Cheap ? IS-F

[Linas.P]

That is quite cheap, especially considering recent market. Not high mileage for the age... Owner must be desperate to sell...

Or am I missing something?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103079853823

[Fair and square]

Lowest price ISF I have ever seen.

The listing does state a frozen screen, although I have never known a screen freeze on this unit, the CD player was prone to malfunctioning on these and they are not a cheap replacement from lexus. All that be said, on the forecourt it must be a £15000-£17000 car.

[Linas.P]

Certainly in last 3 years... back then they bottomed out at around £12k... some little bit more tired examples were available for just under £10k

I still hate myself for not picking one for £9800 probably 2 years ago. It was very clean 2009 (or maybe even 2010) car with ~109k miles at the time (which was a little bit high) and car had tow-bar which was a little bit weird, but it was gone within a day and from that time prices just went up and up and up... 

But this looks very straight and clean car... the only thing I could pick on is that it done 17k miles last year out of nowhere, whereas all years before that it did 3-7k miles. Just kind of strange that mileage shoot like that in last year, especially during Covid, when most people stopped driving as much. But if as claimed the car was serviced in correct intervals that is not an issue in itself.  

Yes I noted that that screen is broken, but to be honest even when working it isn't very useful on these cars. I would probably consider replacing it with android system anyway. And as you said - even to fix it is few hundreds at best. 

I would say just at first glance it is at least 2-3k undervalued. £17k probably not, as there are 2009 cars with lower mileage at just £17.5k, but £14-15k easily.

[65mike]

Hi all.

Sounds ok but why so cheap is there something wrong or is it just at that price for a quick sale !!!.

65mike.

 

[mr_s81]

I still kick myself at a 2009 ISF which turned up locally last year at £12,500. 106k miles, looked to be in good condition and FSH from Lexus. Unfortunately I wasn't in a position to go for it at the time.

It will be interesting to see how the price of cars like the ISF goes once we see the full effects of Covid and furlough payments come to an end. There will also be a far greater number of people able to WFH, so having a car which costs nearly £600 per year to tax isn't as appealing if it spends most of its life on the driveway.

[Linas.P]

@65mike - that is what I thought, almost seems to be too good to be true... or just simply very good deal/quick sale.

@mr_s81 - that is why I am selling mine as well... 3000 miles last year, 400 miles since October this year. And road tax is drop in the ocean - insurance must be at least double if not triple that. Just hard to justify owning nice car when one doesn't drive it at all.

[65mike]

Hi all.

I had a Jaguar xk4.2 before the lexus looked a lovely car had about 60,000 on the clock but it was a money pit needed new rear tyres £430.

Front brake callipers one had started to seize up so ruined the pads and discs Alarm was a pain spent a fortune on trying to sort it out but never did.

The car ran well but if you started it and it stalled then restarted it and reeved it the power steering was like trying to turn the wheel of a lorry something wrong the dash board lights did not come on one day no idea why.

It was a money pit beautiful looking but not worth it i got rid of as it made my back ache and sick off the alarm keep going off and fed up with the bills.

Car tax was £500 per year this was 4 years ago.

The reason i say this is i found to my cost it looks fantastic but you never know what it is hiding underneath.

And in my view get a dealer car like i did with the Lexus or get a bloody good all singing warranty as you may need it.

I loved the XK but not the bills that went with it.

65mike.

 

[Jezpatel]

I messaged the guy earlier re the cheap isf, I asked him a few queries on it No response. I'm in the market for one now. 

Re mikes post above... yep I'm familiar with money pits!!! My last car was an alfa 147 GTA 😄

[dandydons]

 

[Jezpatel]

Hi dandy.. I think I messaged you on eBay the other day :). You are a little to far away from me 🙂

[dandydons]

Yea sorry Jez . Didn’t realise . 

[Jezpatel]

No prob mate. Let's see if you are still selling up after lockdown 🙂

[C.B]

Personally I think the less mileage you do the more sense a car like an ISF makes, providing you still need a car why not have one you can get enjoyment from especially when the MPG is no longer a major concern.

 

[scott-o]

10 minutes ago, C.B said:

Personally I think the less mileage you do the more sense a car like an ISF makes, providing you still need a car why not have one you can get enjoyment from especially when the MPG is no longer a major concern.

 

Thats my take on it, as my mileage has come down i've bought thirstier cars that i've wanted in the past but couldn't afford to run for 15-25k miles a year! Now im working from home and that doesnt look like it should change, i went straight out and got my ISF (Last august). I have the odd site meeting but otherwise it's to use at my leisure. I love driving and couldnt imagine on the more sparse occasion i do drive, getting into something boring!

[Linas.P]

Agree regarding mileage and fuel efficiency - I don't understand why people care about fuel efficiency when they not driving much anyway.

However, the issue is that in UK you pay same road tax and pretty much same insurance regardless if you do 15k miles or 1500 miles and that really hurts to pay £2000 for insurance and road tax on car just to drive 10 miles every other weekend. 

