RAJ27

Looking at an auto. Or shall I stick with getting a BM?

Thanks

SJJ84

Depends what BM you'd get. The Lexus is a nice car, and second hand is pretty cheap. 6-speed manual box, not sure about the auto, never driven one of those. Most are pretty high milage as lots of reps have them. Jap built, so long term reliability should be good.

logiclee

Only a 2.0l with 150bhp and little torque at low revs it really struggles with an auto box.

I suggest you try one for yourself, the manuals are not too bad but the auto wont challenge a 1.6 Focus.

Cheers
Lee

carl

And about 28mpg. If you're going to do 28mpg, you might as well have a Scoob

micared

Used to work for Toyota/Lexus main dealer, tried to convince my other half into an IS200 auto on the grounds that it'd never go wrong. Couldn't really argue when she said it was gutless, and we bought a MY00 Galant V6 auto estate ( better looking than saloon ) instead. No regrets, try it, you may be surprised.

NotoriousREV

I had one for 75,000 trouble free miles, lovely interior, looked nice but got so bored of it after about 6 months. The engine really lets the car down, although an IS300 auto would probably be OK. I also thought it handled really well until I got a Scoob.

RAJ27

Thinking of getting a BM 320i/323i.

Is the IS300 available as a saloon?

Any other suggestions for a small executive saloon?

Thanks

J

zesty

The IS300 comes in saloon or not so good estate, although they are not as common as the 200 you should by now be able to find enough of them for sale.

They are well built cars and have given BMW something to think about.

Interiors are ok but I am not so keen on the dashboard , although the instrument cluster looks smart.Good qaulity sounding hifi fitted. Lots of std extras included if you go for the SE or Sport model. Make sure you get one with sat nav.

Problems that I can recall were:- alloys corroding and radios packing up, other than the odd problem they were good.

I think there is a new/facelift model due soon.

NotoriousREV

Most alloys should have been replaced under warranty, you can tell by looking at them: originally they had polished edges on the spokes, the replacements didn't (the corrosion problem was due to the laquer lifting on the spoke edges). The CD players (6 disc multichanger in-dash) used to get stuck, eventually they told me to stop using CD-R/RW's

An alternative to an IS300 is maybe find a TTE supercharger kit for the 200, but they were pricey and rare.

micared

Or buy an imported Altezza, basically the same car, but with 200 bhp.

Midmotorsteve

I second that the altezza has the engine they all should of had.