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Which makes a low-mileage CPO particularly good for those who drive high miles... Your car can be in warranty for many more miles than with a new car.
Buy a CPO with 10K miles, and you can put 90K miles on in three years, and be under warranty the whole time.
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the vehicle is well maintained except for a fender bender in the passenger.
car drove pretty well.
have to go to the servicing dealer and check it out.
tires are new.
any suggestions as to whether this should be a deal breaker.
If both repairs involved swapping out some major part like the ECU then I would wonder about some form of electrical problem. The odds for two failures with the same part are really small based upon the generally excellent reliability of these cars.
You can get a check engine light from something as simple as a lose gas cap or a lose intake hose clamp though.
According to Lexus site, both 05 GS and IS models only have front curtain airbags, nothing for the rear seats. However, internet sales people at a few local Lexus dealers kept lying to me that there are curtain airbags both front and rear. These sales people are not dumb. They are just not trust worthy!
06 GS will have front, side, head and knee airbags for driver and side and curtain airbags for rear passengers.
What are the changes for 06 IS?
Good luck
DL
I have dedicated winter tires (225/45-17) and had no trouble with traction issues.. Parking lots are somewhat of a problem because of ground clearance. I drove back and forth from Ft.Thomas to Blue Ash every day from Wednesday through Saturday.... with no issues..
I'm sure an IS300 would be similar with winter tires... Your big problem will be finding your size in stock at this late date.
regards,
kyfdx
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I knew the minute I put them on we'd get no snow or very little snow. Murphy's Law in action!
The IS300 uses the same 3.0L IL6 engine as the GS300 but is priced $10K less. The mileage is poorer, 18/24 vs 19/25 in the GS, must be due to higher drags coeff. The IS300's drive and handling characters are very nice, but without VSC, it will fishtail and slip/slide in sharp turns on wet pavement.
IS300's reliability and safety ratings are the best in the market, even higher than the LS and GS, probably due to the small and tight body structure. I would wait until next year when they add curtain airbags to the rear seats.
A local dealer offered me a brand-new lipstick- red IS300 with chrome wheels and leather trim for invoice + 500 which is $29.5K. Their real invoice is about $27K which I feel they were anxious to sell. They would still get all sorts of kickbacks below invoice from Lexus.
Edmunds shows invoice for similar IS300 at about $27K.
So how much did you pay before tax and license? $25.5?
If the frame is damaged even lightly, the car would never run right. Even if body shops had attempted to straighten the frame, they could never do it right with the unitized frame. Eventually the twisted frame would damage the tires, struts, suspension etc... and burn the engine.
But IF you were to get them the car, the IS has great safety and reliability.
The IS has the lowest average age for all buyers of Toyota, Lexus, or Scion products in the USA. Last figures I had showed average buyer age around 30 or 31.
The IS's highway fuel economy suffers from the numerically high final drive ratio and the numerically high 5th gear. The IS lacks a deep overdrive.
My daughter has only been driving for 1 year and never really liked driving.
Now she no longer wants to drive the hand-me-down Camry and keeps borrowing my GS300 every chance she gets! She keeps offering to drive everyone in my extended family for all their errands with my GS300! She even insists that she will drive me from LA to Las Vegas for our next visit! LOL! I told her perhaps she should pursue a career as a cab driver!
I agree with you that the IS300 is too much a car for teenagers. It's essentially a boys' car. In her senior class, one boy died and two were critically injured in an Acura RSX in a local run. Well, 3 girls were hit and killed by cars while jogging/walking in a fine city in So Cal.
Perhaps I should buy her a bright red 05 Celica with its tiny 1.8L engine. When she's sick of it I can keep it as a collector car! I just love the cute scuplture that is the body of the little Celica! Looks like the F/A-18 jet fighter!
Now that I think back, I never really talked price with Tustin Lexus, so I'm not sure how they do business.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
You and Riez have good reasons against giving a very nice car to a teenager.
What she needs is a safe, reliable car. The Camry is perfect for that.
What she wants she can buy with her own hard-earned money when she grows up. That way she would cherish it more.
Appreciate your thoughtful suggestions.
Snow tires, VSC, ABS/TC, and winter AT mode all help make the IS300 decent in the white stuff.
Like me, my daughter likes speed a little too much! When she drives a GS300, I cannot keep up in a Camry, and believe me, I am the kind of drivers who like to break the sound barrier!!
Unlike people who buy IS300 and drive it like they were in an Echo, I know my daughter would probably push the car's envelop everyday. That's what scares me!
For adoption try a Mr. Toyoda in Tokyo. He can afford to adopt IS300 fiends.
I finally let him drive my 2002 IS300 a few weeks ago. He did really well in it and loved the way it steered, handled, etc. But who wouldn't? Well, the diehard MB and BMW folks may not appreciate the way that an IS300 drives.
Ron M.
Only 285 hp? Poor kid. My prayers are with you. I have a 14 year old that has been itching to drive since he was 2 years old. Scares the hell out of me.
