The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - Is200

sineda31 · October 9, 2014

Hi guys. Long time no see. Last time I posted something here was because I had some weird screeching noise coming from the right side of my car. The noise is long gone, I suspect it was due to my new Mintex discs which were possibly rubbing on the back plate. I kind of ignored it because three garages including Lexus in Leicester didn't know what it was. The noise just seized to exist after a month of driving.

So my review is as follows. I've had the car since April 2014 and already covered 9k miles in it. The IS200 build quality is amazing; there are no faults with the car and it drives like new - touch wood. The car feels very premium, mind you my 2005 SE model has all the extras installed: 6 speed manual transmission, satnav, sunroof, leather heated seats, all electric (even the boot), limited edition gun metal grey rims, etc. The car doesn't eat any oil which is good, however because it is quite heavy and has 6 cylinders it eats quite a lot of petrol, then again if you're worried about fuel then this isn't a car for you - and c'mon, the engine note is music to my ears. I do feel that it's underpowered as 157bhp isn't enough for me to overtake someone without having to panic all the time. I think that it could have been perfect without an extra cylinder, with higher gear ratios on the manual gearbox and at least 200 horses onboard. Its traction control is beyond amazing, it thinks for you and corrects you very well. I have reached its highest speeds... Will not mention what speed but it was very-very close to the end, and it didn't feel scary at all, the car felt very solid on the road with the premium Pirelli tires.

Now the sad part. My Lex has been damaged by idiots (as seen in pics) who shouldn't be allowed to drive on the roads. It is so bad that I had to buy a dash cam so that I could catch the b*****ds who hit and run - this happened several times; it's disgusting to come back to your car and see the damage on it which was anything from leaving a dint in the supermarket, to driving off and scraping my bumper real nicely. Another sad news is that I will need to downgrade myself to a small car as my wife needs to learn how to drive and we'll be buying her a car and myself one; this means saying goodbye to my IS200 as I can't afford to keep three cars in the family. I will be very sad saying goodbye, as the car was amazing and I am not sure how I'll cope with something of less luxury. One negative thing to note is that the IS200 is very hard to sell. People want to pay you below its market value and everyone seems to be afraid of petrol.

Horse Pop · October 10, 2014

Sorry to hear about idiots damaging your car!

asharb123 · October 11, 2014

Hi, sorry to hear about and see the damage to your car. It is really frustrating how some people have no respect for other peoples property, the things they have worked hard for. I always park my car away from everyone else and sometimes the furthest spot from where I need to go and then find someone has parked next to me and even then they have not kept a reasonable space and parked close to my car. Its like there is a whole car park and the only place you could find was next to me. Were you feeling lonely???

Your car is a lovely colour, our first IS200 was that colour and my wife still says her favourite IS. Have you thought about buying an older IS? Or keeping this and just getting a runabout for your wife as she is learning?

When you own a car like this it is hard to find something else that compares to it interms of quality and refinement let alone the extra's that are standard. I've thought about changing cars but cannot find a comparable with all the extra's. The only car that comes close is the Skoda Octavia in Laurin & Kelment spec, but they are mainly diesels.

No one wants to buy a car with a big engine it is not unique to Lexus.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

sineda31 · October 12, 2014

Hi, thanks for the replies guys. Honestly, the exact same thing always happens to me - I park miles away in the car park and someone needs to park right next to me when the whole parking lot is empty. Now I know why people with expensive cars park sideways or on two lanes, it's because of the idiots who can't drive.

I have decided that I'll part with this car for the time being. My next car needs to be an IS-F, so better start saving up!