Lexus IS300 Sportcross. How did it come to this…?
Discussion
I've had a day that, frankly, has amazed me. Why? Well, some background. I'll try to keep it short. Probably won't be able to though, so don't kick off or say you weren't warned!
When I met the lady I'm now married to, back in '98, she was co-owner of a Jag Indy in Southampton. S&C Motors, for those of you who are from the area and may know it. At the time she owned a TWR V12 series 3, among other things.
We met in Newcastle, hit it off, and a few short months later, I'd packed my job in at the Lexus dealer I was then at, moved out of my semi detached and on to her houseboat on the river Hamble. Then started working at her place, on the Jags. Nightmare after Lexus!
I took with me my H plate Corolla GTI, which was initially met with utter derision by her staff. I countered by pointing out that Jag were unable, at that point in their model line up, to offer a vehicle that was even capable of having a working door handle at any given point in time. Whereas the Toyota started and ran without complaint or fault.
Claire ( wife now ) gradually came round to Japanese reliability after exposure to the faultless Corolla over the next couple of years, although her first foray into Jap car ownership ( Nissan Maxima ) was somewhat misguided! However, she redeemed herself with the follow up, the first of two Mitsubishi Galant V6 estates, both of which were exemplary in their reliability.
But then, disaster! Time to replace the 2nd Galant, and this was now 2011. Galant's were now pretty thin on the ground. Hmmm, what to do. A dog requires an estate, reformed wife now requires reliability! I went back to the well trodden path of my Lexus upbringing, and remembered the Sportcross. Game on, google, do your worst!
I wasn't expecting to do well at this point. Lexus stopped supplying the Sportcross in 2005, so surely the best I could hope for was a leggy six year old? Stone me, first hit on google was a 2004 IS300 with 22k on the clock and one owner. Bingo! We were still living in Southampton back then, the car was at Guildford Lexus, aside from the preposterous asking price, it clearly had our name written all over it. In short, we bought it. For close to the preposterous asking price!
We still have it 9 years on. It's done 110k miles now. The month after we bought it, we also bought a flat in Newcastle city centre, and for the next 5 years it trekked regularly back and forth between Hamble and the Toon, until 2016 when we sold up in the south and moved north for keeps.
So, back to todays amazement. I'll 'fess up now and say that I didn't plan to do this thread this morning, and because of that there are no " before " pics, so you, dear reader, may have reason not to be as amazed as I am. However, I can assure you that as of 10 am this morning, this car was a disgrace! Claire, as I may have mentioned repeatedly in previous posts, treats this as a cross between a dog kennel and landfill.
This, after 2 hours! The o/s front bumper had been driven into a wall at some point a couple of years ago. I was convinced until today it would need paint. However, the miracles of 1200 wet and dry and a concerted effort with a mop on a battery drill appear to have almost dealt with that.
I'm stunned at the transformation. It really did look dreadful earlier on today. It's still far from perfect, but I can see that today has been worth the effort, and feel better about keeping it for a fair bit longer now. The wheels will be refinished asap, there are paint issues that I'll address, and I may even repaint the calipers during the lockdown.
The car drives superbly well, I know their foibles and have kept on top of it. It has full Lexus service history, has a 4 wheel alignment every 6 months at the Alignment centre in Southampton ( I work down in Southampton twice a year, big thanks to Nick who runs the place ), we use decent tyres
( Goodyear Asymmetric 3 ), as these things are extremely sensitive to alignment and tyres.
They're also extremely reliable. Bottom ball joints and drop links are known issues, it's had a replacement front caliper, the stereo head unit did what they all do without exception and jammed the discs, meaning DAB aftermarket replacement. I replaced the backbox at 80k miles after it snapped. It did an oxygen sensor ( they have 4 iirc ) at 90k, and while dealing with that it became apparent that it had a minor coolant leak from the auto box heat exchanger, £20 for both of the offending pipes and some swearing to replace. We replaced the water pump at the 60k cambelt service as almost all Toyotas from this era had an issue with stuck pressure relief valves ( not serious, just leaves a small puddle after shutdown ).
