300,000 Mile Report

bondms · October 18, 2014

Back in September 2001 I was very excited to take delivery of a brand new IS200. For a twenty-three year old, not yet on the property ladder, it seemed a rather extravagant purchase, but seeing it there on the forecourt--with just 4 miles on the odometer--I was looking forward to it serving me well for many years.

Well, thirteen years later I have exactly zero regrets about making that purchase. Yesterday the odometer rolled over 300,000 miles and the car hasn't let me down once. Sure, the cost of the petrol required to travel that distance has far exceeded the original cost of the car, but other than that it's been extremely reasonable to run and has had absolutely minimal problems. It's also remained both fun and comfortable to drive.

If only all cars were as good as this :)

tonyricha · October 18, 2014

Fantastic ! 300, 000 was the target for my GS450h but it fell over at 200,000 and was in my mind too expensive to repair, too complicated with potentially so many more components/systems to go wrong.

Well done for sticking with your IS, top motoring value, wish I had kept my 300 Sportcross !

royoftherovers · October 18, 2014

That`s really good news Mr Bond. A real achievement from any perspective.

Thanks for cheering us all up.

Regards

John

noby76 · October 18, 2014

thats impressive.,.goes to show how well engineered these engines and chassis are..built like diesel trucks . besides the usual wear and tear items like discs pads ,ball joints what major part did you have to replace? just curious.

bondms · October 18, 2014

thats impressive.,.goes to show how well engineered these engines and chassis are..built like diesel trucks . besides the usual wear and tear items like discs pads ,ball joints what major part did you have to replace? just curious.

I've had to replace amazingly little. In terms of replaced non-service items the full list consists of two items:

There was a leaky shock absorber that was replaced under warranty during the second year.
There was a faulty crash sensor that was replaced a few years ago when the air-bag warning light came on.

That's it for non-service items that have been replaced. The alloy wheels were refurbished (but not replaced) when they started to corrode. A common problem with Lexus I gather from the frequent posts on this site.

Even service items have done well.

The rear disks are still originals.
The front disks have only been changed once.
Even the pads have only been changed once on the rear and twice on the front.
The ball joints are all originals.
The Battery has only been changed once.
The tyres have, of course, been changed several times. But even these do well. The first set got 50,000 miles for those that started on the rear and 70,000 miles for those that started on the front.
The radio has suffered the common ERR-1 or ERR-3 fault twice, but in both cases it was easily fixed at home without having to buy any new parts--just took the device out, freed the stuck disk, added some grease to the moving parts, cleaned the CD lens, and put it back together.
All the indicator, brake-light and tail-light bulbs are original. The other external lights and some bulbs for back-lighting the dashboard switches have been changed at least once.

I guess some of this has been due to the way the car has been driven, almost exclusively on motorway and A-road journeys causing little wear on the car. But I've still been impressed. The car has also been garaged most nights.

Petrol has been by far the highest contributor to running costs. I've spent £39,000 on fuel averaging between 36 and 37 mpg.

bondms · October 18, 2014

Fantastic ! 300, 000 was the target for my GS450h but it fell over at 200,000 and was in my mind too expensive to repair, too complicated with potentially so many more components/systems to go wrong.

Well done for sticking with your IS, top motoring value, wish I had kept my 300 Sportcross !

I wouldn't be disappointed with 200,000 from a hybrid. Compared to a regular non-hybrid engine it's a much newer and more complicated technology. Hopefully if they are capable of 200,000 miles already, then after a little more development they'll soon close in on reliability of regular engines. Perhaps the ones they are selling today already have.

Stuno1 · October 19, 2014

300k.... Seriously!!! what do you do for a living?

royoftherovers · October 19, 2014

Hey Stuno, I`d put money on the fact that he`s not a Lorry driver !!

Seriously, I too would like to know.

Regards

John

Stuno1 · October 19, 2014

Hey Stuno, I`d put money on the fact that he`s not a Lorry driver !!

Seriously, I too would like to know.

