GraemeH
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2005
- Messages
- 2,976
- Location
- Scotland, UK
- Car(s)
- Toyota Corolla, Lexus IS200, BMW E39 5 Series.
Well, I had an accident with my beloved Corolla. The insurance company wanted to write it off if I claimed on it (the cost of repair was approaching the value of the car), but it's worth more to me than the market value (belonged to my grandfather, I inherited it when he died, first car, got up to lots of awesome stuff in it etc), so instead of claiming I'm putting the ?1000 into repairing it.
That meant being carless for a few weeks, and screw that - fortunately through a serendipitous sequence of events (I was running my mechanic home after a night of boozing and spotted an IS200 parked outside his, mentioned I quite liked them, turns out it was a customers of his he was prepping it for its MOT and he may be willing to sell), I was able to get in touch with the owner of this and close a purchase in two days (one day to see it, next day to bring x thousand in cash to him).
So here's the new car; a Lexus IS200 Sport. 77k miles. I actually set myself a budget of ?3000 (they go for between ?2,500 and ?4,500), but a few factors pushed me up above that once I saw and drove this one;
-It's the sport, rather than the SE which I thought.
-The driving position is perfect.
-Perfect balance between comfort and driving feel.
-Only 2 owners, and all the maintinence has been done by my mechanic for the Corolla, so I know exactly what the history is. Both owners were single - the back seats don't look like they've ever been sat in, ever. There's absolutely no wear anywhere.
-Goodyear Eagle F1's all around; my friend put these on his Impreza and swears by them, he won't put anything else on his fast cars now.
Since I bought it (~5 hours ago) I'm realizing there's almost too much kit for me; electric seats, heated seats, heated electric hot and cold running mirrors, 6 disc changer, electric "moon roof" (yes the Lexus manual calls it a moon roof rather than a sun roof like every other manufacturer...), climate control, that little chute thing for passing skis through from the boot to the back seats, the lot. Getting into my dads brand new Fiesta after being in it feels like stepping into a big plastic toy car.
The important bits are; 2 litre straight 6, I believe it's 155bhp, 6 speed gearbox and the traction control goes off.
Hopefully these pictures automatically resize;
And here are both my girls, the 'rolla being a little worse for wear at the moment
And here's the required proof (one of the rules thread said a "random object" should be included, so here's a Smirnoff beer mat with my name on it);
And here's James May agreeing with me 100% (tacky speedometer and annoying reversing beep);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZpcKcjfMds
So, does anyone have any experience with them? What did you think, anything I should look out for?
That meant being carless for a few weeks, and screw that - fortunately through a serendipitous sequence of events (I was running my mechanic home after a night of boozing and spotted an IS200 parked outside his, mentioned I quite liked them, turns out it was a customers of his he was prepping it for its MOT and he may be willing to sell), I was able to get in touch with the owner of this and close a purchase in two days (one day to see it, next day to bring x thousand in cash to him).
So here's the new car; a Lexus IS200 Sport. 77k miles. I actually set myself a budget of ?3000 (they go for between ?2,500 and ?4,500), but a few factors pushed me up above that once I saw and drove this one;
-It's the sport, rather than the SE which I thought.
-The driving position is perfect.
-Perfect balance between comfort and driving feel.
-Only 2 owners, and all the maintinence has been done by my mechanic for the Corolla, so I know exactly what the history is. Both owners were single - the back seats don't look like they've ever been sat in, ever. There's absolutely no wear anywhere.
-Goodyear Eagle F1's all around; my friend put these on his Impreza and swears by them, he won't put anything else on his fast cars now.
Since I bought it (~5 hours ago) I'm realizing there's almost too much kit for me; electric seats, heated seats, heated electric hot and cold running mirrors, 6 disc changer, electric "moon roof" (yes the Lexus manual calls it a moon roof rather than a sun roof like every other manufacturer...), climate control, that little chute thing for passing skis through from the boot to the back seats, the lot. Getting into my dads brand new Fiesta after being in it feels like stepping into a big plastic toy car.
The important bits are; 2 litre straight 6, I believe it's 155bhp, 6 speed gearbox and the traction control goes off.
Hopefully these pictures automatically resize;
And here are both my girls, the 'rolla being a little worse for wear at the moment
And here's the required proof (one of the rules thread said a "random object" should be included, so here's a Smirnoff beer mat with my name on it);
And here's James May agreeing with me 100% (tacky speedometer and annoying reversing beep);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZpcKcjfMds
So, does anyone have any experience with them? What did you think, anything I should look out for?
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