Are Old Is's Getting Too Cheap?

[excel monkey]

For a family looking for a "cheap" run around, I think the IS is great value for money. Sure you can pay out £10k for a tiny car with good MPG. I mean your options for say a 2003 saloon car are the Ford Mondeo and Vectra, both of which will probably cost you money in maintenance. Whereas the IS so far "touch wood" has not cost me a penny, except £5.50 wiper blades.

Honestly, would you really recommend a sub-£1k IS200 as a cheap family runaround, with its limited rear seat room and non folding seats? I'm delighted that your car has been so trouble-free, but other threads on this forum would suggest that there are plenty of things to go wrong.

To use an old cliche, these cars are worth what the market will pay. I would say the values are comparable with 318s/320s and A4s of the same age.

The IS is an old design that looks very "late 1990s" both inside and out, and relative to its BMW/Audi/Merc peers it has a reputation for poor economy (deservedly) and gutless engines (undeservedly), along with a slightly dodgy "Fast and the Furious" image in certain parts of the country.

OP - if you think these cars are too cheap, how much do you think they **should** be selling for?

On the flip side of this debate, I am looking for a SportCross and am finding it impossible to find a decent unmolested one for less than £3k! Very jealous of the one that was posted in the New Members section recently.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

I have to disagree with the 'plenty to go wrong' comment. Aside from brake callipers seizing up and the CD players packing in what other notorious faults does this car have? And when I say notorious faults I mean something that is 99% gauranteed to go wrong on every IS such as callipers and CD player!

Also you say it looks dated inside and out, why do you want one? I don't think it looks dated that much. Put it next to a 99 Honda accord and see which looks dated. When mine comes back valeted it looks just a few years old as opposed to 12 years old. People also think my car cost me about 5k but it was half that! Personally I think the mk1 IS is still a very pretty car and still turns heads (well mine does anyway) I also think the design was ahead of its time with the light clusters etc.. As for the interior it's still a very nice place to be. I prefer my interior to my sisters 12 plate Kia!

[excel monkey]

You say it looks dated inside and out, why do you want one? I don't think it looks dated that much.

I want one because I consider myself an enthusiast and want a car that drives and handles well. My car will be a second car doing low miles, so the mpg is not a big deal for me. But there are not many people out there with the same priorities.

I never said dated, I said "very late 1990s" and I stand by that comment. The rear lights (although they spawned thousands of imitations), the angular body lines and the fussy dashboard are all very much "of their time". Personally I like the look - I'm so much of a fan I even like the SportCross - but I think most people in the street would not see it as cutting edge these days.

To be clear, I'm a new member on this board, a BMW owner coming in peace! I'm a fan of the IS, but am trying to be realistic about the cars value and its place in the market these days. If anyone has a decent SportCross in the south of England they are looking to sell, I'm all ears.

I have to disagree with the 'plenty to go wrong' comment. Aside from brake callipers seizing up and the CD players packing in what other notorious faults does this car have?

Agree that "plenty to go wrong" was an unfair comment. I should have said "heavy on consumables". On this message board, I hear plenty of stories of fragile suspension alignment, rapid tyre wear, and corroding alloys. If I had to recommend a cheap family car to someone, I'd recommend an Avensis over an IS. As someone else on this thread has already said, the IS has quite a narrow appeal as it's really only for the enthusiasts now, it's not a cheap car to run and maintain.

[Raymond.]

OP - if you think these cars are too cheap, how much do you think they **should** be selling for?

No idea. Hence the '?'

My advice is to drive a few before you buy btw

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Agree that "plenty to go wrong" was an unfair comment. I should have said "heavy on consumables". On this message board, I hear plenty of stories of fragile suspension alignment, rapid tyre wear, and corroding alloys. If I had to recommend a cheap family car to someone, I'd recommend an Avensis over an IS. As someone else on this thread has already said, the IS has quite a narrow appeal as it's really only for the enthusiasts now, it's not a cheap car to run and maintain.

