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Toying With The Idea Of Buying A Lexus Is200


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Hi guys, as the title explains I am thinking about buying a Lexus IS200 Manual. My current car is due 4 new tyres and tax so its either buy a new car or fork out the money and keep my current car.

I have always wanted an IS since I was a young child, they have always taken my fancy and nowadays the idea of a 6-speed rear wheel drive saloon is very tempting. The only issue I have is fuel economy.

My current car (MG ZR 1.4) returns between 39-43 MPG and takes 40-45 Litres to fill up, for that I can easily get 400 Miles.

I'm told to expect 29 MPG with an IS200 Manual during normal day to day driving, not going to lie but loosing 10MPG could get rather costly.

What do you guys tend to get MPG wise when you drive normally?
And how drastic is the MPG drop when you give it a boot full?

With my MG if I give it the beans I only tend to loose 50Miles of range from a full tank.
I just don't want to be stuck with a car that's going to cost me and arm and a leg to fuel.

Many thanks in advance guys.
Regards Nat

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Hello mate, is200 is a beautiful car as u know! & im glad u said ur getting the manual, because i made the mistake of getting an auto, & as smooth & silky as the gear changes are..it hurts my pocket lol! & i have been told the manual is a lot better on fuel, in the auto i get about 20mpg..which lets face it, is pretty poor! Lol but in the manual u will deffinately get 29-32!! Hope it goes well for u!

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its easy.. workout out if you can live with 21mpg for town driving and 29 mpg for combined motorway/town driving and go for it if you can. but please don't make the mistake of thinking you can extract 1.4 litre mpg out of 2 litre 6 cylinder engine.

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its easy.. workout out if you can live with 21mpg for town driving and 29 mpg for combined motorway/town driving and go for it if you can. but please don't make the mistake of thinking you can extract 1.4 litre mpg out of 2 litre 6 cylinder engine.

Oh don't worry, I don't expect to get anywhere near the same economy of my 1.4 out of a 2.0 straight six.

I just have this nagging feeling that in terms of economy I would be better off with a BMW 320 or even a 325 as these both seem to have slightly better MPG figures.

However the Lexus is just a much better car to look at and is a bit more leftfield.

I found these figures on autorader:

Urban mpg 21.4 mpg Extra Urban mpg 36.2 mpg Average mpg 29.1 mpg

Is this pretty accurate or should I expect to see worse fuel economy?

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Hi Guys,

No getting away from the fact that it is a thirsty car... I get approx. 300 miles on a tank (60L) and that is all urban/city driving. If I do a long trip & blitz the motorway, I'll get closer to 400 miles. A BM would be more economical for sure. The car is lovely though, had it from new and in its 10th year - seen no trouble (apart from a Battery and windscreen washer pump). So think of in another way - at the end of the day, consider the only ongoing outlay for running the car, in addition to service, MOT, Ins & TAX, is fuel. Reliability is priceless, eh!

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Mine is an auto and I get 100 miles out of £30 shell V power, Central London driving. Does it get thirstier as it gets old? Mine is 2001 with 140K miles on it.

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Hi and welcome to LOC.

I never managed more than 25mpg in 2 years of ownership with my IS200 manual day to day driving (town+ motorway mix)

My average according to my fuelly account was 24.something mpg.

Maybe touched 28 a couple of times on long motorway runs.

This is not a fuel efficient car.

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I have always liked them from i kid also. I caught up with a old school buddy not long ago and he wasnt suprised i got one as he remembers i always used to look at them back in 1999, 2000 etc. I wanted one at 23 but couldn't afford the insurance so at 25 i made the plunge, a little bday present to myself lol. funnily enough my previous car needed new tyres all round which and i thought the same thing, either spend £200 on tyres or get a IS200. wasn't a very hard decision for me lol. I was a little worried about MPG but i only do 6k a year so i thought what the heck i can afford it.

I have the auto, i get 300 - 325 miles before the light comes on from mostly town driving which is about 22mpg, i can get 450 - 500 on a long run very easily. Basically these cars are best suited to the motorway, A and B roads, not that i care i do mostly town driving in my IS200 auto hence why i have a auto.

Not sure why you would think a BMW 320 and 325 would be any better both 6 cylinder engines. maybe 1 or 2 MPG better but probably no different plus less reliable.

Anyway based on everyones input on MPG figures im sure you can figure out how much more your fuel bills will be. the tank is 75L btw

Anyway welcome to the forum and keep us posted :)

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I bought my 2001 IS Auto when it was about 3 years old, never ever dreamt of keeping it this long but I can't let go of it! It's never gone wrong apart from routine and wear and tear. It really is a great car, still looks good and the amount of people that say wow how quiet is your car. You can't beat the smoothness and sound either.

