New Member No Car Yet! Ownership Advice.

Altezza Boy · August 30, 2007

Hi all,

Been lurking on the forum for few weeks now, and may I say what a great site here for all things Lexus! Don't own one 'yet' but been lusting for an IS200 since it was introduced into the UK back in 1999, still remembered back then, taking me 1st Corolla for a service in a Toyota Dealer and popping over to the 'Posh' side of the showroom to check out the IS200. In those days, Lexus were still sold along side with with Toyota!

Now that the new IS is out, prices for the old early model are now very tempting indeed! Currently driving a 03 Corolla, so boring indeed......so in the next few months, will persuade the wife that a nice cheap classy posh Lexus will look very nice on the driveway! With a young family , the Misses will not be happy for me to spend £££ just to change the Corolla for a Lexus IS, but I have told her that will 'only' be spending around £1K plus say £5K for PX the Corolla, therefore a budget of £6K car! For that kind of money, it will mean a high miler with 80K plus and that may mean high bills to come, and that is worrying me! I know with proper full service history and properly looked after cars, there shouldn't be too much problems with reliability, but mechanically, expensive parts may need replacing in the future.

So what advice u guys can give me and also the best place to buy a car. I have been checking on Autotrader for months now to get an idea on the prices and looks like most are for sale in the smaller independant garages, whereas cars from Lexus Delaera are far too expensive! Anyway, thanks in advance for your tips and comments relating IS ownership.

Cheers.

Unregistered_User · August 30, 2007

Hi there and welcome to the LOC,

I wish you all the very best with your search and if you're looking for tips and things to look out for, search for posts I made back when I first joined as I asked many at the time.

You could also check here for info on what to keep an eye out for:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/knowledge...p;id=41&c=5

All the best and hope you find the right IS for you, to add that remaining half to your membership on LOC :D

Jamie

Bulldog · August 30, 2007

Welcome m8

Heres a nice IS sport for good money :) http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...=43964&st=0

It has all the bits so you wont need any exterior mods :)

Blag the wife abbit and see what she says :)

Rikos · August 31, 2007

Hello mate and welcome to the club (not fully but almost). In regards to the expensive parts, i've found that the parts for the IS are no more expensive then my old clio. You just have to know where to look!

I'm sure you'll find plenty within your budget but if you would like a lovely example with all the right mods then you should consider Bulldog's IS, it is really nice.

Good luck with the search though mate.

Altezza Boy · August 31, 2007

Hello mate and welcome to the club (not fully but almost). In regards to the expensive parts, i've found that the parts for the IS are no more expensive then my old clio. You just have to know where to look!
I'm sure you'll find plenty within your budget but if you would like a lovely example with all the right mods then you should consider Bulldog's IS, it is really nice.

Good luck with the search though mate.

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Already starting to read most of the topics in the forum on the IS and sure lots of useful info there. As I said, the search for a nice example will only go ahead when we have the funds to do so, the Misses already talking about a short break somewhere warm during Christmas, so looks like the search will not happen now for this year!! But u never know, if the right car comes along, then will definitely go for it.

Bulldog IS Sport sure looks nice, but too expensive for me though. I am looking for the IS SE model and get someone to tint the back windows! One question I want to ask is that I have seen IS Sport being advertised but the car hasn't got the tinted rear windows(back /rear passenger windows) but has the rear standard spoiler on the boot! So is it a Sport or just a S/SE model?? Cheers.

Altezza Boy · August 31, 2007

Hello mate and welcome to the club (not fully but almost). In regards to the expensive parts, i've found that the parts for the IS are no more expensive then my old clio. You just have to know where to look!
I'm sure you'll find plenty within your budget but if you would like a lovely example with all the right mods then you should consider Bulldog's IS, it is really nice.

Good luck with the search though mate.

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Already starting to read most of the topics in the forum on the IS and sure lots of useful info there. As I said, the search for a nice example will only go ahead when we have the funds to do so, the Misses already talking about a short break somewhere warm during Christmas, so looks like the search will not happen now for this year!! But u never know, if the right car comes along, then will definitely go for it.

Bulldog IS Sport sure looks nice, but too expensive for me though. I am looking for the IS SE model and get someone to tint the back windows! One question I want to ask is that I have seen IS Sport being advertised but the car hasn't got the tinted rear windows(back /rear passenger windows) but has the rear standard spoiler on the boot! So is it a Sport or just a S/SE model?? Cheers.

Almost forgot, totally off topic though, my brother just bought himself a Toyota MR2 MK1, looks reallynice considering it's 21 years old! It has 12 MOT on it, but he wants to take it back to a Toyota Garage for a checkup/service, told him better off going to a good independant, so any you guys know a good reputable garage to take the MR2 for service in the Greater manchester area, well any where in the North West??

Rikos · September 3, 2007

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Already starting to read most of the topics in the forum on the IS and sure lots of useful info there. As I said, the search for a nice example will only go ahead when we have the funds to do so, the Misses already talking about a short break somewhere warm during Christmas, so looks like the search will not happen now for this year!! But u never know, if the right car comes along, then will definitely go for it.
Bulldog IS Sport sure looks nice, but too expensive for me though. I am looking for the IS SE model and get someone to tint the back windows! One question I want to ask is that I have seen IS Sport being advertised but the car hasn't got the tinted rear windows(back /rear passenger windows) but has the rear standard spoiler on the boot! So is it a Sport or just a S/SE model?? Cheers.

I would say that if it hasnt got the rear tinted windows then it is probably an SE or S. Due to it having the spoiler on i suggest it's an SE.