jdmdelsol9

Hey guys i've lurked on the forums for some time now but never posted. Well, i have recently sold my car and have some money and was considering an IS300. I have never owned a lexus, but my uncle has and swears by them. Are they expensive to maintain now? all the ones i would get have around 80-100k on them. Just was looking for some input from people that own them.

NCis300

iTrader: (2)

i came from having a eclipse gst and a eclipse gsx, ill never miss, i might miss the power...but the IS is the best car ive ever owned or driven.

ARehman

I've had my 04 since it has had 10k miles on it. Has not had any mechanical problems and costs no more to maintain than my old civic. But I also only get my oil changed at the dealer for 54 bucks just to save time and take my car to an indy mechanic who worked at Lexus for bigger things. I'm now at 102k miles and am on my third set of tires, second set of brake pads. But have done all new bushings, ball joints and tie rods at 100k just to freshen up the car. Other than that change my diff and tranny fluid every 30k miles and did my timing belt and water pump at 93k. It really is a very solid car and with a few suspension upgrades is very fun. It isn't the fastest but has a balance of luxury and sportiness. Gets ok gas mileage but could be better for being a 3.0l. So yes I say its worth buying. Oh and if it snows where you live get snow tires, best car I have ever driven in bad weather conditions with them on.

jdmdelsol9

really, like a honda? i would figure it would be about as expensive as toyota parts to maintain. i really want it to drive on the daily. once its driven into the ground it then becomes a project car. However, the 2 people opposing the idea are my wife and my father. they say once the something breaks, forget it it's too expensive to fix. My acura was pretty cheap to maintain so how worse could a lexus be?

ARehman

You can take the car to a toyota dealer instead of lexus, about half the price. I buy all oem parts from sewell lexus online (get a discount for being a club lexus member) and take them to the guy i trust. example, my timing belt/water pump was 520 parts and labor all oem. Same guy said its about 60 bucks more than a civics cost. But I haven't had anything break. The only real problem areas are with bushings wearing out in the lower control arms causing tire wear and alignment issues, but the bushings are really cheap if you get the top speed harder bushings and have them replaced, or just buy a whole new arm which is like 120 from sewell. But if you changed oil and brakes and tranny fluid on any other car, its no different or requires anything special to do it on this car, same process as my 00 civic was, if not a little easier on somethings. I wouldn'tt hesitate to buy a 100k mile IS300, a lot of my friends buy them as daily drivers cause they are reliable and not too pricey. The guy who works on my car had one that he bought with 110k and just sold it with 287k miles on it, ran just as good as mine and all he did was reg maint.

reodan

What's not to like about Lexus's? I believe they're higher quality then most German cars in its class, cheaper to own, cost less, and more reliable. Although I am a bit biased since my entire family owns at least 1 lexus/toyota :P.

jdmdelsol9

so pretty much buy the parts online for cheap and go to my usual mechanic and i'll be paying roughly as if it were a honda? i can get down with that ha

SuthrnGent

iTrader: (3)

I bought mine with 60k and it's up to 136k daily driven with no major issues. I love it, and I agree that it is the perfect mix of sport and luxury.

ccie12031

Bought my IS300 brand new in Oct 2000. I still own it and it still runs strong even with 120k miles. Very reliable and low maintenance costs.

Only thing is the paint is starting fade on the rear bumper... but that was probably my fault for not taking care of it when I was living in Hawaii.

plus1choi

iTrader: (1)

I got my 02 IS300 back in 08 with 32k miles. The car has been daily driven since then and now I have 70k miles. I haven't had any problems at all, just been doing the regular maintenance and routine oil changes. Safe to say its very reliable

whymyis

I bought mine with 104k 1 owner. And now iv owned it a little over a year 165k on it and the car has been very good know problems what so ever. I run ams oil and had tune up done when i bought it. The reason i bought it was because i seen to many of them running around with close to 300k on the original motor and thats just a toyota/lexus for u.

momo4lyf

theyre much different from your German or American cars. But you wont regret it for sure.

hockyplyer

i love my is, bought it with 100k miles havent had any problems and no doubts taking it long distances.

Andrew

L3XOTIC

Its a Toyota. Reliable, cheap, runs forever. I just purchased an 2001 with 139k for my dealership and it drives like it has 10k

itr206

Agreed !

This is one of the cars that I wouldnt think twice about buying with high miles. Toyota reliability and the motor series is damn near indestructible.