Is The Lexus IS F Worth The Price?

You might have heard the story of Lexus. For those who don’t know, here’s a quick recap: Toyota put together a luxury brand to rival the Germans, they called it Lexus, it launched in 1989 with the LS, and it gave the Mercedes S-Class nightmares for years and years.

So, after beating the best the Germans had to offer purely in terms of size and opulence, what’s next? Tackling the other thing the Germans are quite good at: smaller but massively powerful performance sedans.

Lexus put together the F (for Fuji, the Speedway, and also flagship) division, and then it launched the first model to bear this badge in 2007: the IS F.

The IS F is now quite old, and it has depreciated a fair bit. But is it the car for you and should you actually buy one?

The First Lexus Performance Car

A Lexus IS F in Ultrasonic Blue Mica in the desert, front 3/4 view — Image Credit: Lexus.

Based on the XE20 Lexus IS, a car that I’m very familiar with as I own one, the Lexus IS F made its international debut in 2007. The XE20 IS is an excellent starting point, but it went through some fairly major changes.

One of the most important changes is Ultrasonic Blue Mica, a fabulous blue color that became the most well-known paint scheme for the IS F. Okay, jokes aside; the color is pretty trivial. Still, at first glance, it’s clear that this car is something out of the ordinary.

A much more aggressive and squared-off front bumper, widened fenders and hips with massive and rather lovely 19″ wheels, and a more aggressive rear bumper. That bumper also hides the best feature on the IS F’s exterior, the iconic Lexus F stacked quad pipes.

The interior, although more subtle, still carried some pretty significant changes. There was a revised steering wheel with an F badge, and bulkier and more supportive seats, with some carbon fiber trim if you spent a little extra.

A facelift Lexus IS F in red, rear 3/4 view — Image Credit: Lexus.

Other than that, it’s the standard Lexus IS fare. Great equipment, excellent quality and fittings, and overall, a great place to be. The facelift IS F also got a bespoke gauge cluster with a big central tachometer, which made the whole experience even more special.

You can obviously tell that Lexus was trying to be subtle with the styling, but there was almost no subtlety in what was going on under the skin.

While the base IS used a couple of V6 engines, the performance-oriented IS F used a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8 that sent 416 horsepower (hp) and 371 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels.

This engine carries the internal codename 2UR-GSE, and was jointly developed with Yamaha. You can add this one to the laundry list of excellent Yamaha-developed powertrains, right up there with Volvo’s V8 and the Ford Taurus SHO‘s V6.

The dual chamber intake design was a pretty big deal, and so is that incredible sound as the V8 screamed its way to 6,800 RPM. There’s also the small matter of the gear shifts, which are so aggressive, you’d think it’s a dual clutcher.

Nope, it’s just a standard torque converter automatic. Of course, it received some prep work to make it more suitable for the application, but the number of gears was the most impressive thing about it.

A facelift Lexus IS F's interior, driver's side — Image Credit: Lexus.

Lexus plucked the eight-speed automatic transmission from the LS of the time — the world’s first production car with an eight-speed auto.

As Edmunds said many years ago, it’s a brilliant car to drive, although the suspension is on the firmer side. I can’t imagine it’s firmer than my IS on Koni shocks, but that’s something to look out for, nonetheless.

So, it’s time for the ultimate question: should you buy one?

Buying A Used Lexus IS F

A white Lexus iS F on the move, front 3/4 view — Image Credit: Lexus.

Good news. As car data site Classic.com says, the Lexus IS F has depreciated a fair bit over the years. The average value hovers around $29,500. If there’s one thing to note about the IS F market, it’s that a lot of them have pretty high miles.

Owners on Reddit say that’s not really a problem. As long as it has a full-service history, the IS F can go for hundreds of thousands of miles. This is one undeniable and massive advantage that the IS F has over all the M3s and C63 AMGs that everyone raves about constantly.

However, there are some issues that should be nipped in the bud straight away.

For example, early IS F models suffered from the infamous coolant valley leak, according to Club Lexus. Lexus offered to sort this out under warranty back in the day, so check with the owner if it’s all been taken care of. Water pumps can also leak on the earlier cars, so ensure that’s been sorted out as well.

A melting dash is a common problem on all IS models from this era. I’m, in fact, losing sleep over that one.

If you want to be kind to your back and spine, consider looking at cars from 2011 and up. The earlier cars are infamous for the rough suspension and ride quality, though as this Australian owner pointed out, the later cars are still pretty harsh.

The 2011+ models do iron out most of the early cars’ issues, though, something that owners on the forums and Reddit agree on.

Take care of all of that, and the Lexus IS F might just outlive you. It’s also a brilliant handling car with a giggle-inducing engine note and almost all the luxuries and equipment you could want.

You probably shouldn’t be spending less than $30,000 on an IS F, unless it has a full service history, but $35,000 or thereabout will get you a fantastic one.

I’m looking at you, BMW owners. Take a break from the oil leaks and the nightmare-inducing chime. Get an IS F; you deserve some peace.