I was at Lexus Wolverhampton on Saturday, I went to pick up some touch up paint.

As I was walking back to my car I noticed a couple of guys gathered round a silver car and after about 2 seconds I noticed the front bumper was different to the IS 250 and then to my surprise and excitement I new I was making my way up to an IS F.

As I approached the car there was a guy there with an F shirt on and I simply said “so that’s the F then” he said oh yes.

First of all It looks amazing everything about it is spot on, the best thing was the way it just sits there, the stance is really mean, you know it means business.

I sat inside and revved it and the sound is awesome, I asked the guy about the unconnected tail pipes and he said one of the new Ferrari’s have the same unconnected tail pipes, it’s by design and then he mentioned something about vortex?

I really liked it a lot and after having seen one in person I think it looks and sounds amazing, plus with the rare factor the guy assured me they will really hold their value. Evidence of that is one that is for sale by a trader who is getting £53,000 for it.

The book price of a loaded version is £52,990. there's a brand new one available at Lexus Cheltenham with that price on it that I can get for less...they're not selling as well as was hoped....

When you say loaded version, I presume you mean fully loaded?

Well to my knowlegde EVERYTHING is standard apart from the Sunroof which will cost an extra £800.00 so a loaded version is £51,800

I'm not sure where you are getting your sales figure from, when I asked the guy who was with the IS F he said if you want to order one it would be for the next plate as we have pretty much sold all 150, the purpose for his visit with the IS F was not for avdertisment, but the people who had put deposists down to have a final run before they sign on the dotted line and part with their cash.

So I get the feeling you are anti IS F?

Becuase a dealer is asking for X dont mean hes gong to get it.

That kinda says it all really. pretty much means not all and when you are talking about only 150, that is not great by any stretch of the imagination

The sales figure of £52,990 is the advertised on the road price of the black IS-F in Lexus currently (still) for sale in the Cheltenham dealership. As I said, I have been offered the car at a discount on that price.
I'm not anti IS-F at all, just believe there's an awful lot more cars that are quicker and more appealing that I'd buy for similar money....including the forthcoming Nissan GT-R which has been designed from the offset as what its intended to be. If you think it's such a good car then buy one (what are you driving at the moment BTW?)....but don't think for one minute it's going to be an investment, or for that matter particularly rare (and please don't compare it to a Ferrari cos it shares a similar design error ).

Hes a salesman, what would you expect him to say

If its a discount it has to be less than £51905 which is the official Lexus on-the-road, full tank of petrol, Reg plated, taxed price including a sunroof - the only option available. All colours are the same price. You can confirm this by going to the Lexus site. If you buy, expect to have to fit a Tracker or most insurance companies won't touch it. Also none of the Insurance comparison sites offer a sensible price, you can do much better going to the one with the little red telephone.

So the Cheltenham dealer is trying to boost the Lexus GB price? I can assure you that's the plated price on the car in the showroom. They will have to discount pretty heavily for me to buy it as I really would sooner wait for the GT-R. Lot more car for a few (couple?) of grand more.

can't agree more.............GT-R every time for me

Quicker than the 911 and £40K cheaper...it's also a tad quicker than the R8. http://www.topgear.com/content/features/st...ories/12/4.html

Lexus Sheffield are advertising a mesa red isf for £52,500

The Linky Bit

...for a 'used' one. Wonder who the one owner was, or is that the dealer??? 286 miles...

It would be interesting to know just how many Lexus have sold in the UK.

maybe Lexus Contact Centre GB could answer the question Tango.

Must say it does sound like a lot of money, even though its a Lexus, i'd still prefer the Nissan.

Chris.S did you ever sort things out with work? last time i was on the site you had handed in your notice.

i left nearly 2 months ago

back on topic, i believe lexus have sold thier full quota of ISF's available for this year , however many that may be. my local dealer who im very friendly with although not my old employer lol, have sold 2

I saw one of these the other day and they look pretty angry - I have to admit I was surpised the last couple of nights when I passed a couple of the new M3's - they really are quite understated for what they are compared to the old model IMHO.

the one sheffield have or had is a customers car who decided he no longer wanted or could afford to pay for it, so was trying to sell it before the payment was due,

Jeremy Clarkson reviews GT-R£52,900 - I think I'd personally have a GT-R over and IS-F...

You can't compare the R35 with the IS-F they are built to do totally different things.

The IS-F is a sports saloon, the GT-R is an out and out sports car.

What's the IS-F do that the GT-R doesn't do better then??? Of course you can compare them.

