Witts180

Thanks to everyone for their comments. The car I'm interested is this one: http://www.performance-point.co.uk/itemdetl.php?itemcode=24 which from browsing looks like a good deal price-wise. I went to view the car last Friday and it was at the valeters; was told that pics would appear when it was in stock, so I've only seen the paperwork so far which looks to be very comprehensive. A look at the MOT certificate revealed that the owner has it MOT'd by the same guy who has done my cars for several years.... a quick call to him revealed that it's in nice nick. Coincidentally my car goes in for it's MOT this week (fingers crossed) so I will go back to see the IS in the metal if all is well. Scorps01: I take your point. 5 minutes looking at Autotrader brings up all kinds of 3-series BMWs that I personally think are over-priced for what they are, although the flipside as you quite rightly say is of course lower depreciation. But why do you think depreciation on an IS will be especially bad? Speaking personally, the next car I buy will be one I keep for a long time; all cars depreciate horrendously at the moment and in the big scheme of things £5k isn't that much for a car and I would rather have something I will enjoy and cherish than worry about every last penny. Even a 51 plate car will be one of the oldest in my works car-park... so many people I know have gone out and got something like a Peugeot 207 that's a couple of years old on finance and thay're losing more money on depreciation than I ever will (yet they still "ooh" and "aah" at my 14 year old Honda that's worth about a grand)! Interestingly my MOT guy isn't keen on BMWs at all, he says that he MOT's loads of them on 51/02ish plates that are basically worn out.

Thanks for welcome and the replies so far! To be honest I couldn't tell you exactly what MPG I currently get in the Prelude... I do the same 25 miles per day round trip five days per week, which is about 5 miles in stop-start traffic and 8 miles on a steady motorway and I put in about £22 per week. That takes me from just about half-full to just about empty. My car ownership history isn't enormous thanks to keeping my first car (2 litre Capri) for over ten years. Then followed a 1989 Honda CRX; when I was considering moving from the CRX to the Prelude I was warned about the thirst of it but I haven't found it to be too bad as I haven't been putting noticeably more fuel in it than the CRX on the same commute. Unfortunately I doubt that the Capri or the CRX were particularly miserly on petrol so I'm asking the question because when people talk about the relative thirst of an IS200 it'd be handy to see what cars they are comparing it to. Kallabungo, your comments worry me slightly, although I can see where you're coming from with your last few words...

Hi all. First post on the forum from me. I will do a quick introduction to my circumstances so you can see where I'm coming from before I ask my question. I have browsed this forum before and been really impressed with the depth of knowledge on here and the sharing of tips etc. I currently own a 1994 Honda Prelude 2.2 VTEC; it has been a fantastic car although with a new baby the time has come to go for something a bit more practical. I have hung on to the Prelude for a while as I have always struggled to find something with similar levels of comfort, performance, equipment etc without spending (for me) a lot more money. I did consider a BMW 3 series as my partner drives a 1998 318i Touring and to be honest it's a nice enough car... unfortunately having been to view a couple of 2001-2 saloons I completely failed to get excited about them. I have just been to see a 51 plate IS200 Sport - 43k, full history etc and of course it is very well specced and, to my mind, a better prospect than anything comparable in its class and also seemingly better value than a 3-series. I have read the sections on here about what to look for which has been invaluable. On to my question then... fuel economy seems to be an issue that comes to the fore when discussing these models. Has anyone here (bit of a long-shot) ever gone from a Prelude 2.2 or similar to an IS Sport - how does the economy compare? I have to say that I have always been impressed with the economy of the Prelude, I commute about 25 miles a day round trip and in a short space of time it's a mix of inner city stop-start traffic and a motorway junction or two. The Honda is four cylinders, 197 bhp with a five speed box. Lexus is of course smaller and has less bhp but has two extra cylinders but an extra gear... is it naive to think the Lexus will be more economical? Or, could you tell me what your previous car was and how the economy compares to your Lexus? Many thanks in advance for any assistance with this and thankyou for taking the time to read my question.