kam05

^{The early (99/00) IS200's originally came with Dunlop SP9000's, I think the later cars were fitted with Bridgestones?}

There is no 'shelf life' on coil packs.

I ran a IS200 (up until 12 months ago) to 145k and it still had the original coil packs.

Guess yours is a early IS200?

The earlier ones used to have Toyota etched onto the glass- you have original glass on your car. Look at the rear lights, they'll also have Toyota stamped on them. :)

Have you had a look at the BMW or Merc diesels? That's where my money would be going.

I considered a IS220d- having test drove one (and reading the reviews on here), I decided it wasn't for me and replaced my 10 year old IS200 with a Mercedes C220CDI Sport auto (I wanted a auto and diesel).

In summary the IS250 is a good motor, but the IS220d is a bit of a dog. If your heart is really set on a diesel, then look at the offerings from BMW, Mercedes etc.

Edit: Just re-read your post- Out of the cars you have listed, the diesel Accord is a good motor, my brother has a 04 Accord 2.2CDTI for about 4 years now, its been running fine without any problems.

Have you tried out all the price comparision sites (confused.com) etc?

Agree- go for an IS250.

If your heart is set on a diesel, then look at the offerings from BMW, Mercedes or Audi.

That kinda depends on how desparate you are to have a armrest?

Best to use Denso or NGK irdium spark plugs- these suit Toyota/Lexus engines.

I believe that the Bosch plugs are not irdium plugs, they are platium plugs?

I ran a K&N panel filter when I had my IS200 without any problems.

Try Japarts or Lexus Birmingham's eBay shop for genuine parts.

IS200= 153bhp

IS300= 211bhp

Change the water pump as well whilst the timing belt is off now- easier (cheaper?) to do now rather than later because if the water pump fails later on its a timing belt off job.

Yep- SportX bumper is slightly different to the saloon IS200 version one.

That saying, you can fit a saloon bumper onto a SportX. Try Dewsbury Auto Salvage for a SportX bumper.

My dad buys them- as you say, you don't earn any interest on premium bonds. My dad sometimes gets £50-£100 on his premium bonds.

Dad has about £10k in premium bonds.

As someone who is fairly new to driving autos (currently have a C Class Merc since March this year), the advice I have been given is to leave the car in D with the foot on the brake- dropping it into N or P when stopping at the lights all the time doesn't do the auto box any good?

Keep it in 'D' - Will not cause any problems whatsoever.

Thanks- just as I thought.

Nice IS200- reminds of of my old IS200 :)

As someone who is fairly new to driving autos (currently have a C Class Merc since March this year), the advice I have been given is to leave the car in D with the foot on the brake- dropping it into N or P when stopping at the lights all the time doesn't do the auto box any good?

What model of IS200 do you have? Condition, mileage, spec, mods etc- it hard to say what your car is worth without this info.

There are plenty of IS200's on the market, some good ones and some bad ones- so its a buyers market. Not many people are after a 2.0 litre motor that drinks petrol like a alcoholic, so IS200's aren't holding their value.

I px'd my 10 year old IS200 at the start of the year for a 3 year old Mercedes C220CDI Sport- I only got a £1k for it (it did have 145k on the clock).

check the water pump, are you sure the radiator is ok? It's not rusty is it? Check for holes and other damage on the radaitor.

IS200 has a timing belt NOT chain.

As you have no proof the timing belt ever been changed, I'd get the timing belt (with the idler and tensioner) changed ASAP.

Nice- but if you look at the new GS from the side it looks too similar to a E60 5 series. Interior is nice though :)

+1 on the new GS looking too much like a E60 5 series.

Lexus should keeping designing cars like the original IS (Altezza), to me the shape of the 1st gen IS was way ahead of it's time of launch (1999).

I think it's held down with a combination of bolts and tape.

1. 2000 Lexus IS200SE (1st car :))

2. 2007 Mercedes C220CDI Sport (AMG pack)- current car.

IS250 in SE-L spec is what you want. If you want a diesel, then in all honesty look at the offerings from BMW/Mercedes- from what I have read on here the 220D is a dog.