star a

i have silver alloys, but the extrovert in me is thinking gold, much to the alarm of the 'good-taste society'.

hi, it's been about 4months since my is200 sport made way for my new WRX so i thought i'd do a little comparison, the WRX has just had it's first 1000m service so i can rev past 4k now, it's the 2.5 uk spec euro imported model. Ok so build quality, the lexus is in a different league regarding interior quality, the subaru is rattle free, but feels very flimsy, the quality of the carpets and seats are disappointingly poor compared to the lexus. The finish of the dashboard & console look cheap in comparison. The sound system is also cheap and nasty and requires at the very least new speakers, the bass is appalling. The paintwork of the subaru, although ok and a nice colour mica blue, it is almost entirely mildly 'orange peel' but is acceptable. So, predictably, the lexus is waaaaaay better fit & finish quality. performance and handling, well, the WRX is simply awesome. the acceleration is unbelievable, and i don't think i've lost traction yet, even on wet roads, the handling is very flat and predictable but can be choppy on low speed undulating surfaces, and that gorgeous flat-four burble, i usually drive with the stereo switched off just to listen to it. (i had a turbo-back TSL grpN exhaust fitted, as the standard exhaust was near silent). so do i miss the lex, well yes i do, and ideally would have another as a main car, with the WRX as a weekend motor, but i wouldn't part with the subaru, the performance is simply too addictive........................

unless the clutch is obviously slipping (you would definately notice), it is unlikely to be the clutch, i would bet on a cat breaking up, causing obstruction in the exhaust.

the 3s-ge engine is available only in the toyota altezza (the jap version of the lex), there were 2 engine options in the altezza, the 1g-fe (altezza AS200), and the 3s-ge (altezza RS200), go for the latter

i just sold my '02 sport for £6600, the mileage was 91k hence the price, but if you are willing to go for a high miler, then the price drops quite significantly. i would look out for general body condition, as this is the best indicator of how a lex has been treated, mechanically there are no issues with this model, however, some have had 'quirks' with their gearboxes, ranging from a mini-like whine, to stubborn first and second gears, this does not mean there is anything wrong or that the problem will get worse, it's just a characteristic, also check for uneven tyre wear as the is200 is apparantly geometrically setup slightly 'off', Tony at www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk is the man to see about this easily and cheaply solvable problem, just allow at least £100 per tyre if they are worn and need replacing.

Winnie, with all due respect, what you have just said is not only incorrect, it is libelous, i am one of the BT engineers who work in joint boxes, BT's cables are ONLY run in BT's joint boxes, no other telco company has access to BT external plant, BT have no access to other companies external plant (only NTL refer to them as pits, is this where you got your info?) NTL have their own seperate network, and own joinboxes, BT's quality standards are world class, i should know as every joint entry is logged (as is every repair point of intervention), we are audited on our work, any quality failure is a disciplinary offence, if an engineer left an open joint, as you suggest, they would be in serious trouble, and even face dismissal. So i object strongly to these accusations, and libelous statements.

wow, awesome write-up, but you are forgetting the all important winning reason for x-box360...................................HALO 3 (apparantly)

if the dudes i'm getting my new motor off didn't drag their ******* feet so much, i wouldn't have to pay £400 next year either. :tsktsk:

tis a nice motor, i also like the way he name-drops his evo when there is no need.

phew!

band G is 226g/km and above, the is200 is 233g/km so it is band G

it hasn't been mentioned yet, but binding brakes, or handbrake can severly affect your economy, jack the car up cold, and give each wheel a spin to make sure the are spinning freely.

the company i work for has the largest in-house fleet in UK, all the vans were all transits, but the contract has now been undercut by vauxhall so the transits are gradually being replaced by vivaro's, the vivaro's are apalling, the build quality is dire, the turning circle is a joke, and they totally unreliable, the cost saving at purchase has been lost by the reliability issues (not so much the repair, as usually are warrantied, but the lost man-hours), also we have a quite a high number of damaged engines due to water being sucked in through the low air intake.

looks like the data inputted on hpi is wrong by one digit. If you was a dodgy car sales guy, you wouldn't put a 300k motor to 30k, you go to 80 or 90k, also italian cars don't do that sort of mileage without major problems, you'd see the high mileage evident in excessively worn drivers seat bolsters, worn smooth steering wheel, and either a resprayed bonnet, or loads of stonechips, also look at the headlight glass, as this gets chipped too, and takes on a opaque-ish look when hundreds of microscopic chips are there. and besides, to do 60k a year it'd have to have been a minicab. You must bear in mind where HPI actually collect their data from for mileage, it is DVLA on V5's sent in by change of ownership, also electronic MOT's also record it, it can also be collected from computerised service schedules. The most accurate way to check is to look at old MOT's to give yourself some idea of yearly mileage.

Kazi is right, the clicking is the solonoid on the starting motor, and the noise is normal with a flat battery Yes the should know, in case they don't though, you need a '005L' this refers to the size and position of the terminals and is a standard amongst battery manufacturers.