A year with a GS450

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, The-Acre said:

Lovely, a bottle of Rioja this eve?

G and T first Phil, then Rioja ,here we come.

[RgrWynne]

4 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

G and T first Phil, then Rioja ,here we come.

Enjoy,  John, I’m jealous, Rgds, Roger from autumnal Chester.

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, royoftherovers said:

G and T first Phil, then Rioja ,here we come.

👍👍

[royoftherovers]

23 hours ago, RgrWynne said:

Enjoy,  John, I’m jealous, Rgds, Roger from autumnal Chester.

Thanks Roger, you have not long returned from a European voyage, have you not?

[RgrWynne]

Hi John that was last year, drove down through France, around Costa Blanca etc., then I drove back by myself across Spain to Santander then up. Did about 3000 trouble free, easy miles, temp was 37 degrees at some times. I see a Gota Fría is on the way this weekend so battern down with a bottle .......or 2 and enjoy your break, Roger

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, RgrWynne said:

Hi John that was last year, drove down through France, around Costa Blanca etc., then I drove back by myself across Spain to Santander then up. Did about 3000 trouble free, easy miles, temp was 37 degrees at some times. I see a Gota Fría is on the way this weekend so battern down with a bottle .......or 2 and enjoy your break, Roger

It is with us now Roger, but it didn`t stop us enjoying lunch in a Spanish restaurant 3000 feet up in the mountains !

Thunder and Lightning all around as I write!

[Zurbaran]

Love the review. More than anything it tells me I should be looking to get that 2 year warranty on the car I’m almost certainly buying. I didn’t initially budget for this but it looks like a must have.

Wish the car I’m looking at had acc and sunroof but it seems that was dropped in the later gen 3’s

[Diesel Do Nicely Brian]

Warranty 1,000,000% worth it. 

Sunroof was always an optional extra on most cars I think where the Active Cruise was standard on the 06-08 Se-L

Great cars though - more than 2 years and 40,000 miles on my 2006 and love it. 

[OldTrout]

I would like to add to this thread with my experience of three years with a GS450h. Mine is red with light grey leather, and piano black wood.  It had done about 104,000 miles when purchased from Lexus Woodford. It’s now on about 125k. It is an 07 SE-L so it has all the bells and whistles some of which later became options e.g. sun (moon) roof, PCS and ACC. I had the PCS kick in one day but fortunately that was the only time. I use the ACC all the time on motorways and dual carriageways. I could live without the sunroof but it is useful to leave it open if the dog is left in the car. It does not have the active rear wheel steering option which I have never seen.

Driving experience

As Odysseus as the start of this thread! I would only add that it might well stick to the road like glue round corners but I don't stick in the seat so I don't know how much it could be pushed. As Odysseus so eloquently put it "the car would rather you stopped being silly and drove properly". Mrs Trout says this too. I do many fewer miles than Odysseus and don't find the tank too small. The boot is small but I am good at packing. It encourages not packing stuff you don't need except when going to the tip. I am not moved by the shape which strikes me as bland. It does not attract attention even in red which is fine by me. I am very impressed by its 0.27 drag coefficient. My best mpg is 45 (Old Sodbury to Oxford): my worst 21 - all short journeys in town which usually gets about 30. On 150 mile runs I get 36 if cruising at the limits or 40 if I slow down a little and the traffic is light.

Maintenance

The car came with 1 year Lexus warranty which I extended a further two years when it ran out. The only issue I had was dampers - all four needed replacing. Three were original, one had only done about 50k.  After a long exchange with Lexus and the warranty company we settled with me paying for two at £695 (with no LOC discount). When this work was done the wheel nuts were overtightened to the extent that the security nuts were destroyed getting them off. I bought some used Toyota ones off eBay for ~£12. These look stronger to me and have not given any bother. (Or been overtightened.) I raised the over tightening with the Lexus main dealer responsible. They did not hold their hands up to this saying "Our technicians are fully trained etc. etc." I went elsewhere for the last service I had whilst under warranty. LOC discount was given for both main dealer services. 

Now that my warranty has expired my service plan is the minor-plus-MOT every year (see below) with extra items like plugs specified by me. My garage/MOT place for the last 50+ years is now fully able to service hybrids so I have gone back to them for service after brief spell away for warranty compliance. They are excellent and I commend them to anyone who wants an indie and can get to Kidlington just north of Oxford. See http://www.summertowngarage.co.uk. No connection other than a happy customer for 50+ years.

I had nothing else under warranty but have done some things myself.

The passenger wing mirror stopped tipping down when reverse was engaged - a very useful feature. I took it apart following the guide on this forum. (The guide doesn't say best attempted on a very hot day or when you have heated behind the mirror with a hair dryer. I tried when cold but was afraid if I pulled harder the mirror would break. In hot weather it was easy.) Nothing seemed gunged up and the mechanism was more enclosed than the one on the guide which was possibly why. I cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. It worked. Sadly pride comes before a fall and it stopped again a couple of days later. I assume it must have been a bad connection somewhere as it started working without further intervention and still is. Cost - just my time.

I replaced the reversing lights which were only slightly more effective than a Morris Minor starting handle with LEDs. A great improvement for £7 on eBay. Now <£5!

I have not have sticking/seized callipers. Forewarned by this forum, I cleaned up the calliper pins and applied the Lexus approved grease (http://proslip.com. Again no connection other than a happy customer). 

One horn failed. I replaced it with one from a local car parts shop for ~£10. (There were much cheaper ones!).

I have now replaced all four tyres but like bulbs this is an expected running cost. So are new discs and pads and I have done the fronts £94. The rears might need doing in a couple of years. Also expected are bulbs. I replaced both dipped beam HID bulbs. One was failing exactly as described in the Wikipedia entry on HID bulbs but I replaced both. Their envelopes were very darkened and the light output must have been well down. The replacement bulbs were £16 and have been fine for last two years.

Other consumables have been a cabin pollen filter ~£6 at Halfords with discount, wiper blades ECP for £22, 2 x navigation maps (genuine not pirate copies) £24 and ~£30 from eBay. The TPMS batteries are still holding up which is good after 11.5 years.

At present I have a very slight weep of oil and also of coolant. I'm carrying a litre of each to top up if required and may have to tackle the cause at some stage. We do all check our oil and coolant levels regularly don't we? I do now.

 

Acknowledgements

Whist I used to do most car repairs myself, six years of a Camry and then 10 of a Mk2 GS300 ownership doing nothing meant I got out of the habit. Cars got much more complicated too - perhaps only garages with sophisticated equipment can fix them now. However I was encouraged to have a go by this forum which is amazingly helpful. In particular I must especially thank Britprius. He is a mine of information and has offered great tips and advice. The cunning minor-service-plus-MOT service plan is his idea and is a fantastic money saver. Thanks John.

John

 

[Eddy1]

What is the cunning minor service mot plan?