2001 Lexus IS200 SE review from UK and Ireland

Front brakes had to be replaced at 20,000 miles.

All four tyres needed replacement at 20,000 miles.

This car is a fantastic motorway cruiser, very smooth and quiet and after adjusting to the seats, can be quite comfortable.

There's a little extra bit of luxury with the baby Lexus which just isn't present with BMW 3 series or Audi A4s. Hard to define, but highly noticeable.

On board equipment is superb, although the climate control is a bit unpredictable. Personally I prefer manual control, as it either gets too hot or too cold, and the fans seem to settle on too high a setting.

Economy wise, for a 6 cylinder engine its quite good, with around 32mpg on a run, and 27 around town.

I'm surprised that the tyres and brakes have needed doing so quickly though, as 60 % of my journeys are on decent motorways, although the 40% spent in traffic in London probably explains the brakes wearing so soon. The front tyres have worn quicker than the rears, but even so, for the cost of replacements I'd have expected at least another 5,000 out of them.

Apart from that, I would highly recommend the IS200 to anyone thinking of buying a compact exec car.