Lexus IS300 (XE10) review: the small Lexus that could actually be driven hard
3.4/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The IS300 is the most enthusiast-oriented classic Lexus sells for classic-car money in Bahrain today. The manual-equipped cars are rare and command a premium; the far more common automatic is still a genuinely engaging drive by early-2000s standards, backed by a 2JZ-GE that will comfortably outlast most of the trim around it. Buy on service history and interior condition, not on badge nostalgia alone.
Pros
- 2JZ-GE inline-six shares the legendary Supra engine's durability
- Firmer, more engaging chassis than any Lexus sedan before it
- Rare manual gearbox option for genuine enthusiasts
- Distinctive, still-attractive early-2000s Lexus design
Cons
- Small, dated cabin by modern standards
- Firmer ride transmits Bahrain's rougher road surfaces more than a GS/ES of the same era
- Official dealer parts support is essentially gone
- Manual cars command an enthusiast premium and are hard to find
Lexus spent the 1990s selling comfort-first sedans while BMW's 3 Series quietly owned the compact-sport segment worldwide. The IS300 was the direct response: a rear-wheel-drive chassis with genuinely firm damping for a Lexus of its time, the same 2JZ-GE 3.0-litre inline-six family that made the Supra Turbo a legend (in naturally aspirated form here), and a five-speed manual on select grades — the only manual Lexus sedan ever officially sold.
Two decades later in Bahrain, that history is exactly why the IS300 has a small but committed following distinct from anyone shopping a Camry-class used sedan. It is bought by people who know what a 2JZ is, not by people looking for cheap transport.
What it is like to own here
The firmer suspension tune that made the IS300 interesting in 2001 also means it transmits more of Bahrain's rougher back-road surfaces than a contemporary GS or ES, and the smaller cabin shows its age against anything modern. What has not aged is the drivetrain: the 2JZ-GE and its transmission share the reliability reputation of every other 2JZ Toyota built, and a well-kept example needs little beyond routine maintenance.
Buying one
Manual cars are genuinely rare in Gulf-spec stock and priced accordingly by enthusiasts; most examples on the Bahraini used market are the automatic. Either way, treat this as a specialist purchase: interior trim, suspension bushings and 20-plus-year-old wiring all need a careful pre-purchase inspection, and parts sourcing increasingly runs through independent specialists rather than the official Lexus network.