Used Car of the Day: 2003 Lexus IS 300

by Tim Healey

Published: October 24th, 2024

Today we bring you a 2003 Lexus IS 300 with a five-speed manual.

Here's where I disclose some personal bias -- I love these things. The gauges were well-styled, these cars could handle, and the manual made them so much fun. Never mind that the metal shift knob could scald skin in summer or freeze it in the winter. Never mind that low-profile tires and RWD made them useless in snow. I wanted one then, and I want one now.

This particular one is pretty stock and its flaws concern interior tears, a keyed exterior, and title/paperwork issues caused by said keying.

"You don't mess with another's automobile", I say to paraphrase Vincent Vega.

There are some other issues related to age, too, and the car has about 150K miles on it. It's in the LA are and you can see more here. The asking price is $9,000.

[Images: Seller]

#Lexus #2003LexusIS300 #2003LexusIS #LexusIS #IS #300 #UsedCars #UCOTD #UsedCaroftheDay

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 39 comments

MRF 95 T-Bird on Oct 25, 2024
I always liked these since they were Lexus’ traditional sport sedan to compete with the 3-series BMW. This one is overpriced but worth $6k. Apparently Toyota had planned to use this platform for a coupe version and or a Supra.

1 Reply
Rich on Nov 03, 2024
I have this exact model. It is my weekend toy. Love it.

2 Reply

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