Will a Lexus SC 300 appease my mid-life crisis ?

A relative of mine has a lexus. Not a brand I am at all impressed with. It gives the impression that the different parts were designed by 12 different departments that never communicated with each other, or they took components from 12 other models and put them all together hoping they'd work nicely.
 
I cant believe all the haters. The Lexus sc300 is a great car. More affordable than the Supra. Mid 90s supra turbos are still worth upwards of 50K. Non turbo versions are around 20-25K. I would take either the Lexus, or Supra over anything Porsche was producing at the time. Guess what vehicle would be in the shop more often?
 
steerpike2 said:
A relative of mine has a lexus. Not a brand I am at all impressed with. It gives the impression that the different parts were designed by 12 different departments that never communicated with each other, or they took components from 12 other models and put them all together hoping they'd work nicely.
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What model? I own a Lexus, and compared to what BMW and Mercedes are producing, Lexus definitely has the edge. I have never heard anyone say anything remotely close to what you just typed.
 
Lazarus Long said:
What model? I own a Lexus, and compared to what BMW and Mercedes are producing, Lexus definitely has the edge. I have never heard anyone say anything remotely close to what you just typed.
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IS250. I don't know what country it is made, but the BMWs and MBs we get are made locally, and have a better reputation than USA-made ones.
 
steerpike2 said:
IS250. I don't know what country it is made, but the BMWs and MBs we get are made locally, and have a better reputation than USA-made ones.
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A friend of mine has a 05 is300. Rear wheel drive, with hatchback. Better build and design than, say a 2008 is250... I think you would have a different opinion if you sat in one of their higher end models.
 
+1

I own an '02 IS300 with close to 188K miles on it, would not trade it for the later 250 or 350 models. I find those cramped inside, console takes up too much space and headroom is poor. Also the 250 is less powerful - noticeably less gutsy than my 300 - and the 350 was quite a bit more expensive. Plus, the IS300 is as close to bulletproof as it gets. The drivetrain in particular with that straight six shared with the Supra and a really solid 5-speed automatic, both are damned near unbreakable, but the rest of the car has been super reliable for me as well and I drive the wheels off mine. Brakes last forever, interior has held up really well other than the matte paint finish they chose for some of the dash/console areas which does not respond well to cleaning or solvents. It is not quite the pure driver's car that a typical 3-series is but gets close enough to make it a joy to drive; granted, to undo the typical Lexus "luxury squishy feel" you have to leave it in Power mode, use the manual shifting option, and turn off traction control to get the most out of it but it's pretty crisp at that point - punches above its weight and never complains about being pushed hard.

That said, I'd like to try one of the IS200t and see if the turbo motor in that is good enough to get me past the oversized console, stupid clock, and poorly executed joystick media control system. Really annoying when the joystick in my 1991-vintage Sony XES system is more intuitive and easy to use w/o taking my eyes off the road than what Lexus is building into these cars 25 years later.

John
 
I would figure that a '69 Corvette Sting Ray L-88 in 1972 Corvette white with a blue Pearl and blue interior would be a good mid-life crisis motivator.
 
jdurbin1 said:
+1

I own an '02 IS300 with close to 188K miles on it, would not trade it for the later 250 or 350 models. I find those cramped inside, console takes up too much space and headroom is poor. Also the 250 is less powerful - noticeably less gutsy than my 300 - and the 350 was quite a bit more expensive. Plus, the IS300 is as close to bulletproof as it gets. The drivetrain in particular with that straight six shared with the Supra and a really solid 5-speed automatic, both are damned near unbreakable, but the rest of the car has been super reliable for me as well and I drive the wheels off mine. Brakes last forever, interior has held up really well other than the matte paint finish they chose for some of the dash/console areas which does not respond well to cleaning or solvents. It is not quite the pure driver's car that a typical 3-series is but gets close enough to make it a joy to drive; granted, to undo the typical Lexus "luxury squishy feel" you have to leave it in Power mode, use the manual shifting option, and turn off traction control to get the most out of it but it's pretty crisp at that point - punches above its weight and never complains about being pushed hard.

That said, I'd like to try one of the IS200t and see if the turbo motor in that is good enough to get me past the oversized console, stupid clock, and poorly executed joystick media control system. Really annoying when the joystick in my 1991-vintage Sony XES system is more intuitive and easy to use w/o taking my eyes off the road than what Lexus is building into these cars 25 years later.

John
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I don't want to own anything newer than about 05. Certainly dont want or need a media control system, or anything touch screen. I also like to be able to service my own vehicles.

My friend has a manual trans in his is300. Same motor as yours. If those were awd, I would buy one, but the rwd isn't practical for michigan winters.
 
Yeah, I can vouch for that. I spun mine on the freeway in the rain once at around 65 mph (bald rear tires, large puddle, poorly considered lane change gone bad etc. - funnily enough for once the traction control was NOT off but it turned out to not be particularly useful for that situation). These cars swap ends at a very high rate of rotation, due to the nice weight balance front to rear. I would want the AWD if I lived where there's snow, and good winter tires.

