hey guys, been away from the lexus scene for a while. went to an audi and sick of the maintenance so back to maybe a lexus IS.

i had a lex coupe before and thought some of the basic maintenance was a little more work than usual cars ; front suspension and the damn ball joints; the intake manifold for the spark plugs.

is the IS like this? do the control arm bushings go bad? engine mounts?

I recognize some of the names from the coupe forum before, care to share your experience with the first gen IS?

TIA

 

Well of course the IS will run alot smoother than an SC, considering the SC is now 14 years old. I have a 95 SC3 and a 03 IS. Both are excellent cars and my SC hasn't had really any major problems with the suspension, the powerstearing, yes. The IS hasn't seen any issues at all but personally I think the SC is just a way sexier car. But hey its a Lexus, you can't really go wrong. If your just looking for reliability than you've come back to the right brand My families been buying lexus for ever now. Our collection is now as follows: 03 IS300, 95 SC300, 01 GS300, and 98 LX470. No issues with any of the cars machanically so far.

 

The SC is a sexy beast of a coupe with big hairy ones. The IS is an econobox that is more refined overall. The worlds could not be more different.

Between a 00 SC4 and a 00 IS, I'd never look at the IS twice.

 

Well said man.

 

I would hardly call the IS an econobox. An econobox is usually a FWD, fuel efficient, inexpensive, no-frills automobile. The 1st gen IS is none of those.

 

I don't think he is saying that the IS is an econobox like a civic, rather he is just saying that compared to the SC the IS is alot more conservative. Noone is saying the IS is a bad car, I own both an IS and a SC.

 

As far as i know the common problem just oxygen sensor and weak 5 speed tranny

 

thx for the replies guys. i've been studying some of archives and it seems to be as reliable as the other lexi.

what other forums are there for the IS? aside from IS300.net of course. i am searching for one now, but in the meantime, never hurts to read up more.