Its an old car. Check HJ to see his reviews and problems. It is a LEXUS and they do make good cars. Yoy are buying an 11 year old car- you pays your money and take a chance?

There is no old car that is an investment uness it is an immaculate Aston Martin, Ferrari etc..

Personally I think it is too expensive.

Just remember that servicing/repair costs are broadly in proportion to the original list price of a car - and don't diminish as it ages and it's value reduces.

The car's only averaged about 1,000 miles/year so it's highly likely to have suffered far more from short journeys than a leggy high mileage car would.

I wouldn't buy it!

bear in mind that repairs and parts will be more expensive, read this

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/lexus/is-2005/

Whilst Lexuses (Lexi?) are generally thought of as the most reliable make of car worldwide, buying an 'older' car is always a bit of a gamble, as you don't know everything about its life before you buy it.

Yes, its had a FSH from (presumably) a main dealer (note that stamps on a logbook can be easily forged - a genuinely honest owner will show you receipts and invoices, plus you can find out from the dealership in question (with permission), but its only done a very low mileage - around 1000 miles a year, which suggests an retired owner who used it to either drive to the shops or the occasional trip to see a relative, etc.

Difficult to know which (the second situation being the better one - longer journey less often gives the car time to warm up) would be how it was used. Please bear in mind that the car was originally a premium car, which comes with premium running costs (though less than the German equivalents, which are like-for-like les reliable):

• 2.5 ltr petrol likely to get (combined) only about 30mpg, about 20% less if you doing lots of urban driving;
• Servicing will be 50-100% dearer (even fault-free) than your Fiesta's;
• Parts will also be more expensive - wear-and-tear items such as brakes, suspension (especially if they live in an area with lots of speed humps), etc will need to be budgeted for;
• Insurance and VED will be significantly higher, possibly twice as much as before;
• Budget for at least one (expensive - near to/more than £1k to fix) major component failing within 3 years.

I should note that the asking price is very high, even accounting for the low mileage (condition is more important than mileage for cars over 5yo) - see HJ's price guide:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/used-prices/Lexus/IS/2005/?q=...5

All too often people buy older, upmarket cars that they really can't afford to keep, as any major component failure could make the car an effective financial write-off. Always factor in the running costs before making a choice.

Always get either a breakdown service agent or car-savvy (mechanic etc) friend etc to give the car the once-over, get a full test drive (including giving it a bit of a thrash/check for blue smoke under hard acceleration/check out all the toys/electrics) and do your homework on the car in general.

This website (and some others) are very good sources of useful information - don't just rely on forum responses. Check the 'car-by-car' section of the reviews area (especially the 'good & bad' section) - you'll find the mk2 IS there.

If you really like the Lexus - and I agree they have an excellent reputation which seems well-deserved - try to find one with average mileage (say 8,000 to 12,000 a year) and you should get one quite a lot newer than that for the same money.

The excessive asking price for this one is the vendor hoping that a buyer will fall for the very low mileage, thinking that this is a big selling point. As others have said above, it isn't.