1999 Lexus IS200 SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

Everything!

New front shocks (twice).

Rear shocks (once).

New clutch.

New rear brake discs.

New alloy road wheels.

The car is a BIG disappointment both in reliability and performance.

The alloy wheels corroded badly within 6,000 miles, the clutch shuddered at 10,000 miles and the shock absorbers knocked continually.

The depreceiation on this car is also quite high.

This is not a Lexus but an overrated Toyota (sorry Toyota!), nothing like as good or reliable as the BMW 3 Series or Mercedes C180/E200.

Are you driving the same car? I have an IS200 Sport, with nearly 7k on the clock, and not one problem. It sounds like you put it through a rally or something. The ride, handling and refinment are in another class, and the reliability is flawless. Your review and comments sound more like a personal grudge against Lexus than a true review. Maybe you work for BMW!?

I quite agree with the above comment that this owner seems like an poor driver as these faults are synonymous with hard, careless driving and probably a lack of running in. These are wear and tear items that have obviously worn and torn prematurely down to abuse.

The comment about depreciation is quite untrue, a one year old IS200 commands almost list price, 3 year residuals are identical to the BMW 3 Series according to Glasses guide. Maybe the part ex you were offered was in line with the way you treated your vehicle?

I must say well done on the site and that I am (to say the least) confused to hear that the car is a death trap, cheap, falls to bits and wears out!!

My Lexus IS200 is a beauty and as I live in the channel islands where we all drive at less than 40mph, in theory my car is always "kicking out" and "pointing in the wrong direction"??

Errrrr not!.. drive her with pride and respect and one day she will save your life..

I have a IS 200 sport. It is an ex-demo and is a beautiful car, even though it probably has been hammered for the period before I got it.

I am the originator of this topic and contrary to the comments made by others, I am not a 'hard driver' and the car simply failed to produce what was expected of it. As a company director my use of the car was limited to journeys to and from work and the very odd weekend trip. In fact I traded the car in for a SAAB 9-5 - what a breath of fresh air!

What is interesting here, is that SAAB knew all of the problems with the IS200 before talking to them about a trade in.

LEXUS had to be badgered on the problems with the car and replacement parts were a joke - 8 weeks for shocks to be shipped from Japan.

Regardless of anything else - depreciation on IS200's is less than BMW's - so where did you get that info from?

I wish people would make emotionally free impartial reviews here rather than just total guff.

I bought a used IS200 Sport. This is the best car I've ever had, it's reliable, quiet, has a great CD system and is a great joy to drive. The dealership was first class.

My previous car was a new Merc and that was the worst car I've ever had, totally unreliable, had lots of build quality faults as well as mechanical ones. The dealership I bought it from need to go and take lessons from Lexus in dealing with customers and I'm glad they have now lost their franchise. I had to trade the Merc in early just to get rid of the hassle of finding another problem. I wonder if there is a lot of disalussioned BMW and Merc owners that have switched to Lexus like myself because of service and reliability. From one proud Lexus owner.

Everyone seems to have missed the fact that the original contributor did not have the car from new - it had 3000 miles on the clock. I suspect it may have been severely hammered before during this initial period, hence the problems. Might it have accident damage too which may have been spotted by whoever offered the contributor a low value?

BTW I have a IS200 SE and love it. My wife has a BMW 523i and I much prefer the Lexus - more character and more fun.

I think the is200 is a very reliable and strong car I've had mine since march 2002 and have had some minor warranty issues that were relsolved by the CROYDON aftersales promptly,

In relation to the Alloy wheel problems. I believe this is due to the metallic paint reacting with the aluminium (a reaction between the two metals) to resolve this you can simply bring them to an Alloy wheel repair shop and they will strip the old paint off, put a different paint (Same colour or other if you wish) but of a different type and it should last as long as any other wheel on the market (Depending on the quality of the spray job) you should go to a recommended wheel repair shop. Should cost you no more than £50 a wheel.