Regards

John

Over 20k per year consistently for that long!!! Blooming hec

ChrisIS200SportTTE · October 19, 2014

Change your front lower ball joints ASAP. 300,000 miles is well well past they're use by date! Most give up after about 10 years/100k. I've owned an IS200 and IS300 and the first thing I did when I bought them (both cars bought on around 80k) was to replace the front lower ball joins.

Even if no play is picked up in MOT's and Lexus say their 'fine' still change them! So many reports of them giving way with no previous noises or play detected.

I've seen so many of these lower ball joints just give way, ripping the wheel off and taking the front wing with it. And imagine it fails and you're at motorway speeds. Doesn't bear thinking about!

For £90 a pair of genuine OEM ball joints it's not worth the risk is it?

bondms · October 19, 2014

300k.... Seriously!!! what do you do for a living?

Hey Stuno, I`d put money on the fact that he`s not a Lorry driver !!

Seriously, I too would like to know.

Regards

John

I'm just a software engineer. It just happens that the office is 50 miles away from home.

ChrisIS200SportTTE · October 19, 2014

Was just pointing out some preventative maintenance that needs doing that will in fact save you money and maybe even your life in the long run.

Oh well ignore me.....

bondms · October 19, 2014

Change your front lower ball joints ASAP. 300,000 miles is well well past they're use by date! Most give up after about 10 years/100k. I've owned an IS200 and IS300 and the first thing I did when I bought them (both cars bought on around 80k) was to replace the front lower ball joins.

Even if no play is picked up in MOT's and Lexus say their 'fine' still change them! So many reports of them giving way with no previous noises or play detected.

I've seen so many of these lower ball joints just give way, ripping the wheel off and taking the front wing with it. And imagine it fails and you're at motorway speeds. Doesn't bear thinking about!

For £90 a pair of genuine OEM ball joints it's not worth the risk is it?

Was just pointing out some preventative maintenance that needs doing that will in fact save you money and maybe even your life in the long run.

Oh well ignore me.....

Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you. I didn't want to reply before giving your suggesting some consideration and doing some research. I hadn't previously heard "So many reports of them giving way with no previous noises or play detected." so my experience didn't quite match yours. Thanks for your advice; it's certainly something I'll look into some more.

noby76 · October 19, 2014

I've had to replace amazingly little. In terms of replaced non-service items the full list consists of two items:

There was a leaky shock absorber that was replaced under warranty during the second year.

There was a faulty crash sensor that was replaced a few years ago when the air-bag warning light came on.

That's it for non-service items that have been replaced. The alloy wheels were refurbished (but not replaced) when they started to corrode. A common problem with Lexus I gather from the frequent posts on this site.

Even service items have done well.

The rear disks are still originals.

The front disks have only been changed once.

Even the pads have only been changed once on the rear and twice on the front.

The ball joints are all originals.

The battery has only been changed once.

The tyres have, of course, been changed several times. But even these do well. The first set got 50,000 miles for those that started on the rear and 70,000 miles for those that started on the front.

The radio has suffered the common ERR-1 or ERR-3 fault twice, but in both cases it was easily fixed at home without having to buy any new parts--just took the device out, freed the stuck disk, added some grease to the moving parts, cleaned the CD lens, and put it back together.

All the indicator, brake-light and tail-light bulbs are original. The other external lights and some bulbs for back-lighting the dashboard switches have been changed at least once.

I guess some of this has been due to the way the car has been driven, almost exclusively on motorway and A-road journeys causing little wear on the car. But I've still been impressed. The car has also been garaged most nights.

Petrol has been by far the highest contributor to running costs. I've spent £39,000 on fuel averaging between 36 and 37 mpg.

wow do you drive like miss Daisy or what lol... thats very impressive to run things like tyres for 50 - 70k, pads/disks being changed once, rear disks still originals..hats off... which brand tyres do you run on the IS? I recon you should run it for another 9 years since you average about 23k miles a year and this will take it to 500,000 miles then donate it to Lexus GB for display at thier headquaters in exchange for an IS-F :winky: ..

As already mentioned get the suspension bit like trak rod end's ball joints control arms looked at due to wear and tear as 300,000 miles is risking most cars would have gone through about 5-10 of these parts by the time they hit those mileages and yours are still originals.. mine pads and discs only lasts about 20k tops lol

ChrisIS200SportTTE · October 19, 2014

Ok fair enough. Apologies.

