Possible ISF owner

[PhoeNicks]

Hi folks,

I've currently got a deposit on a nice blue ISF. Its sitting at a localish dealer (non Lexus) until i get time for a test drive next week. The salesman is keen and offered me a good price my 1.5yr old Audi S3.

The car looks good, has low miles but it only comes with a 2 month warranty. Always having had manufacturer's warranties with my cars I feel a little exposed.

Speaking to Lexus in Edinburgh, they would re-warranty it but it needs to under go through a check first. I don't know how severe this is or if they will refuse do to the use of any non-Lexus parts (brake discs etc).

Can anyone give me a steer regarding this warranty check or the value of the Lexus extended warranty?

I'm coming from a background in Audis and BMW Ms where you were playing with fire without these in place.

Cheers,

Nick

[stevet]

Nice choice.

Sure you should get 3 months minimum anyway.

If it needs a service the check can be done at the same time. It is good value in that it's only £995 for 2 years but very little to go wrong anyway on these cars. Worth it for peace of mind and the AA cover.

[emjay82]

Warranty is an absolute must IMO. Sure they are very robust and reliable but.... When something goes wrong the bill will be big. ISF extended warranty is currently £795 for two years which includes the top AA cover. I recently had my brakes fail, new master cylinder and servo, bill would've been £1,800 😲. AA cover recovered the car straight to Lexus.. Don't let this put you off, these cars are amazing but for the equivalent of £30 a month, why take this risk.... All IMO 😉 

[Tfp]

Get the warranty, as said above it includes the recovery.

If it was me, and I know this is harsh, but I would book it in with Lexus for the inspection straight away.

Then, if Lexus find lots of faults (unlikely) you can then reject the car under the 30 day rules.

[PhoeNicks]

Thanks for the comments guys, very helpfull. Being used to expensive extended warranties in the past, I'm thinking £795 for two years incl breakdown recovery is actually pretty good. Especially as i can pay it monthly.

Tpf, interesting point. Think I'll keep that in my back pocket. I've actually reached out to the previous owner, a member here, to see if there may be any big bills on the horizon. I'll understand if he'd rather not get involved, but I'm completely new to Lexus and the ISF, so any help would be advantageous.

Looks like a really good community here, hopefully the test drive goes well and ill get to hang around 😃

n

[Mattmech]

Welcome Nick, don’t think you’d go far wrong buying one, especially a forum members car. As the others have said the warranty is a fair price and gives piece of mind if the unexpected were to happen.

the health check is pretty simple. I’ve got a few non standard bits on mine and the warranty was still offered.

[mike m]

Welcome Nick,

Cant imagine you will have much bother with this one 😉

 

[Northern isf]

Afternoon NIck, had a few Audi's and a lot of other German stuff myself but these cars are in another league when it comes down to reliability compared to the aforementioned the problem will be what you do with the money you save not fixing things every two minutes ☺

[Wellsey]

Hi Nick,

Welcome to the forum. I bought mine last year and haven't regretted it one bit. I got mine privately and the day after, bought the warranty and service package. You usually get a bit of a discount if you buy both at the same time (Inc doing monthly payments).

Most of these cars have been look after by enthusiasts (due to them being an unknown to anyone bar them). I'd just checked that it has a full service history and you should be set.

Make sure to post some pictures when you've got it!!

[PhoeNicks]

Thanks for the welcome chaps, it'll be great to be part of an enthusiast's forum with this car. Lucky I came across you guys, with these cars being so rare I wasn't sure there'd be much of a following.

Good to know everyones comments regarding the warranty and check. I'll def go down this route if it all works out. Mike M has kindly filled me in on the car's background, its got a full Lexus SH and I'm confident it's been looked after nicely 😎. In fact everything is lining up so well it's really Arnold Clark's sale to lose.

I'm also keen to experience the much famed Lexus reliability. Having had an M5 and M3 before and an RS6 and Evo8 briefly, I'm no stranger to unplanned big bills and costly maintenance. Looking at the costs of brake components and aftermarket HKS exhausts ill need the reliabilty to help me save pennies.

I'm also a massive V8 fan, having had several so far. The S3 came along as a slight protest at fuel prices after running a V8 S5. Big mistake, although the S3 has good allweather ability and was rather point and squirt, it was/is totally soulless. I'd given up on looking for another V8 solution (F10 M5s can't put their power down) and so I'd settled on an F80 M3 competition. I suddenly remembered the ISF and well here we are.

Will see how next week goes, quite looking forward to it. Keep you posted.

n

 

[Nick W858]

Welcome aboard Nick, great cars, my first one was under warranty and needed the waterpump doing, the second one I had was not under warranty and had no need for it. You pays your money and you take your choice etc. They can be expensive if things go wrong but things rarely do. Even when I'm enjoying the 911 roof off on a sunny day I still think about the ISF and that lovely V8. Enjoy.

