After all these years of doing absolutely nothing to this car- including advertising- now there is an onslaught of the "new IS" commercials. It's as though folks at Lexus suddenly remembered - hey we have an IS and it has remained unattended like the long gone Chevrolet SS. I can't think of anything noteworthy about the car or changes to warrant advertising a 10+ year old design. I was interested in the IS-F....years ago but the price was unrealistic and hp numbers sucked. Has anyone driven this new IS?
Honestly, that looks lazy and ugly. Like someone took the CAD machine and pulled and moved a few points and called it good. Rear uni-tailight looks retarded. When they needed their low cost volume car to sell, they uglified it. Glad I dont have to see them daily anymore lol
The first generation IS300 was (and still is) one of the best looking cars of its era. It has aged elegantly and is still as attractive today as it was in the late 90s. I see clean ones rolling by every now and again and consider checking AutoTrader to see their going rates. The ISF was another nail on the head for people looking for an M3 competitor. That Yamaha V8 sounded incredible. Lexus’s current design philosophy doesn’t really do anything for me. The grille are much too busy and look out of place on most of their cars (especially the SUVs).
Again the SS was never meant to be sold in numbers past 5,000 a year in fact they pretty much hit their target of 3,500 a year every year except for 2016 at 22XX the rarest year while 2017 was the most at 4009? but only 12,927 SS came to the states and I now own 2 both 2014's But Chevy never wanted to advertise it other than in Neckcar. The IS is a nice Japanese competitor to the BMW 3 series and Mercedes Benz C class.
I've been a Lexus Technician for the last 13 years, I've seen the IS evolve over the years, honestly the 08 to 14 ISF is still badass and a blast to drive and will last 500k without any major issues. The IS350 is a fun and reliable car. The IS250 is joke, don't ever waste your money on one, the IS200T and now IS 300 are slow as shit and overall a boring ass car. The new 2021 body style is a nice update, but still the same 3.5 V6 they've been using since 2006. Overall if you're interested in buying a IS i recommend getting a 350.
In typical Toyota/Lexus fashion they hit a home ****ing run on the ISF, then stopped making it in favor of the GSF and RCF. Both of those cars are not slow, but feel slow compared to the ISF. They cant use some BS argument about the engine in the ISF not being a modern enough engine.
I drive an IS250 and wish I had purchased an IS350. The 2021 is a nice update but nothing really to get excited about under the hood, I would rather get an ISF. It's a reliable car but it lacks power.
And unfortunately the GSF is gone, now we have the RCF and LC500, word around the camp fire is the ISF is supposed to come back in 2022, but I'm not holding my breath.
I leased an IS200t for three years as a daily. It was a great car and I've always thought they looked good, but definitely are lacking in power. It's what almost every Lexus and Toyota are- an appliance to get you from Point A to Point B, and they do it very well and reliably. It was always a hoot to go from the Lexus 2.0 turbo which is an absolute dog to my bolt on Gen V Viper... and terrible when going back to the IS.
Lexus is a long and forgotten car brand. Yet they're as great now as they were in the 90's. I bought a 2013 Lexus GS this summer and it's been great to me. Lexus make zero commercials over here. The only company that actually promotes Lexus is an insurance company because for them Lexus is the cheapest car of them all to insure. But they are all one generation behind on everything except for reliability. They've been stuck in the 90's Camry when it comes to reliability. Which is a great thing!
I think unfortunately it will be a bloated package trying to cram a bunch if tech into it. The ISF's hottest tech was Nav and that bad ass 8 speed.
I inherited a ES in 2011 and for an around town car it was OK...but on the highway it could not get out of it's own way....Never looked at IS in Savannah as there were none in stock but happened to drive a Genesis G70 3.3 twin turbo...and that sold me; Quality, warranty, and the fact that it is a hell of a "sleeper"
For a company that produced the 2JZ-GTE, the LFA, participates in NASCAR and sponsors NHRA teams, Toyota Motor Corporation is oblivious to performance.
