GS-F or IS-F? What to go for considering the price?

[Erkeen RK]

Hi All,

I am looking to get myself into a well handling Lexus 5.0 V8 so my options really are IS-F or GS-F. There are no GS-Fs currently on sale that I can find - unless you know any that I've missed? However a few facelift IS-Fs that are up on the market are at around 25K and assuming a decent GS-F will be going for about 35K it certainly seems that these cars hold their value. Not sure what the GS-Fs will cost 3-4 years down the line and how much I'd lose. IS-F on the other hand seems a bit steeply priced.
What are your recommendation in terms of price v value and depreciation over the years?
Another concern re the IS-F is the cabin and seat size/comfort. I'm 6'2'' and a bit built so not sure if IS-F will be a painful place to remain in especially on long hauls. 

Thank you very much in advance and looking forward to your recommendations. 

[MNMJ]

I'm 6'4" and drove an ISF nearly 40,000 miles. It was very comfortable. I wouldn't classify myself as "a bit built", so can't help you there.

If you are not doing too many miles per year, the IS-F could be a good option as you shouldn't lose too much on it.

A £35k GS-F probably has another £5-10k to lose quite quickly, depending of course on the mileage. 

 

[Flytvr]

1 hour ago, Erkeen RK said:

Hi All,

I am looking to get myself into a well handling Lexus 5.0 V8 so my options really are IS-F or GS-F 

Have you forgotten about the Lexus RC-F or LC500?

[Erkeen RK]

44 minutes ago, Flytvr said:

Have you forgotten about the Lexus RC-F or LC500?

Completely different price point - don't want to cross 35k really.... Also I prefer 4 doors somehow. 

What about them though?

[hockeyedwards]

I always wanted an ISF, like you I wanted 4 doors (it convinced the other half easier for 'practicality' haha) and once I could afford an ISF, a GSF was within my price reach (on finance), it was everything I wanted and personally it looked better and was more 'up to date' than the ISF. I've loved every second of driving and always turn back to look at it once I've parked up, giggle like a moron at the start up and blips through the rev range and care for it like a child. If you want to think with your wallet, then the ISF is unlikely to lose a load of money, but if I had the choice again, I would still stick with my GSF regardless of the depreciation just for the driving pleasure. I don't think you are going to end up in a bad situation with either car. Also the cars seat adjustments have accommodated 6'3 friends of mine without issue on a trip to Scotland (570 miles).

Side note, get an exhaust, enhances that beautiful V8, so maybe factor that into your budget?

[Killysprint]

I ran a ISF for 30,000 miles or so and now have a GSF.

I’m 6ft and big boned - at least that what I tell the docs....

A regular trip for me is from Newcastle to Inverness - both cars do it in their stride, and both comfortable - the GSF probably tipping the ISF due to better seats. 

i bought a sub 25000 mile 2011 ISF in 2016 - traded it last jan against the GSF and the trade in value was £500 less than I paid for the car, and I don’t think I overpaid for the   GSF. Looking at the ISF prices there is a divide at the facelift in 2010/11 - with the later cars definitely attracting a premium, and prices are strong, and are in the same ball park as they were 18 months ago. The situation may shift (has got to shift) once we are out of the uncertain days that we are experiencing at the moment.

But as with any car which is 7yrs+ in age regardless of if it’s at a main dealer. Buy on condition and history, my car was a facelift and the Lexus UK demo - but I couldn’t fault it, never put a foot wrong and it was because the colour spec GSF I wanted came for sale it went.

GSF’s, difficult to judge where they are, as so few come up for sale. But again I don’t think there will be much change in the price over last year. £33-35k for the right car all day long.

Personally I think I like the GSF over the ISF. And if I wasn’t in a rush to change I’d save my pennies and wait.

I really like mine. I’m about to change jobs (on gardening leave) and may take a company car, (probably a Tesla so no BIK tax) and we are chewing the fat over what to with the GSF. Whether use it for work or sell it and buy another toy. If it’s the latter - I’ll let you know.

[Cactus]

It was only six months ago when i was in a similar situation debating between the v8s on offer by lexus. 

I ended with the isf which was actually not far off from a 15plate rcf carbon at the time with a tad more mileage. I prefer the isf because of its sleeper look + the size is just right for my need and useage. The others are quite bulky i.e rcf and gsf (width wise). 
 

Though the rcf/gsf have better suspensions whilst the isf (imo) is too harsh to use as a daily, so you may need to go for aftermarket coilovers/springs which is all i did.