I've been around these cars a long time. I also admin 2 forums myself of which we have over 8000+ IS200/300/altezza owners from all over the world.

I see failed ball joints at least once a week, normally in the US or another part of the world (IS300 shares exact suspension parts with an IS200) as they don't have MOT's and in theory a ball joint with play should be picked up on an MOT. Due to the design of the ball joint however some mechanics do not test the ball joints for play correctly.

Here's what will happen if your ball joint fails

andyk134 · October 19, 2014

300,000 is very impressive but have to agree that more than a few of the parts will not be performing their best anymore no matter what the MOT says, that is a very basic test.

Like others my tyres last about 20k and I never let them get anywhere near the limit either. I am at the other end of the scale with only 65k on the clock and a 6 mile daily commute. Apart from the usual things to replace and all the suspension I have upgraded the only thing to go was a split cv boot so am very impressed and very happy.

How long do you intend to keep it now?

bondms · October 21, 2014

As already mentioned get the suspension bit like trak rod end's ball joints control arms looked at due to wear and tear as 300,000 miles is risking...

Ok fair enough. Apologies.

I've been around these cars a long time. I also admin 2 forums myself of which we have over 8000+ IS200/300/altezza owners from all over the world.

I see failed ball joints at least once a week, normally in the US or another part of the world (IS300 shares exact suspension parts with an IS200) as they don't have MOT's and in theory a ball joint with play should be picked up on an MOT. Due to the design of the ball joint however some mechanics do not test the ball joints for play correctly.

Here's what will happen if your ball joint fails

Thanks for your advice. I definitely don't want my car ending up like that! Will look to get them changed very soon.

bondms · October 21, 2014

wow do you drive like miss Daisy or what lol... thats very impressive to run things like tyres for 50 - 70k, pads/disks being changed once, rear disks still originals..hats off... which brand tyres do you run on the IS? I recon you should run it for another 9 years since you average about 23k miles a year and this will take it to 500,000 miles then donate it to Lexus GB for display at thier headquaters in exchange for an IS-F :winky: ..

I've generally used Dunlops with the IS. I tried one pair of Bridgstones (RE040s), but they didn't last nearly as long. I started with the OEM SP9000s before switching to SP3000s and then SPORTMAXX RTs.

I think another 9 years at my mileage would be pushing it a bit. But if Lexus promised me an IS-F in exchange then maybe I'd give it a try

bondms · October 21, 2014

How long do you intend to keep it now?

To be honest, since I use this car daily for my 100 mile round-trip commute, I need it to be reliable and as soon it stops being so I'll look to change it. So far it hasn't let me down, but there are signs of age. For the first 190,000 miles I never needed to top-up the engine oil between services. That's no longer the case. I guess it's starting to burn a little oil, and that might be sign that the piston rings aren't as good as new any more. The exhaust system, alternator, starter-motor, water-pump, clutch, etc. are all originals. They continue to amaze me that they hold out, but I can't imagine they'll all last much longer. I'm sure something expensive will need doing soon, and it'll be hard to justify an expensive repair when the rest of the car has such a high mileage.

ChrisIS200SportTTE · October 21, 2014

Never known a clutch to last that long lol

You must have very good driving habits :)

bondms · October 23, 2014

Never known a clutch to last that long lol

You must have very good driving habits :)

I'd like to think so, but I guess the biggest factor is that 90% of my driving is on motorways and fast A-road dual carriageways where the car just sits in 6th gear and I don't need to touch the clutch or the break for mile after mile.

andyk134 · October 24, 2014

You can pick up a sub 100k miler with full history for around 3 grand and get something for yours might be the better option. At that price you won't buy anything better and would have a good few years motoring.

ChrisIS200SportTTE · October 24, 2014

£3k??

IS200's sell for half that these days mate. Even the best sub 50k milers struggle to reach £3k

andyk134 · October 25, 2014

I guess it depends where you live, decent ones round here are about that price for a good condition low mileage lexus history car. As reliable as it can be there are still some dogs out there!