In regards of the tail happy thing, how does it drive in the rain?

with that body width & wheelbase i doubt he saying "tail happy" is real

unless you drive like a maniac it is a stable car

Well, put in some cheapo tires (low grip 1) in behind and you will be screaming when entering corners in wet condition at higher speed. Some member even manage to do donut with it.. Is about the guts to put down the foot to the max pedal..

Some early Mark-X in market are damn cheapo/low in safety spec with only ABS and some air-bags only. Unless those higher spec. or newer version only fitted with VSC or TRC..
With those lower spec Mark-X you can do more stupid or fun things if you dare.

like that say every car r tail happy lo. myself suka play stunts kaki.
not specific to mark x

Yup, even Avanza also people did it.. I also did it in Nissan C22 van before during my young days..
But not until like you mention stunts or professional drift laa..
When you know the car well, limit and what it can do, is about guts & skill to push it.
Surely it is not recommended for majority drivers..

For those mark x without vsc/trc like mine, you can easily provoke an oversteer in the wet if you snap the throttle but in most cases it's ok. The stock setup actually still has a bit understeer so still stable and safe most of the time. Highly recommend to use minimum 225 tires or wider. Mine when came stock with 215/60/16 was quite lively and even easier to provoke a slide with the throttle even in the dry. Now I am using 245/40/18 UHP tires with TRD suspension, it sticks well, feels good on medium to high speed sweepers and tracks nicely on straights even at over 240kph. I need to be very aggressive to provoke an oversteer now, except on tight turns or wet surfaces. Note that few owners last time destroyed their X after just a short time owning because many of them came from low powered FWD but drove carelessly.

This post has been edited by 6UE5T: Sep 2 2021, 01:09 AM

Let's just say it can bite you if you drive a bit careless. Had happened a few times before, usualy by new owners who were too overzealous and overestimate their skill in catching the snap oversteer.

Hmmm... didn't manage to oversteer my X before...

That means you drive carefully enough. I managed to completely spun 360 twice in the wet despite using good 245 UHP tires luckily without hitting anything, plus several times of sliding that I managed to catch.

Just recently done that in a low powered FWD car recently, so fortunate to escape scratch less, hence looking at some options and Mark X I guess tick the reliability box and interesting rear wheel drive-drain experience.



Not a big concern, friend told me that the TC will intervene if you pedal too hard while exiting junction on a wet road, the intensity of intervention gradually increased with generation,
older generation (TC) don't intervene at all all,
mid gen Mark X would reduce torque when sense sliding
newest gen would cut of engine RPM straightaway when it sense slide

is that true? the newest gen even got these * Pre-crash Safety Sense (PCS) * Lane Departure Alert (LDA)

By the way, do you guys worry about the availability of parts in coming years
this is the biggest concern is still since the model ended in 2019, any concern with the parts for said next five years? 2019 +5 = 2024, still plenty of supplies from Japan right?

I was a Preve turbo owner (bought new in 2015) for 5 years and just got myself an IS250 last year.
Despite its 15 years old age this year (mine is a 2006 Japan recond unit), I would say it's 100% worth to take the leap of faith.

The smoothness of engine (barely feel any vibration at idle) and power delivery of 2.5L V6 engine, as RPM pulls to higher range, is sensational.
Interior space is more cramped compared to Preve (especially the rear passenger seat, only fits 2 comfortably), but the interior quality and NVH is another level.
Reliability wise, in my 1 year+ of ownership, I have only changed the suspensions (normal wear and tear), starter (around RM500-600), battery (again, normal wear and tear) and that's pretty much it.
Very reliable for a 15 years old, 160,000+ km mileage car.
Regular oil change is around RM400 (semi-synthetic oil). Roadtax is around RM870.

I believe 40-50k can get you an IS250. I got mine (directly deal with owner) for around 40k.
Since Mark X and IS250 is pretty much the same car (engine, platform, etc), if you can find one with good condition, I would say go for it!

My X is 2008 x120 G package with no VSC/TRC so I don't know how the VSC behave in detail but yes, with the VSC you cannot provoke an oversteer with the throttle so it's pretty safe.

Should be no issue. I have an Evo 9 and even that old discontinued car (last production was 2006) still can get parts easily.