l am going to purchase a 2003 Lexus IS 300 (Manual Trans), and l was just wondering how the car handles in winter conditions, with or without snow tires? Does any one currently drive an IS 300 where it snows in the winter, how is it? This is my only real question l have before buying this car, everything else is perfect. Thanks

Remember, it is rear wheel drive. That makes a big difference.

l have 01 IS300 (Automatic tho). It handles pretty nicely in the winter time except for the fact that it is rwd & if ur tires do not have a sufficient amount of tread there is a chance u will whip ur tail out around turns that r taken too quickly. Also if u have a large amount of snow that surrounds the tires while its parked, u will have heck of a time getting it out with the RWD, if u do not have snow tires .
But the IS300 has a nifty feature to help in the winter time: a ''snow'' button that will slow down the rpms to help prevent the car from skidding & spinning wheels. I've relied on it many times on icy, crowded, bad conditioned Baltimore streets.

Get the car with decent tires for the winter & u should be fine. Its a great automobile & u will love it.