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2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/jedlicka.aspx?make=Lexus&mo- del=IS%20300
http://autos.msn.com/research/userreviews/reviewlist.aspx?modelid- =11459&src=vip
I find it interesting that the IS has no "problems and solutions" category... I know the IS is rated as highly reliable, but has anyone had any problems with the car? I am also considering a BWM325xi, but the IS seems like a better deal (unless I could get a great deal on a 330xi since the new 330 is coming out soon). I'm also factoring in the $800-1000 in dedicated snow tires, as I have to live through winters in Michigan...
Anyone buy a 2005 IS recently, and what did you pay? Thanks
I've got 21,000 miles on my '04 IS300 manual transmission. No problems at all. My wife has about 15,000 miles on her '04 SportCross. No problems for her. She put on about 15,000 miles on her former '03 IS300 automatic and it, too, had no problems. (She traded it in for the SportCross.)
Negotiate hard on price. The dealers can't hardly move ISs as Lexus doesn't make many and Lexus hardly advertises it. You should be able to get a great deal. (But you can too with 3 Series. It too is being replaced by a new platform.)
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
nyccarguy-
I live in snow blanketed Michigan (we got about 4 inches overnight). I've considered both the IS and 325, but the IS seems to win IMHO. I rank reliability and value above the ultimate driving experience, and think the IS would still provide plenty of fun. I know that educated people will disagree, as do the "experts"...
BMWs are common here, and you don't see too many IS300... that also appeals to me. Not sure how the 325xi with all seasons would compare to a RWD IS300 with snow tires, but a friend has an Audi S4 with snows, and it does just fine. If I really wanted another SUV, I'd buy one, but I'd like a sporty sedan instead. The 330xi would be nice, but I cant convince myself that it is worth the extra $$-- over $40K, when I think I could get a loaded IS300 for around $30K.
I'm curious to see what the next IS and 3 series are like in the flesh, but probably will go with the 1st gen IS. I have concerns about BMWs new launches--both the 5 and 7 have done poorly in reliability... I'd rather save a few thousand bucks than have the hottest new thing.
I should have used the "quotations" also-- meaning BMWs ad campaign of "the ultimate driving experience". I feel that the IS competes very nicely with the 325, and wins on price, reliability... Which is why I plan on buying one. I will agree with BMW enthusiasts that the 330 has better numbers, but the big number on the sticker keeps me away. Thanks for the input, though.
The IS300 is one of the few vehicles that you can purchase today that will almost always turn out to be virtually flawless. Admittedly, I have only had 7 brand new cars/SUVs in my lifetime. But of those 7, only 2 of them turned out to be unbelievably reliable. Both of them were Toyota products. I purchased a brand new 1985 Toyota MR2 when I was 23 years old, and a 2002 Lexus IS300 shortly after I turned 41 years old. I have had my IS300 for just under 2-1/2 years now--and have yet to experience the first sign of a mechanical, electrical or trim/finish problem. Nothing! Not a single thing!!! The IS300 is simply amazing when it comes to build quality--and I am loving it after what I went through with my 1986 and 1990 Nissan 300ZXs. And I don't even want to think about what all I went through with a couple of domestic SUVs over the course of the last decade or so. They were both quality nightmares.
An engineer that I work with bought himself a brand new 3 Series BMW back in 2003. We take turns giving him a ride to the BMW dealership in the afternoon. Usually every other week. Here's a direct quote from him last week:
"I will NEVER buy another BMW!!!"
In a nutshell, I would say definitely go with the IS300. Everyone I know that has purchased one new or used just adores their car. Even after 2-3 years of ownership.
Good luck.
Ron M.
If it weren't for the boy-racer styling, particularly the interior, it'd definitely be on my list.
I'm 6'2" & don't recall anyone mentioning how well the car fits tall and/or large people.
OTOH, I drove an MGB & two Miatas all over the country for most of eight years, so it's all relative.
But this is pretty much how it is for me in most sedans with sunroofs. The Lexus didn't seem any better or worse.
"I will NEVER buy another BMW!!!"
I would check into a lemon law depending on your state, the Current E46 has been very reliable,and been out long enough to have over 100k on the clock on early 323i models .
DL
Regarding the "boy racer" styling comment, I have to say that I personally am not put off by the IS300's styling. Exterior or interior. To me the vehicle looks far too classy to be mistaken for a "boy racer" ride. The interior to me is just unique and not too tacky at all. I will agree that it's not best-in-class, but it's certainly not hideous. Some of the material selections for certain interior components are indeed questionable though. Overall, however, I can truthfully say that I am very satisfied with my IS300's interior and exterior styling. Lastly, when a vehicle is this reliable, tight and fun to drive, I can look over the fact that it doesn't have the style of an exotic, Italian sports car.
Ron M.
I'm resisting the urge to visit my local dealer to pick up brochures.
It may be 3-4 years out, but. . .
At any rate, I like mine a lot and that's ultimately the only opinion that should *really* matter to me.
Ron M.
In a way, you can say that the "boy racers" are trying to imitate the IS300, not the other way around.
But, unfortunately, that is a fight you cannot win. You just have to ignore it.
Thanks!