Is 300 Owner Feedback

[Alain]

Hello All!

I've just signed up. It appears that my wife is intertested in trading in our 1997 Saturn SW2 with 93,000 miles for a Toyota of some kind. In the past 6 years, I really grew to like the wagon. She has a Celica GT that she's had for 125,000 with absolutely no complaints. She likes Toyotas;

I'm still looking around at what's available. Actually, I was guided to the Lexus IS 300 and to this group by, of all people, a Toyota owner.

Our priorities are reliability and gas mileage. We live about 30 miles from our closest Lexus dealer, so having as few glitches in the car as possible to contend with is very important.

I am interested in getting any feedback from any owners in the group who'd care to respond.

How much do you like the car, first off? What year is it? Have you had any problems with the car?

What do you wish they would have done differently, if anything? Would you recommend the car to someone else? Highly recommend it? Anything else?

Many thanks for taking the time to respond!

Alain...Palomar Mountain {Northern San Diego County]

[bartkat]

I have a 2002 that I bought used in May. I studied up on cars of similar power and size and having had the car awhile now, I would not hesitate to buy one again. However, you might not like the gas mileage. At best the highway mileage is going to be 25 to 26 MPG and you'll have to use premium fuel. I think it's worth it, but that would depend on your idea of good mileage.

[btbad]

The IS 300 is a nice driver. It feels real nice at about 80 on the DC Beltway. Adequate power for most. No major problems on my '02, other than some paint dings on the hood. If I were to do it again, I'd buy a clear protective film to circumvent this issue.