Lexus IS200 Sport 03 vintage- Any good?
Discussion
Some of the responses on these types of threads are bizarre, lots of comments starting with "Ive not driven", "Ive not owned" or "Ive heard"!!
My nephew owned one, he had it for years with minimal servicing so I think it must've been reliable, he didn't crash it so the handling and brakes were probably great but it probably didn't have too much power, I never saw him put petrol in it personally however he did change it for a Honda Civic so I think the mpg must be average.
HTH
My nephew owned one, he had it for years with minimal servicing so I think it must've been reliable, he didn't crash it so the handling and brakes were probably great but it probably didn't have too much power, I never saw him put petrol in it personally however he did change it for a Honda Civic so I think the mpg must be average.
HTH
I had my mates for a 6 months when he went abroad.
It was the automatic which is not so good for sporty driving, more like a gt car.
I liked the build quality, the feel on the interior and the car handled quite well for gt car. It also had all the toys, heated seats electric everything etc. Nothing really goes wrong with them, but make sure the service is up to date as they are complicated engines. I got mid 20's MPG and lots of sproty engine noise but not so much go forward movement.
The manual is rare so I would guess gives a better driving experiences for spirited runs.
If the price is right buy it, it is a well made car generally.
It was the automatic which is not so good for sporty driving, more like a gt car.
I liked the build quality, the feel on the interior and the car handled quite well for gt car. It also had all the toys, heated seats electric everything etc. Nothing really goes wrong with them, but make sure the service is up to date as they are complicated engines. I got mid 20's MPG and lots of sproty engine noise but not so much go forward movement.
The manual is rare so I would guess gives a better driving experiences for spirited runs.
If the price is right buy it, it is a well made car generally.
I ran one for 130,000 miles.
Problems: Sidelight bulb blew after 90,000 miles.
A set of bushes @ 100k
New battery @ 120k
New front discs / pads all round @ 80k
That's it.
It was regularly (10,000 mile interval) serviced by Lexus who's customer service was second to none.
First set of tyres lasted 50k miles!
Watch out for alloys which appear to be made of soft cheese and the known CD player fault. <<Error CD not recognised>> seems to spring to mind. I recall that this was due to the laser lens becoming clogged up with bumpf, not something that can easily be rectified with a damp cloth.
My average MPG was around 33mpg.
Problems: Sidelight bulb blew after 90,000 miles.
A set of bushes @ 100k
New battery @ 120k
New front discs / pads all round @ 80k
That's it.
It was regularly (10,000 mile interval) serviced by Lexus who's customer service was second to none.
First set of tyres lasted 50k miles!
Watch out for alloys which appear to be made of soft cheese and the known CD player fault. <<Error CD not recognised>> seems to spring to mind. I recall that this was due to the laser lens becoming clogged up with bumpf, not something that can easily be rectified with a damp cloth.
My average MPG was around 33mpg.
I had a '51 reg manual for a few months.
Observations were that the gearbox was noisy (seems to be common) and that the gearchange could be a bit notchy when changing to 2nd / 3rd.
Overall impression was that the car was nicely put together though.
I found the interior a little cramped compared to BMW 3 Series (E46) and Audi A4 (B5).
Overall ride quality was good, but a fair bit of wind noise.
I actually found the fuel consumption to be good, even though at times I would drive 'spiritedly'.
Power was found to be lacking at times, although torque was good and once up to speed, it was relatively easy to negotiate fairly steep inclines at 50+ in 6th gear.
The engine has to be one of the nicest sounding 6 cylinder units IMHO.
The sound system was superb - and the later models (post 2000 IIRC) don't suffer from the breaking CD player.
They are known for seizing calipers (usually the left side) and this can cost around £120 for an exchange unit.
Styling wise it's nice looking car from most angles except the rear, which lacks 'presence'.
The front can also look a little oversized from some angles.
All IMHO of course.
HTH.
