I'll probably have to sit in and/or drive an IS350 to really know for sure. The size is better, weight is not much better and fuel is about the same as my current. Reliability of these seems very good, enough to buy one without a warranty. The styling still looks fresh even though it's quite a dated design. The refresh was in 2009 and used 2009s are kinda pushing my budget ($23-24k+) and they are still used.. hard to get my head around paying 22k+ for a used car since I paid $4k for my first and $12k for my second (and current). 50% more hp compared to my current car, while retaining similar fuel economy is significant as well.

The pre-refresh models are definitely easier to swallow with 2006-2008s in the 18k-22k range still in great condition with less than 75k miles. Their styling still looks great.

I actually saw one of these (not sure what year) as I was pulling into the parking lot at work today and while I didn't get to sit there staring at it as they drove past, it looked nice in passing.

Just found one locally on craigslist that is supposed to have been babied with about 90k miles for a 2006 with full options for $15,900. Now I'm really interested...

http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/cto/3159881169.html

Keep in mind that the base price on the IS350 was over $35K when it launched, now it's over $40K. The guy who buys new loses a HUGE chunk of that in the first two years of ownership. If you come in at the 3-4 year mark with 35-50K miles on the car, you avoid half the depreciation and you get an engine that's at peak performance, with major services likely not due for another 35-50K miles.

Also, the best part about used luxury cars is that those pricey option packages depreciate in value just like the rest of the car. The IS350 can be loaded up with some $10K in options (Sport, Premium, Luxury, Mark Levinson and NAV, etc). The difference in cost between a car with all of those features and one without at 4 years old will amount to maybe $2-3K at most.

When buying anything used including a Lexus, service history and condition are everything. If the car is out of warranty, have either a dealer or an independent do a thorough PPI. You don't want any surprises.

 

Is350 from craigslist is already sold, LOL. Oh well.

I'd go for the IS over the G35.  The G35 feels a bit disconnected to the road (for a sports car) to me, heavy, and the interior space is on the cramped side for tall people.  A manual IS would be great.

How sporty are you trying to get?  I was looking at the usual suspects (M3, M5, S4, GS, etc.) before getting my Z06.  The newer CTSes (the old ones had really bad interiors; the new ones are pretty nice) are fun, too, but still suffer from the sport-sedan syndrome where it's not quite as comfortable as something like an ES, and still nowhere near as sporty as a Corvette or Porsche.

The current CLS does look good, though I like the first generation's styling more.

The sports sedan thing does make a great deal of sense. It involves no practicality compromise. You get all the usability you could want in a daily driver and yet you don't need to drive something bland and boring. It's like a grown-up hot hatch, but it also comes with the bonus (if you could call it that) of being rather image-free, and to me at least that's one of the biggest selling points. The downside to it is that it's very easy to make a half-assed sports sedan that gets the fundamentals very wrong (like weight distribution). All you need to do for that is take your run-of-the-mill family or entry-level luxury sedan, put some go-faster bits on it, do some light tuning and call it a day. Some manufacturers have gone that route and the results are usually less than stellar.

The G25 doesn't make much sense to me either; it was always going to be a niche thing, and if they wanted economy to be the main selling point a hybrid would have attracted a lot more attention in the States, and a diesel would have posted far better numbers. Going entry-level with a luxury brand devalues the brand, and in the long term seems like a bad move. That's another reason why I don't like seeing turbo 4s in States-bound BMWs but it seems that BMW's priorities have shifted quite a bit.