[Cactus]

I certainly recall an owner selling a my2010 blue isf with 100k mile for 10900 two years ago, as i was in the market for one at the time.

 

barry

[wantaisf]

CB's ISF is best value, considering the miles at 17k...why would you buy one at 93k for 12k? And also need to buy probably tyres and brakes and fix sat nav, plus no lexus sh...by the time you buy tyres and brakes and fix sat nav, and give it a service, that 12k car is about 13.5. So only 3.5k difference. 

[Linas.P]

8 minutes ago, wantaisf said:

CB's ISF is best value, considering the miles at 17k...why would you buy one at 93k for 12k? And also need to buy probably tyres and brakes and fix sat nav, plus no lexus sh...by the time you buy tyres and brakes and fix sat nav, and give it a service, that 12k car is about 13.5. So only 3.5k difference. 

It isn't clear that car needs tyres, brakes or service and even if it does, then I would expect to negotiate this further as default assumption is always that car does not need anything except of what is listed. Sat-Nav in Lexus mk2 is junk anyway, so nothing is lost by it being broken, as I said nowadays putting in £300 android screen would be first thing I would do.

So all in all saving £5k for (which is like 30% of cost) for few more miles would make perfect sense if I would be in the market for IS-F.

Besides car... may or may not still be on "warrantable" . Lexus is known for accepting warranty on the cars over 10 years old, as long as they are FLSH and under 140k miles. 

[mr_s81]

6 hours ago, scott-o said:

Thats my take on it, as my mileage has come down i've bought thirstier cars that i've wanted in the past but couldn't afford to run for 15-25k miles a year! Now im working from home and that doesnt look like it should change, i went straight out and got my ISF (Last august). I have the odd site meeting but otherwise it's to use at my leisure. I love driving and couldnt imagine on the more sparse occasion i do drive, getting into something boring!

I did the same once my commuting mileage went down. Cars are one of my chief interests. I don't drink or smoke, so why not spend money on something that I enjoy!?

Interestingly, since moving away from the usual diesel VAG euroboxes I've normally done ok when selling my cars on. I've found that the niche cars in very good condition that I've had (Subaru / high displacement models) tend to suffer from less depreciation as there is an enthusiast market out there who tend to be willing to pay good prices for decent examples. I understand that the running costs of something like an ISF are much higher than your run-of-the-mill family hatchback, but if it comes down to running costs vs depreciation, I know which I would rather spend my hard-earned cash on.

[Linas.P]

Again I don't think running costs are the issue, but punitive insurance and road tax is. The above would really make sense in different country or maybe one day when we have "per mile" insurance and tax. Now the IS-F would cost me £2000 just parked and under cover.

[RichGS11]

33 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Again I don't think running costs are the issue, but punitive insurance and road tax is. The above would really make sense in different country or maybe one day when we have "per mile" insurance and tax. Now the IS-F would cost me £2000 just parked and under cover.

Which is why you don't have one. I do the grand total of 2 to 3k a year miles wise (all fun). I'll happily spend £1k a year taxing and insuring my car as the fun of driving them supersedes the cost. Personally, the joy of taking out a car I love would be the same high that someone gets spending £250 a weekend on going out clubbing and drinking. My hobby, taking into account my earnings, is a tiny drop in the ocean. Everything is relative I suppose.

 

*edit* I also agree with the 'pay per mile' as that would make our cars in the household, even cheaper to run as has already been said, my partner has become more 'work at home' based and pay per mile would really suit her.

[Linas.P]

I would happily spend £1k... with IS-F we not talking £1k... so let's not make comparisons. As well I am concerned where that money is going... if it is going into petrol tank, into spare parts, into mods, into maintenance - fine. If it is literally wasted on fraud called "car insurance" or total rip-off called VED which doesn't go anywhere near maintaining and improving the roads, then I am not fine with it. 

[RichGS11]

Tax and insurance for me is £940 a year on an ISF. Man no wonder you're not keen if you have another £1K added on top! That's crazy!

[Linas.P]

My RC first year insurance was £1400 and that is just 2L turbo vacuum cleaner. IS250 was £680 and I considered that to be cheap. Just the case of living in London I guess. I kind of hated myself for no getting RC-F, but when I think about it I probably would not be able to insure it at all.

 

[RichGS11]

3 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

My RC first year insurance was £1400 and that is just 2L turbo vacuum cleaner. IS250 was £680 and I considered that to be cheap. Just the case of living in London I guess. I kind of hated myself for no getting RC-F, but when I think about it I probably would not be able to insure it at all.

 

Ahhh yeah I see. I'm about 60 miles north in what is probably seen as a sleepier part of the UK! In fact for me the F turned out to be cheaper than my GS430, which when I was starting to look at quotes for an F, shocked and surprised me. Being in my late 30's will help and my profession too. There's lots of factors too such as a locked garage for storage, low miles threshold as the car is for fun mainly. I will never understand insurance though. I'm sure they make it up on the spot lol!