Observations were that the gearbox was noisy (seems to be common) and that the gearchange could be a bit notchy when changing to 2nd / 3rd.
Overall impression was that the car was nicely put together though.
I found the interior a little cramped compared to BMW 3 Series (E46) and Audi A4 (B5).
Overall ride quality was good, but a fair bit of wind noise.
I actually found the fuel consumption to be good, even though at times I would drive 'spiritedly'.
Power was found to be lacking at times, although torque was good and once up to speed, it was relatively easy to negotiate fairly steep inclines at 50+ in 6th gear.
The engine has to be one of the nicest sounding 6 cylinder units IMHO.
The sound system was superb - and the later models (post 2000 IIRC) don't suffer from the breaking CD player.
They are known for seizing calipers (usually the left side) and this can cost around £120 for an exchange unit.
Styling wise it's nice looking car from most angles except the rear, which lacks 'presence'.
The front can also look a little oversized from some angles.
All IMHO of course.
HTH.
OP, what mileage is it? Have you decided to go for it?
I've just been offered a 2001, Y plate IS200 Sport for £2k with 97k miles on the clock. Going to look at it tomorrow, my only concern is the performance v mpg.
Anyone know if the engine is a belt or chain?
I've just been offered a 2001, Y plate IS200 Sport for £2k with 97k miles on the clock. Going to look at it tomorrow, my only concern is the performance v mpg.
Anyone know if the engine is a belt or chain?
Edited by Emeye on Wednesday 28th September 16:14
Mr Dave said:
Rover214 iS 5d (99) 9.9 s 115 mph 101 bhp.
So really with RWD cars being harder to launch that probably explains it then.
All im saying is they arent fast, but the Is200 is in every way a lovely car. The is300 is even better but only automatic.
Driven an Altezza and that was a car I would love to own, not hugely powerful either but quite sporty in its own way.
RWD harder to launch?So really with RWD cars being harder to launch that probably explains it then.
All im saying is they arent fast, but the Is200 is in every way a lovely car. The is300 is even better but only automatic.
Driven an Altezza and that was a car I would love to own, not hugely powerful either but quite sporty in its own way.
you joking right?
I owned one for 5 years and 70-od thousand miles. Most of the points have already been mentioned:
Great reliability
Great Noise
Great Stereo
Fairly Decent handling
6-speed manual gearchange was sweet
Poor Fuel consumption (think I averaged about 25mpg, was nearly impossible to get more than 30 even on a run)
Clutch judder
Rubbish alloys
4 speed autos that I had as courtesy cars were terrible
If fuel consumption is a concern, then this is not the car for you!
Great reliability
Great Noise
Great Stereo
Fairly Decent handling
6-speed manual gearchange was sweet
Poor Fuel consumption (think I averaged about 25mpg, was nearly impossible to get more than 30 even on a run)
Clutch judder
Rubbish alloys
4 speed autos that I had as courtesy cars were terrible
If fuel consumption is a concern, then this is not the car for you!
I've owned two - a 200 and a 300.
As has been said above - both were bullet proof as far as reliability went. Servicing is surprisingly cheap (even at dealers) but cheaper still at indies since it's mostly common Toyota parts.
If you can handle an auto - go for a 300 (3ltr 2JZ-GE - same engine as in na Supra). 5 speed auto not the dreadful 4 speed in the 200.
Alloys are made of chocolate, both cars are quite thirsty and neither are what you would call quick.
An '03 Sport - should have LSD and be 15mm (?) lower than a standard SE.
The stereo sounds like the dreaded "ERR3" which is a common fault and basically means CD player is kaput. Repairs are ridiculously expensive so you'll either have to fit an aftermarket unit or there is a nice little ipod adapter box which you can fit which allows the ipod to be controlled through the normal head unit.
I wrote a walkthrough for installing those a while back here:-
http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?s...
