Buying a GS250 - looking for tips please

[DaveWebDesigner]

Couldn't hang around my old Saab was causing me new problems on a daily basis!

Hope the Lexus reliability lives up to the reviews!

From a large dealership in London, hassle free indeed, except the salesman and I thought the boot solenoid/motor had failed because we couldn't open the boot!  We then discovered the switch in the glovebox - happy days!

It's nice to have something different to the usual E-class, 5-series, A6 etc.

 

[st4]

See the noise from the injectors, it’s annoying but the fuel economy is very good. I average 40mpg, best I’ve seen is over 50mpg.

At 75mph it does 40mpg, at 90mph around 30mpg. It’s diesel like economical and as you say the sound when you gun it is mesmerising and it sings above 4K.

With DFI engines you do need to rev them all the way round to stop carbon build up. Mine gets to meet the redline at least once every 100miles or so - I make a point of it


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[DaveWebDesigner]

9 hours ago, st4 said:

See the noise from the injectors, it’s annoying but the fuel economy is very good. I average 40mpg, best I’ve seen is over 50mpg.

At 75mph it does 40mpg, at 90mph around 30mpg. It’s diesel like economical and as you say the sound when you gun it is mesmerising and it sings above 4K.

With DFI engines you do need to rev them all the way round to stop carbon build up. Mine gets to meet the redline at least once every 100miles or so - I make a point of it


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As long as it's normal that's fine by me and the economy is certainly great for a big car with a V6 petrol engine.

Thanks for the info 🙂

I shall make sure I give it the odd thrashing to clear away the carbon. 😈

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, DaveWebDesigner said:

As long as it's normal that's fine by me and the economy is certainly great for a big car with a V6 petrol engine.

Thanks for the info 🙂

I shall make sure I give it the odd thrashing to clear away the carbon. 😈

Does the GS250 HAVE A V6  ENGINE ?

[st4]

Does the GS250 HAVE A V6  ENGINE ?

Yes



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[DaveWebDesigner]

Hence the awesome noise 😎

[Shahpor]

Isn't it the same V6 as the IS250?

You didn't buy it from Car Giant by any chance?

[st4]

1 hour ago, Shahpor said:

Isn't it the same V6 as the IS250?

You didn't buy it from Car Giant by any chance?

 

It is - the engine is one of the best engines ever made from a reliability issue. No timing gear issues, no bearing issues, no issues with fuel pumps or injectors. You just need to change the oil, every 10k plugs every now and then and put petrol it.

The DFI system makes it a very very economical car. Quite why anyone would consider a diesel when they could drive this defies all logic.

[Jamesf1]

The expensive spark plug change is at 60k miles not 50k as you seem to have been told. Go on the website service details are available in the owners section I think. I also have a 250 luxury and love it. Ps I have a service plan for 5 year or over cars £29 a month fo the gs

[DaveWebDesigner]

st4 thanks for the info great to hear it's such a reliable engine because I want to keep this car for quite some time.

Re. comsumption, I think Autotrader data lists the combined mpg as 31.7 or something, which is "ok" but I see from posts on here we can expect more.

Working at home it's not a huge issue for me anyway, I only do a few thousand miles a year.

Agreed on the diesel front, I really didn't want a dirty, clattery diesel if I could avoid it.

One question, how quickly should the GS250 warm up?  Seems like it's taking at least 10-15 minutes of careful driving for mine to warm up.  I thought it was a bit slow, but I'm used to a turbo car that took around 2 mins lol

Jamesf1 - Thanks for the info, I think the Lexus dealer was referring to the time rather than the mileage.  I think she said they need doing at 5 years.

 

 

[Jamesf1]

The spark plugs are 60k miles item, not time

[Vlady]

My 450h warms up much faster than my previous BMW 525d was, much quicker, in fact in Lexus I think is the best climate control I have had so far, apart from heating seats which are rubbish!

[DaveWebDesigner]

Thanks Jamesf1, I'll have a word.

Vlady yeah the heated seats don't get that hot do they?  But I see they automatically power down.

[st4]

4 hours ago, Vlady said:

My 450h warms up much faster than my previous BMW 525d was, much quicker, in fact in Lexus I think is the best climate control I have had so far, apart from heating seats which are rubbish!

A diesel, particularly a very thermodynamically efficient one can take nearly 20 mins to get the engine to temperature. Back in the days when I had a 9-5 job and commuted, my E220cdi would only be fully upto temp near the end of the run.

I was in Lexus Glasgow and I asked them if they could code out the seat heating cool down, it has 3 bars and slowly counts to 2 then 1. I know when I am comfortable and would rather it stayed on the 3rd setting until I decided it was time, not the car.

They said they couldn't but the seat is more of a "warming seat" not the full on heated variety that you get in a Volvo, BMW or Mercedes. I smell a bit of company line BS and really the seat heaters are under specified.

The aircon system is very powerful, as good as the system in my old X5 - maybe better. None of the Mercs or even the Volvo had such powerful aircon. I have the feeling with the very high powered aircon system and the tepid seat heaters the car was designed and engineered for a warmer climate. I can tell driving it it doesn't like the cold, even the steering collumn makes a groan coming out because of the cold. This is a car for Arizona, Texas, not a car for NW Scotland.

 

15 hours ago, DaveWebDesigner said:

st4 thanks for the info great to hear it's such a reliable engine because I want to keep this car for quite some time.