More pics later if anyone gives a s
t! No worries if you're all bored rigid though, I can stop whenever ! 
When I met the lady I'm now married to, back in '98, she was co-owner of a Jag Indy in Southampton. S&C Motors, for those of you who are from the area and may know it. At the time she owned a TWR V12 series 3, among other things.
We met in Newcastle, hit it off, and a few short months later, I'd packed my job in at the Lexus dealer I was then at, moved out of my semi detached and on to her houseboat on the river Hamble. Then started working at her place, on the Jags. Nightmare after Lexus!
I took with me my H plate Corolla GTI, which was initially met with utter derision by her staff. I countered by pointing out that Jag were unable, at that point in their model line up, to offer a vehicle that was even capable of having a working door handle at any given point in time. Whereas the Toyota started and ran without complaint or fault.
Claire ( wife now ) gradually came round to Japanese reliability after exposure to the faultless Corolla over the next couple of years, although her first foray into Jap car ownership ( Nissan Maxima ) was somewhat misguided! However, she redeemed herself with the follow up, the first of two Mitsubishi Galant V6 estates, both of which were exemplary in their reliability.
But then, disaster! Time to replace the 2nd Galant, and this was now 2011. Galant's were now pretty thin on the ground. Hmmm, what to do. A dog requires an estate, reformed wife now requires reliability! I went back to the well trodden path of my Lexus upbringing, and remembered the Sportcross. Game on, google, do your worst!
I wasn't expecting to do well at this point. Lexus stopped supplying the Sportcross in 2005, so surely the best I could hope for was a leggy six year old? Stone me, first hit on google was a 2004 IS300 with 22k on the clock and one owner. Bingo! We were still living in Southampton back then, the car was at Guildford Lexus, aside from the preposterous asking price, it clearly had our name written all over it. In short, we bought it. For close to the preposterous asking price!
We still have it 9 years on. It's done 110k miles now. The month after we bought it, we also bought a flat in Newcastle city centre, and for the next 5 years it trekked regularly back and forth between Hamble and the Toon, until 2016 when we sold up in the south and moved north for keeps.
So, back to todays amazement. I'll 'fess up now and say that I didn't plan to do this thread this morning, and because of that there are no " before " pics, so you, dear reader, may have reason not to be as amazed as I am. However, I can assure you that as of 10 am this morning, this car was a disgrace! Claire, as I may have mentioned repeatedly in previous posts, treats this as a cross between a dog kennel and landfill.
This, after 2 hours! The o/s front bumper had been driven into a wall at some point a couple of years ago. I was convinced until today it would need paint. However, the miracles of 1200 wet and dry and a concerted effort with a mop on a battery drill appear to have almost dealt with that.
I'm stunned at the transformation. It really did look dreadful earlier on today. It's still far from perfect, but I can see that today has been worth the effort, and feel better about keeping it for a fair bit longer now. The wheels will be refinished asap, there are paint issues that I'll address, and I may even repaint the calipers during the lockdown.
The car drives superbly well, I know their foibles and have kept on top of it. It has full Lexus service history, has a 4 wheel alignment every 6 months at the Alignment centre in Southampton ( I work down in Southampton twice a year, big thanks to Nick who runs the place ), we use decent tyres
( Goodyear Asymmetric 3 ), as these things are extremely sensitive to alignment and tyres.
They're also extremely reliable. Bottom ball joints and drop links are known issues, it's had a replacement front caliper, the stereo head unit did what they all do without exception and jammed the discs, meaning DAB aftermarket replacement. I replaced the backbox at 80k miles after it snapped. It did an oxygen sensor ( they have 4 iirc ) at 90k, and while dealing with that it became apparent that it had a minor coolant leak from the auto box heat exchanger, £20 for both of the offending pipes and some swearing to replace. We replaced the water pump at the 60k cambelt service as almost all Toyotas from this era had an issue with stuck pressure relief valves ( not serious, just leaves a small puddle after shutdown ).