One very nice thing about buying a second hand one is you don't have to fret about a huge list of options (currently looking at second hand BMW's - it's a headache). AFAIK the only real "options" were sat nav and styling kit. Everything else was standard per model.
IS200 'S' - 16" alloys, cloth seats, no sunroof, stereo with no amp.
IS200 'SE' - 17" alloys, sun roof, 1/2 leather interior, stereo with amp, heated seats
IS200 'SPORT' - all of the above plus LSD and lower ride height (beyond a certain year - 2001?)
IS200 'LE' - all of the above plus full leather (and a unique colour) and HID's
IS300 - full leather, 5 speed auto only although with "e-shift" (gear change buttons on steering wheel) HID lights.
They do suffer from uneven tyre wear at the front - but as mentioned earlier this can be fixed by a visit to Dr. Tony @ WIM.
Despite the lack of speed - I loved mine. Quite handsome cars and the very definition of reliable. You get a lot of toys as standard - and at 102,000miles and 11years old - literally everything still worked the same as it did when it was new.
As has been said above - both were bullet proof as far as reliability went. Servicing is surprisingly cheap (even at dealers) but cheaper still at indies since it's mostly common Toyota parts.
If you can handle an auto - go for a 300 (3ltr 2JZ-GE - same engine as in na Supra). 5 speed auto not the dreadful 4 speed in the 200.
Alloys are made of chocolate, both cars are quite thirsty and neither are what you would call quick.
An '03 Sport - should have LSD and be 15mm (?) lower than a standard SE.
The stereo sounds like the dreaded "ERR3" which is a common fault and basically means CD player is kaput. Repairs are ridiculously expensive so you'll either have to fit an aftermarket unit or there is a nice little ipod adapter box which you can fit which allows the ipod to be controlled through the normal head unit.
I wrote a walkthrough for installing those a while back here:-
http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?s...
One very nice thing about buying a second hand one is you don't have to fret about a huge list of options (currently looking at second hand BMW's - it's a headache). AFAIK the only real "options" were sat nav and styling kit. Everything else was standard per model.
IS200 'S' - 16" alloys, cloth seats, no sunroof, stereo with no amp.
IS200 'SE' - 17" alloys, sun roof, 1/2 leather interior, stereo with amp, heated seats
IS200 'SPORT' - all of the above plus LSD and lower ride height (beyond a certain year - 2001?)
IS200 'LE' - all of the above plus full leather (and a unique colour) and HID's
IS300 - full leather, 5 speed auto only although with "e-shift" (gear change buttons on steering wheel) HID lights.
They do suffer from uneven tyre wear at the front - but as mentioned earlier this can be fixed by a visit to Dr. Tony @ WIM.
Despite the lack of speed - I loved mine. Quite handsome cars and the very definition of reliable. You get a lot of toys as standard - and at 102,000miles and 11years old - literally everything still worked the same as it did when it was new.
Mr Dave said:
We raced one from the lights in bristol 4 up in a rover 214. The rover won.
Other than being slow they are lovely cars, I love the instrument cluster and its lovely to drive. The Altezza is a great fun car, the is200 a sensible and comfortable car but not as sporty as it looks.
Yep, that rings true, I had a Metro GTi when the IS200 came out and one decided to overtake me in a rash move given the circumstances (busy road, oncoming traffic, just not the place to do it) the driver decides not to run the red light so ends up next to me, it wasnt pretty, Metro GTi itself not massively quick but it destroyed the Lexus and boy he was trying, remember these had just come out and there was quite an image to them then, being beat by a turdy Metro cant have been good for his ego, "Needless to say, I had the last laugh" (for the Partidge fans).Other than being slow they are lovely cars, I love the instrument cluster and its lovely to drive. The Altezza is a great fun car, the is200 a sensible and comfortable car but not as sporty as it looks.
So, nice enough car but slow and fairly crap economy, 25 mpg to get wasted by pretty much any modern turbo diesel.
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff