Recommend a gs

iffy · May 8, 2016

Hi,

looking to buy a gs series around 2008 or later and would like some opinions from the forum users on which one I should look to buy and problems to look out for. This thread is starting pretty basic but I will happily provide more info when required. Thanks.

AmbroseJohn · May 8, 2016

GS450h, costs a little more but................................

GS300 has less power, uses more fuel and costs more to tax.

ColinBarber · May 8, 2016

although GS300 is much more reliable. Most Toyota/Lexus hybrids are very reliable, the exception is the series II GS450 - Battery and transmissions problems which can be fixed relatively cheaply if you are mechanically minded. If you go to a main dealer it could cost you thousands. Looks through these forums.

Carl911 · May 11, 2016

I'm not sure id consider the gs450h unreliable. I have read a few isolated cases of such issues but they seem rare in my oppinion.

i have had mine a year and it never misses a beat.

i would however agree that unless you are very mechanically minded then take out a Lexus warranty for piece of mind then no matter if you should be unfortunate to experience a problem it will all be put right in a professional manner.

i have no regrets and still enjoy driving my gs450h on a daily basis.

carl

AmbroseJohn · May 11, 2016

35 minutes ago, Carl911 said:

I'm not sure id consider the gs450h unreliable. I have read a few isolated cases of such issues but they seem rare in my oppinion.

i have had mine a year and it never misses a beat.

i would however agree that unless you are very mechanically minded then take out a Lexus warranty for piece of mind then no matter if you should be unfortunate to experience a problem it will all be put right in a professional manner.

i have no regrets and still enjoy driving my gs450h on a daily basis.

carl

Ditto on all points.

ColinBarber · May 11, 2016

when you consider how few GSs are sold the issues aren't that rare. We have a lot, lot more reports of GS hybrid issues on these forums compared to the similar aged RX400h, yet that outsold the GS450h around 6 to 1.

AmbroseJohn · May 11, 2016

I can only speak from personal experience. I judge a car after the first year of ownership by asking myself, 'would I consider buying another' there have been many cars over the years where the answer has been, 'probably not'. I've just come to the end of the first year with the GS450h and the answer is, 'absolutely yes'.

iffy · May 19, 2016

Thank you very much for the response so far. The gs450h is a very tempting choice, albeit I absolutely do not require the extra bhp it delivers. However I think the 450H generally has better kit. Having said that, what model should I be aiming for? Also how hard is it to work on this car? I have good experience working on a BMW e46. I have done many complex jobs on this car. I'm handy with tools but no expert.

royoftherovers · May 19, 2016

On Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 9:23 PM, AmbroseJohn said:

I can only speak from personal experience. I judge a car after the first year of ownership by asking myself, 'would I consider buying another' there have been many cars over the years where the answer has been, 'probably not'. I've just come to the end of the first year with the GS450h and the answer is, 'absolutely yes'.

And after 3 years ownership, I agree with Carl and John !

Regards

John

chris_abr · May 19, 2016

15 hours ago, iffy said:

Thank you very much for the response so far. The gs450h is a very tempting choice, albeit I absolutely do not require the extra bhp it delivers. However I think the 450H generally has better kit. Having said that, what model should I be aiming for? Also how hard is it to work on this car? I have good experience working on a BMW e46. I have done many complex jobs on this car. I'm handy with tools but no expert.

I also fix my cars, and this was one of the main reasons for not going with the 450h for me - the whole CVT / two motors makes things much more complex, not as much space to work in on the engine, so many more parts, and unfamiliarity with the design makes troubleshooting much more difficult. Not to mention if you wanna modify the exhaust - 450h sounds awful due to the CVT.

If you want the kit 450h has, go with 300-L, they have all the equipment of the 450h except the radar guides cruise control and a few small things, I think the nav is a little older too. But you get the same stuff - sunroof, rear blind (though I never use mine, don't see the point of it, I just tint the car), mark levinson, rain sensing wipers, 18' alloys, and all the other stuff. Check out the official promo leaflets, they say exactly what each comes with.

I ended up going with the 300, as it's only 1.7s to 60 slower, yet sounds a hell of a lot better if you modify the exhaust, is a lot simpler to fix yourself, and requires less maintenance (less complexity). Alternatively, I'd look at GS430. You get the performance of a 450h, sweet sound of a V8, simplicity of repairs, and equipment level of the 450h. Not to mention if you remap it (which you can do now), you'll get good 10-15% more power. And 430 has very similar MPG to 450h.

