Lexus is200

MadYaker

Thinking of buying one of these as I have been offered one at a good price. Its got about 150k miles on it and its 12 years old, the NCT ran out a month or two ago but its in good shape.

Does anybody here have any experience with them? Whats the fuel economy like and are they reliable?

mullingar

They are a good car, quite reliable and very smooth.

Its biggest problem is the fuel economy as its a 6 cylinder. Expect an average of 25-28mpg.

viper006

Hi, thought id pitch in as i bought a 2004 model 2 years ago and kept in for about 15 months. Mine was in pristine condition now

Pro's:
Great spec for the price.(6 Cd charger, heated seats, Air con Control)
So Smooth to drive
I think they looks great and the alloys on mine made it looks fantastic.
6 Speed
Roomy

Cons:
2L Car- Tax is pretty hefty for a 2000 car.
Fuel Consumption is pretty poor to be honest. Was eventually why i sold. I was only getting 24-27 miles to the gallon. worse if city driving.
No NCT- Lexus repairs are damn expensive so youd want be 100% sure its not going to have many issues going into NCT.If this is a private deal id be wary in all honesty.

All in all its a great car for the price but the running costs are high. I enjoyed owning my 2004 but it def burnt a whole in my pocket!!

MadYaker

It is a private deal but its with family so to be honest I'm not at all worried about getting shatfed. The car will be NCT'd before I buy it however if it turns out that there is a tonne of repairs to be done I won't buy it as I would have to pay for those.

At the moment I'm driving a 1.4 Mazda 3 petrol. It gets around 45-50 mpg I think so I'd expect the fuel consuption to be double in the lexus. If thats the case I can still afford to put petrol in it. It will mostly be for driving to and from college which is about a 20km round trip.

Insurance is what I'm mostly worried about. I'm male, 21 and have been driving for 3 years with no accidents but I reckon the insurance bill will still be mega.

coolisin

There is no way the 1.4 mazda petrol gets 45-50mpg.

I can tell you you'll be closer to 30mpg to be honest.

So you wont be far off with the amount of petrol you'll be using.

But you'll be driving a nicer car that is for sure.

I know i would do it if i was in your poistion.

Joe 90

Neighbor, woman about my age, has one, has had it for years, seems to just work. Ex colleague, early 30s, had one, thought it was sluggish. So depending on what you want either not a bad car or a well built boring car.

bazz26

Just watch out for Jap imported Toyota Altezzas with Lexus badges on them.

Angus4life

i think its usually the other way round i.e. rebadging a lexus as an altezza... as a clean altezza is making close to 4k these days...

colm_mcm

Make sure the suspension is perfect

maxflinn

I'm thinking of getting one too, but am a little nervous about the fuel economy, some googling revealed that some say they get the manufacturers quoted figures, which I think I could live with, but others say they don't get anywhere near the quoted figures

The car is only e1000, it's an 02 reg sportcross with 117k (miles), and NCT till end of November, there's a few dents in the bodywork but I could live with that. I'm going to take it for a good test drive on Friday and will be watching the fuel gauge and computer closely

I guess I'm hoping for reassurance, but would like some users findings? Even if they scare the life out of me

breadmonster

Driving one for the last 6 years never let me down. Afraid to buy something different incase i buy i pile of scrap. cost a bit in fuel to run plus to tax but if you can live with that not much goes wrong with them.

MadYaker

It passed the NCT and its going cheap so I'm gonna buy it. Anyone got a rough idead of what the insurance might be for me? I'm 21, been a named driver on my mothers car for the last 3 years since I got my license, no claims.

colm_mcm

Oh dear...

Tallon

I have an IS200 and I love it, however, as someone said to me before I bought it

"You'll pass everything but a petrol station in it!"

It's very heavy on juice, be warned

ShadowHearth

Tallon wrote: »

I have an IS200 and I love it, however, as someone said to me before I bought it

"You'll pass everything but a petrol station in it!"

It's very heavy on juice, be warned

who ever told you that must have been taking a piss!

Tallon

ShadowHearth wrote: »

who ever told you that must have been taking a piss!

I know what you mean, it's no 500bhp Skyline...

ShadowHearth

Tallon wrote: »

I know what you mean, it's no 500bhp Skyline...

yup, its 153hp 2l l6 in very heavy body. is200 is not known for being fast, but known for very bad mpg for performance provided. Lovely car inside and feels solid, but not a fast car by a LONG shot.

Tallon

ShadowHearth wrote: »

yup, its 153hp 2l l6 in very heavy body. is200 is not known for being fast, but known for very bad mpg for performance provided. Lovely car inside and feels solid, but not a fast car by a LONG shot.

No one said it was!

He asked what the fuel economy was like and are they reliable!

