Are old IS200s suddenly desirable?

[KeefO]

I've had two occasions recently when people have knocked on my door asking if I want to sell my 21 year old IS200.  The second time was a guy in a company van so I don't think it was any sort of scam.  He claimed he wanted it for scrap and offered me £200.  This seems very odd to me.  Are old IS200 hundreds becoming sought after?  The car is a good runner but by no means in great cosmetic condition.

[H3XME]

10 minutes ago, KeefO said:

I've had two occasions recently when people have knocked on my door asking if I want to sell my 21 year old IS200.  The second time was a guy in a company van so I don't think it was any sort of scam.  He claimed he wanted it for scrap and offered me £200.  This seems very odd to me.  Are old IS200 hundreds becoming sought after?  The car is a good runner but by no means in great cosmetic condition.

Chances are they just want them as a cheap drift/track car before they get scrapped. Not really that unusual. BMWs and MX5s aren't as cheap as they used to be, so IS200 and IS250s are the next best thing.. rwd, manual, cheap. 

[rich1068]

36 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Chances are they just want them as a cheap drift/track car before they get scrapped. Not really that unusual. BMWs and MX5s aren't as cheap as they used to be, so IS200 and IS250s are the next best thing.. rwd, manual, cheap. 

This is certainly one of the reasons they're in demand. At the other end of the scale I find there's a growing market for late 90s/early 00s motors, Japanese in particular.

My 83 year old father still drives my '02 IS300 and he mentioned a young lad in another IS giving him a wave and a thumbs up the other day.

[Brian R]

You might be surprised by the scrap price for cars. Try this link and see what yours might worth: Redcorn

[steve2006]

49 minutes ago, Brian R said:

You might be surprised by the scrap price for cars. Try this link and see what yours might worth: Redcorn

An unknown to me scrapyard asking for a reg number and my postcode for a quote.......err no.

[H3XME]

57 minutes ago, rich1068 said:

This is certainly one of the reasons they're in demand. At the other end of the scale I find there's a growing market for late 90s/early 00s motors, Japanese in particular.

My 83 year old father still drives my '02 IS300 and he mentioned a young lad in another IS giving him a wave and a thumbs up the other day.

This is going to get a bit tricky with the introduction of E10 petrol from September. Older cars can't run it, so I think older cars (pre-2001?) should become cheaper because of it. Though, 99Momentum, V-Power and such will still be available, but not many people fill up with that. Only really enthusiasts tbf. I only run Tesco 99momentum in my IS250 because of direct injection and potential carbon build up, so I try to prevent it as much as possible. Can't say I feel any difference in this particular car when using better fuel, it's just better for the engine. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Sad as it may seem to some, there's often an IS or two at an unlimited banger race, occasionally a Sportcross. Surprises me as they're somewhat smaller than much of the competition, but as older RWD cars become less common they'll give all sorts of stuff a go. By the time they've got some value off the cat and other parts it's still worth them paying a reasonable amount for certain cars.

Round this way they also seem moderately popular as a cheap rental car to American personnel off the USAF bases like Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Their favourite was the late '90s/early '00s Honda Accord, but there aren't so many of them now.

Or it could just be someone like me! I knocked on the door and had a chat with the owner when I saw a Mk1 LS400, leaving him my number. Seven years later I got a call and it's now mine......

[H3XME]

6 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Or it could just be someone like me! I knocked on the door and had a chat with the owner when I saw a Mk1 LS400, leaving him my number. Seven years later I got a call and it's now mine......

Haha, I love it when that happens. I did that a few years ago.. On the way to work I kept driving past this BMW E36 that was stood on the drive for years.. actually knocked on the door and an elderly lady answered. I asked if she'd sell it, and she said I can have it for £250.. when I got home I had a look on eBay again for a project and found a V8 Soarer for £450. I wish I got the BMW as well, but I ended up getting the Soarer for an absolute steal. Guy had it parked on his drive for 7 years. It had a suspected oil leak and seized brakes. Car didn't run due to a faulty fuel pump. I took it anyway as it was cheap. Got it home and found out that thel the oil leak is coming from an old rusty oil filter. Replaced the fuel pump, rebuilt the front calipers and serviced the car and it was sweet as a nut. When it's that cheap, it's worth taking risks.

Some time later, I came across LS400 the same way. Older chap had it since new. He wanted £1500 though. I didn't end up taking that as LS400s were for sale for less than a grand at the time.

[Shada]

On 6/24/2021 at 11:24 AM, KeefO said:

I've had two occasions recently when people have knocked on my door asking if I want to sell my 21 year old IS200.  The second time was a guy in a company van so I don't think it was any sort of scam.  He claimed he wanted it for scrap and offered me £200.  This seems very odd to me.  Are old IS200 hundreds becoming sought after?  The car is a good runner but by no means in great cosmetic condition.

Cats alone from these are nearly £400 in the scrappers. Track car with the diff welded nearing 1k around here at the moment.