Re. comsumption, I think Autotrader data lists the combined mpg as 31.7 or something, which is "ok" but I see from posts on here we can expect more.

Working at home it's not a huge issue for me anyway, I only do a few thousand miles a year.

Agreed on the diesel front, I really didn't want a dirty, clattery diesel if I could avoid it.

One question, how quickly should the GS250 warm up?  Seems like it's taking at least 10-15 minutes of careful driving for mine to warm up.  I thought it was a bit slow, but I'm used to a turbo car that took around 2 mins lol

Jamesf1 - Thanks for the info, I think the Lexus dealer was referring to the time rather than the mileage.  I think she said they need doing at 5 years.

 

 

MInes 5yo and no mention of the plugs - 60k is about right for sparking plugs.

You'd have to drive it like an Ape to get as low as 31mpg.

When you say warm up - engine temp does take about 10-15 mins. The more efficient the engine, the longer it takes to warm. The cabin heater doesn't take long to heat the car up.

[DaveWebDesigner]

I think you are right, especially as it says "hood open", "trunk open",  and we have cooled seats as standard, definitely seems like it's targeted at warm parts of the US!

As long as the warm up time sounds fine, I'm happy, just wanted to make sure the thermostat was ok.

[st4]

21 minutes ago, DaveWebDesigner said:

I think you are right, especially as it says "hood open", "trunk open",  and we have cooled seats as standard, definitely seems like it's targeted at warm parts of the US!

As long as the warm up time sounds fine, I'm happy, just wanted to make sure the thermostat was ok.

 

And that beeping noise when you leave the door open....it's Americanised car. Which I do not mind actually. European cars are vastly over-rated and if I lived in the states I would probably drive a Cadallic, Lincoln etc or indeed a Lexus. The Americans get a far more inspiring range of Lexus models as that is the market that's important to them - they get the amazing GS350, the GS300 (not the hybrid but the 2litre turbo). They also get the inspiring RC and IS350 plus this engine in the RX.

We were lucky to get the 2.5. It's a nice engine but I would have preferred the 3.5. I do drive abroad and at times would like the car to be faster above 120mph and do more than 140mph. That situation does not come up enough to put me off, but I would have, choice been given, had the 3.5 one.

[royoftherovers]

Where in the World Steve,do you drive where you can legally drive at 120mph, other than the de-restricted areas of the Autobahn)?

[st4]

2 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Where in the World Steve,do you drive where you can legally drive at 120mph, other than the de-restricted areas of the Autobahn)?

 

Exactly there 😉

[Hangie]

You don't miss too much in regards of max speed. I can do easily 155mph in GS450h but GS in general is not really designed to do that.

What I mean by that is suspension is too soft for it especially for me with 2 passengers and full boot. It was happy on flat straight but on more bumpy bends and especially with breaking it was jumping too much. It would need some suspension upgrade and/or extra down force.

On the other hand I was surprised by breaks which are really good even at slowing down from 155 to 70 area in short time - yes someone didn't look in a mirror 🙂

For a while it is fun but for longer periods I was cruising in the 140-145 area where is was more happy to be.

[superatticman]

4 hours ago, st4 said:

 

And that beeping noise when you leave the door open....it's Americanised car. Which I do not mind actually. European cars are vastly over-rated and if I lived in the states I would probably drive a Cadallic, Lincoln etc or indeed a Lexus. 

 

Hear Hear. 

Bigger German branded cars especially are lauded in the media. They are great for 3-4 years but as a second hand buy are a big risk. I should know having owned a 2nd hand E60 for 4 years. Its a decent, generally reliable car no doubt about that but some of the engineering is pretty poor. Niggles are commonplace and pricey to resolve. The latest is a warped rocker cover meaning a minor oil leak that is dripping onto the hot manifold. Common problem apparently. Seriously.....what shoddy engineering. 

That's my last.

GS250 then a Camry next 🙂

 

 

 

[Shahpor]

11 hours ago, DaveWebDesigner said:

Vlady yeah the heated seats don't get that hot do they?  But I see they automatically power down.

I recently discovered that you can disable this if you have TechStream.  Mine now stay on all the time, not that you can tell!  Incidentally, I have just got mine back from the dealer and the service manager showed me picture of a thermal camera they have which showed 25C on the seat base at full power.

[Vlady]

11 hours ago, Shahpor said:

I recently discovered that you can disable this if you have TechStream.  Mine now stay on all the time, not that you can tell!  Incidentally, I have just got mine back from the dealer and the service manager showed me picture of a thermal camera they have which showed 25C on the seat base at full power.

I do not know if 25C is enough but I would like to have it higher. It doesn't bother me if the seat heat is turning itself off gradually on it's own as long as I have a good blast at start to warm up my bum I would be happy! :)

[st4]

I recently discovered that you can disable this if you have TechStream.  Mine now stay on all the time, not that you can tell!  Incidentally, I have just got mine back from the dealer and the service manager showed me picture of a thermal camera they have which showed 25C on the seat base at full power.

Right I’m going to insist on this next time


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[st4]

GS250 then a Camry next [emoji846]
 
 
 

That’ll be my move although the ES is growing on me.



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[Jamesf1]

Just a thought on seat temp, are you using eco mode as this reduces air con etc to draw less from the engine so maybe seats don’t heat up as much in eco mode. I had mine on 3 bars this morning in eco and seat was planets warm for me. Maybe my botttom is more sensitive lol