DrewskyR

Hello Everybody!!

Couldn’t find anything thru search and or general web searching. Want to daily an is300 for a few years and curious about general parts availability. Do do y’all have any problems locating mechanical parts to keep these cars going? I’m assuming there are significant aftermarket options to do the 2JZ platform this car was built on.. either way just don’t want to get into something that’s impossible to find important parts for and will be more of s project than a daily.

Thanks in advance.

b2884987

Plenty of OEM and aftermarket parts, no need to worry anytime soon. If anything, sometimes you can find parts from the junkyard. The car shares lots of Toyota parts.

DrewskyR

Thanks for the input!

Lexyaaaas

iTrader: (2)

I'd ask what are your goals for the car? What parts are you looking for?
OEM parts, are easy to find new discounted online. I used Lexuspartsnow for almost everything.

I came into the IS300 world from the Evo world. Compared to the Evo forums, you wont find a lot of used parts.
You mostly have to use the 2jz turbo motor parts (so imagine where to find a 2jzgte), 2jz head on the GE (non turbo) motor is different.
So alot of the parts are unique to non turbo motor chassis which is pretty much is300 and sc300.

DrewskyR

Nothing extreme. Maybe a few bolt-ons, brakes and suspension for some hill country driving. I imagine that the car I settle on will have higher mileage and some things will need to be refreshed so I want to be able to keep it going. I really like the platform and just wanted to double check on parts as I’ve looked at particular cars that have zero aftermarket support or simply just hard to find parts which is annoying. It’s an older car so I was worried about random mechanical parts being harder to find thus making the car harder to keep on the road. Fine with new and actually prefer to pay for OEM. I know it’s a crystal ball question to an extent but didn’t want to jump into a known car with limited parts/support.

Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out.

rockosocko

It's all on what condition YOUR IS is..
Has it been well taken care of with ALL receipts from new? Or a car that's been well USED and showing wear all over? (like mine, $2800 out the door that had the check engine light taken out, torn seats, CHEAP cold-air intake leading to a dirty MAS sensor, well-used auto trans fluid etc..)
Is it an auto or manual car? I swapped a cluster from a pull-it car (same year) and it kept the mileage in the cluster!! I went from 150k to 176k miles!!
SO, might be a little hard to get "actual" mileage of the car you have. (mine had goofy white-ish stains across the clear plastic that wouldn't come off, and don't think
Lexus sells the cover any longer. Gauge operation itself was fine)

Best research that I have found is to just spend some time looking at the questions that are posted in the 1st gen category. (go back several years)
That way you can see a pattern of items that can go wrong in time, or look to see if those items may have been replaced already on yours. Also, as you read the threads, you quickly find out how experienced some people are that ACTUALLY do their work or pay out the *** for a shop to do ___.. (and you'll find how people never seem to give an end result to the issue they had. Or the thread just dies and you get goofy, childish comments when you ask about a older thread(s)..
Another thing is to google (outside of these IS300 sites) for reviews, and read through those. Like the weak points of the auto trans etc.
You aren't going to get Honda type of gas mileage. and not a whole lot you can do about that.. The 2jz likes to be in the upper RPM's (above 4k), but you still have to feed fuel to those 6 cylinders.
Research has shown me the 2jz-GE is NOT the same as the 2jz-GTE. Long-block might look similarly the same, but that's about it. (different internals etc.)

Rock auto and Parts Geek can be your friends. But on Rockauto you can find dealer close-outs, and spend tons less. You just have to be constantly checking in 'THAT' particular category, since once that they're sold out on 'that' part, it's only a short time until it comes up again. But it's what part it IS and who's got it cheap.

I've found that the 3600 Fram/Wix filters have a longer body giving you more oil/filtration area, and about the same price.
...but still a sloppy, pain in the *** to change (HORRIBLE design)
Drive to a quiet parking lot with lots of room and with windows up, stereo off (QUIET INSIDE) and do some figure-8's at different speeds under 30mph. Starting and stopping, forward AND backward to listen for brake and bearing noise (roaring) when changing direction. Clunking/popping or other suspension noises can tell you what will have to be addressed in the future. (depending on the severity of the noise, to how soon it will need work)
I got a complete front suspension 'kit' with std rubber bushings for under $200.00! and a used steering rack (pull-it) that wasn't leaking all over with bad bellows, swapped it all in myself, had it aligned and has been good since (saves your tires too!)
That way you can get more of a feel of how your car has been treated (if no history) and will be able to see a big difference after quality work gets done.

If you start with a car that's got LED's all over, bottomed out suspension, goofy *** subs taking up the whole trunk etc, you're probably going to be opening up a box of problems.
Experience has taught me that it's better to start with Virgin car. Depending on your monetary standing, negotiate from there. Usually a virgin lets YOU do the F'-ing. BUT something that's been F'd with for decades wants to share it and F-YOU in EVERY thing and EVERY WAY... Because that's ALL IT KNOWS!!
(kinda like some people I know. Either NUTS about F'in, or F'in NUTS.. take your pic. both are gonna bite you.) ....yes, therapy is going well lol..

Drain your fluid and use a good quality replacement for whatever that fluid was. (I use Amsoil pretty much exclusively for lubes)
(filter/screen and gasket for auto trans pan) And do the "panning for gold" look when you get the trans pan down 'gently'. If you see all sorts of glitter/sparkly's in the bottom, and the fluid seems a little thick, Prev Owner probably had trans issues starting and put a can of some "fix-it" in there after they got a $3000.00 quote for a new-rebuilt trans.
Dark gray, sooty clutch material at the bottom is fairly normal depending on how much there actually is. Wipe your finger from corner to corner slowly in an "X", and check the little magnets for debris. (magnets only pick up Ferrous metals though. NOT aluminum etc)


Sorry for the long post.
E

Stuis01

Both OEM and aftermarket parts are plenty

Labor will cost you more than parts

Almasy

These are are great for parts man, some parts are better replacing oem ( anything denso) and other aftermarket options are actually better and cheaper (clutch/flywheel )
believe it or not the best source for those rare jdm/custom/aftermarket is actually instagram .