On the plus side though, it was tough enough to survive spinning off the road at that speed, sliding sideways over a small berm at the edge of the shoulder, then a good 15-20 feet up a 45 degree embankment covered in ice plant, before caroming back onto the freeway where it stopped facing the wrong direction with everything intact and working. I got it back on the shoulder pronto and ended up driving home several minutes later without any mechanical assistance (after my heart rate came down a tad, lol). Only had to replace a couple of chewed up alloy wheels & touch up the alignment to get it back to par but the iceplant did a number on the paint on the running board areas and lower bumpers as well so it had to go into the body shop for that stuff. I was still picking little bits of gravel out of the cowling weeks later where a bunch of the hillside washed over the front of the car at some point during my offroad adventure. Tough little car, though.

John
 
2manyspkers said:
I think you're thinking of the ES300, 4 door sedan Front wheel drive car similar to a Camry/ Avalon , the SC 300 is more similar to the Supra , a 2 door rear wheel drive sport coupe style car.
So to answer the original comment the SC is not very similar to the Camry or Avalon,beyond the fact they are all Toyota's.
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Yes...

But my intent was that SC 300 and the later model Supras share more than the rest of the Toyota models do because the SC 300 is a continuation of the Supra. The Supra, IS300 and the SC300 share the 2jz and a Getrag German six-speed transmission. The Supra has a 2JZ-GTE that is a dual turbo engine that can be rebuilt to 600hp and the SC300 2jz can use the same turbo system without modification to the engine. But the SC300 shares similar suspension design to include the rear suspension unlike the rest of the Toyotas so the SC is more similar to the Supra. The IS300 was put on the same platform just to sell more cars, like when Chevy put 427's in their Kingswood Estate Station wagons and people put the 427's in Impala Super Sports.
 
Hyfi said:
Isn't the Lexus 300 just a more expensive Toyota Avalon?
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No. For one thing it's RWD. Also available with row it yourself gearbox. Actually a legit car, although for that format car I like kraut burners (my DD is an E92 335i; before that - not counting company cars - it was a Porsche 944)
 
Djcoolray said:
Yes...

But my intent was that SC 300 and the later model Supras share more than the rest of the Toyota models do because the SC 300 is a continuation of the Supra. The Supra, IS300 and the SC300 share the 2jz and a Getrag German six-speed transmission. The Supra has a 2JZ-GTE that is a dual turbo engine that can be rebuilt to 600hp and the SC300 2jz can use the same turbo system without modification to the engine. But the SC300 shares similar suspension design to include the rear suspension unlike the rest of the Toyotas so the SC is more similar to the Supra. The IS300 was put on the same platform just to sell more cars, like when Chevy put 427's in their Kingswood Estate Station wagons and people put the 427's in Impala Super Sports.
Click to expand...
Sorry, my post was intended to address ....perhaps the guy you posted a response to? It's obvious you understand the car is related to the Supra line and not the Camry/Avalon/ ES300 cars.
 
jdurbin1 said:
Yeah, I can vouch for that. I spun mine on the freeway in the rain once at around 65 mph (bald rear tires, large puddle, poorly considered lane change gone bad etc. - funnily enough for once the traction control was NOT off but it turned out to not be particularly useful for that situation). These cars swap ends at a very high rate of rotation, due to the nice weight balance front to rear. I would want the AWD if I lived where there's snow, and good winter tires.

On the plus side though, it was tough enough to survive spinning off the road at that speed, sliding sideways over a small berm at the edge of the shoulder, then a good 15-20 feet up a 45 degree embankment covered in ice plant, before caroming back onto the freeway where it stopped facing the wrong direction with everything intact and working. I got it back on the shoulder pronto and ended up driving home several minutes later without any mechanical assistance (after my heart rate came down a tad, lol). Only had to replace a couple of chewed up alloy wheels & touch up the alignment to get it back to par but the iceplant did a number on the paint on the running board areas and lower bumpers as well so it had to go into the body shop for that stuff. I was still picking little bits of gravel out of the cowling weeks later where a bunch of the hillside washed over the front of the car at some point during my offroad adventure. Tough little car, though.

John
Click to expand...

Best winter car I had was a Renault Fuego 2.2...That sucker never waivered under any conditions...I was never late or absent to class at MSU due to that car!.
 
For me, a MLC vehicle right now is anything that isn't 19 years old, and rusting. (Although I haven't had payments in 13+ years. ;) )
 
I bought my mid-life crisis car last year--2015 Challenger Hellcat in the obnoxious Sublime Green with the black hood and stripes (pre-ordered, one of the first 1000 built)--finally got rid of my '70 1/2 split bumper Camaro 396 4 spd. One stomp on the "loud pedal" and you'll either feel young again, or have a heart attack while trying to hold it in a straight line.
 
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