I am new

[SE-L]

Hi- I might not be welcome here, but im 15. Turning 16 in november, and i've been saving up to buy an IS200 (XE10) SE/Sport. I understand that the insurance for those is quite high- Does anyone have any advice about IS200's and any insurance quotes for 17 year olds for one? Thanks
Edit: I also need to know whether companies will even insure an IS200 for a 17 year old. Although IS200's are cheap, theres a few sports/SE's for sale well under a grand in ok condition. Oh and buyers advice would be appreciated.

Edited April 4, 2020 by SE-L
added more info

[Sukhi Saatchi]

Try getting insurance that demand a black box, they will insure you for 12 months but you will qualify for 1 years no claim bonus after 10 months. 

But you have to have a full Licence

Sargent Major Sukhi Sandhu,

SHUT UP (WINDSOR DAVIES STYLE)

[Shahpor]

Hi Max,

The fact that you want an IS200 at 15 years old means you have good taste, so you are definitely welcome here

To give you an idea, have you tried subtracting a few years from your date of birth on sites such as confused.com?  It should give you an idea where you will be when the time comes.

[steve2006]

Hi Max and welcome to the LOC, you don’t need to own a Lexus to be a member and age is no barrier.

I had my first car back in 1977 it was a 1000cc Mini which cost me £100.00, 3rd party insurance cost the same £100.00 again.

Obviously things have changed somewhat and although you can now buy a decent IS200 for 10 times the amount I paid I doubt the insurance premium would be the same multiplication factor.

Pretty sure I have seen young members on here around 23 years old paying several thousand pounds!

Good news is you have a couple of years before you can get on the road so time to save and learn everything about them.

If when the time comes you still haven’t got all the money together for the insurance but have the car do what I had to......spend all day reversing down the drive and back up again 😀

 

[Shahpor]

26 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

Pretty sure I have seen young members on here around 23 years old paying several thousand pounds!

Funny you should say that.  When I was 23 I had a modified, supercharged Alfa 156 V6.  It was a lovely car, but the insurance did cost me £2500! I was such a silly young man

[Sukhi Saatchi]

10 hours ago, Shahpor said:

Funny you should say that.  When I was 23 I had a modified, supercharged Alfa 156 V6.  It was a lovely car, but the insurance did cost me £2500! I was such a silly young man

When I was 19 years old, I had a Cortina MK 1 Lotus.

It was stolen from outside my house a few days later. When I got it back the engine was blown. My brother and I put in a 3.5 cc engine taken from a Rover P6.

 

[Mossypossy]

I had a Rover V8 when I was 18.

Insurance was more than the car was worth, but University grant cheque paid for that.

[LexIS200Sport]

My first car is a Datsun Laurel (C31) from 1982, which I still have at my parent's place abroad. It was an unconventional choice for a 17-year old but it taught me so much about motoring and car maintenance. It's 2-litre carburetted inline-6 engine only produced 115bhp, so it wasn't quick at all but perfect for someone who just got their license. A couple of years later I got myself an R31 Nissan Skyline Passage GT, which also had a 2-litre inline-6 engine (turbo) and 5-speed manual box, and to this day one of the fondest memories I've ever had in car ownership 🙂

So when I arrived in the UK about a decade ago, naturally I went looking for a Japanese saloon with 6-cyl engine, manual gearbox, and RWD. Much to my surprise, the only option available was the IS200. So that LED me to my first UK car, which was an X-reg IS200 Sport. Fantastic car is was for the money - superb road holding, sonorous inline-6, satisfying 6-speed box, and build quality that is leagues ahead of my current GS450h.

Personally, I think the IS200 is a great car for someone who has just entered the motoring world. Very linear power delivery, predictive handling, and even at 15-20 years old unlikely to leave you stranded if you find one that has been looked after.

I had mine from 80k miles to 130k miles, and the “big bill” items were front lower ball joints, front shock absorbers, cam belt  and water pump replacement, and fixing rust that occurred on the sills just by the rear wheel arch. The former owner has had to replace the rear brake calipers.
I found this thread particularly helpful when I was shopping for mine: https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/69388-what-problems-would-you-advise-others-when-buying-a-is200/

Good luck in your search!

[Sukhi Saatchi]

56 minutes ago, Mossypossy said:

I had a Rover V8 when I was 18.

Insurance was more than the car was worth, but University grant cheque paid for that.

'but University grant cheque paid for that.'.......ha ha ha haa classic!🤣🤣

[Malc]

my first car in 1967, age 17  was a 1952 ( 15 years old ) Austin something or other, which cost me £5 and the Co-Op insce people, for whom I was so grateful for insuring me even then, charged me £25 for the insurance.

YES 5 X  the car's cost  .................  so in real terms the cost of youth car insurance might have actually declined over the decades, of which there have been quite a few 😊

Malc

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi and welcome.

With regards to insurance I'm afraid it would be extremely difficult to obtain competitive insurance even with a black box at 17 for that type of vehicle.

Regards,

Dan.

[rich1068]

Way to ***** on his bonfire Dan. 

[Britprius]

1 hour ago, DAN@ADRIAN FLUX said:

Hi and welcome.

With regards to insurance I'm afraid it would be extremely difficult to obtain competitive insurance even with a black box at 17 for that type of vehicle.

Regards,

Dan.

This from a company that quoted me £1600 for my GS450h that I pay £268 fully comp with all the bells, and whistles in the real world with well known companies. It would be refreshing if they cannot be competitive just to say so instead of offering to insure at an exorbitant price.

John.

[SE-L]

About the reversing down the drive bit- My drive is exactly a car length long, so yeah 😆

[SE-L]

Bad news- I have checked Confused.com and the cheapest quote was absolutely insane- £14K for a 2004 IS200 worth £500, 4000 miles a year with a dashcam. It is insane. I'm going to end up buying a very cheap corsa as my actual car and keep an IS 200 in a garage for a few years. Sad news.
Edit: thats £14k annually only for female drivers, male drivers pay £22k a year

[scudney]

Unfortunately Max that's insurance companies for you(although not entirely their fault)so you might just have to garage it for a few years,my daughter is 24 and she pays £1500 a year to insure a Peugeot 107☹

[LexIS200Sport]

@SE-L Max, did you run a quote with your parents as named drivers on the policy? Sometimes this brings the price down.

Also, I wonder if the earliest of IS200s qualify for classic car insurance? 🤔

[SE-L]

Hello all- I might do some tricks with insurance (legally, of course) with secondary drivers and etc. But most likely i'll have to SORN an IS200 in our private garage etc. 

[scudney]

Probably the best thing to do for now if you can't get a reasonable quote