mmarshall

(My car was similar to this, except for the six-spoke wheels and all-season tires)








Since many of us are spending most of our time at home now because of the virus (I just go to the grocery store, CVS drug store, or Walmart's for needed supplies), and I'm temporarily out of the business of new-vehicle reviews or test-drives, some of you seem to like my write-ups of previous vehicles I or my family have owned. So, by request, I'll do some more of them. For this one, I'll write up the vehicle that originally got me onto CL to start with....my 2001 IS300. So, for those of you in CL who can't stand me.....blame this car (Just Kidding). I know we have a specific 1Gen-IS forum on CL, but, since most of my auto-talk is in Car Chat, I felt it's better to post it here.

In the 1990s, being a car enthusiast, I bought (and owned) more vehicles (two Toyotas, one Mazda, and a Saturn) than I actually needed, sometimes owning more than one at a time. Virginia's car-ownership laws are not the most friendly in the nation.....there are yearly safety-inspections, early emissions-tests in the county I live in, yearly personal-property taxes based on the car's residual KBB value, registration-fees for both county and state, etc.... This, besides the usual expenses of insurance, gas, oil changes, service, trying to keep track of all that paperwork, service-requirements, and documents, and the hassles of parking them both in my small (and sometimes hard-to-find) condo-spaces, removing them both when major work had to be done the parking-lot, and frankly, it just got to be too much. I said the heck with it....time to go back to one car.

Despite a number of vehicles (and a nice blue 1995 Celica), I had not really owned a really premium or upmarket vehicle since the big used American luxury cars I had in college and as a young adult, decades earlier...and, of course I couldn't afford new ones then, so they were used and quite worn. Also, with my desire for winter traction, I had not owned a RWD vehicle since the mid-70s. So, with the advent at that time of ABS, traction control, and stability control, particularly in upmarket cars, I thought I'd just own one single, upmarket vehicle. I looked at and considered a number of vehicles (including another big Buick)...but GM interiors were pure crap in those days, and they weren't well-built.

At the 2001 D.C. Auto Show in January, when I looked at and sat in the then-new Lexus IS300 (actually a rebadged Toyota Altezza with a larger in-line 3.0L-six engine), I knew what I wanted, and fell in love with it..although, later, I almost wished I had gotten the new 4Gen ES300 instead. Still, I was clearly mesmerized by the IS300's bright Solar Yellow paint (it was the only Lexus product available then in that color), chronograph-style gauges, polished chrome-ball shifter (real polished-metal/chrome, not cheap plastic), and the availability of cloth seats (which I preferred over leather) and a larger all season wheel/tire option, with six spokes instead of five and higher-profile tires that rode smoother than the stiff-riding high-performance standard rubber.

I had also had previous experience with two Toyotas of my own, and my Mom's Corolla wagon, at one of the local Toyota shops, and, despite their reliability, was not only on a first-name basis with the Service Manager (later Service Director), but considered him a personal friend of mine. Indeed, more than once, he asked me for MY advice when he was vehicle-shopping for his own family. He suggested, when I told him I was getting an IS300, that I bring it into his shop for simple routine service, which he said he could do (and did) for about half of what the overpriced Lexus service departments wanted. I was used to doing my own oil-changes on the Toyotas I owned...which was simple with the 1.8L engine, but the 3.0L in-line 6 was much more difficult to access the crankcase drain-plug on, and the filter was mounted at an awkward angle. So, I figured, let the guys in the Toyota shop do it for the reduced price....especially since Toyota shops use the same filters, spark plugs, wiper-blades, etc....and most maintenance-items as Lexus shops. He said the only thing he couldn't do on a Lexus in that shop was warranty-work, because Lexus warranty work, officially, had to be done in Lexus shops....but he was working on getting a certification for that, which Lexus would recognize.

