Friday Find: Lexus IS F used car review on ReDriven

The Lexus IS F could someday be remembered as a myth, having swooped into the market from Japan in 2008 to take on Germany's C63 AMG and BMW M3 – only to leave us after one generation, with no successor in sight.

Well, to be fair, we did get the bigger GS F in 2016, and America now has a slightly softer 351kW V8-powered IS 500 F Sport, but the days of proper Lexus F sedans appear to be behind us.

If you want a full-bore F model now, you're limited to the two-door RC F coupe, and even that one will go out of production in November this year.

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2008 Lexus IS F – photo used with permission from ReDriven

When it launched, the IS F blew through the door with a Yamaha-fettled V8 producing 311kW and 505Nm – which saw it one-up the 309kW/400Nm M3 (back when it was a V8) while falling a little short of the 336kW/600Nm V8 C63.

It arrived with a more compelling price, though, with its $129,000 sticker undercutting the $152,300 M3 and $144,365 C63.

MOTOR undertook a comparison of these three beasts, rating the M3 and C63 a 9 out of 10 each, while the IS F managed just 7.5 out of 10.

Still, we called it a "fine first effort that comes close to the Germans", and really, that's high praise.

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2008 Lexus IS F – photo used with permission from ReDriven

If you want to buy one these days, you can find them in the $35,000 to $65,000 price bracket with anything between 85,000 to 200,000km on the clock.

But... should you? The famed Toyota reliability and value underpins the Lexus IS F, but there might still be a few things to consider before laying down the cash.

Full disclosure: This writer was recently toying with the idea of digging deep and picking up a used IS F. I went with something else in the end, but this video from the blokes at ReDriven did get me close to settling on the Lexus.

(They still haven't done a video on the 944 Turbo, and maybe that's a good thing...)

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2008 Lexus IS F – photo used with permission from ReDriven