Buying an is300

Is there anything I should know about the is300? Seems like a solid buy. I want something rwd, reliable and decent handling while i'm in college. They can be had for 4,000$ in my area with around 160,000 miles on average. I've heard the 2jzge is bulletproof. Only con I can see is that it's underpowered, but for such a cheap price I'm not too worried.

Nice Astra.

good car, shit mpg

Damn people are saying it gets 16 on average. I don't drive a whole bunch, but I can't think of another solid rwd car for 4k.

Don't let people fuck with you, it's one of the best dailies you can get for that price. Even though it has less power than, say, a 350z or a some contemporary Acura's with V6's the engine is silky smooth and packs a decent amount of punch since it's 215/215 hp and tq. Brakes are great as well.

The main weaknesses is that it's bad on gas, as you said, and by this point most are waaay behind on maintenance and shit. The balljoints start to go bad at 100k miles and the rubber bushings everywhere are shot so it's not nearly as tight and athletic as it was when it was new.

But that's any car at 16+ years old.

Crown Victoria? It's actually reliable and cheap to fix. My dad has an is 300 with lots of miles and it's a shitheap

be careful with retarded owners, a "fresh" 2jzge swapped in with 50k~ miles was ruined by the previous owner because it slowly ate oil and 3k overdue for an oilchange there was practically no oil on the dipstick, so now it gently knocks at idle.

could've had a great car.

>sweet mitsu, bro!

Thanks for the input. Id definitely do bushings, sway bars, ect, and all fluids. I'm a little wary of the high mileage but from what i've heard, these go past 200k. Any info on that?

Solid advice. I def wouldn't buy one with a replacement motor, i've heard so many horror stories.

What went wrong with it?

there's nothing wrong with replacement motors if it's done correctly, it's more of the previous owner churning out 2500 in labor and parts for a motor and then neglecting to do a fucking oil change.

if this begins to shit the bed i might aswell buy a GTE and do it myself because everyone else appears to be handicapped when it comes to cars around here

there's also nothing wrong with back alley kidney transplants if done correctly if you catch my drift m80

bad comparison, it's not like it was done at some mexishop, user, but i catch your drift

They seem to be worth the bother, a coworker of mine flew down to LA to buy a 2003 for $5000 that was triple black and drove it back up to Seattle. I like the sizing, reminds me of the W201 and E30s from the 1980s

W124 can be had in great shape for $4000 or less as well, OP

>also RWD
>ALSO 3.0L inline-6 for power and smoothness
>tank-like build quality of E-Class Mercedes

Definitely this or an e39 530i - also a 3.0L inline 6 and also bulletproof, smooth as butter

wouldn't this give even worse mpg?

Quads of validity

Not really, I average 26-29 freeway MPG in my 3 liter W124

It gets around 20, same with the e39. Plus they both have great interiors.