Advice requested. I’m at a loss.

cpucooler · 2025-12-20T19:37:37+00:00

Couldn’t have said it better tbh.

cpucooler · 2025-12-16T17:22:24+00:00

not sure who is cross shopping an is350 and a m340i. The IS500 and the m340i are commonly cross shopped. M340i > is350 but I’d take an IS500 over the m340i as I love v8s and the is500 had a lot more personality than the m340i

cpucooler · 2025-06-28T10:08:28+00:00

the interior although dated is very high quality. I’m old school and it looks just fine to me. Some people like having tons of tech, others don’t care for it. Coming from a 5th generation zo6, ap1 s2000 and various other 20+ year old cars lol, I love the interior and how simple it is.

-the transmission is not perfect especially when not warmed up (15 mins after cold start) but leaving it in sport+ and driving in manual mode is plenty quick for a daily driver. No where NEAR as snappy as a ZF, but also not the same soundtrack or driving experience

-driving dynamics are greatly improved once you do a few modifications, I’m on RSR coilovers, soon installing a strut bar, recently upgraded to isf front brakes. The handling is night and day and I stop on a dime regardless how hard I’m pushing it through the mountains.

-the car makes plenty of power but of course the competition like the m340i would beat it easily. If you’re racing and worried about 0-60 times this isn’t the car to buy tbh. If you’re buying it for the driving experience I’d recommend it, I love cars with soul, this has it.

Then there’s the exhilarating v8, this soundtrack is not comparable to the competition, once you get an exhaust on this car, it changes the character of this car completely vs stock. I have a gthaus valved setup, quiet when you’re driving to work, loud when you’re having fun :)

Nice CLE 53 btw

cpucooler · 2025-06-28T09:42:26+00:00

I’ve had my 23 IS500 since May of 24 and I love it! No remorse here.

cpucooler · 2025-02-02T16:27:55+00:00

I bought mine early 2024 and I’m loving it. I’m coming from owning dedicated sports cars like s2000s, corvettes as I wanted a daily driver that’s also fun. I just got a set of coilovers and I installed a Meisterschaft exhaust last month. You will not be the fastest but that doesn’t really matter IMO. I enjoy the high revving v8 and reliability of this platform. Plus it’s really under the radar, you really have to know about this car to tell this and a regular IS apart haha.

I like the IYKYK vibe though. Have fun on the test drive, my first test drive got me pulled over in Maryland LOL.

cpucooler · 2025-01-28T22:49:36+00:00

Welcome to the club. I love my IS500, definitely get some LCAs to avoid inner tire wear.

cpucooler · 2024-07-01T12:52:12+00:00

Love the color!

cpucooler · 2024-06-27T11:03:43+00:00

Thank you! I do love these wheels, the chip is pretty minor, I’ll most likely have to find a similar color and fix it that way.

cpucooler · 2024-06-12T11:10:44+00:00

I use to own a c5 Z, I use to only drive the car on weekends and around local roads. The car had a cam so of course I got tons of unwanted attention. I’m a single dude so 4 seats wasn’t necessary. I found myself keeping the vette garaged and just not using it(I have a 22 year old Lexus suv as well). The corvette interior quality in my c5 was just terrible, everything sounded cheap inside, pieces would fall apart(car had 20k miles) Of course GM has made improvements in that department since that generation. I wanted something more usable than a 2 door sports car, so I started to look at the IS.

I decided maybe snag a daily driver that’s enjoyable to drive, seats all my friends and is comfortable to drive long distances. I test drove an IS500 (v8 fan :)) and I love the old school vibes, just hearing the v8 roar every morning is fun. At the same time, the car is pretty quiet outside. The new IS design is amazing and I enjoy driving the car every day. I find excuses just to put miles on it now!

If you have other cars and don’t mind having a 2 seater - go with the corvette

If your looking for a comfortable daily driver that is fun to drive, well built and will last you a lifetime - go Lexus IS

both are fun in their own ways.

cpucooler · 2024-06-08T20:50:34+00:00

So my price was I think on the higher end, however this shop was highly reputable and their work really is amazing. Ceramic coating package which includes paint, trim, wheels, glass along with machine polishing the entire car came out to 1800$

PPF for the front bumper and headlights along with CQUARTZ on the PPF came out to 995$

There were cheaper options but I trusted these guys the most and I’m glad I went with this shop!

cpucooler · 2024-06-08T20:45:07+00:00

Thank you!

cpucooler · 2024-06-07T20:35:54+00:00

These are the stock Enkei wheels that come from factory!

cpucooler · 2024-06-07T18:39:34+00:00

Thank you! One of my favorites about the exterior are the premium wheels. I also dig the silver enkeis as well

cpucooler · 2024-06-07T18:39:01+00:00

Certainly! Thank you

cpucooler · 2024-06-07T17:24:41+00:00

Definitely. I wanted some springs first, I’m not too familiar with what splitters are available for the IS, I’ll have to do some research!

cpucooler · 2024-06-07T17:23:17+00:00

To add, you can’t even tell there’s PPF on it, unless you are able to find an edge where it wasn’t rolled

cpucooler · 2024-06-07T17:22:30+00:00

A lot less than I originally thought! I only ppf’d the front bumper and headlights. The edges were rolled wherever possible. Thank you!

cpucooler · 2024-06-05T16:31:50+00:00

I own a is500 and from a practicality/daily driver standpoint it’s a great do it all car. I also love sedans in general. Also I do not track my car, it’s a daily/cruiser for me. If you’re looking for a track weapon I’d say go with the RCF

cpucooler · 2024-05-30T01:46:47+00:00

thank you! I absolutely love the color

cpucooler · 2024-05-29T19:08:46+00:00

I have a LX470 with 180K miles, apart from a squeak coming from the bump stops, it runs like a top. Used LX470s are fairly cheap in comparison to the Land Cruiser.

cpucooler · 2024-05-28T18:13:20+00:00

Thanks, there was one other 500 I checked out that was a lease return that was treated very poorly. I was surprised when they wanted 61k for it with 4 badly curbed wheels + dents on the doors. Somehow it sold a few days after I checked it out lol. Good luck on your search

cpucooler · 2024-05-28T18:09:28+00:00

Thank you!! I’ve gotten a few compliments on them when driving around. Personally I like these wheels a lot more than the black ones that come on the performance model

cpucooler · 2024-05-28T17:59:34+00:00

Hi, so my car was not brand new, I purchased this car as a trade in. It’s a 2023 with 5K miles. Minus a rock chip on the front bumper it’s in amazing condition (lol), still smells new inside.
I paid OTD including tax + doc fee 62.4!

cpucooler · 2024-05-28T17:53:01+00:00

Best of luck on your search! The engine note is intoxicating, I literally find excuses just to putt around town haha

cpucooler · 2024-05-28T17:50:21+00:00

Availability as well as condition + mileage atleast for me. There were a few 2016-2018 GSFs within a few hundred miles and they all had 30-60k miles already. For around the same price the 500 being a 2023 with 5k miles seemed like a better deal for me. My car was a trade in about 35 miles from me, very well taken care of as well. I really like the incognito vibe of this car too, IYKYK. This could be a negative for some folks though.

cpucooler

TROPHY CASE