Thinking If Getting An Older Is 200 For My Missus

[Andy1001]

Only had my Mk1 GS300 for a week or so, but I'm very pleased with it already. My only gripe would be the fuel economy, but hey-ho I knew about that before I bought it, the ride quality, power, etc is better than any other car I've ever had. I've had a BMW, Rover 75, Honda Legend amongst others over the years, none of which compare to the Lexus.

Anyway I'm thinking of replacing my Missus ageing Honda Accord with an older IS200, around 99 to 02 ish. How do they compare to the GS300's, what are the better models/specs to go for and what should I be watching out for?

Thanks.

[rincewind]

Hi,

I've had a 54 plate IS200 for 6 years now - very happy. Mine's now done 81k and honestly feels as fresh as the day I got it at one year old and 10k. The wheels will probably be the 5 spoke ones, which have a habit of corroding BUT are only £65 exchange each at a lexus dealer (that includes fitting). Water pumps can go, and at anything over 70k the brake discs should probably have been changed. The timing belt MUST be changed at 60k or 6 years. Watch out for clutch judder due to the dual mass flywheel - most do it to some extent, mine only does it slightly and not very often. Gearbox whine in the lower gears is a known issue and mine also has this but only to a minor degree. There is also a known issue with a knock on the offside front suspension leg(there's a thread on her about it) which can be difficult to resolve.

Apart from that, they are pretty much rock solid and leave BMW's, Merc's etc trailing for robustness. Paintwork on mine is still factory fresh - I gave it a good detial a few months ago and here's the result:

My car

Get one with full Lexus SH if at all possible, there are quite a few low mileage ones around when I last looked.

[Andy1001]

Thanks for the reply, very helpful.

[RayKhan]

Be careful thats what my wife wanted and we ended up with an SC430

[rincewind]

Sc430- blimey!

I've decided to keep my IS200 for a couple more years and then get a year old GS450h - one of the new ones that go on sale next year, probably the new GS-F Sport. Lexus have finally hit the mark with the looks of this new GS, IMO.