That's fair enough your absolutely right. The IS eats tyres, drinks petrol and you need the geometry doing every couple of years or so or you get the infamous inner tyre wear!

[excel monkey]

My advice is to drive a few before you buy btw

Thanks for the advice. With only 5 SportCross models currently on Autotrader across the whole country, it could be a while before I buy :-(

[Stuart Aspey]

For a family looking for a "cheap" run around, I think the IS is great value for money. Sure you can pay out £10k for a tiny car with good MPG. I mean your options for say a 2003 saloon car are the Ford Mondeo and Vectra, both of which will probably cost you money in maintenance. Whereas the IS so far "touch wood" has not cost me a penny, except £5.50 wiper blades.

Honestly, would you really recommend a sub-£1k IS200 as a cheap family runaround, with its limited rear seat room and non folding seats? I'm delighted that your car has been so trouble-free, but other threads on this forum would suggest that there are plenty of things to go wrong.

To use an old cliche, these cars are worth what the market will pay. I would say the values are comparable with 318s/320s and A4s of the same age.

The IS is an old design that looks very "late 1990s" both inside and out, and relative to its BMW/Audi/Merc peers it has a reputation for poor economy (deservedly) and gutless engines (undeservedly), along with a slightly dodgy "Fast and the Furious" image in certain

parts of the country.

OP - if you think these cars are too cheap, how much do you think they **should** be selling for?

On the flip side of this debate, I am looking for a SportCross and am finding it impossible to find a decent unmolested one for less than £3k! Very jealous of the one that was posted in the New Members section recently.

Hi there. I had huge problems trying to find cars in my price range and I felt that if you put a pin in Reading and had a hyperthetical 200 mile radius. Outside of this radius the cars can be upto £1000.00 cheaper than inside. The SportCross I bought had 122000 miles on the clock, bu had done only 10, 000 in the last 4 years. I was very lucky with the price. The garage had the car for nearly 6 months, they kept on reducing the price. I think the fuel economy put a lot of people off, the rest of those who didn't buy it just didn't realise the is200 was available as an estate and ignored it.

Stuart.

[Stuart Aspey]

On eBay. 04 SportCross in hartlepool £2750.00.

[excel monkey]

I am looking for a SportCross and am finding it impossible to find a decent unmolested one for less than £3k! Very jealous of the one that was posted in the New Members section recently.

Hi there. I had huge problems trying to find cars in my price range and I felt that if you put a pin in Reading and had a hyperthetical 200 mile radius. Outside of this radius the cars can be upto £1000.00 cheaper than inside. The SportCross I bought had 122000 miles on the clock, bu had done only 10, 000 in the last 4 years. I was very lucky with the price. The garage had the car for nearly 6 months, they kept on reducing the price. I think the fuel economy put a lot of people off, the rest of those who didn't buy it just didn't realise the is200 was available as an estate and ignored it.

Stuart.

Thanks for your comments - very interesting. Am not in a rush to buy, so will keep an eye on the classified ads and wait for a good one.

[Stuart Aspey]

I am looking for a SportCross and am finding it impossible to find a decent unmolested one for less than £3k! Very jealous of the one that was posted in the New Members section recently.

Hi there. I had huge problems trying to find cars in my price range and I felt that if you put a pin in Reading and had a hyperthetical 200 mile radius. Outside of this radius the cars can be upto £1000.00 cheaper than inside. The SportCross I bought had 122000 miles on the clock, bu had done only 10, 000 in the last 4 years. I was very lucky with the price. The garage had the car for nearly 6 months, they kept on reducing the price. I think the fuel economy put a lot of people off, the rest of those who didn't buy it just didn't realise the is200 was available as an estate and ignored it.

Stuart.

Thanks for your comments - very interesting. Am not in a rush to buy, so will keep an eye on the classified ads and wait for a good one.

Good idea. You don't want to take the first one that comes along.