More pics later if anyone gives a s
t! No worries if you're all bored rigid though, I can stop whenever ! Horsey McHorseface said:
3.0 has appeal, but only comes with 4 speed auto, right?
True in the UK but ironically given their love for slushers the US market got IS300 with the 6 speed manual gearbox.There are a few people who have had success fitting BMW E46 3 series or Nissan 350Z gearboxes to JZ engines using custom bellhousing adaptors and as there are manual IS200s getting pedal boxes an things like that aren't a huge issue.
Personally I REALLY like the idea of a Lexus IS v8!!
Heaveho said:
aka_kerrly said:
Personally I REALLY like the idea of a Lexus IS v8!!
To be fair, you can have one if you're prepared to buy the later shape car. We had one. The IS-F. I'd have another....Oh an forgot to say, nice job on the Sportcross, definitely one of those cars that if you took the number plate off people would assume is at least 5 years younger than it is and I can completely understand how it is hard to find a replacement.
aka_kerrly said:
True and from what I understand they are fantastic cars but i like doing things the hard way and would end up with a IS200/300 and a LS430.
Oh an forgot to say, nice job on the Sportcross, definitely one of those cars that if you took the number plate off people would assume is at least 5 years younger than it is and I can completely understand how it is hard to find a replacement.
Ah man, we've talked it to death about a replacement, but it's worth about 2.5k. I could spend 20k and end up with a worse car! I think it's been the most reliable thing we will ever own. I've occasionally seen a lower mileage one, but there's no point when I know and trust this one. Oh an forgot to say, nice job on the Sportcross, definitely one of those cars that if you took the number plate off people would assume is at least 5 years younger than it is and I can completely understand how it is hard to find a replacement.
I've also looked at the Skoda Superb C36 estate, cheap car for big speed, but it's a size bigger than the Lexus ( and we don't need a bigger car ), and I don't know them well enough to be sure it'll stay in one piece.
Thanks for the kind comments on ours, wasn't sure if it was the type of car to generate any interest here.
This is the only paintwork issue on the car. Supposedly caused by the drainholes in the tailgate blocking up and causing the water build up to let it rot through from the inside. Not in this case however, I poked a very long cable tie up through the drainholes and there wasn't anything in there, so dunno why it's happened here.
Wouldn't be a problem to repair generally, however the tailgate's aluminium on this, not sure what the crack is if it ends up going through and needing an in depth repair. Happy to have it done, just not sure who can do it properly.
Heaveho said:
Ah man, we've talked it to death about a replacement, but it's worth about 2.5k. I could spend 20k and end up with a worse car! I think it's been the most reliable thing we will ever own. I've occasionally seen a lower mileage one, but there's no point when I know and trust this one.
Thanks for the kind comments on ours, wasn't sure if it was the type of car to generate any interest here.
I really get it, when I bought my first Lexus IS200 it was a year 2000 model from a friend of mines mother. She had owned the car for a decade and her husband (my old boss) had given her plenty of opportunities to buy a new car ( for reference whilst she was in the IS200 he has had several cars including a HSV Maloo, HSV GTS saloon and a Monaro, circa £100k in cars) so spending £20k+ on a replacement was the plan. Thanks for the kind comments on ours, wasn't sure if it was the type of car to generate any interest here.
She reluctantly agreed to go to the Lexus dealer and would you believe came away with the cheapest car on sale, a 2005 IS200 which had a quarter of the miles her existing one had!! I paid £750 for her old IS200 and had it 2 years before selling it , back to her son for £750 because my brother bought the more exciting IS200, the Toyota Altezza RS200 !!!!!