Don't start bashing it on speed, start a new thread if you want to do that

dylbert

I don't understand why people think the IS200 mpg is bad, it's about right for what it is, the 2l 6 cyl from the 3 series had less hp and about the same mpg, the newer 2.2l has 168bhp and about 25mpg.

ShadowHearth

Tallon wrote: »

No one said it was!

He asked what the fuel economy was like and are they reliable!

Don't start bashing it on speed, start a new thread if you want to do that

i was not really bashing it... just that "you will pass anything...." was quite wrong description. i just made a joke and you got all defensive now.
ah well, ill just drop it as i am afraid to hurt anyones feelings.

Tallon

ShadowHearth wrote: »

i was not really bashing it... just that "you will pass anything...." was quite wrong description. i just made a joke and you got all defensive now.
ah well, ill just drop it as i am afraid to hurt anyones feelings.

It's not a description, it was a saying, which was also a joke...

is200 is not known for being fast, but known for very bad mpg for performance provided. Lovely car inside and feels solid, but not a fast car by a LONG shot

That's bashing..

Just leave it out, doesn't add anything

Padraig Mor

dylbert wrote: »

I don't understand why people think the IS200 mpg is bad, it's about right for what it is, the 2l 6 cyl from the 3 series had less hp and about the same mpg, the newer 2.2l has 168bhp and about 25mpg.

I have a 3 litre GS300 auto and get 28mpg - about the same most people seem to get from the IS200.

muckwarrior

dylbert wrote: »

I don't understand why people think the IS200 mpg is bad, it's about right for what it is,

The hp to mpg ratio works out similar to my RX8 and I don't think you'll find anyone, myself included, that'll say an RX8 isn't bad on fuel.

dylbert

You cant compare a gs300 or a RX8 with an IS200, I used a 320i as an example because they are similar cars from the same era.

MadYaker

I bought it Drove it back from Cork today and I love it. Its quite fast, a lot faster thean the mazda i was driving. Very smooth but the tyres are fat so theres quite a lot of road noise. Its in very good condition, all the electrics are perfect. The alloys are a bit scratched but thats all. Cost me 75 euro to fill the thing and the tank was only half empty!

unkel

Well wear

Tallon

Enjoy

maxflinn

I bought the one I was looking at too, and I also love it , I filled the tank to the brim from empty on Sat morning, cost e103, and I've since done 270 miles with some enthusiastic driving thrown in :cool:, and there's still just under a third of a tank left, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to average 35 miles to the Tenner, which would be fine.

The car is great to drive, though needs revs in the lower gears to get a move on, however it's plenty torquey enough in the high gears for overtaking without downshifting, the engine sounds lovely, and it corners very well, I'm happy :cool:

Tallon

maxflinn wrote: »

I bought the one I was looking at too, and I also love it , I filled the tank to the brim from empty on Sat morning, cost e103, and I've since done 270 miles with some enthusiastic driving thrown in :cool:, and there's still just under a third of a tank left, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to average 35 miles to the Tenner, which would be fine.

The car is great to drive, though needs revs in the lower gears to get a move on, however it's plenty torquey enough in the high gears for overtaking without downshifting, the engine sounds lovely, and it corners very well, I'm happy :cool:

Any photos man?

maxflinn

Tallon wrote: »

Any photos man?

I'll stick a few up here later.

maxflinn

Tallon

It's the estate o_O

Never driven one of those...

maxflinn

Apparently they handle just like the saloon, I've no complaints anyway, I only paid e950 for it. I put it through a pre NCT yesterday and all it needs is some head/foglight adjustments, a tyre, rear discs and front pads. The real NCT is due at the end of November.

I was offered e1600 for it already but turned it down, 99 models on UK plates are going for that

Tallon

maxflinn wrote: »

Apparently they handle just like the saloon, I've no complaints anyway, I only paid e950 for it. I put it through a pre NCT yesterday and all it needs is some head/foglight adjustments, a tyre, rear discs and front pads. The real NCT is due at the end of November.

I was offered e1600 for it already but turned it down, 99 models on UK plates are going for that

I'd love to have a spin in one at some stage

Best of luck with it man

coolisin

Well wear, strange to see an estate around! Rare enough, enjoy.

Atlantic Dawn

Sweet motor for €950, great value, best of luck with her.

ei9go

70 litre fuel tank so you think you have done a lot of miles until you go to fill it.

Had an auto which was beautiful but the fuel comsumption around town was poor.

The users manual only claims 20.2 mpg urban.

Got around 33mpg on motorway runs.

maxflinn

Cheers lads.

I just filled her up again after it had done 360 miles, and it cost e100 to fill her again, so 36 miles to the tenner, a mix of town and motorway, easy and fast driving, not bad really..

Tallon

I get 400 miles on a film tank.

That's with non reserved driving

maxflinn

Sold....

For e1800

Now for a BMW 520 Touring :cool: