What Would You Do?

[Rory]

my situation means although I can afford to run my Lexus, money is tight and I have toyed with the idea of selling for a smaller car on many occasions, but to be honest, despite its many cosmetic flaws (as detailed in another post which I will copy to here if people are curious, although it isn't relevent) I have become very attached to the car, and having driven many other cheaper alternatives, the feeling when in my lexus always seemed to outweigh the potential saving on fuel, (cars auto and I tend to do short journeys, so the cheaper options mean I can get double mpg, maybe more, and it all adds up)

would keeping the car off road for around a year do it any harm?

as silly as this sounds, I didn't feel the same driving a golf/focus etc compared to the lex, but it wouldn't bother me half as much as if I still owned the lex, albeit in storage

(does that all sound really sad?)

any help is greatly required...?

[Asi]

if you really in the need of money sell it and buy another one when you get funds.

[Rolex]

i had the same thought, keep the lex and have it as a weekend car and just get some cheap diesel powered euro box to do your daily driving and have it as a weekend luxury. No point in selling it as you will just miss and regret having and will more then likely end buying another one and loosing more money then if you kept it in the first place.

[kam05]

I'd keep the 200 if I was you.

Its not worth as much as you think it is, therefore I suggest you run until it dies (being a Lexus it will run for ages yet). I assume you can afford to fuel it/tax it/insure it/maintain it?

I have a 2000 model IS200, to me my car is now cheap motoring- costs me fuel, maintaince, tax, insurance etc, I have no finance on my car. At 8.5 years old with 120k on the clock my car is worthless to a trader/dealer, so I've decided to run until it dies then replace it. Besides if I did ever sell my IS200, I'd only want another IS200 or 300.

As my car is reg'd before March 2001, I pay "cheap" road tax @ £185. If the gov't are still going ahead with the VED cost based on co2 level, then this would put any IS200 reg'd after 01/03/01 in the £400 bracket. The last I heard on this was that the gov't has put this on hold (for now), doesn't mean that they won't implement this idea 6/12/18 months down the line.

Edit: I read your other post about the cosmetic flaws. I would get these flaws fixed and carry on driving the IS200- its a great car, you would miss if you sold it!!!

[DJ Wozza]

whatever solution you find, I hope you manage to keep the Lexus matey :)

[Saraj]

i was hoping to keep my lexus for a long time, but was really stuggling financially, when i wrote it off and got payed out i had an oppurtunity to buy another which i took, but with the mindset of going back one day when i can afford

[kev dood]

I have had similar dilema's too.

Currently still thinking the car is really nice and am keeping it. After all, you could change it for some euro shed but the constant repair bills will add up to far more than the higher fuel bills you now pay.

Plus, they are not worth so much, so you could sell it but would then have to put more money up to get something else. Overall, its cheaper to keep it.

But, saying that, its no use whatsoever for a 6ft3'r so run with 2 young kids/babies. So thats probably when I will have to get rid of it - a sad day that will be. Probably by a classic 205 gti then though - nice.

[Rory]

yeh i've decided i'm going to buy a cheap car that is cheap to run, so i'm gonna look for reliable alternatives, and the lex is staying with me too, tucked away safely so it won't cost me a penny, I can afford the running costs of the lex, but i'm only just scraping by at the moment so might aswell transfer the running costs to a cheap car until I have a better income, then go back to the lex, and it saves me the hassle of selling it now and looking for the right one again when the time arises