i,ve had my lexus is200 sports for 6rys now and never had any major problems i would not part with it even if i won the lottery the best money spent on a car ever ,

Overall very impressed prefer my IS200 Sport compared to my previous A6 / A3/323 SE! I do wonder if everyone feels like they're losing the back end in the wet ? I have seen other comments on the low gears ...but still it's highly recommend!

I purchased the IS200 Sport (6 speed) brand new in 2000 and have driven it until now. The car is simply a perfect blend of practicality and sportiness. If you can only own one car and yet need the 5 seats to hustle people around in, with cargo to boot, yet want to race through the mountains and twist through back roads, then this is the car you need. Handles like a BMW but with a much smoother experience, the car sometimes feels like its a marble running on rails. The engine is a little underpowered but remember that the small displacement means this car is very good on gas (I get close to 500 kms on each fill-up). But if you need to really race it, revving up to 4000 - 5000 RPMs gives really makes the car hustle and you can chase down many other more "sport inclined" cars. From 0 - 3500rpms, the engine is quiet and smooth as you would expect from a Lexus. After 3500rpm, the VVTI (VTEC) kicks in and the engine starts growling like a sports car! Extremely reliable and with few problems over the years, which might explain its high resale value. I would highly recommend this car to anyone.

I recently purchased a BMW M3 with the intent of replacing the IS200 as my daily driver. Sure the M3 is powerful and solid, but upon returning to my IS200 after 3 weeks in the M3, I realized that the IS200 is much more comfortable, has a much stronger air conditioning (I sweat in the BMW since it's A/C simply isn't as good), and has a much smoother transmission and sharper steering. Handling wise, the IS200 does not lose out to the M3 by much, while the ride in the IS200 is much more plush. Ironically, spending time in the M3 has made me appreciate the refinement in the I200 even more.

Since I put my sports exhaust and sports filter kit on the car with camcon air controller it goes like a rocket. The styling of the IS200 is second-to-none and the after-sales service is the best I've ever had. I've also joined the Lexus Owners Club which gives you great savings on servicing and extras if you want them. Overall the best car I've had. We've now got 3 IS200s in the family so must be good.

The Lexus is an excellent car to drive with the smoothness of the straight six engine which give me great pleasure on the motorway with it comfortable seats, the sound system which I kept it standard it superb it is crystal clear sound with a deep bass note which is great. It a great plus for me because in previous car that I have I had spent almost £2000 on ice and it just doesn't sound as good as this standard system. Performance wise I am a bit disappointed because I had a 200 turbo so it cannot match so I am now looking for a place that can re map the ecu to 200bhp which will make it a beast.

Taking all these reviewers' advice, I have gone and got myself a Lexus IS200. Up until today I drove a Mercedes E320 coupe, and I have been tempted for a very long time by the IS200. I finally got a two year old (53 Reg) today at 20k miles, with all the toys plus DVD and sat nav. I will come back in a couple of months with a review.

I have also been in the IS250, and all I can say is I really don't think any rival exists for this car... 3 series? Looks like a Hyundai, and forget Audi and C-Class etc. It will definitely be my next car in a year or two.

A friend of mine has a Lexus IS200 SE. I own a Ford Focus 1.8 lx. 1999. While occupying the car as a passenger I did feel the smooth acceleration. Every corner felt like the car was going to over steer massively, but with the powerful traction control, over steer is none existent and can really deceive the speed you can do into corners, where most would over steer mount a curb crash burn and die! With rear wheel drive and the traction off I would love to know exactly what sort of sideways positions you could adopt. However, it's not all singing all dancing. 6 gears mean the bottom end is quite slow. Getting the big heavy saloon with its electronics and drive shafts up to 60mph is quite a task. I had a go and was looking forward to experiencing the feeling of that smooth acceleration in second, but it never came. Then one day we had a race to the pub. The Lexus, when turning right on a roundabout went to the outside. We both had our foot down in second gear, and my Focus actually increased distance between us out of the corner. As you can take the Focus to 60mph with it's wide gear ratio, I looked surprised to see the Lexus fading in my mirror! The traction hindered the cars performance out of a corner, however once over 60mph the sheer torque of the 2 litre 24 valve Lexus put the Focus to shame. In a 0 - 60 the Focus would trounce the Lexus, but anything else doesn't have a chance. I'm sure the Lexus can be in the running for the ultimate saloon, however there is only one ultimate - put your hands together for the Volvo S70 T5! See my other reviews!

With only having Toyota car's from passing my test over 20 year's ago you can not beat the Japanese cars for reliability. From when I first saw the Lexus IS200 Sport I said to myself one day I will get one of them. When I drove a brand new Lexus IS200 se back for my manager that really made me buy a 1999 sport's model. I have had a full body kit put on by Lexus a stainless steel sport's exhaust, K & N air filter plus loads of extras & still more on the way. Back to the Lexus I have seen by some of the comments that some of you have said the Lexus is slow but I can tell you it's not that slow at all. I have four Toyota Celicas one ST 2000, 2x Celica Supra 2.8, one 90 & one94 plus a Celica GT4 1990 220 bhp & I can tell you now that the Lexus IS200 Sports can be on a par with the GT4 so who needs more power. I have done a 400 plus mile round trip & got 38.7 to the gallon with four in the car & the boot full to the brim, & you can cruise at 30 miles an hour in sixth gear at 1200 revs without up setting the car showing between 40-50 to the gallon on a flat road how many cars can you do that in. No problems in just over two years I have had the car only because Toyota own Lexus thats why they're number one. I have drove the Lexus IS300 Sports same body style as the IS200 but it's just not the same as driving the IS200 because the IS300 is only an auto with Triptronic or push auto gear lever up or down to shift gears the IS200 feels quicker with being a manual even though the IS300 is around 60 bhp more.

I'd liked the look on the Lexus IS200 Sport for about 4years before buying one and think it looks just as good now as when I first saw one. The car looked stunning and looks better than most cars for the same price. Fuel economy was poor (around 21mpg), and the cd player, brake caliper, abs lights and a ball joint on suspension went wrong in first five months. Cd player was replaced under warranty (at £1,200 I'm glad too!) The rear view mirror was horrible and I never got used to it and I thought interior space and boot was squashed considering how big the car actually is.
The Sport version I had was very nice and smooth to drive and seats very supportive. It also felt quicker than the official 0-60mph in 9.5secs. In the end the fuel economy and worry of the cost of repairs made me sell the car, however if Lexus design a car as nice as the IS200 with the smoothness but with better fuel economy I would definitely consider another one.

I have now had the Lexus IS200 Sport for 3 months and initial impressions are very favourable. The engine is very smooth indeed, the gearbox can either be used lazily, i.e. 2nd, 4th, 6th only, with good takeup in 4th from c.20.mph, or vigourously, i.e. using all the revs and fast changes up and down through the 'box. The quality of the finish is excellent and will look good for a long time to come. Running costs to date are ok, and reliability is a big plus.

i just bought the Lexus IS200 Sport with Styling kit in august 2003 and i havent had any problems at all. every time i drive my luxus down the road poeple allways so nice car to me.. to me i think the IS200 SPORT WITH STYLING KIT looks much better then the BMW

Having had my Lexus IS200 Sport version for over 18 months, the general satisfaction level is high. Short journeys, long journeys are equally comfortable. With a classy feel and very high equipment levels, it's also DIFFERENT to the German competition...hooray! Boot space could be better, first couple of gear changes could be smoother, power delivery could be quicker but all-in-all, try beating the package! Dealers seem friendly as well but shop around. Quotes between main dealers for servicing can differ by 40%!

Smooth quiet, and very fun. It has nice handling and stability. Takes curbs nice, no tilting. Fast and dependeble. Also a good investment for any one. Its still worth $19,000 at 100,000 miles. Almost any car cost &30,000 and its garbege like a FORD Explore, Expedition, Mustang they all loose value to fast and flip over easy.

Some might say this is a slow machine, but is power everything? The 2 litre straight 6 153bhp v6 24v engine is sweet. Dont forget there is an is 430 TTE on it's way. It's got 404bhp with an v8 32v block and 0 to 60 in 4.5 sec. The is200 comes with loads of goodies that in other cars in the same league you would have to spend alot more money on. What I think is that the Lexus is200 is a brilliant all rounder and better than a bmw or merc. But don't get me wrong bmw and mercedes are top cars.

For the last few months of extensive research in my quest to get a good car, the lexus IS200 sport is much more outstanding and value for money then the BMW 318i and a few mercs I've looked at too, I guess you just can't beat the number 1 car of the year!

After almost 30,000 km's, my Lexus IS200 Sport has not given me any major problems and is a very pleasant driving experience (with the exception of the CD changer which jammed on two occasions - it will fail if you don't load the CD's properly). The CD changer was replaced on the spot at the service centre.

I love the way it handles, it is responsive even at high speeds, and the only problem (for this so called sports sedan) is it takes longer than I'd like to get there. It needs an extra 50hp otherwise great value for money.

My manual Lexus IS200 has just turned 10,000K and overall it's a pleasant enough car to drive especially on the open road at speed. You must be prepared to go up a gear (or sometimes two) to keep it on song - a bit like a motorcycle. This does not mean thrashing the car it just means adapting to a different driving style than needed in torquier cars.

Staying with traffic from the lights puts you in a bit of a no man's land in that the car is happy with either very leisurely departures or fairly full on ones. Most of us would want something in beween.

My car from new had a faint beating sound when the air conditioning was on. A replacement air box (I assume including fan) fixed this.

The transmission lash and occasional thump in top gear is not too concerning but they are there and really shouldn't be in a car of this quality.

I wanted a German design made by the Japanese. The Lexus is close but the above shortcomings and the body styling aren't there yet in my opinion. I do suspect however that the production quality is better than Merc or BMW and I have owned both.

Revise the rear end styling, add the three litre motor with a sorted 5 or 6 speed manual transmission and the Lexus would murder the opposition if the price was still right.