What Made You Buy An Is200?

[MinxyBubble]

Well i have only recently bought my IS 200 and thinks its great. I bought mine through reccommendations from a friend and my husband who is a Jap Car nut!! He told me Japenese Cars are built very well and are realiable which i needed due to my last 2 cars being disasters!! Its classy, looks good, drives well, has great interior, comfortable seats and turns heads! However, im used to having cars that have a lot of power down the bottom end of the revs e.g Golf GTI... it took a while to get used to the torque not being as good and the power not really kicking in until it reaches 60-70mph. Best car ive ever had thought by far!!! :-)

[kenfoxy]

What, better than a Golf GTI! What will all those road testers on Top Gear of 5th Gear say.

[MärkJ]

I just needed a solid, reliable workhorse for everyday use. My initial gut feeling was to go for the 3 series but they're so common on the road today and I always like having something a bit different. The IS ticked all the right boxes and has been the most reliable car I've ever owned (150K miles on a single cambelt says it all). It handles fantastically and is a real joy to drive. I opted for the IS200 over the 300 mainly because I'm a natural born stick-thrower and for use as an everyday car I needed to get as many miles to the gallon as was possible. A lack of power wasn't really an issue for me as I have an '88 Pontiac Trans Am as my weekend fun car.

[steveboiboi]

because its rwd, love the looks, they have potential for fine looks and there jap

[MorrIS200]

I bought my lexus after having two Astras. I wanted something a bit more up market. It was between the Is200 and an 2.5 jag X-type sport. I atually tried to by the x-type but he had sold it the day before i had cleared my funds so i then went and found my Is200 and am pleased to say i have not looked back. Although i do see a jag now and then and think hmmm maybe next time.

[ninzor]

We were mostly looking at Audi's because before the Lex we had an Audi and we loved it.We decided that we had to get a new car and we've been looking around for more than half a year since that.

We had a rental 2008 GS300 and we absolutely loved it and so did everyone else.After looking at a bunch of Audi's we didn't find anything that exciting, then we remembered the GS300 and decided to look up GS's.Since a S190 didn't fit in our budget and I hated the looks of the S160's front, we gave up on GS's.The headlights made me think of Mercs and I hated twin "sad-eye" setup.

We found an ad about a mint IS300 with just 60k-km on the clock and decided to go and see the car.When we got there it was very disappointing because it seemed like it had done a lot more than 300k-km.The seats looked like crap and paint had come off the dash.Since we had just 2 days to finally make our decision, we had to hurry up.

The IS300 was in a dealers yard with 4 other dealers right next to it we decided to see every car in every yard.After seeing them all we only liked 2 Corolla Verso Linea Sol's (what a silly name).While we were chatting on a yard a mint 4-door manual Mitsubishi Colt was driven in the yard and we went to have a look.The dealer demonstrated the car to us:60k-km on the clock (probably more like 80k-km), mint interior, very clean engine, not a even a sign of rust.Even the looks weren't disappointing and the seats were comfy and the interior was really spacious (especially in the back) for such a tiny car.Only thing we didn't like was the 1.5 turbo diesel which was gutless (largest diesel available for the Colt).Others liked it, I wanted to look around for more.

Though the Colt was a mint 2007 model with 60k on the clocks and the largest engine available, it didn't quite buy me.Since we liked the Corollas we decided to look for more.We went to see a silver 2003 model with 120k-km on the clock and an auto box.It was quite nippy but didn't feel like "just what I need".I couldn't negotiate with the owner to lower the price since the interior wasn't perfect, paint had some scratches and the brake pads were almost fully worn out.It was owned by a young couple and it seemed like they hadn't serviced the car (not even the most basic things like oil or brake pads for their own safety).That's why we looked up another Corolla - 110k/km on the clocks, cherry red, auto, etc. - Pretty much the same from the outside, just a different color.We took it for a test drive and it was much more nippier (though it had the same engine, tranny etc.), changed gears faster and smoother and felt better in general like a Toyota should.It did have few scratches and slashes in the interior.Compared to the Colt it was longer, not so new or nice looking (my opinion), had more mileage, higher fuel consumption, a lot less legroom in the back etc. , but it was nippier, it was auto (though I've driven manuals all my life it was quite comfy).The seller obviously saw that we were interested and didn't want to let the price down, so I told him we need more time to decide after seeing a few cars, so I'd call him if I had made up my mind.

We were very disappointed by the IS300, but I loved the look and the specs of it.There weren't any more of them for sale at that point, so I decided to look up IS200's.Infact I found 4 that I liked.I tried reaching the owner of a black fully spec'ed SE with Navi, but he didn't pick up through the whole day (it was Sunday).Oh well, it was his loss anyway.

