Lexus IS300 sportcross
Discussion
Hi, we've had an '04 plate for 6 years or so. It was bought with 22k miles on, and has done another 60k with us, a mixture of long trips from Newcastle to Southampton and back with a lot of short trips at either end. I used to work for Lexus, so know what to look for.
There are probably 3 things that ever go wrong, none particularly serious. The in dash cd changer will break. That's a given, they all do without exception. We replaced ours with a DAB double din JVC which has been great. The water pump will possibly let water out through the pressure relief valve, again quite common, but not something to regard as that big a deal, it's something to be replaced when the timing belt is done. The other issue is bottom ball joints, groaning steering is the giveaway here, but the parts are fairly cheap. This is probably the one of the three that is best caught and dealt with early, the potential's there for a collapse, but it will be obvious when it starts to happen, and pretty easy to fix. Iirc, the very early ones ( '02 plate ) had dodgy ignition barrels that could collapse internally, and require replacement, however this was remedied by the time ours came out. They're relatively thirsty, but it's obviously a large petrol engine......
They're quite sensitive to tyre choice, pressures and alignment, I changed to Goodyear Asymmetrics with good results. They're very, very reliable. We're half heartedly talking about replacing ours, but in reality there's nothing wrong with it, and most things will fall short of it as an ownership prospect for the things we need from it. It's only worth about 3k. Personally I'd be happy to run it for another 3-4 years,but it's my wife's car, and ultimately it'll be her decision.
I would recommend it, it's an easy and pleasant car to drive a long way in, just not interesting. I have other stuff for that purpose though!
There are probably 3 things that ever go wrong, none particularly serious. The in dash cd changer will break. That's a given, they all do without exception. We replaced ours with a DAB double din JVC which has been great. The water pump will possibly let water out through the pressure relief valve, again quite common, but not something to regard as that big a deal, it's something to be replaced when the timing belt is done. The other issue is bottom ball joints, groaning steering is the giveaway here, but the parts are fairly cheap. This is probably the one of the three that is best caught and dealt with early, the potential's there for a collapse, but it will be obvious when it starts to happen, and pretty easy to fix. Iirc, the very early ones ( '02 plate ) had dodgy ignition barrels that could collapse internally, and require replacement, however this was remedied by the time ours came out. They're relatively thirsty, but it's obviously a large petrol engine......
They're quite sensitive to tyre choice, pressures and alignment, I changed to Goodyear Asymmetrics with good results. They're very, very reliable. We're half heartedly talking about replacing ours, but in reality there's nothing wrong with it, and most things will fall short of it as an ownership prospect for the things we need from it. It's only worth about 3k. Personally I'd be happy to run it for another 3-4 years,but it's my wife's car, and ultimately it'll be her decision.
I would recommend it, it's an easy and pleasant car to drive a long way in, just not interesting. I have other stuff for that purpose though!
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