AmbroseJohn · May 19, 2016

Iffy say he is looking for a 2008 or later, the GS430 was not available in 2008. The CVT is an awesome gearbox. which is much less complex than a standard auto.

chris_abr · May 20, 2016

7 hours ago, AmbroseJohn said:

Iffy say he is looking for a 2008 or later, the GS430 was not available in 2008. The CVT is an awesome gearbox. which is much less complex than a standard auto.

Each to their own, I felt CVT was like driving an electric car, you have very little control over what it is actually doing. I test drove the 450h, and just didnt feel comfortable with that box. But my main argument is about the lack of gear change noise - its fine if you leave it stock, but as soon as you extract a little noise from it, it sounds really bad. Just a constant whine.

As to complexity, it is simpler, but how often do you do any work on gearboxes? You only change the oil at 80-100k, and leave it be for 200-300 k miles. Its the engine you need to work on, and the bay in 450h is just messy, really packed up full of stuff, quite difficult to access.

its fine if you leave it to a mechanic, as you just don't care, but if you do your own repairs, accessibility and ease of troubleshooting is rather important.

Carl911 · May 20, 2016

I think the cvt Rev that occurs under hard acceleration does sound different and is something you get used to but in my honest opinion the cvt under pretty much any condition Is superior to a standard auto box. For me the quality of a good auto box is one that changes almost seamless without the the driver noticing the transition between gears. The cvt is absolutely seamless as its effectively one continue gear.

there is no smoother drive than a cvt because of this fact.

i even drove an LS460 several months after ownership of my gs450 and the one thing that I noticed was that I could detect the auto box gear changes and to me it detracted from the smoothness of the drive.

yes, you get used to the high rev under load but this not really noticeable unless you have the radio off and windows open. For pretty much all other driving conditions the cvt is without question perfect in prestige cars like the Lexus.

if I ever consider buying an ls it would most certainly be the ls600 for me.

for me, going back to a standard auto box would feel like a step backwards.

carl

KayCee · May 20, 2016

Well i must add to this I had the GS300 before the 450h and it was in exceptional condition I had it 4 years and was troublefree in all that time except for a leaking front shock which i had to replace both and front and rear discs other than that it was perfect the gear change was nearly seamless and as quiet as a mouse, the wife gave me a hard time when i said i was going upto the 450

However there was two points i was concerned about the CVT and the low profile tyres as i love the quietness of the lexus gs300 and i was a bit concerned of road and engine noise may not be as good in the 450.

How wrong i was I have had the 450 3 months now and it as ticked all the boxes i have done 2k in it and as not put a foot wrong and just as quiet as the 300 if not better i dont race about so i dont hear the roar as some have said i never go over 80 and usually around 60 i had a trip to bridlington on tuesday and was diverted by the Dynamic Road System on the Nav told me to go through Hull which i did and came back a slightly different as the road works at Market Weighton was still not clear

I have never really bothered too much about Petrol consumption but when i got home i cycled through the Readout on Speedo and the car showed 46 mph now even i know that is good

I feel that when the car is moving away from standstill it gives the feeling that the car would just race away with no effort.

I had the car checked out at my local Dealer when i bought it and the guy said they are awesome cars i took it with a pinch of salt

but that is the word that describes the car i am over the moon with it and not one rattle in it at all sublime quietness but with the abilty to change into a leapord chasing a deer in a blink of the eye

a wonderful car in all respects i have not missed the convetional 6 speed of the 300 for one minute

Robert

iffy · May 23, 2016

Once again thank you for all the reviews and advice. I'm keeping options open on car choice, I can agree though, the older gs300 (2002) has ALOT more space when it comes to working in the engine bay than the bmw 3 series. Not a like for like comparison - I know.

hybridbatterysolutions · June 19, 2016

On 20/05/2016 at 7:28 AM, Carl911 said:

I think the cvt Rev that occurs under hard acceleration does sound different and is something you get used to but in my honest opinion the cvt under pretty much any condition Is superior to a standard auto box. For me the quality of a good auto box is one that changes almost seamless without the the driver noticing the transition between gears. The cvt is absolutely seamless as its effectively one continue gear.

there is no smoother drive than a cvt because of this fact.

i even drove an LS460 several months after ownership of my gs450 and the one thing that I noticed was that I could detect the auto box gear changes and to me it detracted from the smoothness of the drive.

yes, you get used to the high rev under load but this not really noticeable unless you have the radio off and windows open. For pretty much all other driving conditions the cvt is without question perfect in prestige cars like the Lexus.

if I ever consider buying an ls it would most certainly be the ls600 for me.

for me, going back to a standard auto box would feel like a step backwards.

carl

I have driven an LS600h & it is truly lovely - hybrid Battery is however difficult to access as it sits under the rear air conditioning plant & the Audio Visual system (still possible though if you can regas AC & understand AV systems I guess)