So, anyhow, despite the generally good Lexus customer-service reputation, buying this vehicle was nowhere near the extremely pleasant experience that buying the Saturn SL-2 had been a few years earlier (I covered the SL-2 in another thread). I went up to the Lexus shop, with my checkbook in hand, expecting to order a new base-level IS in yellow, without options, and, of course, leave a deposit. Sure enough, they didn't have a yellow one in stock...but they DID have them in stock in virtually every other color. They went on and on, trying to sell me one in silver, white, black, blue, gray, dark green, you name it. The Auburn Sky Metallic, a kind of reddish burnt-orange, was gorgeous, and I almost went for it, but decided to hold out for yellow, and got ready to have them fill out an order-form. Then, they tried to screw me, apparently because I wouldn't take one of their in-stock models off their hands. They seriously low-balled my trade, despite the fact that I had taken excellent care of it and not put that many miles on it. I could hear my salesperson arguing with the dealership's sales manager, and then he came back and told me, privately, in a low voice so the manager could not hear it, that he thought my trade was worth a lot more that the manager was willing to accept. I said never mind, I'd sell it myself, and he said no, wait, let me go back and try one more time. This time, when the manager realized that the deal was slipping away, he decided to offer me a more reasonable figure, and, by then, I was tired, so we shook hands on it. Then, just as they were getting ready to formally special-order another one (base-model / cloth seats, without sunroof, and with the all-season tire-package...the way I wanted it), the manager comes out and said, "Wait, Mr. Marshall, there's a yellow one on a ship, headed to the port in New York City, right now, exactly the way you want it." I said..."Are you sure?" He said, "Yep".....and showed me the stats on it. "We'll divert it down here for you, Mr. Marshall" I said "Sold", pulled out my checkbook, scribbled out a $1000 check, handed it to him, said "There's my deposit...give me a recipt, and call me when it comes in. Good night, Gentleman". Turned out, BTW, that my Lexus salesperson, a relatively young man, was the son of a Ford Tycoon who owned one of the largest Ford dealerships in the area. He had a white 2-seat 2001 Thunderbird on the lot (even though it was a Lexus shop)....they sold it for (get this) a 17K mark-over list. A woman came in and wanted it. It listed for 37K, and they sold it for 54K. I told the salesperson "You've got to be kidding...she wrote a check for that much", and he said, 'Yep". Simple supply-and-demand...when that car came out, its popularity bordered on freakish. I liked it myself, but was not willing to pay that kind of mark-up....and my own IS300 was 31K, not exactly cheap in those days. When his dad passed away, he inherited the big Ford/Lincoln shop, and is still the head of it today...I saw him a few weeks ago when I test-drove the Lincoln Corsair.

So, without further ado...the car itself (as I sometimes do, I went off on a long side-story). Sure enough, as promised, it came in a few days later, I got the call from the dealership, went out to the Lexus shop, looked it over, and it appeared OK, with no damage or defects. It passed my test-drive, and I handed them a check for the balance (I don't believe in being in debt with car-payments, and won't buy any vehicle that I cannot pay off). Then, when I asked if I could wash and dry it myself in the wash-bay, the General Manager of the place said no. The Saturn place I had dealt with before didn't care.....they let me wash it any time I wanted to, but this place was a lot different. They apparently felt we were idiots, despite the fact that I had been washing and detailing vehicles before most of the guys working in the wash-bay were even born. Well, I simply wasn't going to take no for an answer, so I grabbed the hose and started cleaning it myself. He came out of the office, walked over to the bay, and firmly asked me, once again, to not wash the vehicle. I was mad, but decided not to make a public confrontation with him, and let them wash it. But I made sure they did it correctly....no brooms or other devices that could scratch paint or chrome.

Driving it home, I was amazed at how well this car was built. The basic structural-feel of it was like something carved out of a block of granite...Toyota and Lexus, IMO, made some of their best products right around this time, and I noticed a sharp downgrade in solidness in both the 2Gen and 3Gen IS models later on. But, with experience, there were a few glitches in its design and operation which I didn't like.....mostly in the 5-speed automatic transmission. The chrome-ball shifter had to be used to get L, or first gear......you could not use the downshift buttons on the front of the steering wheel spokes for first gear (the upshift buttons were hidden on the back side of the spokes). In cold weather, the transmission would not shift out of third or fourth gear until the engine temperature got up to the bottom end of normal, which meant you had to creep along rather slowly to keep RPMs down when the engine was cold. The transmission sometimes (once in a while) hiccuped /flared slightly on the 2-3 shift, and the ECU would give very sluggish throttle-response and downshifting at low-rolling speeds...a factory re-flash was supposed to address that, but didn't. The climate-control system, in several functions, kept reverting to an (unwanted) recirculate-mode, which could fog up the windows on defrost...you often had to manually keep the **** set to fresh-outside air to keep the defrosting effective, which I found annoying. The 3.0L in-line six, which was otherwise butter-smooth but tough as an anvil, used expensive premium gas at about the same rate as the larger 4.0L V8. And despite ABS and traction-control (my car did not have the stability-system), Bridgestone all-season tires, Snow-Mode for the transmission which limits engine-torque, and careful driving on my part, this car was truly awful in the winter, particularly on a hard-frozen surface....even though I kept this car for a good five years, my next vehicle was a Subaru Outback, which simply laughed at anything that winter or nature could send it.

But, a few quirks aside, this was a superbly-built car, and I kept it for a good five years, until I decided that I just wanted something better in the snow. (I also will probably never own another RWD car again). I only had one (simple) warranty-repair...a premature replacement of a fog light bulb. I had most of the basic service done at the Toyota shop, for a cheap price. In the early 2000s, the Lexus IS and LS were arguably the two most reliable vehicles in Consumer Reports' data-base. The power-steering pump needed its fluid replaced a little earlier than I would have thought, but, again the Toyota shop took care of that. Everywhere I went, heads would turn when they saw that bright-yellow-canary go by...even the Military MPs remarked on how much they liked it when they would stop me at the gates to check my ID.

And, as always, Happy Car-Memories.

MM

Fizzboy7

Ahhhh... the IS that started it all. This was a very iconic and original design.
Keep in mind the first photo you used does not show a stock IS. Obnoxious tailpipe add-on, some non-Lexus side skirts, and possible lowered suspension.
So question: To use the steering wheel shift buttons, did one have to put it in "M" with the gear shifter? Or were the buttons available to use while in D?

mmarshall

No, from what I can tell, the first photo is stock. The three-inch (Coke-Can) exhaust was standard on this car....as was the clear/red taillight combo. I also think the fender-skirts were standard.

From what I remember, you had to go to "M" to use the buttons. My Lacrosse has the later system you refer to, where you can just hit the paddle and get any gear you want, even if the lever is in Drive.

Another quirk in the IS300's shifting was the fact that you had to use L, on the shifter, down below 2, to get first gear. You could not physically use the buttons....they would not shift below second.

Fizzboy7

The large exhaust tip was standard. But the one in the photo is even larger. It is also on an angle, which Lexus never did. See the attachment, as to what that owner likely did. The 1IS facelift brought a thicker-rimmed tip, but the overall size was still smaller than what the photo car has.



The side skirts are aftermarket. The second photo below shows the stock ones. They were more tame on the stock car and did not have the lead edge pop up the fender nor the notch along the bottom center. Small differences, but they are there if you study the photos.

Thanks for explaining the manual mode. That is one complaint I have with my 2IS, you always have to throw it in manual to use the paddles. I think my shifter is starting to wear out from doing this for eleven years. The 2009 model fixed it and they made it so you could use the paddles without moving the shifter. Oh well, every new year there's always something you wish you had.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

Thank you for the awesome review! It’s cool to see someone who had the original IS300 when they were new. That Solar Yellow was a really cool color. Did you ever see any other yellow IS300’s driving around back then?

The IS300 was the first Lexus I liked as a teenager but I didn’t know much about the car and only seen a few back then. I always thought they were really cool looking and they had such a unique interior compared to the rest of the lineup at the time. The manual transmission version was awesome too!

I’m considering getting an IS300 later this year as a daily driver but most I find are beat up with high miles and way overpriced. I hope to find a decent stock one someday. One thing I didn’t realize when I bought my SC300 back in the day was how cheap the IS300 was to modify. Modifications were way cheaper and easier to find compared to my SC, ES, or LS.

TripleL

Fun flash back read MM! 1IS was/is a good car. Still love the great first impression that 'chronograph' style dash gives

Johnhav430

Wasn't that car available in a stick back then? These cars take me back to a time early in my career, and a guy in accounting had one and I thought that's a nice car. The notion of taxing cars yearly is funny. When I bought a brand new Porsche, a friend said you can register it in NH so you don't have to pay the sales tax (at the time it was probably over $4k imagine maybe 5 figs today). So I got NH tags and what do you know there's an annual tax based on the car's value lol I also remember a woman screaming at me because I didn't stop for her to cross (I learned it's a NH thing).

Man I don't know how anyone could stand for that, not the stopping for peds, the taxes. I believe that NH,MA,CT,VA have it. Then again FL has high reggie fees. Where did all the IS go, they're rarely seen on the road? The LS seem to still be on the road. I've wondered the same thing about all the Checker cabs and Chevy Caprices.

davyjordi

on a tangent related to a tangent that you went off on -- you mentioned that the 1IS was superior in quality and to the 2IS and 3IS, which you felt downgrade in solidness. I have owned all three models of the IS, the first generation as a teenager as a car my parents bought for me, the second generation in my early 20s as a car that i'd first purchased all on my own, and two 3ISs one of which was recently totaled but which i loved so much that i bought a second just a few weeks ago.

anyhow, i'd like to hear more about your experiences on the downgrade in quality over the generations as this is not something that i had experienced at all. i thought that the first generation was a bit crude for a luxury marque, although i was in high school at the time and it was a 'cool' car that was also fun to drive. the second generation instilled a lot more luxury features into the model while still leaving for performance with the 350 and ISF, and the third generation continued on with both luxurious components, excellent handling, superb cabin insulation, and the punchy carry-over 3.5l v6 found in the IS350 along with the newly introduced, albeit average for the segment, 2.0l I4.

that said, i'd love to hear a bit more of your experiences with the three generations.

tex2670

This was my favorite feature--the chrono style IP. It's a shame this didn't catch on as a trend.

mmarshall

It was, of course, as with the chrome ball shifter, also available on the 1Gen Toyota Altezza. The IS300 was essentially an Americanized version of the Altezza. But your point, in general, is well-taken...it is rare (but not unheard of) that I've seen it in any other vehicle.

mmarshall

Thanks. It's (usually) nice to bring back memories.

Yes, but, of course, this DC/MD/VA area has always been a thriving new-vehicle market. A fellow not far from me owned an even more rare yellow IS300 SportCross wagon.



It was a deliberate attempt by Toyota/Lexus management (who already had the Toyota Altezza to work with) to do something unique and different, and to try and compete with the hot-selling BMW 3-series.

Good luck in your search. Hope you find something that is pleasing to you.

mmarshall

Yes, that gauge-panel and the chrome-ball shifter (and the snap-precision way the shifter itself operated) did a lot to sell this car. Even so, it was nowhere near as popular as the later IS versions, particularly those later versions with AWD.

mmarshall

Yes. Lexus did not offer a stick the initial year (2001), but management bowed to pressure and offered a 5-speed stick from 2002 on...using the same chrome-ball shifter, of course. I sampled a 5MT version of it in 2002, and found the linkage OK, but not up to the precise shift-feel standards of, say, those from Honda or on the Mazda Miata.

It's called a Personal Property Tax, and, depending on state or county law, can be levied on vehicles, motorcycles, aircraft, farm-tractors/equipment, boats, trailers...almost anything that moves. It is usually levied yearly on the assessed-value of this property (often from KBB), and is pro-rated for each item according to the dates that you buy and sell the property. We have it in Virginia because the state constitution forbids a local County Income-Tax...the property tax as it is called, takes the place of that. Like the annual Real Estate Tax you pay on your house, it is deductible on your Federal taxes.

Yes, there are people who do that (live in one state, but register their vehicle in another) to avoid paying property taxes. But, unless one has a valid legal excuse, like being Active-Duty Military temporarily based in the state, that is considered tax-evasion. Our condo-board itself has had to deal with some residents who have done that, because, in addition to state/county laws, our condo rules require residents to have their vehicles properly state-inspected/registered within 30 days of moving in.

mmarshall

Well, after owning a 1Gen for some 5 years, I didn't actually own a 2Gen or 3Gen model, but reviewed and test-drove a number of different versions, RWD and AWD, with both the 2.5L V6 and the 3.5L V6. I felt the solidness of the sheet metal, interior trim, hardware, and general sense of how well the car was bolted together was noticeably downhill with the 2Gen, and even more with the 3Gen. The 2Gen and 3Gen also lost the option of the cloth seats and higher-profile/all-season tires that I had specifically wanted (and got) with the 1Gen. To be fair and honest, though, there were also several important improvements in the later generation versions...the choice of two different engines, the addition of the AWD option (which was badly-needed in the 1Gen, but not offered), and the availability of stability-control, which my car lacked, though it did have traction control.

Byprodrive

iTrader: (1)

The 1st gen IS300 is what got me interested in Lexus for the 1st time ever. I did a test drive at the local dealer but didn't like the straight 6 engine feel or sound. In 2007 I bought the 2nd new car I had ever bought,for my wife, a 2007 IS350. We both really liked it & kept it for 9 years & 95 k miles with zero issues except the melting dash board which was recalled & replaced right before we sold it.I loved the Black Saphire pearl paint, That's it in my profile pic.