Hey All, Just Joined (not An Owner Currently)

[hsyasin]

Hey all,

Have been thinking about which car to buy next. Having previously owned a mitsu galant 2.5V6 version(absolutely lovely + torquey + solid car).. and currently have an 03 2.0 accord (also lovely + solid)..

Now, still miss the mitsu, coz that was extremely reliable, even with all electronic bits and bobs, and being a 1998 with 170k on the clock, touchwood never missed a beat, but at that time wasn't into diy..

so, God knows why.. went for a 2 litre accord, coz loved the way it looks(don't get me wrong, mitsu was a beautiful in my eyes, the only bit that sometimes nagged me a bit was it was an auto and i always liked manual transmission)..

And owning an accord even after 2 years, still miss all that power from my mitsu, but honda does give me really good mpg if I'm being a decent driver (rarely)..

Since owning an accord, i somehow got into doing diy on it and became quite involved, after joining accord owners club, looking at diys and doing my own diys. From what I've seen is, jap cars r quite diy friendly and r ultra reliable, barely go wrong.

Personally, really like the looks of audi a6, but reliability wise, they r in the drain.. so that options crossed for me.

But would like to know, how good is lexus, diy wise, running cost wise and reliability wise.

Of course, if anyone has had an accord before and now a lexus, a comparison would be perfect..

[Bluesman]

Hi Hammad and welcome to the LOC, we are a
friendly bunch and some of us even know how to pull them to bits and
put them back together again, with of course the one bolt and washer
left over. Regards Mike.

[James Trendall]

I've just bought a 2002 IS200 and the running cost for fuel is very good (Fill your Nike air's with helium) On the drive home (Motorway) i was getting 40-60Mpg averaged around 50 most of the way. Now i'm home i'm getting 30+.

If i drive it "normally" the gauge drops down to 20ish but still not bad for the car.

Since i've only owned the car for 3 days i cant tell you anything about reliability and what not but they look fantastic. they feel and drive like a dream and they soak up bumps IMHO.

Regards James.

[hsyasin]

wohaow, I'm surprised that not many members have tried to persuade a change from honda.. or maybe honda is the most reliable and cost effective

While reading thru some specs for a 2ltr accord and lexus, i was quite surprised/disappointed by the fact that even lexus being 6cylinder rather than 4cylinder(accord), is still slightly less powerful and consumes way more fuel than the accord

The reason i started thinking into buying a lexus was, 6cyl engine, and i thought more cyl mean more power, maybe I'm wrong..

[James Trendall]

I feel that Bluesman has been taking hostage by our Robot overlords.

Unfortunately the Is200 may have 2 extra cylinders but dosnt quite give the same power. If you're looking for more power with the looks of a Lexus try looking for a manual Toyota Altezza. Its the exact same car but with 4 cylinders and 200+bhp.

That being said tho if you supercharge/turbo the Lexus you get a good 200+ bhp. I'm looking in to an Eaton M62 charger from a merc as they're pretty cheap i just need a cradle fabricated (Zip ties wont cut it lol)

That being said tho yesterday my IS200 pulled like a train from 50 all the way to 120 very quickly and with ease. (Private road) Lexus has the luxury. If you really want a car that's RWD, luxury, high bhp, low maintenance then try looking in to an RX8. I've been looking and apart from engine problems if not looked after they seem to run nice with lots of power from a tiny tiny engine and BIG BIG turbo.

[Spacewagon52]

I have owned 7 Mitsubishis - 5 of them Galants. If petrol costs are not too much of a concern I think you would be very pleased with an LS 400/430. If you want something a bit smaller then the IS 250 would float my boat!

You will not be disappointed with the reliability and there are plenty of super "experts" on here who will guide you to repairing common faults as the car ages.

I would be very surprised if you regretted a move to Lexus.

[hsyasin]

ls400/430 :o , 4.0ltr, hells yes petrol costs r of concern... the bit that i'm not really happy about is, that being a better car than honda, why is it less powerfull in the same engine size.. and hondas r very reliable, and possibly cheaper parts, if anything needs changing and easily maintainablt/diyable.

on an honest side, i dont really like ls looks, i like the looks of is from 99 to 2010 and gs in the same period(sorry a bit picky about looks)

[Cracksta]

I'm a convert from Honda (Civic Type R) to Lexus!

Apart from the IS-F, you wouldn't buy these for speed alone, its the luxury, all round performance with reliability is why you want to own one.

Do not buy the Mazda RX8, there is a reason why they are dirt cheap now, just do a quick google on it.