Downside, it cripples me at the pumps, I get about 100 to 120 miles out of £30 at £1.30 a litre with a mix of roads and driving. Mine has 111k on the clock. I will never sell it now as it's not worth much, it's worth much more to me than it is in money.

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Just clocked up 100k. MOT in December and sailed through. 100k service yesterday - done by a mate who works for a prestige marque. Whilst in the servicing bay he gets lots of positive feedback on the looks and standard of build of this awesome car. All I've done is put on tyres when needed. Replaced discs and pads on front, pads on rear and a water pump in that time. I bought the car in 2010 with 40k. Service every 10k. Still a great car. Fuel consumption a bit higher than some of the other cars I have owned, mostly 2000cc. I am happy with the whole package overall! Good luck on your search for your IS200 - check out the 'What to look for' threads on this friendly, helpful and informative Forum.

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Thanks for all of your input guys, I think I have made my mind up and as I car I really want one.
I just need to work out if I can afford to run it as a daily driver or not.

Many thanks Nat

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Njathind, i purchased my IS SportCross last January. He is my daily driver. I have an average MPG of 31.7. I do drive delicately, but have given it the beans a couple of times.

400 miles from a 70 litre tank is achievable, but that's nearly £90 a time. WiM alignment is a must, £115, as are low resistant, eco, tyres, i paid £438 for 5 Hankook Types from Lexus Cardiff. They were the tyres I wanted and Lexus beat the prices of the internet places.

Car tax is a£280 a year, unless you get one that is March 2001 or older, at which point it is £225.

I Love this car.

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Just remember that there are no effective ways of making the IS200 more economical, so don't waste money on pointless nic-nacs like Induction Kits, Exhaust modifications, Filters etc all of which claim to improve mpg but do not and don't stand up to proper testing. The only ways to minimise fuel consumption are the usual - correct tyre pressures, everything running properly, brakes that do not bind etc., and keeping the weight of crap you lug around down to a minimum. Most importantly learning to drive it like a smooth six and not like a stolen Fiesta on a track day.

Enjoy it. The IS200 is a great car and set new standards.

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I've had mine for 3 weeks. From a full tank fill of 55 litres, i covered 307 miles, which works out at around 25mpg. I still had just under a 1/4 of a tank left. That was all town driving, work, errands etc. Hope this helps.

Insurance wise, I found it around £180 cheaper than a BMW E46 318i, Merc CLK230, Alfa 156 2.0.

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I usually get just over 300 miles to a full tank and that is all town driving, its much better when I do long distances.

I have an 02 IS200 Aero sport with only 46000 miles on it, I think manual would be the better option :)

I'm having to sell mine as i now have a company car and we are saving for a house :( Gutted as i have always loved them and would love to keep it!

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Hello mate, is200 is a beautiful car as u know! & im glad u said ur getting the manual, because i made the mistake of getting an auto, & as smooth & silky as the gear changes are..it hurts my pocket lol! & i have been told the manual is a lot better on fuel, in the auto i get about 20mpg..which lets face it, is pretty poor! Lol but in the manual u will deffinately get 29-32!! Hope it goes well for u!

I found the complete opposite, Could easily get high 38 or more on a long run,

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I averaged out at 33mpg over the 7 years I had my IS200SE.

Sounds bad but the flip side was that nothing went wrong in those 7 years (apart from a side light bulb blew). Factor in the lack of any repairs and they are one economical car. (The driving mix was probably 80% motorway @ 80 mph / 20% town crawling). Hope this is of use.

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Being quite a new owner of an is200 and having had economical diesel cars for the last few years I can honestly say the fuel economy shock for local town driving is horrendous, it has taken me over a month of justification to myself that this car is an okay choice. If MPG is a concern and a priority then I'm sorry to say but this isn't a good choice, don't get me wrong I really like my is200 and I'm begrudgely happy to pay a little extra at the pumps to have a luxury branded car and the mileage I do it's just lovely on the motorway. Be realistic to yourself and your finances I struggle to get over 22mpg around town!!!

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It seems to be urban driving that kills mpg. After 6 months of ownership, my average is 34mpg and I get 420-450 miles till the light goes on. But I rarely drive in the town. Best is 36mpg, never had less than 31.

I'm a fairly brisk driver but no speed freak. Remember it's the brake pedal that costs fuel, not the loud pedal (unless you hammer it). Just don't slow down for corners - no need to in an IS!

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It will be a year in next month since I bought my 2000 IS200. Its really an awesome car - so awesome that although I bought to be a "weekend car", it became my primary car and I have decided to sell my other car as I just never use it anymore. I spend 90% of my drive-time in bumper to bumper traffic and according to fuelly.com, I average 25.7mpg. My best was 27.7mpg and my worst was 24.5mpg. Even if it does cost me a bit more at the pumps than a modern car should, the feeling I get whenever I drive it makes it all worth it ;-)

Go on - get one ;-)

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