Then we went to see some Honda Accord's.They looked stunning, were reputable and they were Honda's.But they just wasn't what I was looking for.The drive felt good:The car was nippy and handled great, but something was just missing.

I kept thinking of the black GS300...But we couldn't afford the newer one and I didn't like the older one, other Lexus's were out of my budget and IS's had been disappointing.I was pretty sure we were going for the Colt, but I wanted to see and drive a decent IS.I called an owner of a 2004 dark grey auto box IS200 and set a meeting in 30 minutes.On pics the interior looked nice, so did the car - looks were absolutely stunning.We arrived first and when he came, we heard the brakes making a strange noise and saw that the badge was missing (no pic of the front on the ad).After a while I had checked out the car:the interior was slightly dirty, but not damaged.The engine, gearbox, driveshaft, differ, etc. looked very-very good.There was some rust under the bonnet but that is a really-really common thing on Toyota's - Just like it'd be a feature of some sort.The badge on the grill was missing because the owner had driven into a wooden stick that stuck out from the rest of a pile, so only the badge had snapped.The brakes were making a strange noise because they were almost brand new and the car hadn't been moved for about half a year.There was some barely existing scratches and the alloys were slightly corroded + the car was a bit dirty, so I managed to negotiate a bargain without him washing the car (I love washing cars).He surprised us with that he was a neighbour of my mates' brother.We took a quick drive around the town and returned and I thought for a while.We took another ride on the motorway and then it was decided - We'll take it.

The next day we payed off his lease and bought the car, the day after that we got it registered.Oh, and it came with brand new winter tires, which were great.

What I like about the IS:

Magnificent looks

Reliability

Gizmos

Performance

Specs:R6, RWD, etc

Great sound system from factory

Toyota's free recalls.

What I don't like:

The rear seats don't fold down.

A bit strange throttle (could be just me, but I'm getting used to it.The snow button cures it though)

Though I've been driving manuals all my life and I love manuals more than autos any time, I do like the auto box on the Lex.

PS:Pretty much every owner of a BMW or a Merc here is classed as an arrogant ****** with a criminal lifestyle, bad taste in cars and clothes + low education.

Audi's or Lexus's reputation suits me and I wouldn't get anything else just because of that reasons.

[BrianT]

My brother took us out in his IS300, it felt very nice.

We had had a windfall and decided to change our car.

He had told us of the really good dealers at CHESTER and on a Saturday they clean his car so we went to have a look.

We prefer automatics, as my wife is short and manuals are often nearly behind her once she puts the seat forward as far as possible.

However when she sat in the 300 she felt it was too big and as she does most of the driving in it that ruled out the 300. (I drive a classic mini as my daily driver.)

So the choice for us was the 200, the 250 was too new and out of our price bracket.

It was not easy to buy an automatic IS200 when we found one it was always sold; felt that this was a good sign so carried on looking.

Eventually Lexus Lincoln shipped a car from Lexus Wolverhampton for us to look at.

My wife is really enjoying it and I at 67 do not need fast acceleration or high top speeds, I find the automatic so calm compared to previous cars - volvo, puegot, volkswagen.

Even when we were young we were careful drivers with our right foot, we had a Lancia HPE and got 27mpg which nobody believed. So the consumption issue people have with the 200 does not grate with me.

[Hank B]

My brother took us out in his IS300, it felt very nice.

We had had a windfall and decided to change our car.

He had told us of the really good dealers at CHESTER and on a Saturday they clean his car so we went to have a look.

We prefer automatics, as my wife is short and manuals are often nearly behind her once she puts the seat forward as far as possible.

However when she sat in the 300 she felt it was too big and as she does most of the driving in it that ruled out the 300. (I drive a classic mini as my daily driver.)

So the choice for us was the 200, the 250 was too new and out of our price bracket.

It was not easy to buy an automatic IS200 when we found one it was always sold; felt that this was a good sign so carried on looking.

Eventually Lexus Lincoln shipped a car from Lexus Wolverhampton for us to look at.

My wife is really enjoying it and I at 67 do not need fast acceleration or high top speeds, I find the automatic so calm compared to previous cars - volvo, puegot, volkswagen.

Even when we were young we were careful drivers with our right foot, we had a Lancia HPE and got 27mpg which nobody believed. So the consumption issue people have with the 200 does not grate with me.

The 200 and 300 are exactly the same size, they are the same car just with different running gear? Do you mean she felt the engine was too big? Or do you mean that you tried the GS300? Sorry I'm not trying to be wide, just that, well the IS200 and 300 are the same size.