Potential Is200 Buyer - Help Needed

[ChrisR]

Hello

Right, i'm new to this site and also new to Lexus's. I must say that of all the owners club websites around for various cars, this must be one of the most professionally put together and user friendly ones i've seen, so well done to whoever's responsible!

Like I say i'm new to Lexus's. I'm only 22 and in a month or two am planning on buying a new car. I've got 8-10k to spend (possibly a little more) and at the moment the best car I can think of for this money that combines looks, performance, image, comfort, low(ish) insurance and reliability is the IS200.

Its the first time i've spent more than about £3,000 on a car so I want to really get a bit of knowledge together first, so here goes:-

1 How crucial is it to buy an IS200 with as low miles as possible. Obviously service history is the main factor but in general are cheaper cars (some as cheap as £5500-6000) with higher mileages (80k+) best avoided?

2. Should I insist on full DEALER service history?

3. I'll want to lower it and fit new wheels (probably 18s). Should i therefore not worry about getting the model with 17s and lower suspension as this'll be binned anyway?

4. Is the (Sport) model with lower suspension still not low enough? (i.e. will 18s look daft unless you lower it more?)

5. One slight reservation is the performance which appears to be good but not blistering (9+ secs to 60) How does the car respond to minor tuning. (exhaust, induction, remap, etc...) I can't afford any supercharger/turbo conversions.

6. Is there a huge expensive service/cambelt change at a certain mileage?

7. How many cars come with leather? (if so what colour leather is available)

8. How good is the standard stereo system?

Answers to these questions and any other useful info would be hugely appreciated.

Many Thanks

Chris

[SteveL]

Hello

Right, i'm new to this site and also new to Lexus's. I must say that of all the owners club websites around for various cars, this must be one of the most professionally put together and user friendly ones i've seen, so well done to whoever's responsible!

Like I say i'm new to Lexus's. I'm only 22 and in a month or two am planning on buying a new car. I've got 8-10k to spend (possibly a little more) and at the moment the best car I can think of for this money that combines looks, performance, image, comfort, low(ish) insurance and reliability is the IS200.

Its the first time i've spent more than about £3,000 on a car so I want to really get a bit of knowledge together first, so here goes:-

1 How crucial is it to buy an IS200 with as low miles as possible. Obviously service history is the main factor but in general are cheaper cars (some as cheap as £5500-6000) with higher mileages (80k+) best avoided?  Not particularly, these things can handle high milage well, a few members (Wosket, Lexus Jim....) have done over 100k and they still run sweet. Not sure of impact on resale value, but i'm sure one of the more knowledgeable members will answer that

2. Should I insist on full DEALER service history? Ideally Yes. Most people on here also keep that service history up. But I do believe it's in the pipeline for Prolex-Uk to soon offer a service option for those not wanting to use the dealers

3. I'll want to lower it and fit new wheels (probably 18s). Should i therefore not worry about getting the model with 17s and lower suspension as this'll be binned anyway? Try to get the either a sport or an SE because of all the other extras above the S model. You can always see about selling the 17's on here or on ebay anyway once you upgrade.

4. Is the (Sport) model with lower suspension still not low enough? (i.e. will 18s look daft unless you lower it more?) Most people like to lower there cars. A multitude of options are available from springs through to coilovers. Have a search around for reviews of all the different types

5. One slight reservation is the performance which appears to be good but not blistering (9+ secs to 60) How does the car respond to minor tuning. (exhaust, induction, remap, etc...) I can't afford any supercharger/turbo conversions I havent done anything to mine yet, so unfortunately i can answer that, but i'm sure someone will

6. Is there a huge expensive service/cambelt change at a certain mileage? Change is at 100k i think, a for cost, again i'm not sure

7. How many cars come with leather? (if so what colour leather is available) I think that the S seats are cloth, and the SE and sports are a leather and alcantra combination, but i stand to be corrected

8. How good is the standard stereo system? Personally I feel that its fine, however some members have uprated theirs, and done extremely nice installs. Again, have a quick search as it's been discussed quite a bit recently

Answers to these questions and any other useful info would be hugely appreciated.

Many Thanks

Chris

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Hope this helps. I'm sure someone far more knowledgeable than me will be along to answer your questions in greater depth.

