micker35

Hi guys, Potential bargain alert!! Does anyone know of or recognise this car. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-LEXUS-IS-300-SP...=item25592aeaeb Cheers, Mick.

Hi Rory, I know this is well trodden subject but when you get chance, can you post some MPG stats. I think I'm right in thinking that you previously had an IS200 so I'm really interested to see how your IS300 stacks up against your IS200. Cheers, Mick.

Russel-H, congratulations on your purchase. I'd say that, in my opinion, the 300 ticks more boxes than the 200. The biggest box has got to be exclusivity. I don't see a 300 from one month to the next. However, as some of the other contributors have said, high fuel prices and high road tax will keep this car's trade-in value low. Seeing that the 300 was discontinued in 2006 (I think) and that any vehicle that has a CO2 figure over 225g/km but was registered before 23 March 2006 can only be taxed at band K (currently £215 / year), the road tax is high but not frightening. However, after the May election, it quite believable that the Government are going to try to price cars like the 300 off the road. I've been hunting for the ideal IS300 Sportcross for ages but I think I'm going to wait until after the election before I take the plunge. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Yates-Is200S, I think, from reading previous posts about the IS200 alarm, that if you press the door lock button on the keyfob twice, this will deactivate the motion sensing part of the alarm. It's obviously not a solution but it's got to be better than disconnecting the alram. Cheers, mick.

Thanks for the quick replies fellas! I'll give the car some serious consideration but it may be that I'm just getting impatient. I've had my heart set on an IS300 for a while now and there's a serious lack of supply of them anywhere near my part of the country (Bury). Anyway, thanks again for the quick responses. Mick.

Hi Folks, Here's one for the experienced IS200 owners out there. I went to look at a 2002 (02) IS200 SE today. Bronze paint job with cream half leather interior; very nice. It's got 66000 on the clock and it's got an almost exclusively Lexus service history. It's in extremely neat condition and is up for £4790. Everything about the car seemed as it should be except it was absolutely murder to get into reverse gear. Is this how all manual IS200's are or is this something that's a problem. As always, any advice is greatly appreciated. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Folks, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a good IS300 for a while and although I've not got lucky yet, I have been checking how much it would be to insure one. The area that I live in is rated as one of the high risk areas (even though Bury is generally regarded as a "sleepy" town). I initially tried out Sky Insurance and got a quote for £390 or so (I've got 9 years+ NCB and I'm 43 years old). That was for comprehensive insurance with protected NCB. However, when I rang them again to see if I could insure my current car and then flip the insurance to a lex, if and when I should buy one, they said that the original quote was a mistake and, because I live is a troublesome postcode, I should have been quoted £690. So, it's a good job I didn't go and buy an IS300 on the strength of that quote. Anyway, as it turns out, I've insured my current car insured with Swiftcover for £340 and the insurance on an IS300 would be about £440, so not much difference. I guess this is down to my being 43 (well there's got to be something good about being middle aged) and having a good track record. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's Swiftcover all the way for me. Until next year that is (I've learned, through painful experience, that the only thing you get for renewing your insurance is being ripped off). Cheers, Mick.

Hi everybody, Once again, thanks for all the replies. MarsdenDean, thanks for your reply. I think you've made my mind up. Now all I have to do is find a 2002 IS300 Sprort Cross in either Blue or Black with either cream (aaah yeaah) interior or maybe black (more kid proof) in mint condition with average or below milage for no more than £5500. I reckon I'll still be looking this time next year!! heh heh. However, if any of you benevolent folk should see a likely contender for sale then, if you could PM me, I'd be made up. Anyway, thanks again for all the input. This forum really is a credit to all you regulars. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Y'all, Thanks very much for the replies. Tony, I didn't realise that the front passenger seat folds forward. Like you say, the sport cross does look handy and yes it's got to be a 300 (whether I end up buying a saloon or a sport cross). Lexus2D, I notice that you're based in Doncaster. That's only a skip up the 62 for me so, if you should notice that the 300 that you mention is still up for sale (and looks in good shape), could you PM me their phone No. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Folks, As you may (or mat not) be aware, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for an IS300 for a little while now. Ideally, I'm looking for a Black or a Blue one with cream interior. This sure is turning out to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I've spotted an IS300 sport cross on the autotrader. It's a 52 plater and is right up at the top of my spending bracket. Instead of a cream interior, it's got black leather. I've got two little lads and maybe the cream interior isn't such a good idea but the thing that's got me wondering is how practicable is the sport cross anyway. Some people seem to think that although it's an estate, it really hasn't got much more room in it than the saloon. So my question is this, is there anyone out there who's got an IS300 sport cross that can give me the lowdown on if it's a better proposition than the saloon. As always, any advice that any of you guys can give me is greatly appreciated. Cheers, Mick.