[Spacewagon52]

Inclined to agree about the RX8. If they have not been properly serviced there are potentially big bills ahead! EVEN if the vehicle HAS been service at a Mazda dealer it depends on how it has been driven. Any short journeys seem to knock hell out of the engine and increase bore wear.

That is why they are relatively cheap.

[Bluesman]

ls400/430 :o , 4.0ltr, hells yes petrol costs r of concern... the bit that i'm not really happy about is, that being a better car than honda, why is it less powerfull in the same engine size.. and hondas r very reliable, and possibly cheaper parts, if anything needs changing and easily maintainablt/diyable.

on an honest side, i dont really like ls looks, i like the looks of is from 99 to 2010 and gs in the same period(sorry a bit picky about looks)

The Honda may need parts that are cheaper than Lexus but the LS doesn't need any spares. In 5 years I have replaced a number plate bulb. Go LPG Mike

[Spacewagon52]

I would be surprised if the fuel consumption for the 2.5 V6 Galant is much less than the LS 400/430 - 5 mpg?

[noby76]

wohaow, I'm surprised that not many members have tried to persuade a change from honda.. or maybe honda is the most reliable and cost effective

While reading thru some specs for a 2ltr accord and lexus, i was quite surprised/disappointed by the fact that even lexus being 6cylinder rather than 4cylinder(accord), is still slightly less powerful and consumes way more fuel than the accord

The reason i started thinking into buying a lexus was, 6cyl engine, and i thought more cyl mean more power, maybe I'm wrong..

more cylinder does not neccesarilly mean more power. more cylinders will help deliver power more smoothly and engine wont feel strained. the lexus consumes more fuel due to having an older engine design compared to the K20 found in the accord of that era i thought the IS200 makes around the same power as the 2ltr accord? were they not 155bhp?

[hsyasin]

yes, u r right, accord's k20a6 produces 155 while had a look online and is200 produces 153.. not a big difference, but i was expecting with 2 more cylinder, i would get atleast 160 but not less, and the mpg is in the drian compared to the accord...

I think is200 has the same or slightly less mpg compared to my galant (that had an exciting 2.5v6 in it), as i remember a freind had an is200 and told me it was less than mine..

in fact, IF driven nicely, i used to squeeze out around 32mpg from the galant.. with the accord, IF driven nicely has given me around 40mpg (problem is i dont drive nicely)

with the accord, i can see why more mpg, coz they've cunningly put vtec abive 5k rpm range(which i really hate, but does save fuel), so u dont really get much low end torque.. but still drives reasonably good..

hence mostly i sit around 5k, and it does love to be revved

[hsyasin]

I've done everything for the accord myself, and i think its doing slightly more than what it should be doing now(maybe wrong)..

but a friend of mine(was saying so much to the accord coz of his past experience) now has a 520d, very nice and powerful, said he also drove his friends newish diesel accord, and he said that accord r not good cars, not very nice to drive and consume alot of fuel.. but then when i took him for a drive in mine he was literary.. F** yeah, this is one sweet accord, and he did drive it on way back and was quite impressed with the drive, its a fun to drive car..

I really like cornoring and now after tweaking it slightly this car gives me much more confidence while cornoring at speed..

[hsyasin]

oh one thing, just popped in my head, maybe i'm wrong, is200 is rear wheel right?

how does it handle in snow?

[Cracksta]

Front engine, rear wheel drive are the worst in snow in terms of traction but most fun.

the IS200 is front engine, rear wheel drive, my is250 has a snow button, i think it just pulls using a higher gear than normal to avoid slipping.

Regards to your car choices, if your current car suits you well then there is no need for a change. You seems to prefer performance over luxury, if so I would recommend the honda civic type r or similar kind of car. Way more fun than an accord (my dad has one and keeps using my car when I had it)

[hsyasin]

yes i agree, but what i really prefer is a family/performance car..

something like accord type r(not widely available here), or if i've money, gs300 or gs250...

[hsyasin]

u urself have is250, should be hell of a car, right

[hsyasin]

by luxury, most people mean that they shouldn't feel any bumps on the road.. but, what i would like to have is comfortable ride, but with full road feedback, so i know what i'm driving on..

I mean the accord is in no way uncomfortable, but with lowish profile tyres and slightly firm suspension, u get nice road feedback, plus can go around a cornor really well.

[noby76]

or for more performacne i will say move to an IS300 instead of the 200 its an auto but its quicker and torqueir than the 200. if you dont like the standard handling that can always be improved. or go for the 2.4 Accords they come with some luxury features as standard and have the performance of a 2.5 6 cylinder of that era. i considered one to replace my IS300 but picked up a V8 GS instead.

[steve2006]

Apparently the LS400 engine is sought after for Mazda rotary engine replacements.