In 2015, I found a great deal on a manual IS300 with only 125,000 miles. I drove it for about 30k miles over a year and a half until the engine suddenly threw a rod straight through the block. Odd for the 2JZ. When I was getting it diagnosed, the shop pointed out that some of its VIN panels didn’t match.

I worked at a Ford dealership in the early 2010s in Austin and they had this exact image on the wall in a huge frame. This was a lovely car when new. 

I cmd+f ‘mpg’ and was surprised to find nothing.

How dare you not mention the Mazdaspeed Protege.

Your added quote is oddly reminiscent of the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958); replete with orb and classic car

Have y’all never bought a car before? I’ve never had a seller say “I have a lien on the vehicle” and mean anything other than “I have an auto loan on the car, so part of your purchase price will go to the bank, and part of it will go to me.”

Negative - only 120 were made for the 1997 model year. I did own a manual IS300 though; that car fucking sucked.

I actually just got a free one. I don’t know a lot about it yet but I’ve always loved the look and the platform. I’ve owned a few other 2J cars and am excited to dig into this and make it a daily driver (replacing my Golf R), opening the proverbial garage door for goofier Toyota projects.

I’ve loved these since childhood. In 2017 I spent $2,500 on an extremely ratty but overall complete ‘87, white with red interior. 224,000 miles.

I really like these short pieces you’ve been doing on the industry, Mack. It’s good content, thanks for keeping it up.

I’m pretty sure this specific car is the only remaining photograph (And the 30 other photos from the 20+ times this car has been listed for sale) of a Skyranger in existence. 

This may be an extraneous circumstance, but I leased a 2018 Crosstrek for 3 years at 10k miles per year. At 1.5 years - April 2019 - I had put nearly 30,000 miles on my car. So, the entire lease mileage halfway in.

That’s CPO Audi A6 money all damn day. Get the diesel, drive thrifty, sell it when it exits warranty.

Does an additional 30-someodd horsepower even cover the additional weight? And is this the hybrid supercar at the bottom rung for percent power provided via hybrid technology? This just feels odd. 

There are a lot of hot takes in this post, but I disagree for a very clear reason:

Congrats, Mack. The styling on the first generation is far superior to anything that followed. If you haven’t done this recently, watch the opening of the first episode of The Sopranos.

Is it a compelling buy over a Civic Si? That seems to be the most natural competitor in terms of stats and MSRP. Does it have enough power, toys, or livability perks over the Si that would warrant the (probably) worse depreciation hit you’d get buying one new?

I wish it were easier to supercharge the 1UZ. I think the 400 with ~450 horses would be damn near the perfect car. Have fun though, that sounds like a blast.

Glad to hear I’m not alone! I agree it’s usually all about perspective.

Mine was an attainable hero. I’m a 90s kid, and one of the first cars I ever remember seeing on the road was an IS300. I thought it was the coolest thing. As I grew up and learned more about cars, understood the inherent value of a sports sedan, etc, I looked to it as a real opportunity to have a fun, safe, reliable…