Should I Lexus?

[backtothe80s]

Nice and simple question. (Cool pic to follow)

Love my rover 75 dizzle. Really need to scratch a Lexus is200 itch.

Am I looking for trouble.?

Oh and generally my name to most is Lex. So yeah Lexus.

I know they're not super quick for a straight 6 2.0l or great on fuel.

Input and owner experience greatly appreciated

[Woofwoof]

Had one as a company car back in the day ('99), a Sport version and it was truly excellent in every department. Yep, hard on juice (25 mpg rings a bell) and only o.k. power wise but I never felt it was under powered for a 2.0L.  The chassis felt like it could handle 300 bhp rather than the 150-160 it came with.

A great car and was far nicer than the equivalent 3 Series including build quality and spec.

Go for it!

[mercedeslimos]

mega popular here as cheap drifting machines. Gearboxes a bit weak supposedly, many get broken to provide boxes for drifters. Mate has an IS300 and it's better on juice (227bhp opposed to 157bhp) and not slow. The six sounds great with a notch chopped from the exhaust just before the back box (just saying ) we have a 75 estate and it's one of the best cars we have ever had, the dash of the Lexus just annoys me for some reason, but seats comfy alright. Would you get an Altezza? AS200 is 2.0 non-turbo, RS200 is 2.0 turbo (both Celica engines basically) and they do a Beams one which is popular over here, and they are north of 200bhp.

[Sweetpea]

I'll admit to being a Toyota freak. I've never not had a Toyota or Lexus in my little fleet. I am badly biased...

I had an IS200 Sport from about 2001 for 7 or 8 years. I loved it. I still see them and lust after them. Fond memories.

They always got a bit of a slagging for being a bit under powered but it's more about fun in the twisty bits and revving the nuts off it than raw power. Apparently some people test drove them and were disappointed because they were expecting a luxury barge and the IS200 isn't. It's a fun little civilised sporty car. For the first year I was constantly hitting the rev limiter 'cos it was so smooth and, unlike any other car I'd driven, it didn't back off as the revs picked up. It just goes and goes and goes and you suddenly crash into the limiter and head butt the steering wheel.

What goes wrong?
I had a bit of plastic under tray break and flap about on the bottom of the car. I had a stuck front calliper which was annoying. The CD player was getting very grumpy. It wouldn't play disks for 20 mins until the cabin warmed up. And it was starting to crunch a little between first and second. I've heard others do that so I wonder if synchro is a little weak on second.
And that's it. The car had about 100K miles when I sold it.

If I'd had space I'd have kept it as my toy. But I didn't have space and it went and I still miss it.


For the record I replaced it with an IS250 auto. The IS200 was a lovely civilised car. The IS250 makes it look like a tractor. The 250 is quieter, quicker, goes round corners faster... In every possible way it's a much better car. But it's soooo boring. The IS200 was always capable of putting a smile on my face.

Still, this was a long time ago. God alone knows what they are like now. I saw one in Bristol last week. It looked a bit sad and 'chavy' to be honest. Badly fitted body kit, crappy exhaust, scruffy replacement wheels, a few different colours... Your problem might be finding one that's been looked after.