Thinking about a GS450h.

[mrdoofa]

Hi,

As many of you may know I bought Phil’s (The acre) LS430 in January and it’s a brilliant car, however I am being increasingly tempted to get another GS450h!!! I’ve had one before which went very wrong and the dealer ended up giving me my money back but what’s the chances of lightning striking twice because I really liked that car. I loved the power whilst still achieving good fuel figures because of the hybrid system. Just for the record I’ve also had another LS430 in the past which also went horribly wrong when the gearbox failed however I bought this one off Phil and had no issues.

My biggest concern is the hybrid system so the big question I want to know is there any way to tell if the hybrid system is faulty or about to go wrong or do they just fail without warning? What do you check for on test drive etc?

I know many will say keep the LS430 and I still might yet, this is Just at the idea stage because I really do like the GS450h. Below are links to 2 potential cars I’m considering. The red one is about 70 miles away whilst the black one is about 200 miles away. Thoughts?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804235816221?radius=1501&advertising-location=at_cars&make=LEXUS&postcode=ls211dg&sort=sponsored&model=GS 450H&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=5000&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804235815646?radius=1501&postcode=ls211dg&make=LEXUS&sort=sponsored&advertising-location=at_cars&model=GS 450H&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&price-to=5000&page=1

[ColinBarber]

It is very difficult to tell if there is an issue, other than a warning light. You could ask the seller to have a hybrid health check done which costs £59 and, depending on age, will give you a 1 year warranty on the hybrid Battery. This really only checks the Battery so issues with the inverter or transmission could occur and won't be covered.

[cruisermark]

Hi Martin

The GS450H is a brilliant piece of engineering. However it does have a few weak spots. When buying check the following:

• Seized calipers - expecially rear ones.
• Rusted exhaust back boxes.
• Leaking Shock Absorbers - Lexus is the only supplier for replacements.
• Creaking dash.
• Headlight bulb flickering or going out after a while - Remedy is to swap the bulbs over or replace them.
• Rust on the leading edge of the bonnet.
• Faulty TPMS Valves
• HYBRID BATTERY: As above a health check is available from Lexus for vehicles under 10 years and 140k miles. On the flip side if you can't get the health check and have Battery problems: it is normally 1 or 2 cells which are low - these can be replaced and the Battery reconditioned for aorund £800. A member on here Richard is recommended.

Hope this helps

[usuf_x]

10 hours ago, cruisermark said:

Hi Martin

The GS450H is a brilliant piece of engineering. However it does have a few weak spots. When buying check the following:

• Seized calipers - expecially rear ones.
• Rusted exhaust back boxes.
• Leaking Shock Absorbers - Lexus is the only supplier for replacements.
• Creaking dash.
• Headlight bulb flickering or going out after a while - Remedy is to swap the bulbs over or replace them.
• Rust on the leading edge of the bonnet.
• Faulty TPMS Valves
• HYBRID BATTERY: As above a health check is available from Lexus for vehicles under 10 years and 140k miles. On the flip side if you can't get the health check and have battery problems: it is normally 1 or 2 cells which are low - these can be replaced and the battery reconditioned for aorund £800. A member on here Richard is recommended.

Hope this helps

Love this checklist of things to be aware of..

my fear  is the hybrid, other than that everything else is simple enough though some items are expensive. 

Rust  on bonnet edge  - lexus should cover it under  warranty  (like mine) if under  12 years 

 

[royoftherovers]

10 hours ago, usuf_x said:

Love this checklist of things to be aware of..

my fear  is the hybrid, other than that everything else is simple enough though some items are expensive. 

Rust  on bonnet edge  - lexus should cover it under  warranty  (like mine) if under  12 years 

 

Prius Hybrids seem to have weathered well considering how long they have been on these shores. Not read many, if any failures of their Hybrid Batteries.

As mentioned above, we have Richard of "Hybrid Battery Solutions" as one of our Members to guide and assist us..

[OldTrout]

On 30/04/2018 at 12:42 PM, cruisermark said:

Hi Martin

The GS450H is a brilliant piece of engineering. However it does have a few weak spots. When buying check the following:

• Seized calipers - expecially rear ones.
• Rusted exhaust back boxes.
• Leaking Shock Absorbers - Lexus is the only supplier for replacements.
• Creaking dash.
• Headlight bulb flickering or going out after a while - Remedy is to swap the bulbs over or replace them.
• Rust on the leading edge of the bonnet.
• Faulty TPMS Valves
• HYBRID BATTERY: As above a health check is available from Lexus for vehicles under 10 years and 140k miles. On the flip side if you can't get the health check and have battery problems: it is normally 1 or 2 cells which are low - these can be replaced and the battery reconditioned for aorund £800. A member on here Richard is recommended.

Hope this helps

Am I the only one to be astonished by this list of weak spots for an 11 or 12 year old car?

 

Callipers - avoid by regular servicing with proper lubricants. Don't know why it is not a service item.

Exhaust - I don't know what is reasonable. My A35 van had a new exhaust every 367 days.

Shock absorbers - agreed could be better component and preferably from more than one source.

Creaking dash - some car owners would love a car quiet enough to hear a creak. I understand draught-excluder stuffed down gap fixes it.

Headlight bulb - new bulbs after 11 years unreasonable? They have probably lost output even if they haven't failed.

Rust - covered by warranty?

TPMS - units failed or just need new batteries? See Bitprius thread on how to do it.

Hybrid - everybody seems to worry at first but the reality is that failures are rare and as above Richard will fix problems.

 

Could any other manufacturer match the brevity of this list?

John

[royoftherovers]

23 minutes ago, OldTrout said:

Am I the only one to be astonished by this list of weak spots for an 11 or 12 year old car?

 

Callipers - avoid by regular servicing with proper lubricants. Don't know why it is not a service item.

Exhaust - I don't know what is reasonable. My A35 van had a new exhaust every 367 days.

Shock absorbers - agreed could be better component and preferably from more than one source.Headlight bulb - replacement after 12 years not unreasonable?

Creaking dash - some car owners would love a car quiet enough to hear a creak. I understand draught-excluder stuffed down gap fixes it.

Headlight bulb - new bulbs after 11 years unreasonable? They have probably lost output even if they haven't failed.

Rust - covered by warranty?

TPMS - units failed or just need new batteries? See Bitprius thread on how to do it.

Hybrid - everybody seems to worry at first but the reality is that failures are rare and as above Richard will fix problems.

 

Could any other manufacturer match the brevity of this list?

John

Well said John,

Compared to Renault, Peugeot, Citroen, Alfa, Vauxhall, Ford, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, the faults at 11/12 years are just a blip on the distant horizon.