The IS350 is the fastest Lexus that will never be fast, and I'll die on this hill.
306hp from the 2GR-FSE sounds like a bargain until you go looking for the next step and find out there isn't one. D-4S kills the cheap tune, the auto-only trans (no, there was never a 350 manual — the 6MT was IS250 RWD, 2006-2008) kills the swap fantasy, and the handful of blowers that existed for that motor are long discontinued. You will spend $12k on a clean one and be exactly as fast as the guy who spent $12k on a clean one three years ago.
And then there's the dash. Every XE20 that lived anywhere with real sun is either already cracked, already sticky, or six months away. The Lexus warranty enhancement for it is dead. Replacement is a full dash-out job and shops quote it like a transmission. Walk up to any listing, look at the passenger side by the windshield, and you'll know more about that car's life than the Carfax will tell you.
None of that makes it a bad car. It makes it a great 130k-mile c...
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