had 100k miles on it. She has never been to Lexus for service. She came in complaining that the paint on the front and rear Lexus badges was peeling. Lexus warrantied them. They go for about $400 for the pair.

Another: Right now they sent one of their wash kids on a two hour drive to pick up a car from a customer, bring it back for an oil change, then drive it back to him later.

Another: A customer came into the body shop to have his 8 year old IS250 looked at. Someone had tried breaking into the vehicle and had scratched all the windows, bent the doors and dug up the moldings. He didn’t want to file an insurance claim for it, since he had just filed 2 large claims the month before. The Lexus factory rep was there, overheard the conversation and offered to have Lexus pay for it.

I could keep going- i have dozens of examples.

citizennick > The Stig's former college room mate 09/29/2016 at 11:23

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And I love how they’re still utilizing N/A to get that power. I feel like I’m the only person in the world that likes that.