I don't quite agree as the Nurburgring wouldn't have been used by Lexus to set a time

The Audi RS4, BMW M3, Lexus IS-F, Mercedes C63 AMG and Nissan GT-R are up there as 'Super Saloon/Coupes' with 'Supercar' performance,
hence be they 2 Door or 4 Door, 2WD or 4WD they are natural competitors IMO

R35 should only be compared with Lexus LF-A or the new supra (if it comes out)

R35 looks nice but if you planning to get one wait for the v-spec version which will be alot better

hi guys i was the one having the test drive at wolverhampton in the isf with ROB from lexusGB
thought i was not seen by the loc
as in hiding with sunglasses on
all the best neil

I often wonder how many people talking about these cars have actually driven any of them

Yep I was thinking that too, it's not that easy to tell the difference between the M3 and a 3 series MSport..........even my brother who's into BMWs saw the M3 and IS-F and said that the IS-F would be the one to go for just because it looks so much more aggressive - and let's face it, on normal roads, you're not really going to be able to tell much of a difference between them


I agree that you can't really compare them, the GT-R is a rival to the 911 and the R8, it's a proper sports coupe. Even if it's more practical, that's what it is, the IS-F is a super saloon, so it's rivals are the M3, RS4 and C63. No one ever takes an R8 or a 911 and compares them with an M3, so it's the same deal here.

No car that's based around the practicalities of a saloon car can ever directly match a purpose built sports car as things like the positioning of the engine, etc are never exactly where they'd want them to be........

Now if the GT-R is better than the LF-A then it would be something to talk about as they are two cars set out to perform the same task, but the GT-R would be much cheaper. However, if the LF-A unofficial nurburgring laptime is at all representative, I don't think that's going to happen


@ Brick: Btw, I understand where you're coming from, but Tango's one of the guys on here who does actually know what he's talking about........while I also agree that the IS-F and GT-R shouldn't be compared as it's not like with like in my opinion, I have great respect for his opinions

Wow...I'll pay you later Parthiban

I've driven the IS350 and the IS-F, and of course I have the 250, but I haven't driven the GT-R....yet.

I wasn't a fan of the IS-F from the offset..if you check my posts after I saw it in the Houston Auto show nearly two years ago my opinion hasn't changed (Having paid as much for my 250 as I could buy an 'F' for in the US didn't help).

The IS-F doesn't feel a lot different than my 250 on the road until you floor it and then it changes character altogether, but why would I fork out £52K when 90% of the time it'll feel like my 250? The IS350 is the the IS road car I'd have been most happy with, as it's got adequate usable power without going to the extreme, but thanks to Lexus we're unlikely to get it in the UK.

After reading the reviews I think Nissan have excelled in producing the GT-R, and I just need to convince the wife it's the car I have to own before I die ...fingers crossed it happens before I do . Anyone want a 250...slightly modified, around this time next year

Why ?
The comparion has to be made when the price is similar to the competition I previously mentioned
(Audi RS4, BMW M3, Lexus IS-F, Mercedes C63 AMG....... ).

Illogical IMO to compare the LF-A when you could buy several GT-R's for the same money.
With the LF-A you are buying badge & exclusivity, not just performance.

If you get the R35 give me a spin b4 you depart this planet

Whoever has the dosh to decide which one to have you'd be a bit dumb for not considering the R35, its a great package for your wonga

I saw you with your sunglasses on and a BIG smile on your face when approaching the roundabout beforw turing left on to the road where Lexus Wolverhampton is.

You may have seen an IS get out of the way to let you by, you were the silver IS F?

What was it like to drive?

From the smile your face you seemed impressed, and would you agree its a very good looking car?

Had another go in an IS-F today...this one




Belongs to the manager of my local dealership as apparently it's the only way they could get one from Lexus to enable potential customers to try it. They have another, same colour in the showroom but that was 'sold' to a phantom customer as it was again the only way to get one for show. Lexus will only supply IS-F's to dealerships if they have been 'sold'. Saying that the dealership group have sold 10 in total to real customers, one of which sold it on for around £4K more than he paid for it...he's no longer popular in the dealership.

Anyway, apart from the seats being a lot more comfortable and supportive than mine it still feels and sounds like I'm in my 250....while cruising. Not surprising really as it's riding on the same size rims with only slightly stiffer springs than my EiBachs, and my intake mods and exhaust make it very familiar. It all changes of course when you floor the loud pedal,the secondary intake opens up and the V8 lets you know it's there with a vengeance. Was surprised when the sales guy said he had driven it against his mates M3 and came off second best (a) because it isn't the remark I'd expect from someone trying to sell me the car and ( because I thought the IS-F was supposed to have the edge. Oh well, it put a smile on my face for a little while but I'm still of the opinion it isn't different enough for me for 95% of the time I'd be driving it. When's that GT-R being released