A few years ago my dad needed a car at short notice so I bought him a IS200 for £650 that had the Aero 18"alloys an TRD grill on it, I swapped those onto my IS and gave the car to my dad.
I keep saying to him I'm happy to source a new car for him and he keeps saying he will wait for the IS200 to completely fails, well it's passed it's last 3 MOTs, is nearly hitting 200k and the only components that have been replaced in 3 years are the radiator and rear brake pads.
At the moment I'm seriously thinking of buying him a mk2 IS250/300 (especially if i can find an earlier model in the lower VED band) and just turning up with it and taking the IS200 (fairly certain the V5 is still in my name haha) , i expect to get the £650 that I originally spent on it back which as far as i'm concerned makes it the perfect car 4 year stop gap car.
Yes I know what you mean when you post about your what could be considered low end/barely above "Shed" cars , have you seen the "show us your fleet" topic, jeez you'd think everyone has a dozen super cars and football pitch sized car park to put them in.
Me personally ,i can appreciate & relate to anyone who has a passion for cars no matter what they drive. In fact I'd rather spend an hour chatting about your IS300 than spend 5 minutes listening to some prat bragging about how much his Ferrari cost.
Cheers lads. Nice to know I'm not the only Lexus nerd on here! I've been a big fan of the brand since I worked for them through the 90s. Claire adores this car for the way it drives, it's quick enough, and of course, it's absolutely dependable. Out of all the stuff we own, I think realistically, it would be the hardest to replace, simply because we use and rely on it more than anything else.
We had an IS250 before the IS-F, I remember it being one of the most surprising cars I've ever driven. I've always thought you can fix most things on a car if you aren't happy with it out of the box, ie, not fast enough do engine mods, doesn't handle do suspension mods, etc. However, if something doesn't steer properly, it gets difficult. The IS250 was great, I thought the steering / ride / handling balance was really well judged , and wasted on the target market. I used to drive it really hard on twisty roads, it was just fast enough to be interesting.
The IS-F after it was way too stiff, we ended up putting 16 way adjustables on that, it did what it should after that, and stopped getting thrown off line on bumpy corners. Absolutely sensational car, one I really wish we still had.
Below is what I intend to attack today. Bloody horrible mess, frankly!
These want attention, not pretty!
[url]
The corrosion on the tailgate is barely visible from a few feet away, but it'll need dealing with, hate stuff like this. Not sure how to prevent it happening again though, there's no obvious reason for it to have occurred in the first place......
We had an IS250 before the IS-F, I remember it being one of the most surprising cars I've ever driven. I've always thought you can fix most things on a car if you aren't happy with it out of the box, ie, not fast enough do engine mods, doesn't handle do suspension mods, etc. However, if something doesn't steer properly, it gets difficult. The IS250 was great, I thought the steering / ride / handling balance was really well judged , and wasted on the target market. I used to drive it really hard on twisty roads, it was just fast enough to be interesting.
The IS-F after it was way too stiff, we ended up putting 16 way adjustables on that, it did what it should after that, and stopped getting thrown off line on bumpy corners. Absolutely sensational car, one I really wish we still had.
Below is what I intend to attack today. Bloody horrible mess, frankly!
These want attention, not pretty!
[url]The corrosion on the tailgate is barely visible from a few feet away, but it'll need dealing with, hate stuff like this. Not sure how to prevent it happening again though, there's no obvious reason for it to have occurred in the first place......
Edited by Heaveho on Sunday 19th April 10:39
Hi
Pleased to see another IS300 Sportcross. I have had a silver 2005 since April 2018, bought after a long old search. Mine was one owner low mileage too (32K), and expensive. It replaced a V6 Camry (our third) , a K11 Micra and a mildly modified G60 Corrado, and it does all three jobs beautifully!
