IS300h Advice

gareth1902 · August 27, 2016

Hey everyone, on my 3rd Lexus now and just wondering on peoples opinions on a 2013 IS300h that's done 120k. Obviously a company car with motorway miles but is that a mileage that people would avoid like the plague? Or would it not put people off (if the price reflected it)? FLSH all stamped up too. What do you think, worth a punt?

Alan Partridges Left Glove · August 27, 2016

Just be mindful of the Battery life, I read somewhere there's a life expectancy of the batteries.

Replacement could dent the wallet, but hey, I'm not an expert on hybrids, batteries or wallets.

Might be worth doing some digging though pal.

200h · August 27, 2016

whats the asking price for the car, you will have a better response as to wether its worth a punt or not.

gareth1902 · August 27, 2016

Yeah it's the Battery I am thinking about. I only do around 6000 a year so I would not be adding big mileage to it anyway. Just torn on this one to be honest. Toss up between 3 years still meaning it's all fairly new but on the flipside it has done a good few miles. Thanks for your reply and advice.

gareth1902 · August 27, 2016

2 minutes ago, 200h said:

whats the asking price for the car, you will have a better response as to wether its worth a punt or not.

10.5k. Most similar aged and spec are like 13-15k from what I can see

Alan Partridges Left Glove · August 27, 2016

I'd take a step back to be honest.

Mileage

Battery life

Price lower than average

Plus point, Lexus do reliable cars.

See if you can get it checked over at a Lexus garage, even if it costs you to do this it could reveal a great car or something that could be a money pit.

marrat · August 27, 2016

A car with that kind of mileage in such a short time has clearly done motorway miles mostly, that's a good thing. As for the batteries, Toyota/Lexus has been using the same HV batteries for a long time, there are quite a lot of hybrids now that are over half a million miles. Since the car has done a lot of motorway mileage, the batteries probably weren't charged and discharged a lot of times.

I'd go look at the car and buy it if it feels good. A properly build modern car should hit 300K with ease.

rayaans · August 27, 2016

Tbh no.

Reason being is not mechanical but cosmetic. It's going to have some serious wear cosmetically

Also you'll have a hard time shifting it in the future

Steve44 · August 28, 2016

I've done 60k in 2yrs in mine and its going like a train. Local taxi company to me is running Prius and Leaf's as Taxi's doing 100k a year without Battery issues. It is something I wouldn't worry about.

Cosmetically, yes, motorway miles will have ravaged the paint on the bumper/bonnet (I know mine has) and possibly the windscreen too. I'd also check wear on the drivers seat, steering wheel and door trim. The leather in mine is still OK, but does look worse than the passenger. On the plus side the backseat will be unused!

If it has a full service stamp from a main dealer, with other history, it meets your needs and budget, then I wouldn't rule it out. What warranty does it come with?

marrat · August 28, 2016

8 hours ago, rayaans said:

Tbh no.

Reason being is not mechanical but cosmetic. It's going to have some serious wear cosmetically

Also you'll have a hard time shifting it in the future

Small exterior cosmetic problems can be fixed quite easily by a good dealer. The problem is, you can't know for sure how the car has been treated until you see it. A low mileage car, which did a lot of short trips, can have a ruined interior. Imagine someone, or a whole family, constantly getting in and out of the car. This will have a much more detrimental effect than one guy sitting in the car doing 500 miles in one go. As for resale value, I assume the lower resale value will be negated by the lower purchase price now.

I'd never disregard a car, which is proven to be reliable, if it has high mileage.

ganzoom · August 28, 2016

11 hours ago, gareth1902 said:

Yeah it's the battery I am thinking about. I only do around 6000 a year so I would not be adding big mileage to it anyway. Just torn on this one to be honest. Toss up between 3 years still meaning it's all fairly new but on the flipside it has done a good few miles. Thanks for your reply and advice.

If the car has been on the M-ways all this time its likely the Battery is fine. At M-way speeds the traction Battery is hardly used. Though you cannot be 100% sure. The IS300H is still too new for 3rd party companies to get involved with refurbishing the Battery if needed, so maybe use that as an excuse to barter the price down even more.

I suspect the cost of a new Battery from Lexus will be in the £2000 region, even though the actual production cost of the Battery will be less than £500.

gareth1902 · August 28, 2016

http://www.derbyprestigecars.co.uk/used-cars/lexus-is-300h-2-5-se-e-cvt-4dr-derby-201608237049810?at_source=autotrader&at_medium=desktop&at_campaign=website-visit&_ga=1.9479155.714074044.1438860402

Steve44 · August 28, 2016

That looks perfectly fine to me, just serviced at Lexus 3k ago too.

You could find out which Lexus dealer and enquire with them for a copy of the service report to see what it had done? Only thing that puts me off personally is its a basic SE, but it does have Nav.

Given the mileage you aim to do, if you keep it for 3 to 4 years it will correct itself on mileage and you probably wouldn't lose out.

