Right.. going down the Toyota dealer in half an hour as my friend is looking to buy. It's a bit of a minefield, currently the offer of £1000 Toyota contribution is attracting my good friend and he has a 52 reg 78000 mile Lexus IS 200 Sport in good Nick to part ex. I've said about Lings cars £335 a month, only 3 payments upfront on a 10k miles deal over 3 years with option to buy at the end. For the same manual car & monthly payment (well, £333) you have to contribute £4000 to Toyota.
Is my friend mad to pursue the Toyota deal, or should Lings be avoided? He won't buy outright even though he has the cash to buy without finance.
I know the Lings site is completely bonkers however, it stands out as the easily the cheapest option. My friend is probably gonna change after 3 years to another one.
Any help from you resident experts would be great please ...

 

If he's convinced by leasing, I cannot see anything wrong with Ling's - I've heard nothing bad about them.

Maybe use it to beat up the Toyota dealer?

 

He's bought the white one in the showroom (unregistered). £2.5k off list price (pearl white), £1.5k part ex, £3.5k deposit. £275 a month.
Not too shabby. Standard seats, although he pushed them for heated leather but they offered it free on the Orange colour. Yuck!
Very tight in the back, reminded me off the later 200SX but the finish is rather woefully Japanese plastics. I do find the 3 prong brake light rather amusing, what a cock up that is. Bit of a mish/mash, "nothing really matching" interior which is again, typically Jap. However... it works and its just Toyota all over. I do like it, it was slithering everywhere (the demo has 7k miles on it!)

 

Excellent news!

The slithering gets better the more nannies one turns off.

The seats aren't a great problem; the Alcantara ones can be a bit too 'cozy' in such an environment so the standard ones might be better in fact.

The van-like plastics are part of the car's unpretentious charm. They come off & go back easily; typically Japanese and good for ditching the dreadful HU.

And there's no real tree to squeak in cold weather - the bane of my Leg End, with its millions of tarty bits, which rub on other tarty bits!

 

If I'm honest, it's a bit too quiet. The engine note is a bit plain whilst pottering, it would sound better as a V6 IMO but that would scupper the balance.
I think overall, the car represents excellent value for money... More so when it's a 3-4 year old used car.

 

They do a sports exhaust option - if that's doable.

And it's meant to be riced...

I love the smoothness of the boxer and its characterful burble and dislike rice pipes, so it's fine for me.

 

There's a facelift imminent, so good deals should be easy to make...

Chris.

 

May/June traditionally quiet, the Sales Manager was chasing numbers for end of month. My friend was quite crafty there, and chose the right time to buy.
The facelift looks a bit naff.. nothing really stands out to make it look a real facelift. Plus the power remains the same lightweight 197ps.
It just feels like it needs another 30ps to make it more... "perfect".
They should offer a "raw" version that's even lighter, bit more power and comes in only one colour.

 

Mine (on Friday anyway):

 

Nice one Dembo!

Keeping the S?