We had the rusty tailgate too, but our local bodyshop blew in the area really well; you can't see the join. They suggested catalytic corrosion between the alloy and the steel frame. The whole car has been undersealed at Rustbusters to keep it sweet. Watch out for the lower rear seat belt mounts. They showed up regularly as fails and advisories when I was checking MOT histories, and I could see why when I took off the plastic shield at the bottom of the leading edge of the rear wheel arches. It's a good old fashioned mud trap!
I'm more that happy with the performance, but will aim to improve things as they need fixing. Just regular servicing needed so far. Look forward to hearing more about yours.
Pleased to see another IS300 Sportcross. I have had a silver 2005 since April 2018, bought after a long old search. Mine was one owner low mileage too (32K), and expensive. It replaced a V6 Camry (our third) , a K11 Micra and a mildly modified G60 Corrado, and it does all three jobs beautifully!
We had the rusty tailgate too, but our local bodyshop blew in the area really well; you can't see the join. They suggested catalytic corrosion between the alloy and the steel frame. The whole car has been undersealed at Rustbusters to keep it sweet. Watch out for the lower rear seat belt mounts. They showed up regularly as fails and advisories when I was checking MOT histories, and I could see why when I took off the plastic shield at the bottom of the leading edge of the rear wheel arches. It's a good old fashioned mud trap!
I'm more that happy with the performance, but will aim to improve things as they need fixing. Just regular servicing needed so far. Look forward to hearing more about yours.
cardad60 said:
Hi
Pleased to see another IS300 Sportcross. I have had a silver 2005 since April 2018, bought after a long old search. Mine was one owner low mileage too (32K), and expensive. It replaced a V6 Camry (our third) , a K11 Micra and a mildly modified G60 Corrado, and it does all three jobs beautifully!
We had the rusty tailgate too, but our local bodyshop blew in the area really well; you can't see the join. They suggested catalytic corrosion between the alloy and the steel frame. The whole car has been undersealed at Rustbusters to keep it sweet. Watch out for the lower rear seat belt mounts. They showed up regularly as fails and advisories when I was checking MOT histories, and I could see why when I took off the plastic shield at the bottom of the leading edge of the rear wheel arches. It's a good old fashioned mud trap!
I'm more that happy with the performance, but will aim to improve things as they need fixing. Just regular servicing needed so far. Look forward to hearing more about yours.
Hi, I believe I rang and enquired about that car you have, only to be told it was sold. Got it in my head it was a trade seller by the name of Robin something or other, but could be way of the mark, seems like a while ago now.Pleased to see another IS300 Sportcross. I have had a silver 2005 since April 2018, bought after a long old search. Mine was one owner low mileage too (32K), and expensive. It replaced a V6 Camry (our third) , a K11 Micra and a mildly modified G60 Corrado, and it does all three jobs beautifully!
We had the rusty tailgate too, but our local bodyshop blew in the area really well; you can't see the join. They suggested catalytic corrosion between the alloy and the steel frame. The whole car has been undersealed at Rustbusters to keep it sweet. Watch out for the lower rear seat belt mounts. They showed up regularly as fails and advisories when I was checking MOT histories, and I could see why when I took off the plastic shield at the bottom of the leading edge of the rear wheel arches. It's a good old fashioned mud trap!
I'm more that happy with the performance, but will aim to improve things as they need fixing. Just regular servicing needed so far. Look forward to hearing more about yours.
Interesting you had a Corrado, me too, a K plate VR6, sold in the early 2000s. V6 Camrys could have been a Lexus for how refined they were.
I've got some more stuff to do with ours, but it'll need to wait a few days, I'm working this coming week, not sure for how long. There's a place reasonably close to me doing wheel refurbs on offer for £150 for the 4 ( obvs when they can re-open now ) up to 19". The Lexus and my Boxster are both in the frame for this as soon as it can happen.
Out of interest, what were you charged to have the tailgate done?