It should have been serviced every 12k miles so you should have 10 stamps, that is why I wouldn't be worried about mileage.

Also at 3yrs does it have an MOT yet?

gareth1902 · August 28, 2016

11 minutes ago, Steve44 said:

That looks perfectly fine to me, just serviced at Lexus 3k ago too.

You could find out which Lexus dealer and enquire with them for a copy of the service report to see what it had done? Only thing that puts me off personally is its a basic SE, but it does have Nav.

Given the mileage you aim to do, if you keep it for 3 to 4 years it will correct itself on mileage and you probably wouldn't lose out.

It should have been serviced every 12k miles so you should have 10 stamps, that is why I wouldn't be worried about mileage.

Also at 3yrs does it have an MOT yet?

What kind of things would I be missing out on if I have the SE then?

Steve44 · August 28, 2016

Main one is the SE has fixed back seats, models above they fold down, increasing practicality.

SE also doesn't have leather, or heated seats, the bolsters are just plastic, centers are cloth.

Depends on you what you value I guess. The spec hasn't changed much, have a look at Lexus.co.uk and compare the various models, there might be something else I've missed that may be critical. SE with Premium Nav covers most bases though.

rayaans · August 28, 2016

3 hours ago, marrat said:

Small exterior cosmetic problems can be fixed quite easily by a good dealer. The problem is, you can't know for sure how the car has been treated until you see it. A low mileage car, which did a lot of short trips, can have a ruined interior. Imagine someone, or a whole family, constantly getting in and out of the car. This will have a much more detrimental effect than one guy sitting in the car doing 500 miles in one go. As for resale value, I assume the lower resale value will be negated by the lower purchase price now.

I'd never disregard a car, which is proven to be reliable, if it has high mileage.

Agreed but generally a high mileage motorway car will have tonnes of stone chips on the front including the glass.

Interior wise the car actually looks fine but paintwork is too hard to tell in photos and ideally needs to be seen in sunny conditions

The SE doesn't even get parking sensors does it? Well worth having IMO as the extremities of the IS are very difficult to judge and lifesavers in heavy traffic

Martin F · August 28, 2016

I would view this car and buy or walk away based on the facts.

As said above it's most likely a motorway car (ex-company car i suspect considering the spec) which means it should be high mileage with minimal wear. Even if you needed to re-spray the front bumper, and that colour is not the hardest to match, then at that price it would still be a cheap buy.

gareth1902 · August 28, 2016

bit confused regarding the trim level to be honest. SE not meant to have leather but it says it has F Sport leather seats?? Also has the nav. Xenon lights etc...

But if it doesn't have parking sensors then that'll probably rule it out for me. Too used to my sensors and camera on the GS450h.

rayaans · August 28, 2016

2 hours ago, gareth1902 said:

bit confused regarding the trim level to be honest. SE not meant to have leather but it says it has F Sport leather seats?? Also has the nav. Xenon lights etc...

But if it doesn't have parking sensors then that'll probably rule it out for me. Too used to my sensors and camera on the GS450h.

The dealer doesnt know what he's talking about.

Defo doesnt have F-Sport seats, they're just the standard SE ones. I believe they are also manual and not electric. Seems to be missing the Lexus floor mats

And nope, it doesnt have the parking sensors at the front or back but seems to have a reversing camera.

Be aware that the centre console looks to be in a really bad state. The plastic has a lot of scratches on it.

The MOT history suggests that all 4 tyres were quite low so check those to make sure they arent completely gone! Its quite an interesting advert. Claims its a "limited edition" and a "one off spec" - very interesting.

gareth1902 · August 28, 2016

4 minutes ago, rayaans said:

The dealer doesnt know what he's talking about.

Defo doesnt have F-Sport seats, they're just the standard SE ones. I believe they are also manual and not electric. Seems to be missing the Lexus floor mats

And nope, it doesnt have the parking sensors at the front or back but seems to have a reversing camera.

Be aware that the centre console looks to be in a really bad state. The plastic has a lot of scratches on it.

The MOT history suggests that all 4 tyres were quite low so check those to make sure they arent completely gone! Its quite an interesting advert. Claims its a "limited edition" and a "one off spec" - very interesting.

Yeah you have a point. Few things don't seem to add up. Good price and the brand is reliable as we all know. But trim level maybe not what I'd be wanting and like you say centre console not great either. Oh well was worth a thought as looked not too bad on the face of it.

RichyRich · August 28, 2016

Personally would avoid high mileage cars. Nothing wrong with putting miles on but wouldn't be happy with the excess mileage a cars done when buying one. Luxury models are nicer IMO or F-Sport if budget permits :)

rayaans · August 28, 2016

1 hour ago, gareth1902 said:

Yeah you have a point. Few things don't seem to add up. Good price and the brand is reliable as we all know. But trim level maybe not what I'd be wanting and like you say centre console not great either. Oh well was worth a thought as looked not too bad on the face of it.

I'd be looking at the Luxury ones. They have a lot less mileage and more kit too. Only a few K more but well worth it