Well my cousin went through a similar situation. She needed a car and was looking at a VW Beetle, BMW 3 series, Lexus ES300 and IS300. I told her that after owning a bunch of german cars, japanese cars usually last long with less problems. She wanted a smaller car and the ES300 was a bit big with a older person feel. My cousin is 29 and 5'5" so the got the IS300. I believe I found her a clean title 2002 IS300 w/32,000 miles for $18,900. She loves her car.