Hi
Our IS came from a dealer in Gloucester. There was a lot of interest in it, but I was visiting my sister in Gloucester so managed to get in first. Was looking at an even more expensive one in Norwich at the same time, and now use that garage (indie Lexus specialist) for servicing. Paintwork on mine is its worst point. Both bumpers, both front wings, bonnet and NSR 3/4 had all been painted, badly. But the interior is mint and it's mechanically good, so given the rarity I settled for it and am pleased I did.
I had a broken front bumper mount and a dented/scratched inner door sill fixed at the same time as the tailgate repair, and bought a pint with the change from £500.
Enjoyed seeing the Vitesse pics on the thread. My first car was a 1962 1600cc. Only 7 years old when I bought it but needed chassis, brake, suspension repairs and an engine rebuild! Had 2 more after that and a 3litre Rover P5 -there's something about a straight six engine. Then I went VAG crazy. The Corrado was last in a line of Mk1 Golf GTi, Mk2 Golf GTi, Mk 2 Jetta GTi (best handling of the lot), a Mk 2 Scirocco GTi, and finally the G60, with a couple of Audis, a Type 2 camper and a Beetle thrown in.
Our IS came from a dealer in Gloucester. There was a lot of interest in it, but I was visiting my sister in Gloucester so managed to get in first. Was looking at an even more expensive one in Norwich at the same time, and now use that garage (indie Lexus specialist) for servicing. Paintwork on mine is its worst point. Both bumpers, both front wings, bonnet and NSR 3/4 had all been painted, badly. But the interior is mint and it's mechanically good, so given the rarity I settled for it and am pleased I did.
I had a broken front bumper mount and a dented/scratched inner door sill fixed at the same time as the tailgate repair, and bought a pint with the change from £500.
Enjoyed seeing the Vitesse pics on the thread. My first car was a 1962 1600cc. Only 7 years old when I bought it but needed chassis, brake, suspension repairs and an engine rebuild! Had 2 more after that and a 3litre Rover P5 -there's something about a straight six engine. Then I went VAG crazy. The Corrado was last in a line of Mk1 Golf GTi, Mk2 Golf GTi, Mk 2 Jetta GTi (best handling of the lot), a Mk 2 Scirocco GTi, and finally the G60, with a couple of Audis, a Type 2 camper and a Beetle thrown in.
cardad60 said:
Hi
Our IS came from a dealer in Gloucester. There was a lot of interest in it, but I was visiting my sister in Gloucester so managed to get in first. Was looking at an even more expensive one in Norwich at the same time, and now use that garage (indie Lexus specialist) for servicing. Paintwork on mine is its worst point. Both bumpers, both front wings, bonnet and NSR 3/4 had all been painted, badly. But the interior is mint and it's mechanically good, so given the rarity I settled for it and am pleased I did.
I had a broken front bumper mount and a dented/scratched inner door sill fixed at the same time as the tailgate repair, and bought a pint with the change from £500.
Enjoyed seeing the Vitesse pics on the thread. My first car was a 1962 1600cc. Only 7 years old when I bought it but needed chassis, brake, suspension repairs and an engine rebuild! Had 2 more after that and a 3litre Rover P5 -there's something about a straight six engine. Then I went VAG crazy. The Corrado was last in a line of Mk1 Golf GTi, Mk2 Golf GTi, Mk 2 Jetta GTi (best handling of the lot), a Mk 2 Scirocco GTi, and finally the G60, with a couple of Audis, a Type 2 camper and a Beetle thrown in.
I've got it into my head yours is the one I rang up after. Done that a few times and got nowhere though! I reckon ours had had both bumpers painted, but they were quite well done, to be fair. Our IS came from a dealer in Gloucester. There was a lot of interest in it, but I was visiting my sister in Gloucester so managed to get in first. Was looking at an even more expensive one in Norwich at the same time, and now use that garage (indie Lexus specialist) for servicing. Paintwork on mine is its worst point. Both bumpers, both front wings, bonnet and NSR 3/4 had all been painted, badly. But the interior is mint and it's mechanically good, so given the rarity I settled for it and am pleased I did.