It also may be worth having a look through the buy and sell forum, as some very nice cars have been up for sale recently. SteveaudioX's srpings to mind as one hell of a bargain

Oh, and welcome to the club! B)

[javadude]

High mileage is ok. The cars, including the engines, are pretty reliable and long lasting.

Definitely insist on full dealer service history if you ever plan to sell the car.

SE has 17s, Sport has 17s and is lowered. Up to you. You get much more than this like sun-roof, half leather etc so you might still want an SE or Sport. If you really want to go cheap and just get something as a base for modding then go for the S. Thats what I did. I went with darker tints than standard on the Sport and wanted different wheels anyway etc. For not much money my car looks individual and better than standard SE and Sport.

Sport isn't lowered by much (15mm). Most people lower it by at least 30mm (eg Eibach springs). Some feel the gap at the rear is still too much and go lower with coilovers.

You can get the car a bit more responsive through exhaust, induction and piggy-back ecu. I've not done it yet so someone else could advise better. It's not lightning fast as standard but the handling, smooth acceleration and 6 speed box mean it's more enjoyable and feels faster than the figures suggest. Search and you'll find plenty on these sort of mods.

40k service is big (£300), 60k service bigger (£600). Dunno when the cambelt change is.

The SE and Sport come with half-leather. I think the LE comes with full leather. Not sure though.

The standard stereo sounds very good. The CD player can be unreliable so make sure you buy one which has had it changed. Replacing it is not straight forward without replacing the speakers and amp. I think the S is meant to be easier to swap cause it doesn't have the wierd speakers and seperate amp. I'm no expert though so best use search and find what others have done. There's no aux in either so most use a tape adapter or fm modulator to get an MP3 player into it.

[Kazi]

High miles are fine if you have fsh history. The engines in my mind and I don't doubt that they will be good for at least 250k miles.

As for the stereo, its probably the best standard system you will get in any car for the same money.

As for tunning upgrades seek advice from Dave @ Prolex.

Welcome to the LOC. :D

[Zee007]

Firstly - welcome to our club! :D

I'll try and answer your questions on the tuning front.

Firstly - Sport over SE. The 15 mm drop was only available after 2001. Prior to that it has the same ride hight. With a sport, you get your lip spoiler, LSD, tints, alloy scuff plates/pedals etc. So think about that.

With 18's, defo go for 30mm Eibachs or something with a similar drop. Anything less, and I don't think you'll be happy. Also consider roll-bars which will help reduce the considerable roll whilst cornering.

Exhaust will add around 8hp. A drop in air filter (like TRD, Tom's or K&N) is a good option (£50 for a couple of hp) rather than an induction (which don;t really add much). Re-maps I wouldn't bother with unless you've done some serious tuning.

Best bang for buck? Has to be the supercharger.

All cars come with Leather/Alacantara.

Big service is 100k for cambelt.

And the standard stereo is bloomin awesome....

Good luck - and let us know how you get on...... :zee:

[Kazi]

Anybody know how much the 100k service is? Just curious.

[R1nG@]

Think the 100k is about £650 with the cam belt change.

BTW fella mines for sale :winky:

Click here

[aido]

Firstly - Sport over SE.  The 15 mm drop was only available after 2001.  Prior to that it has the same ride hight.  With a sport, you get your lip spoiler, LSD, tints, alloy scuff plates/pedals etc.  So think about that.

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Zee - didn't Besty do some digging ages ago and it turned out that the pre 2001 Sport models were lowered by 10mm?

It's not much but I'm always arguing about small sizes with the women :P

[Zee007]

Firstly - Sport over SE.  The 15 mm drop was only available after 2001.  Prior to that it has the same ride hight.  With a sport, you get your lip spoiler, LSD, tints, alloy scuff plates/pedals etc.  So think about that.

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Zee - didn't Besty do some digging ages ago and it turned out that the pre 2001 Sport models were lowered by 10mm?

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Quite possibly - can't remember....

[chib1177]

the only bit of help im worthy of providing is that the plural of lexus is lexii not lexus`s :P

welcome to LOC

[aido]

Just thinking about the high milers, the only one I saw blow was Chris Shipley's car and that didn't have 14k I don't think when it went - mine's approaching 80k now and still the same as it was when I got it (except quicker and noisier for some reason ;) )