 

barry

[NothernDan]

ISF, Airlift, never look back. 

[emjay82]

6 hours ago, Erkeen RK said:

Completely different price point - don't want to cross 35k really.... Also I prefer 4 doors somehow. 

What about them though?

You can pick an RCF up for circa £25k, other than only being two doors it's really not that smaller than the ISF.

I'm 6' 1" and always found the ISF plenty big enough, although the rare ones with a sunroof might eat into the headroom slightly.

[The Bodyman]

I'm 6'1". If its similar to the RCF, loads of room.  

[Erkeen RK]

5 hours ago, Killysprint said:

I ran a ISF for 30,000 miles or so and now have a GSF.

I’m 6ft and big boned - at least that what I tell the docs....

A regular trip for me is from Newcastle to Inverness - both cars do it in their stride, and both comfortable - the GSF probably tipping the ISF due to better seats. 

i bought a sub 25000 mile 2011 ISF in 2016 - traded it last jan against the GSF and the trade in value was £500 less than I paid for the car, and I don’t think I overpaid for the   GSF. Looking at the ISF prices there is a divide at the facelift in 2010/11 - with the later cars definitely attracting a premium, and prices are strong, and are in the same ball park as they were 18 months ago. The situation may shift (has got to shift) once we are out of the uncertain days that we are experiencing at the moment.

But as with any car which is 7yrs+ in age regardless of if it’s at a main dealer. Buy on condition and history, my car was a facelift and the Lexus UK demo - but I couldn’t fault it, never put a foot wrong and it was because the colour spec GSF I wanted came for sale it went.

GSF’s, difficult to judge where they are, as so few come up for sale. But again I don’t think there will be much change in the price over last year. £33-35k for the right car all day long.

Personally I think I like the GSF over the ISF. And if I wasn’t in a rush to change I’d save my pennies and wait.

I really like mine. I’m about to change jobs (on gardening leave) and may take a company car, (probably a Tesla so no BIK tax) and we are chewing the fat over what to with the GSF. Whether use it for work or sell it and buy another toy. If it’s the latter - I’ll let you know.

Let me know for sure!

There is a 2015 one I am being offered for 36.5K with 25k miles on it. I feel like it is a bit steep - what do you reckon? 

[Erkeen RK]

3 hours ago, Cactus said:

It was only six months ago when i was in a similar situation debating between the v8s on offer by lexus. 

I ended with the isf which was actually not far off from a 15plate rcf carbon at the time with a tad more mileage. I prefer the isf because of its sleeper look + the size is just right for my need and useage. The others are quite bulky i.e rcf and gsf (width wise). 
 

Though the rcf/gsf have better suspensions whilst the isf (imo) is too harsh to use as a daily, so you may need to go for aftermarket coilovers/springs which is all i did.

 

barry

Awesome stuff Barry, what did you pick up your icf for, if you don't mind the cheeky question of course 🙂

[Erkeen RK]

2 hours ago, emjay82 said:

You can pick an RCF up for circa £25k, other than only being two doors it's really not that smaller than the ISF.

I'm 6' 1" and always found the ISF plenty big enough, although the rare ones with a sunroof might eat into the headroom slightly.

I hear you. I like ISF over RCF any day somehow although they are currently similarly priced which is shocking.. 

[Flytvr]

8 hours ago, Erkeen RK said:

Completely different price point - don't want to cross 35k really.... Also I prefer 4 doors somehow. 

What about them though?

Ummmm.... an RC-F is going to be cheaper than a GS-F.

In your original post, you stated 'I am looking to get myself into a well handling Lexus 5.0 V8 so my options really are IS-F or GS-F.'. So, based on your statement, I questioned why you didn't include the LC-500 and RC-F.  

Anyway, good luck with your search.

[Erkeen RK]

10 minutes ago, Flytvr said:

Ummmm.... an RC-F is going to be cheaper than a GS-F.

In your original post, you stated 'I am looking to get myself into a well handling Lexus 5.0 V8 so my options really are IS-F or GS-F.'. So, based on your statement, I questioned why you didn't include the LC-500 and RC-F.  

Anyway, good luck with your search.

Very fair point mate and thank you. 

[Flytvr]

15 minutes ago, Erkeen RK said:

Very fair point mate and thank you. 

No probs 😀

Back to the IS-F / GS-F...... I recall the first time I drove a GS-F. I owned an IS-F at the time. I wasn't at all blown away by the GS-F. Yes, it's a much nicer place to sit, but I wouldn't say the driving experience is a world apart.

