Need insight for this car?
 

Long story short, my car suffer cosmetic damage on my driveway due to neighbors car rolling down their driveway and collided with mine.

I am sad since My car although super high milage, everything is like new and maintained well. I am waiting for ICBC to call me to negotiate on the amount for writeoff.

Is this car iffy or shady? I am not looking to spend much, but I want a sports sedan for my needs. It has to be automatic shift

Can someone who knows cars please let me know if this car is easy for local mechanics to maintain and are the parts available here in canada since it is a JDM.
Here is the link 1999 Toyota Altezza BEAMS (Lexus IS300) AT only 55,000 kms MINT! MINT!

I would also like some other suggestion on other cars that I should be looking at. I had a 6gen accord before.

Personally if I was you and wanted a car like that. Look for the Canadian version is300.

Other then that I don't see that car being an issue to have worked on locally.

I am looking at canadian one too, but they all have super high milage about 120,000km or 140,000km vs this 55,000.

I guess the only attractiveness for this sedan is low milage about the same year and automatic transmission.

BEAMS engine, yummm. Strange how the ad says it's a 1st gen BEAMS making 160 hp. I thought RS200s had the 5th gen that made 200. Edit: wait, I read that wrong, haha. I thought 1G meant 1st gen, not the 1G engine. DERP.

I would stick to the IS300 though, parts are hard to come by for that engine since it was only sold in Japan, I think. Gas mileage on the inline 6 Lexus wouldn't be as good as it would be on the 4 cyl 3SGE, but it makes good power and is fun to drive, for a sedan.

better off with LHD model.

1G beams is very very slow.... 3SGE beams is barely adequate. fun engines, but you'd have to rev the piss out of them. The 4cylinders are best paired with the 6 speed manual.

better off with north america IS300... easier to source parts as for the 2JZGE

It would be a daily drive, no going fast. So power really didn't matter.

Are you saying if something breaks, there are no parts to fix the car with? Then I better not go with this, because I need something somewhat as reliable as my Accord.

Is brake pad , fuses, lights, Rotors, timing belt/water pump, spark plugs, air filter, or cabin filter .. etc available in BC?

Not so much as no parts to fix it, just have to wait for parts from Japan or something.

It's a bit ridiculous to buy a RHD vehicle, when the same thing is available in Canada. You'll have a hard time selling it too. Keep your eyes out for a lower K Canadian model. 100,000km is still very young.

you would have to cross reference some parts or order some parts directly from Japan and wait...

to my understanding, the BEAMS motor itself was never available in north america.

the rest of the body parts are different on j spec as well: the have no re bars and hence shorter bumpers.

140,000KM for an IS300 isn't really "high mileage"

theyre bullet proof :fuckthatshit:

both the rs200 z limited and the is300 have really good motors, that one on the other hand is a piece of shit lol.
get a LHD or get a 6 speed zlimited

Did someone say...insight?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sight_Back.JPG

310,000 is300 checking in. Original motor/tranny. No leaks, pulls strong :). Always laugh when I hear that anything under 200,000 is considered high mileage

Get the LHD model instead... save yourself the headache of working on a car where random parts are only available overseas. You'll probably save more money and headache working on a higher-mileage CDM IS300 than a low-km JDM IS300 with an engine that does not share many parts with anything we have here.

I'm pretty sure the only difference between the JDM and USDM is the motor, and the "BEAMS" is just a 3SGE. It's actually a 5g 3SGE which is a 2g BEAMS, the 4g/1g was only really in 97. Power wise it's actually got 197HP (autos had less power) and reliability wise, it's a Toyota and you should've have a problem getting all the regular wear and tear items over here since the IS was sold here, likewise with the mechanical work.

Obviously you should do a little bit of searching to see if there are any common Altezza reliability problems or parts compatibility issues but I honestly wouldn't worry much, Toyota's are solid cars and they cross-use parts all over the place.

I *would* be sure to check the auction sheet for the car and get somebody like Japanese History Check - odometer and accident history checking services to pull up the Japanese history of the car prior to buying anything imported.

Why buy a RHD when you can get a LHD in canada?

I should also add that there are sources in North America that can easily get you any JDM-only part quickly, and that Toyota is way, way better at continuing to supply parts for old cars than Honda.

skirted rear wheels :awwyeah:

what's the point of buying Altezza?

If you're gonna go JDM, might as well something you can't get in Canada.

Look into Aristo's they are roughly going for similar prices

Are the aristo twin-turbo engine reliable? 1997 and up? and do I also need to outsource parts from japan or they are readily available should something fails

Anything with a 2JZGE/2JZGTE is bulletproof as long as it's maintained and cared for. Toyota's reputation for reliability stems from cars with this engine as well as 1UZ engines from LS400s/Celsior
200,000kms isn't even half of it's lifespan

Aristos (1st gen) will share the same components with the Supra/SC300 chassis as well so parts will be slightly easier to source (although all three of these cars are uncommon)

Toyota Chaser
280hp stock, manual transmission, RWD or AWD

https://naritadogfight.files.wordpre...8/dsc_0208.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7...ota+Chaser.jpg
http://www.motormavens.com/emAlbum/a...6_Motoring.jpg

Alot of JDM cars are so low in mileage since they do alot of city driving, the wear and tear on a 55k car may be very similar to our cars that have done considerably more since theres a mix of highway so need to bear that in mind.