Thanks for that guys, I thought that they all came with the tiptronic gearshift but sometimes you see the 300 advertised with no mention of this feature. Maybe, like Ladies_Love_Lex says, few people use them and therefore don't think to mention it. On a different subject, Ladies_Love_Lex I notice that your 300 didn't get what you were looking for on Ebay. If you're still looking to sell then I'm certainly interested but 200 miles (Bury to Weston-Super-Mare) is too far to travel for me. Would you consider meeting up somewhere in between (maybe an Asda car park in Birmingham or something like that). Cheers, Mick.

Hi Guys, Here's an easy one for ya. All IS300's are auto's (except for imports) but are they all supplied with the tiptronic gear shift or was that an extra. Cheers, Mick.

Hi again folks, Rory, thanks for the "ladies_love_lex" pointer. Many apologies to her for always referring to her as a bloke. Russelllin, thanks very much for the offer, your a complete gent. However, incredibly tempting as it is, I still can't imagine buying a car that I've not sat in so I won't be putting a bid in on it. I'll be very interested to see what it goes for though. It seems to me that the "buy it now" price may be a little low. Anyway, thanks again to all who've helped me out and when I do see one that ticks all the boxes I'll be back on here. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Rory, I think the 300 that you mention (that's up for sale in the Wigan area) is the one at Globe car sales in Atherton. It's up on autotrader and I had a look at it last weekend. Unfortunately, it didn't stand out as the minter I'm holding out for. Like you, I think the Black one on Ebay with the cream interior looks great. I wondered if the owner was on here but I couldn't find him in the list of members (top-lex is his name on Ebay). I agree with what you were saying about using a discount to pay for work to be done. Like you say; at least I would know that the work's been done but, like I said earlier, I'd rather hang on for one with less mileage and, more importantly, better condition (preferably cream leather ahhhh-yeahhhh baby). Cheers, Mick.

Hi Y'all, Once again, thanks for all the replies. russelllinn; you're right, I do fancy this car but all the same I'm going to wait for one that's got a few less miles on it and that's in a bit better nick(I'm really looking for a minter). As far as the one that's on Ebay goes, the vendor Emailed me with the service history. It's got 5 Lexus stamps and one that was carried out at a Lotus specialist. The last service was carried out in November 2007 so I guess that it's well due for one. He doesn't say how far he's done since the last service so it might be that he's not traveled far enough to warrant a service. Anyway, it's not really an issue to me as I can't imagine buying a car I've never seen in real life. And so the quest continues!!! I live in Bury (which is about 8 miles North of Manchester) and as luck would have it, there's an 02 plated IS300 with 79K on it at a garage just round the corner from where I work. It's a bit too pricey for me at £6000 but they claim it in excellent condition so (like you said, russellinn) it's overall condition will serve as a benchmark. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Folks, First of all, thanks very much to anyone who's contributed to this thread and thanks very much for your advise. I rang the garage that I've been using for many a long year to get a price for the cam belt etc. job and also to get a price to have the discs and pads done. They're a small-ish independent garage who aren't too cheap or too expensive. They quoted £216.85 to replace the cam belt with assosiated parts and they quoted £327.28 to replace the discs & pads (although the guy did say that the discs may be skimmable if they're not too thin). I don't know if these are Lexus parts or not but I'm guessing that they're not. So, that leaves me with a dilemma, should I plump for this 300 or hang on for one that's had all the work done. Although this car is in good condition and maybe you could say (at a push) it's in very good condition, it's nowhere near a neat as this one that's on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LEXUS-IS300-BLACK-SA...93%3A1|294%3A50 for the same asking price. I can't imagine ever buying a car off Ebay but it does go to show that you can get an awful lot for your money if you're prepared to wait and watch. Cheers, Mick.

Hi Folks, Although I've spent many a lunchtime reading through the forum, this is my first post. The thing is that I'm not a Lexus owner (yet) and have been looking for either an IS200 or IS300 for a little while. I've spotted a 51 plate IS300 that's up at £4500. It's got 96K on the clock (which I know is a bit high) and the service history is Lexus stamped for the first seven services and then subsequent services have been carried out by independents. The car seems to be generally in pretty good (but not immaculate) condition. Although the 96K doesn't worry me at all, what does concern me is that it hasn't had a cam belt change. So I reckon that if I did buy the car, I'd drive it straight from the vendor's address to the garage to get the cam belt, pulleys, tensioner's and water pump replaced. Also, on the front discs, there's are rim (for want of a better description) showing about 2mm of wear so I'm guessing that the discs and pads will need replacing soon. Naturally, I don't fancy buying a car and then immediately having to spend money on it so I'll be looking for some king of reduction on the asking price. So, my question is this. Although the asking price is £4500, bearing in mind the work that I think will need doing, what would be a sensible price to pay. I'm guessing that a cam belt job has got to be around £300 (at an independent) but I have no idea how much to allow for new front discs and pads. Anyway, if there's any buying advise (either to do with what I've mentioned or anything else) that anyone can offer then I'd be really grateful. Cheers, Mick.