Used Car Purchase Advise

saul01 · June 25, 2018

Hi Guys,

As the title says, I'm Looking into purchasing an IS300H from 2015 onward and would like some advise as in what to look out for /general tips when purchasing a used Lexus.

In terms of specs, I am better of going for the Luxury or the F Sport?

Hope this doesn't sound too vague.

Thanks

rayaans · June 25, 2018

52 minutes ago, saul01 said:

Hi Guys,

As the title says, I'm Looking into purchasing an IS300H from 2015 onward and would like some advise as in what to look out for /general tips when purchasing a used Lexus.

In terms of specs, I am better of going for the Luxury or the F Sport?

Hope this doesn't sound too vague.

Thanks

Spec wise, there isnt much in it really as the F Sport has bigger alloys and stiffer suspension along with the exterior and interior treatment.

Essentially I chose the F Sport as I prefer the seats, the looks and the alloys. Both trims handle well but the F Sport is better. Personally I don't find the ride stiff at all, certainly nowhere near German hard. It does get caught out with potholes though and will thump if you land in one.

As for advise, generally just normal used car advice. These things don't have any common issues. Main things would be leather wear on Luxury models, check servicing as they should be 1 year/10k miles or 1 year/12k miles. Apart from that, nothing stands out.

saul01 · June 26, 2018

16 hours ago, rayaans said:

Spec wise, there isnt much in it really as the F Sport has bigger alloys and stiffer suspension along with the exterior and interior treatment.

Essentially I chose the F Sport as I prefer the seats, the looks and the alloys. Both trims handle well but the F Sport is better. Personally I don't find the ride stiff at all, certainly nowhere near German hard. It does get caught out with potholes though and will thump if you land in one.

As for advise, generally just normal used car advice. These things don't have any common issues. Main things would be leather wear on Luxury models, check servicing as they should be 1 year/10k miles or 1 year/12k miles. Apart from that, nothing stands out.

Thank you for the feedback. Can I ask what sort of real life MPG you are getting from the car.

wharfhouse · June 26, 2018

8 minutes ago, saul01 said:

Thank you for the feedback. Can I ask what sort of real life MPG you are getting from the car.

On my 2014 IS 300h Exec (so 17" wheels) between 48mpg and 52mpg (as per the car computer) on average mixed driving, motorway, A road and towns (lower end in winter, engine has to warm up for longer and heat the car, and higher end in summer) - can get to 60+mpg on a free flowing A road running at 30-50mph and being light footed, and up to 55mpg free flowing motorway (at 70mph) and being light footed. Heavy footed (and Sport mode etc.) will drop this down quite a bit - more towards mid-30s

Jayw13702 · June 30, 2018

Cars of this age should be in good condition, even ex-fleet ones, they should have service history but also look at the fit and finish of the panels, has there been accident damage?

Front bumpers suffer from road rash/stone chips, sometimes. When I tested mine I pushed every switch and made sure everything worked.

Premium nav is a nice touch, a lot of people comment that the mouse/trackpad is a little sensitive or difficult to use.

I have an SE with 16” wheels, the ride is so much nicer than my partners BMW with 16” wheels on it, it’s so much of a smoother ride in the Lexus.

Economy, around town I get 48-52 mpg daily, on a run I can get that up to mid to late 50’s. All of which is bloody good for a 2.5 engined car

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ganzoom · July 2, 2018

On 6/25/2018 at 9:22 PM, saul01 said:

In terms of specs, I am better of going for the Luxury or the F Sport?

F sport is mainy about looks.

I would just say keep a careful eye on the actual spec sheet, there is a post on here about retrofitting a reversing camera, I didnt even realise Lexus sold these cars without reversing camera.

We ticked every options box when ordering ours, so got things like adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic alert (really useful for reversing out!!), and all the other standard stuff like bigger screen nav, decent speaker setup.

I would say you want a car with the bigger screen nav as a minimum, used the price difference will not be massive between a well specced versus base spec car, but the extra gadgets do make a difference to the ownership experience.

Depsite the relative rapid advances in car safety tech recently (mainly crash avoidance systems), our 2015 car still feels relatively well kitted out even compared to the just relased facelfited cars, only real incentive for us to sell is lack of full EV drivetrain otherwise very happy with the IS.

Summer mpg is 50-55mpg, winter 40-45mpg, our IS mainly only does short urban commutes. On a long run in summer I see 60mpg.

ColinBarber · July 2, 2018

On 6/26/2018 at 2:57 PM, saul01 said:

Thank you for the feedback. Can I ask what sort of real life MPG you are getting from the car.

Mid to high 40s with an F Sport. High 40s to low 50s with a Luxury.

saul01 · July 2, 2018

I went and had a look at a couple over the weekend. Didn't expect the transmission tunnel to be so high in the rear😨, how to get his past the mrs??!!

On the bright side the kids absolutely loved the interior and all the gadgets. (F-sport)

ColinBarber · July 2, 2018

7 minutes ago, saul01 said:

I went and had a look at a couple over the weekend. Didn't expect the transmission tunnel to be so high in the rear😨, how to get his past the mrs??!!

Sit her in the front

saul01 · July 2, 2018

This could be a blonde moment/question time. The sliding dial across the dash screen, is this on the F Sport only or across the range?

wharfhouse · July 2, 2018

3 minutes ago, saul01 said:

This could be a blonde moment/question time. The sliding dial across the dash screen, is this on the F Sport only or across the range?

F Sport only - others have more traditional twin dials (charge/rev and speedo)

Martin F · July 3, 2018

21 hours ago, saul01 said:

I went and had a look at a couple over the weekend. Didn't expect the transmission tunnel to be so high in the rear😨, how to get his past the mrs??!!

I'm curious, why would this be an issue?

Afterall it's a rear wheel drive car and nearly all of them have a transmission tunnel that intrudes the full length of the interior.

saul01 · July 3, 2018

56 minutes ago, Martin F said:

I'm curious, why would this be an issue?

Afterall it's a rear wheel drive car and nearly all of them have a transmission tunnel that intrudes the full length of the interior.

Not an issue as such. It just seems to be a lot taller/higher than what were in my previous cars that's all.

ColinBarber · July 3, 2018

1 hour ago, saul01 said:

Not an issue as such. It just seems to be a lot taller/higher than what were in my previous cars that's all.

It's a positive, stops the kids trying to kick each other

MONTIMAR · July 4, 2018

Fuel consumption is very dependant on your driving profile and weather conditions. It loves hot weather and long runs on A/B roads. I have just completed 3 x 200 mile found trips so 3 cold starts and 3 warm starts. The computer is showing 63mpg and I will do another 200 mile before re-filling the tank which is still showing more than a 1/4 full so 800 miles from a tank of fuel. Awesome for a 2.5 litre petrol car.