Fhaq02

So I have been looking to buy an IS300 for a while now... I am in Toronto and they seem to be pretty hard to come by up here ... not too many advertised on autotrader and things like that ... well i saw one on autotrader that seemed promising at a used car dealer and I went to see it. The car was in alright condition and drove well but looking at the carfax report made me feel uneasy. It used to be a fleet vehicle in the states before it was bought at auction and brought to Canada. It also had 5 previous owners listed... so obviously that rang some bells ... the car also had a number of dings and dents and just looked like it hadn't been treated the best ... so obviously I didnt end up buying it. After talking with the salesman ... he told me how they dealer gets a lot of their cars from the US in auctions and bring them to canada ... they also have a thing where you can put down a deposit of $500 ... and request a type of car .. and specify all the options and things you want in the car you are looking for. They then take this information and try to find the car you specified in about 2 weeks. They will buy it and bring it to Canada for you. If they dont find the car you specified, you are entitled to your deposit back or they can again try to find another one. After discussing this more with the salesman, it seems like the only way I would lose my deposit is if they brought the car I specified and for some reason I didn't want it anymore. It would have to be a really good reason to get my money back. From the sound of it ... it seems like it could be good deal ... it wouldnt cost me anything and I wouldnt have to spend the time to find the car myself which is pretty difficult up here ... unless i lost my deposit ... The dealer seems legit ... they have a multiple locations and they seem to do very well for themselves ... its called prestige motors in Toronto ... www.prestigemotors.ca has anyone encountered used car dealers that do this? ... Is this common? ... Seems to make sense becasue they have alot of connections and would be able to find an IS300 alot easier than me... any thoughts would be appreciated ... Thanks

hey thanks for all ur help ... all the packages and trims are helpful for me as it is problably the same for Canadian models ... as I am in Canada used car prices and things like that are probably alot different ... I was orginally looking at an '02 or '03 with ideally less than 100,000 kms ... ive been seeing them through dealer listings in a price range of $19K to $23K ... but then again that is $CDN and cars here are alot more expensively priced... from what i hear that is a decent range ... my budget is around $20K I want to try and find one with the premium package and im not sure whether i was standard or the automatic with paddle shifters ... any suggestions ? ... I know that lexus cars are very reliable ... but i have heard things about unwanted accelleration problems ... are there any other types of problems that are common in IS300s (i.e. timing belt ... suspension etc.)? anything i should be aware of ? ... THanks ...

I am looking at buying a used IS 300 ... I was hoping for some advice on the different trim levels and options on this generation IS ... and possibly some links to reviews on which year would be the best to buy ... I am a recent grad looking for a reliable car to last 3-4 years to go to work and clients ... any advice would be appreciated ... Thanks ...