Lexus Is200

[Mastiff]

In need of some advice here!!

My wife has £4,000 and has been looking at BMW E36 323i, 325i and Audi A4's

Today we noticed that for 4k we could buy a Lexus is200. As they are Toyota's really, does anyone have any experiance of them? Things we need to know....

Parts.....easy to source, expensive or medium priced

Reliable

Any gremlins known to this car??

Any help would be great

[bothwell_buyer]

wrong choice - give the money to charity

mine

[JappyBeast]

Try our sister site for more information,

Lexus Owners Club

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/

[Karma Supra]

Good cars, good engine, loads of them about so loads of second hand parts too.

[Fidgits]

I ran one for 4 and a half years, putting 60,000 miles on it..

Running costs were very reasonable, servicing was pricey, but at that age you wont be taking it to Lexus anyway, so it won't be a problem.

I had one small issue in the 60k (which was a speaker going), other than that it was flawless..

Fantastic chassis, very compliant, but also very controllable... though the OEM dunlops didn't like ice and standing water.. and can be pricey if you dont shop around.

Downsides are, its very smooth, but not exactly fast - it has the characteristics of the larger engine BMW's, but with the performance of the smalls ones.. and with all the power coming at the redline, you have to wring its neck to get the best (which can be both ace and annoying) - it translates into reasonable fuel economy though, but it'll always lose to a 4-cylinder.

All in all, its a great car - the longest i ever owned one, and i spent 2 years looking for a replacement (it took a 911 to get me out of mine!) so I'd say go for it.