To buy IS200 or not...?

[spwolfx]

Hi Guys!

Well, first I want to thank you all for having nice place for IS200 drivers in Europe... it is fairly hard to find proper info on the Net for IS200.

Here is the story - I work for Toyota dealership in Europe... my next car HAS to be either Toyota or Lexus. I was actually thinking about getting 2003 Celica TS , however I would have to wait for 6 months to get one, so there is no way in the world I could do that...

There is no other Toyota that I would like to get right now, so I am looking into Lexus - IS 200 6M (base) seems like a good deal... its easier to park than Celica, and smoother to drive... it is actually completly different kind of car, but it might even suit me much better anyway.

Ok, so I do like the specs, seems like the car is loaded in base form - GPS is of no use to me, and for parking I will need as big ground clearance as I can get - usually I will need to park on sidewalks which are 10-15 cm above the ground... so base looks pretty much like it. I dont care that much for speed itself - 9.2(?) seems allrite to 100, as long as car handles well - my usual top speed would be around 120-140 km/h, since I live in mountain area... so I would be going from 80 to 140, which IS200 should handle just fine?

Ok, few questions:

- Hows the fuel consumption?

- Does the car handle fine? (Some papers say it does, some say it does not, pretty confusing)

-Is there any reason I should get anything but base version, since GPS is of no use, and I need higher ground clearance?

-Whats the best color for the car? I used to live in the states, so to me gray looked pretty tight, since every1 had silver thing going on ;-).

- Anything else I should know about car, that you guys noticed and it might annoy you? Or something that you like a lot?

Thanks a lot for helping me in my decision - It will be hard for me to test a car properly before purchase, so I need as many opinions as possible. Lexus's are really, really rare around here, there is one RX300 in the city, but no1 knows what is it ;-). So thats a big plus... and discount is another :P

thx!

[javadude]

Hi spwolfx - welcome to the club.

The fuel consumption is poor for a 2 litre but that's because of the 6 cylinder engine and short 6th gear. Combined figures are 29mpg but I get 26mpg. But I don't care - it's so nice to drive.

The car handles great! Someone at work has driven a BMW 318i and an IS200 as his company car and said that the handling of the lexus was much more involving.

In the UK most people buy the SE as the base model only has 6 spoke 16" wheels, no leather, no sunroof etc. But I bought a base model second-hand so that I could get one with less miles on for my money. I don't miss the extra spec, except for those lovely 5 spoke 17" wheels!

Silver is best for not showing dirt, scratches and stone chips but it is a bit common. Blue and black look stunning but are a pain to keep clean.

I sometimes wish it was a bit faster and now that I'm used to it I think I'd like to make the suspension a bit more sporty plus add some nice 17" alloys. But apart from that I LOVE IT - buy one you won't regret it!!

[spwolfx]

thanks a lot javadude....anyone else plz?

thanks

[ricky_is200]

Got for it! You won't be disappointed. The fuel economy isn't that great, but the engine is very smooth and much more powerful than the 0-100kph figures suggest.

I think the SE is worth going for, not just because of the alloys but because of the other useful spec, more powerful stereo, sunroof, electric seats, nicer trim etc. I don't know how this translates to european spec. What country are you in?

I like the blue colour, but its personal choice. Blue is not that difficult to keep clean, especially compared to black.

The car does handle really well.

Nothing about the car annoys me, except perhaps it would be nice if it was a little bit quicker.

[spwolfx]

its Austrian spec lexus - for sport, I would have to add 4.7k Euro and Executive, 8.2k Euro... definetly not worth if you ask me, rather use that money for compressor, which should be crazily good thing for IS200

[spwolfx]

btw, base here gets 17" wheels ;-)

[javadude]

btw, base here gets 17" wheels ;-)

:(

I did get a quote for these in 17" today though....just need to save some pennies and wait for my tyres to wear down...

[Claire G]

Go on, you know you want to get one really :D

[spwolfx]

last thing - only thing that concerns me is the looks - it looks like it will look outdated in 2-3 yrs? or? You guys see them a lot more than I do...

[sholao]

There is talk of a new model in 2005.

I don't think the look will be that dated in 2-3yrs time, in any case that would be a good excuse to upgrade! :D

Go on have one.

[Steve]

I think the IS will be one of the last types to look outdated... Take there rear light clusters... These lights have become one of the most fashoinabe accessories that other car after market parts companies sell.

Even the front lights show alot of attention.

[sado]

Originally posted by javadude

In the UK most people buy the SE as the base model only has 6 spoke 16" wheels, no leather, no sunroof etc.

for those lovely 5 spoke 17" wheels!

First of all as a new member i want to say hello to everybody here!

As about the wheels here in Greece the base model has 5 spoke 17" standard and not 16" like in UK. Strange... :)

[javadude]

:(