New Idea

There was an ad in the Nissan Fairlady Z Facebook page, posted by a guy who owns a Toyota Altezza. In this ad, he said he was interested to swap his Altezza with a 350Z. When I saw the ad, it gave me an idea and I started considering his ad. In the end, I did not pursue it as I was more keen on selling my 350Z. For those unfamiliar with the Altezza, it is a 4 door sedan made by Toyota from the year 1999. It was powered by Toyota's 3S-GE engine, a 2 liter, 4 cylinder with 210 hp and 216 Nm of torque. The Altezza was also sold as the IS200 under its luxury brand, Lexus. The IS200 had the 1G-FE engine which was a 2 liter, inline 6 cylinder with only 150 hp and 195 Nm of torque. Many were baffled by the specs of the IS200 because it has more cylinders but less power than the Altezza. That is also why the Altezza was more sought after by enthusiasts in the markets where both models were offered.

1999 Lexus IS200

I was getting anxious about selling my 350Z because I have waited a long time but still I have not sold it. So, I was looking for a quicker way out by swapping for an Altezza. The Altezza fits my requirement because it has 4 doors, a decent boot, manual transmission and the power produced is fun enough. The Altezza is also an easier car to sell compared to my 350Z, with prices being quite similar, here in Malaysia. That was my deciding factor and I decided to move along with this idea. I found one guy online where he was looking for a swap and I contacted him. In the ad, his Altezza looks to be in great shape. After that, I also posted on the Altezza Facebook page to ask if anyone was interested. I had 3 interested parties by the end of the week. I met with the first owner on the same day I contacted him and he seems really eager to meet. The first owner was a student from China who has 2 friends that own 350Z. We decided to meet at a petrol station and he came with one of the 350Z friends. I was working on that day and I drove my Mazda 6 instead of my 350Z.

When he arrived, I was mesmerized by the condition of the paint. His Altezza has shiny red paint with Advan SA3R rims, which was nothing like my 350Z and its old, fading color. All the doors and boot are working and the engine bay looks clean. However, the rims were double, a three-spoke design that I dislike. The owner told me that it is not an Altezza but a Lexus IS200 with the 3S-GE engine transplant from Altezza. Being an IS200, it had beige interior with electronic, leather seats instead of the black interior with cloth seats in an Altezza. I definitely prefer the black interior as it looks sportier and easy to maintain, compared with beige. It also does not burn my butt like how leather seats would when I park under the sun. The driver seat was changed to a Recaro, full bucket seat and usually, sports seats are a plus point for me but the full bucket is hard to access and is very uncomfortable. There was also a large cut on the passenger seat. I started the engine and it starts well with no weird sounds. After a bit of rev to test the exhaust, I talked to him but I was not really interested in this unit. I did not even take photos of his car and left. This is a video that he sent to me before our meeting.