Lexus IS500 After 10,000 Miles: Was It Worth It?

I traded my IS350 for the Lexus IS500, put more than 10,000 miles on it, and I think I’m finally ready to answer the question: was it actually worth it?

Short answer? Yeah. But probably not for the reason you think.

Under the hood is the obvious headline: a naturally aspirated 5.0L V8 making 472 horsepower. In 2026? That almost feels like Lexus dropped the mic and walked away.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved my IS350. That car looked good, drove well, was comfortable every day, and had enough power that I never really needed anything more.

Then I did a muffler delete.

That was probably the beginning of the end.

Suddenly I wanted more sound, more drama, and apparently more cylinders. Then I drove my friend’s Charger, followed by an M4 Competition, and that pretty much cemented it.

After driving those cars, I realized the IS350 gave me just enough.

And I wanted more.

Not necessarily something I could floor everywhere. Almost the opposite. I wanted that feeling of knowing there was an unlimited reserve of power sitting underneath me whenever I would need it.

That’s what the IS500 gives you.

There feels like this endless reserve of power that, realistically, you’re probably never going to fully tap into on the street. You can be cruising normally, barely touching the throttle, and still feel how much is waiting underneath your right foot.

That’s eventually what pushed me toward the IS500. It kept almost everything I liked about the 350, except now there was a 5.0L V8 sitting up front quietly begging to be released.

Getting the car itself was almost another story. I nearly ended up ordering the wrong one in the process, which would’ve been a pretty painful way to learn that lesson on a car this expensive.

And apparently I didn’t even know the exact color at first either. I thought the car was Iridium for way too long before realizing it was actually Atomic Silver. In my defense, put those colors next to each other and tell me Lexus wasn’t messing with us.

Either way, once the right car was sitting in front of me, there wasn’t much going back.

And if I’m going to spend this much of my time behind the wheel, I figured I might as well drive something that makes the boring parts of life a little more interesting.

The V8 is the whole personality of this car. Start it up and it doesn’t scream for attention. It just wakes up with this deep growl and sends a little tremor through the cabin.

It idles like a calm lion breathing through chrome lungs.

Refined, slightly ridiculous, and ready whenever you are.

Unlike a lot of modern performance cars, the experience also doesn’t feel manufactured. You’ve got a naturally aspirated V8 related to the engines used in the RC F and LC 500, with that deep Yamaha-tuned Lexus soundtrack.

Even reversing out of a parking spot has character. You feel the burble through the seat and hear that low hum behind you.

Then you see an open stretch of road, hit Sport Plus, and suddenly being a responsible adult gets a little harder.

The IS350 made me feel responsible.

The IS500 makes me feel like I might be able to run from the cops.

Just kidding. Don’t do that.

Overall side effect? Happiness.

How Driving Feel Changed From the 350 to the 500

On paper, you could describe the IS500 as basically an IS with a giant V8 stuffed into it. Which is technically true.

Behind the wheel, though, it feels like a completely different animal.

Lexus retuned the suspension and gave the car a Torsen limited-slip differential, and you really notice it when you’re coming out of a corner. You can get on power earlier and feel the rear end put everything down.

But let’s be clear: this isn’t some lightweight canyon scalpel.

The IS500 is heavy, and you can definitely feel that V8 sitting over the front axle. Push too hard into a corner and the nose reminds you physics hasn’t been cancelled just because you bought a cool Lexus.

The interesting part is learning how the car wants to move.

You can’t just bully it through every corner. Brake a little earlier, let the chassis settle, get the car pointed, then let the V8 do its thing on the way out.

Once you start understanding the weight transfer, everything gets smoother. You stop fighting the car and start working with it.

And when you get it right, the IS500 can flow through a road way better than something this heavy probably should.

What’s It Like to Live With the Lexus IS500?

Honestly? Surprisingly civilized.

That’s probably one of my favorite things about the car.

Yes, it’s louder than the IS350. Yes, it’s firmer. And yes, there’s always this slight awareness that you’re sitting on top of 472 horsepower.

But most of the time?

It’s still a Lexus.

