Lexus IS as Lexus Does

The first generation of the Lexus IS was never much to look at. Apart from more-stylish wheels and a slightly more pugnacious stance, Lexus’ new compact sport sedan didn’t seem to differentiate itself much from some lesser Toyota models. You had to get closer and pay attention to see that Lexus had delivered a car that could compete with the Europeans.

The IS was released in Japan as the Toyota Altezza with a 2.0-liter straight-6 a few years before it came Stateside. But for its American debut, the small car got a big engine — the same 2JZ 3.0-liter naturally aspirated inline 6-cylinder that had powered the fourth-generation Toyota Supra, albeit detuned by just a few horsepower. The IS300 arrived in the summer of 2000 as a 2001 model, making 217 horsepower and 218 lb-ft of torque.

Comparison shoppers had to climb pretty far up the BMW 3 Series trim ladder (all the way to the 330i) to get comparable power. With an original MSRP of $30,805, the Lexus was priced about $4,000 less than the BMW, and a full $10,000 less than the competing Mercedes-Benz C320. Audi was the closest competitor, with the IS300 priced just $1,000 below the A4 2.8 quattro.

Why choose the Lexus?

In its debut year, the IS featured only a 5-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. A Torsen limited-slip differential was optional from the beginning of production. With the automatic gearbox, the IS300 boasted a 0–60 mph time of 7.1 seconds. For the second year of production, Lexus finally came through with a 5-speed manual transmission that would allow the IS300 to really compete for the BMW and Audi buyers. It didn’t help the 0–60 mph time much, but it did add plenty of driver involvement.

Under the sheet metal, Lexus gave the IS300 11.7-inch front discs and 12.1-inch rears, plus a proper double A-arm suspension on all four corners, and low-profile tires on 17-inch wheels. None of that raises eyebrows today, but at the turn of the millennium, it was big medicine.

Inside the IS300, buyers found a nifty spherical chrome shift knob on both automatic and manual cars, and a special treat if you bought the automatic. The steering wheel had a pair of downshift buttons within easy thumb’s reach on the front, and a similar pair of upshift buttons for your index fingers on the backside. Maybe that didn’t totally compensate for the lack of a third pedal, but it gave the slushbox IS a bit more sport-sedan cred. The pedals were also straight out of Sports Car Design 101, with drilled aluminum fronts and a real dead pedal for your left foot.

However, the best part of the interior has to be the gauge cluster. Its three overlapping circles place the tach on the left, the fuel gauge, odometer and gear indicator on the right, and a 160-mph speedometer in the center circle with temp, ammeter and fuel-economy gauges inset. It’s a Venn diagram of sexy that looks like an expensive wristwatch. Lexus even called it a “chronograph-style” dash.

The 2002 model year also saw the introduction of an IS300 wagon, called the SportCross, which was available only with the automatic. There’s only so much flexibility in the minds of automotive executives, and a three-pedal wagon was still outside the pale. For 2003, the IS received a light freshening, but nothing makes these later models materially more collectible.

Affordable and bulletproof

The best thing about a first-generation IS300 today is that you can buy a clean example with fewer than 50,000 miles on the clock for well under $20,000. You might have to wait a bit, however, because they cross the Bring a Trailer block at a rate of one every two to three months, on average. The first half of 2024 saw zero, but 11 examples were auctioned in 2023. More than half of the IS300s sold there in the past 18 months have been no-reserve auctions, and only one, a 33,000-mile SportCross, sold for more than $20,000. The vast majority are trading around $15,000.

Perhaps the reason that so few cross the block is that Lexus IS owners tend to keep their cars and have only good things to say about the driving experience. When pushed towards its limits, the IS300 has a tendency towards understeer, but that’s true of virtually all production vehicles, and it can be dialed out with a few savvy aftermarket parts choices. If you want to talk reliability, it’s hard to do better than Toyota products from this era. The bastion of boring, Consumer Reports, confirms that the IS300 is among the most reliable vehicles they have ever tracked.

If you just can’t get around the rather plain looks, the second-generation IS that debuted in 2005 looks a little sportier, and the 3.5-liter V6 engine gives a power bump to 306 horsepower. Alternatively, you can go all the way and pick up the 2007–14 IS F with a 5.0-liter V8 and 416 hp. Those are now trading under $30,000 and represent the apogee of the Lexus IS breed. ♦