 

[Toothy]

I buck the trend here and do not have a warranty. 4 years out of manufacturers warranty without issue, saving £3K+ on warranty fees so far.
But I do know the car very well (family owned since new). And it's a 2011, which seems to have a few small niggles fixed compared with older cars.
If you budget well and put money aside, you can run these without warranty and be pretty darn safe. Please bare in mind any prices quoted for warranty work will be Lexus prices.

I hope I've not jinxed myself now!! Welcome to the fourm :)

[PhoeNicks]

Thanks Toothy. Yes totally understand the non warranty approach too. I could just set money aside as a backup, but I honestly think a non third party warranty for under £800, for two years including breakdown cover isn't too bad.

It's a 5 yr old car so I think it'll give me a little more piece of mind. A little presumptiously I've booked it into lexus on Friday, so if all goes smoothly with the sale, I can pop down right after for the checkover. 

Fingers crossed.

 

[DAW]

Welcome to the club Nick & I hope it goes well.

They are a brilliant car without the paranoia that comes with owning the fun stuff from Germany!!

I went for the warranty because as you said it’s good value with the breakdown cover, so was a no brainier for me.

Had my ISF for 4 years & it never missed a beat. Can’t think of anything else that I can say that about - well other than another F of course 😉

[PhoeNicks]

So, I've had an interesting weekend...

 

 

I'm really happy with the car so far. A little sad to see the S3 go as I'd had it from new but it was the right decision I think. Got a good feel for the car having to drive it down to Edinburgh for the warranty check and then back home. Car passed the checks with no issues, warranty is in place now and all is good.

Had a fantastic drive back home, weather was amazing (showing 26 degrees) and the roads largely clear. Got to stretch her legs and test my favourite bit - the point from 4k revs. It's like a different car... almost like the induction is in the cabin with me! I love the smoothness of the ride and near seamless change of the gearbox.  There's a noticeable weight difference to the S3 but that was to be expected, however once you pick up speed it's quite alarming how fast you can be going without really feeling it. Very much a license loser if you're not careful. 

I do need to spend more time to gel with all the quirks: the sat nav is as terrible as expected, the audio is ok, it took a couple of goes to pair the phone and I've still got a load of buttons to press and see what they do. I best trawl the manual to workout all the options/gadgets, I didn't even realise it had radar cruise control... awesome!

It's been chucking it down since I got home, so I'll need to give her a little clean. Upcoming jobs: she'll need tyres in the not too distant future and some attention to the stone chips on the bumper and a couple on the bonnet. I know a good place so that wont be an issue. The overall condition is a real testament to previous owner's care. A little bit on effort on my part and we'll nudge her up to 100% pristine :-) Beyond that I might fancy a nice stainless or Titanium exhaust and maybe a Wald carbon rear diffuser.  A bit pie in the sky atm, none of this stuff is available in the UK and needs to come from the US or Japan.

All in all it's great to be back in a V8 and I'm intrigued to see where this little adventure takes us. 

 

 

 

[Stuno1]

Well done that blue is stunning. Surprised the audio is only ok? Loved my ML in my isf. Good to hear it’s in such good condition as well. 

[Nick W858]

Brilliant well done - looks fantastic and the S3 will soon become a distant memory 😊

[Tfp]

Lovely looking car.

And a great number plate.

[Cezar B]

Welcome to the club, Nick! Enjoy your ISF, great colour! 😉

[PhoeNicks]

Thanks guys, like I said I'm really looking forward to letting this car get under my skin.

@Stuno1 I was trying to choose my words carefully here. I'm yet to really test the audio properly, but I feel like it's missing some... definition. The S3 (while not the last word in automotive hi-fi) had a reasonable Harman Kardon system, so I'm comparing it to this. It could just be down to how technology has moved on, but I'll have a good look through the settings and see if I can tune it a bit better. 

Eitherway, I do like my tunes but it's was really the noise generator under the bonnet that i was after.

@Tfp Thanks, I'll get the plate moved over soon. It was originally for my old M3, but funnily enough i think it wont look too out of place on the ISF 😎

[JonP]

Hi Nick, The ML definitely bass lite compared to other systems IMO, however I would say that where it scores is clarity and balance. Depends on what you want to listen to, but for me it's a very musical system, certainly the best I've had in any car. Though I have to admit that when I want to turn up some AC/DC it seems to lack a bit of that visceral thump.

And I do like the plate......

[Neil E]

Like the car, love the colour and love the plate. Here's a little informative graphic too.😀 

 

[Mark G]

Great car, loved mine especially in blue, got to agree on the ML sound system it was good enough for me.

Definitely get an exhaust fitted, beware of the drone though.

[FTBBCVoodoo]

8 hours ago, Neil E said:

Like the car, love the colour and love the plate. Here's a little informative graphic too.😀 

 

Aka Samsung 🙂

[ISF V8 JAY]

What a colour!!! Looks the business!