Put it in Normal or Comfort, turn some music on, and you can drive this thing every day without feeling like you’re making some huge sacrifice just to own a V8.

The size helps too. Modern cars have gotten massive, and the IS still feels compact enough that you can actually place it on the road.

Parking garages don’t feel like a gamble. Tight streets aren’t stressful. And the 360-degree camera quietly became one of my favorite daily features.

Mine has the Performance Premium Package, so along with the cameras I finally got the parking sensors I didn’t have on my IS350. That combination makes the whole car feel way more secure in tight spaces. You know exactly where the corners of the car are instead of doing that little I think I have six inches left calculation every time you pull into something narrow.

The other feature I probably appreciate even more is the Mark Levinson sound system.

My IS350 didn’t have it, and the difference is one of those things that becomes more obvious the longer you live with it.

It isn’t just louder. The range is much better.

Bass has more depth without turning everything into mud, vocals sit clearer in the middle, and there’s more separation between everything happening in a song. At lower volume, you can still hear the detail. Turn it up and it fills the cabin without immediately becoming harsh.

It’s the kind of system where songs you’ve listened to a hundred times suddenly have little layers you didn’t really notice before.

Which creates a very specific IS500 problem: sometimes I want to listen to the Mark Levinson.

Other times I want to turn it completely off and listen to the V8.

First-world problems.

The interior itself is also old-school Lexus in a way I’ve grown to appreciate. It’s not trying to turn the entire dashboard into an iPad.

There are physical controls. Things are where you expect them to be. Everything feels solid.

And honestly, I think it has pretty much everything I need.

The back seats aren’t exactly a road-trip lounge, but they’re usable.

Then there’s one of my favorite unnecessarily cool features: the power rear sunshade. Press a button and this little curtain silently rises behind you.

Does anyone need this? Absolutely not.

Do I use it? Absolutely.

It keeps some heat out, gives you a little extra privacy, and somehow makes sitting in traffic feel about 12% more executive.

That’s kind of the IS500 in general.

It gives you a bunch of things you probably don’t need.

And then somehow you start using all of them.

Was upgrading from the IS350 to the IS500 worth it?

For me, yes.

Not because the IS350 wasn’t good enough.

Honestly, that’s what made upgrading so difficult in the first place.

The IS350 already gave me almost everything I needed. The IS500 just took the parts I already liked and added this massive reserve of power that completely changes how the car feels.

Every cold start is a symphony.

Every tunnel gives you bad intentions.

Every on-ramp suddenly has a purpose.

And after 10,000 miles, that still hasn’t really worn off.

There are definitely cars that come out of the box feeling more immediately capable. Hit the throttle and they just go. Everything is sharp, fast, and ready for you from the first drive.

The IS500 feels a little more old-school than that.

You actually have to learn it.

You learn where the weight sits. You learn how the eight-speed wants to behave. You learn when to let the car settle before getting back onto the throttle. You figure out how much you can ask from the front end and when to let the rear do the work.

At first, some of that can almost feel like flaws.

Then it starts making sense.

And once everything comes together—the chassis, the weight, the transmission, that V8—it becomes one experience.

A symphony.

Maybe not the fastest symphony.

But one I still want to listen to every time I grab the keys.

Yeah.

Still worth it.

How much power does the Lexus IS500 make?

The Lexus IS500 uses a naturally aspirated 5.0L V8 producing 472 horsepower and 395 lb-ft of torque, sending power to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Lexus quotes roughly 4.4 seconds from 0–60 mph.

More importantly, you don’t have to be going 100 mph to enjoy it. Half the experience is knowing there’s this reserve of power underneath you even when you’re just driving normally.

What does the Lexus IS500 sound like?

Old-school.

Deep, mechanical, and surprisingly refined when you’re just cruising.

Open it up and you get that Yamaha-tuned V8 soundtrack connected to the same 5.0L engine family found in the RC F and LC 500.

There’s plenty of sound when you want it without the car constantly screaming at you for attention.

Which is probably the most Lexus way possible to build a V8 sports sedan.

Watch the Lexus IS500 after 10,000 miles.