Lexus IS200 Sport 03 vintage- Any good?
Discussion
Been looking for an "undercvover" car, nothing too shouty, reliable, either something really small and cheap to run tax insure, or potential cheaper barge motoring.
Anyway, located via a mate an 03 plate, one owner IS200 sport, 2litre straight 6 petrol. good nick, full history and can be had for a couple of grand instead of them trading it in an a new car.
Seems an ok price etc, and the car is in good nick i know, (one lady owner etc) but are they any good. I've driven this car itself once, was smooth quiet b ut not "quick" at all, brilliant stereo as I recall. But do they have any problems, expensive ones, anything to watch out for at that age and miles, or is Lexus build quality all it is cracked up to be? Are they suitably "undercover" or are they "nickable", they seem to be popular within certain demographics.
Any advice or experience gratefully received.
Ta
Anyway, located via a mate an 03 plate, one owner IS200 sport, 2litre straight 6 petrol. good nick, full history and can be had for a couple of grand instead of them trading it in an a new car.
Seems an ok price etc, and the car is in good nick i know, (one lady owner etc) but are they any good. I've driven this car itself once, was smooth quiet b ut not "quick" at all, brilliant stereo as I recall. But do they have any problems, expensive ones, anything to watch out for at that age and miles, or is Lexus build quality all it is cracked up to be? Are they suitably "undercover" or are they "nickable", they seem to be popular within certain demographics.
Any advice or experience gratefully received.
Ta
s3fella said:
they seem to be popular within certain demographics.
Any advice or experience gratefully received.
Ta
Popular with celebrities...Any advice or experience gratefully received.
Ta
and with the ladies
Seriously though, one of my mates had one, other than being not particularly quick, it was a great car, lovely creamy smooth 6 pot. Only problem he had in the time he had it was the CD player which lexus didnt seem to be able to fix.
I had one as a company car way back in 2000.
It was a lovely place to be on long drives. Absolutely silent progress, excellent stereo & loads of gadgets to play with.
It wasn't the fastest of cars on the road by a long shot and with the 6 speed manual, it felt like you were changing gear ever 2 seconds. It was a little thirsty for only 150bhp, but on balance, it was a very decent car indeed.
Unfortunately, I only had it for 6 months before an older gentleman pulled out right infront of me on a NSL road & wrote it off. On that note, it has loads of airbags & they all work really well!
It was a lovely place to be on long drives. Absolutely silent progress, excellent stereo & loads of gadgets to play with.
It wasn't the fastest of cars on the road by a long shot and with the 6 speed manual, it felt like you were changing gear ever 2 seconds. It was a little thirsty for only 150bhp, but on balance, it was a very decent car indeed.
Unfortunately, I only had it for 6 months before an older gentleman pulled out right infront of me on a NSL road & wrote it off. On that note, it has loads of airbags & they all work really well!
I've had one but didn't keep it long, seemed very well put together and no obvious issues with mine during the time I had it. The CD player dying is a known fault and I don't think they make replacements anymore.
My main issue was fuel consumption. The overall performance of the car didn't match the shocking fuel consumption. They drive well enough but aren't as responsive as its main competitor - the BMW 3 series.
My main issue was fuel consumption. The overall performance of the car didn't match the shocking fuel consumption. They drive well enough but aren't as responsive as its main competitor - the BMW 3 series.
My old man had one and genuinely loved it. Ok so it wasn't quick, but they aren't slow, they are a tad thirsty, he used to get about 31mpg which was really good for them.
But, he said it handled really well, had easily enough power to get the tail out and with the LSD which is standard on sports really helps it put all its power down. They sound brilliant even with the standard exhaust really comfy seat, heated electrically adjustable etc, and easily room for 4 adults. As mentioned earlier the stereo is great with the 6 CD changer built in the dash. 6 speed gearbox is a short throw and feels quite sporty and that engine is quite torquey so it pulls well in the upper gears.