I guess you'd have to drive them back to back, but if it were me, I'd save my pennies and go with a nice example of an IS-F (in white or grey) 👍

[F.A.]

9 hours ago, Erkeen RK said:

Let me know for sure!

There is a 2015 one I am being offered for 36.5K with 25k miles on it. I feel like it is a bit steep - what do you reckon? 

It must be one of the first ones. The price does seem quite high but I guess as there are only around 65 in the UK and 1 maybe 2 for sale at a time, the seller can dictate the price. 

[Erkeen RK]

10 hours ago, Flytvr said:

No probs 😀

Back to the IS-F / GS-F...... I recall the first time I drove a GS-F. I owned an IS-F at the time. I wasn't at all blown away by the GS-F. Yes, it's a much nicer place to sit, but I wouldn't say the driving experience is a world apart.

I guess you'd have to drive them back to back, but if it were me, I'd save my pennies and go with a nice example of an IS-F (in white or grey) 👍

Yea I also thought that they wouldnt be hugely different. 

To be frank I think I would be ok going for the ISF. It's just that what's currently on the market seems very overpriced imho. 

I guess it's the waiting game eh?

I'm in my GS 450h for now so things ain't bad 🙂

[Erkeen RK]

1 hour ago, F.A. said:

It must be one of the first ones. The price does seem quite high but I guess as there are only around 65 in the UK and 1 maybe 2 for sale at a time, the seller can dictate the price.

Yep, seems like exactly what they're doing. Do you know if there any differences between say 2015 and 2017 models? 

[F.A.]

35 minutes ago, Erkeen RK said:

Yep, seems like exactly what they're doing. Do you know if there any differences between say 2015 and 2017 models? 

AVS was introduced towards the end of 2016. I’ve only every driver a GSF with AVS and the ride is pretty good. I know that some people on here have driven both and I don’t think they noticed much different. I don’t think anything else changed. All speed Adaptive cruise was introduced in 2018 although not sure if UK cars were included. My 2017 car cuts off below 30 MPH. 

[B1RMA]

48 minutes ago, F.A. said:

AVS was introduced towards the end of 2016. I’ve only every driver a GSF with AVS and the ride is pretty good. I know that some people on here have driven both and I don’t think they noticed much different. I don’t think anything else changed. All speed Adaptive cruise was introduced in 2018 although not sure if UK cars were included. My 2017 car cuts off below 30 MPH. 

If it's any help I test drove a non AVS and an AVS car more or less back to back. I was prepared to pay the extra for AVS.

Normal driving it's a lot smoother then adjusts itself as you get a move on, or you can just dial it in with Sports + that gives you and idea of how i personally found the ride in the non AVS car. Being a Lexus you don't have to worry about maintenance costs with such a complex system either.

Everything changed regarding the ISF with the fact you could fit the Tein adaptive suspension system to the ISF, there is a member on here with it fitted. I can vouch for how good this system is as I have it on my Mini Clubvan, night and day goes some way to describing it.

Many moons ago I nearly tried an ISF as it was a bit different, bit like RCF/GSF today, but was put off by the reports of overhard ride so now with Tein you have the best of both worlds. If the Tein system ever comes out for the RCF/GSF I will regret my decision to buy the more expensive model having AVS, but for the time being still glad I paid more for one with AVS

[Cactus]

16 hours ago, Erkeen RK said:

Awesome stuff Barry, what did you pick up your icf for, if you don't mind the cheeky question of course 🙂

Take an average of the three advertised on the official dealer web. Its not far off. 

I went from the mk4 gs450h to MY10 isf. I do miss my gs as the speed is much more useable in real life and in most situation its actually more responsive due to the electric motor. So yea, make sure it is the v8 engine that you are after.

barry

[ColinBarber]

On 4/9/2020 at 11:45 PM, Erkeen RK said:

Let me know for sure!

There is a 2015 one I am being offered for 36.5K with 25k miles on it. I feel like it is a bit steep - what do you reckon? 

I'd probably let my GS F go for £36k. Less than 20k miles and 1 year+ warranty on it.

[F.A.]

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

I'd probably let my GS F go for £36k. Less than 20k miles and 1 year+ warranty on it.

Just out of interest, what would you replace it with?

[ColinBarber]

11 hours ago, F.A. said:

Just out of interest, what would you replace it with?

Possibly a Tesla Model 3.