I had a broken front bumper mount and a dented/scratched inner door sill fixed at the same time as the tailgate repair, and bought a pint with the change from £500.
Enjoyed seeing the Vitesse pics on the thread. My first car was a 1962 1600cc. Only 7 years old when I bought it but needed chassis, brake, suspension repairs and an engine rebuild! Had 2 more after that and a 3litre Rover P5 -there's something about a straight six engine. Then I went VAG crazy. The Corrado was last in a line of Mk1 Golf GTi, Mk2 Golf GTi, Mk 2 Jetta GTi (best handling of the lot), a Mk 2 Scirocco GTi, and finally the G60, with a couple of Audis, a Type 2 camper and a Beetle thrown in.
I've never had any cars older than 80's stuff, the one old car I'd really like is a Gordon Keeble, but that ship's sailed now financially. Probably could have afforded one 5 or 6 years ago and did try, but it wasn't to be.
I only had the one VW, as mentioned, and after a steady diet of Toyota Corolla GTIs ( 4 in a row ), the VR6 was sadly an unreliable horror show that mullered me financially at a time when I could have done without it. It glazed No.6 cylinder and would foul the plug with oil every few days. It came apart, and went back together with just about every item within replaced or rejuvenated. It was ok engine wise after that, but the constant list of seized calipers, handbrake cables, sunroof motor and broken rails, abs sensors, etc, etc, left me cold after Jap reliability.
The saving grace was that it was sensational to drive, one of the most memorable cars I've had in that respect. But unquestionably I've never had a less reliable car ( yet ).
They are brilliant cars, I had an is200 that I piled around 70k miles on in 18 months travelling all over Europe, didn't miss a beat. Oddly the headunit still worked very well too. Sold it in Crete to a US serviceman that was stationed out there in Chania. It's apparently still going strong.
Wife passed her test in my LS430 and decided she wanted a blue car. We looked at lots of blue cars and found a forlorn looking 18 year old at the time is200 for sale for £1500. (That's cheap for a LHD) straight to the bodyshop to have most of it painted, new interior to get rid of the dog smell. (£2500 including buying the car) ran it for 2 faultless years until she sold it for £4000.
LS430 is still with us, Look at replacing it every year. Never bother as getting something as good would involve finance. Said LS430 never goes wrong. Shall run it into the ground
Lexus/Toyota products genuinely are amazing, It goes to show that car ownership can be stress free with no unexpected breakdowns. (Except the air suspension on the LS that was binned /decomissioned when 2 shocks failed and replaced with OEM traditional shocks from the states and a set of RSR-Down springs)
Wife passed her test in my LS430 and decided she wanted a blue car. We looked at lots of blue cars and found a forlorn looking 18 year old at the time is200 for sale for £1500. (That's cheap for a LHD) straight to the bodyshop to have most of it painted, new interior to get rid of the dog smell. (£2500 including buying the car) ran it for 2 faultless years until she sold it for £4000.
LS430 is still with us, Look at replacing it every year. Never bother as getting something as good would involve finance. Said LS430 never goes wrong. Shall run it into the ground
Lexus/Toyota products genuinely are amazing, It goes to show that car ownership can be stress free with no unexpected breakdowns. (Except the air suspension on the LS that was binned /decomissioned when 2 shocks failed and replaced with OEM traditional shocks from the states and a set of RSR-Down springs)
I've seen one of these in the same colour kicking around durham, always stands out to me as my mate had an altezza and i always thought an estate one would be a decent daily.
Interesting youve had an ISF, i've hankered after one for a couple of years now and last time i changed my car there was typically none of interest. I ended up with a Golf R estate, which is brilliant, but i still hanker for that ISF!
Interesting youve had an ISF, i've hankered after one for a couple of years now and last time i changed my car there was typically none of interest. I ended up with a Golf R estate, which is brilliant, but i still hanker for that ISF!
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