HTH
But, he said it handled really well, had easily enough power to get the tail out and with the LSD which is standard on sports really helps it put all its power down. They sound brilliant even with the standard exhaust really comfy seat, heated electrically adjustable etc, and easily room for 4 adults. As mentioned earlier the stereo is great with the 6 CD changer built in the dash. 6 speed gearbox is a short throw and feels quite sporty and that engine is quite torquey so it pulls well in the upper gears.
HTH
This one is a manual .
CD player is interesting. She mentioned that the CD's needed "taking out", I took it to mean that otherwise it was ready to go!! Maybe it has a fault.
Dynamics dont worry me too much, it will only do airport runs and school drop offs. Reliability wise, (cd palyer aside) are they ok?
CD player is interesting. She mentioned that the CD's needed "taking out", I took it to mean that otherwise it was ready to go!! Maybe it has a fault.
Dynamics dont worry me too much, it will only do airport runs and school drop offs. Reliability wise, (cd palyer aside) are they ok?
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.
No chance. I've got one (that I'm trying to sell, hint) and it's still good for 0-60 in 9.something seconds. Engine is beautiful, lovely and quiet. Cabin is how you'd expect a lexus to be. It is thirsty however. I'm averaging 23.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.
KardioKate said:
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.
No chance. I've got one (that I'm trying to sell, hint) and it's still good for 0-60 in 9.something seconds. Engine is beautiful, lovely and quiet. Cabin is how you'd expect a lexus to be. It is thirsty however. I'm averaging 23.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.
But this is not all about speed etc. Would be nice to think on a run that an IS200 could get 35mpg, but I dont think they can....
I considered getting one once, as a sort of Japanese route into Mercedes style quality. That was something that really appealed to me. But the car being quite slow and extremely thirsty for the meagre power it delivered was enough to put me off. A real shame they couldn't do something better with that lazy engine. If I compare it to my Volvo S60's 180bhp engine, which has 5 cylinders and a low pressure turbo, it just seems outrageous that Lexus didn't do a better job with that engine. The Volvo is faster and more economical on those terms.
I've had 2 - back in about 2004 I had a 2001 car.
It was thirsty, certainly, but other than that I have no negatives about the car at all. Yes it was not the highest powered car ever, but it was a straight six, sounded good, and was adequately fast that you could enjoy it.
I really, really rated mine
It was thirsty, certainly, but other than that I have no negatives about the car at all. Yes it was not the highest powered car ever, but it was a straight six, sounded good, and was adequately fast that you could enjoy it.
I really, really rated mine
Was a car that I really wanted to like, I love the looks of it, the interior was great, the package as a whole had promise.
However, the 2001 SE (Nav) that I ran for a while rates as a real "don't meet your heroes" moment... I don't think I've been that disappointed in the way a car drove before or since.
Can't comment on the fuel consuption and I still think the car's lovely to look at
It also had one of the nicest steering wheels I can remember, but I just couldn't live with the way it drove on a daily basis.
As far as things going wrong goes, we bought it at 12k miles and sold it at 85k miles and other than needing to have the wheels refinished, I only ever serviced it and replaced tyres etc.
Lexus reliability lived up to its reputation.
However, the 2001 SE (Nav) that I ran for a while rates as a real "don't meet your heroes" moment... I don't think I've been that disappointed in the way a car drove before or since.
Can't comment on the fuel consuption and I still think the car's lovely to look at
It also had one of the nicest steering wheels I can remember, but I just couldn't live with the way it drove on a daily basis.
As far as things going wrong goes, we bought it at 12k miles and sold it at 85k miles and other than needing to have the wheels refinished, I only ever serviced it and replaced tyres etc.
Lexus reliability lived up to its reputation.
KardioKate said:
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.
No chance. I've got one (that I'm trying to sell, hint) and it's still good for 0-60 in 9.something seconds. Engine is beautiful, lovely and quiet. Cabin is how you'd expect a lexus to be. It is thirsty however. I'm averaging 23.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 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.
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