New owner of GS450h and a very happy one!

[Nico72]

Hi everyone,

After having driven Mercedes cars for several years (W204 C220 CDI, W204 C350 CDI, W212 350CDI, W212 6.3 E63AM Performance Pack) and BMW for over a year and half (F10 520D SE), I was thinking of changing my car with something more environmental friendly and ULEZ free (since I live in London) and above all, I wanted another car with no Diesel engine - I have read a lot of posts and articles about dirty diesel and shockingly all diesels even new cars emits too much NOX including the EURO 6 Diesels! In fact, they should be banned on the road in my honest opinion. So, it was no brainer that LEXUS got my initial interest since they do not make any Diesel engines anymore and that they have been mastering the self-charging Hybrid technology - So I had my interest with the IS300 H F sport, which I had been looking around but in the end, I actually found a beautiful GS450H (2014 Luxury) with my local Lexus dealership, which looks absolutely beautiful, understated and very comfortable and roomy inside (with a very powerful engine combined with electric engine).

I finally got the car on the 24th Dec 18 and I can honestly say that it is by far the best car I have ever driven - it is simply such a luxurious car to drive, far more smooth than the BMW I drove and the seats are so comfortable. Lexus has done a wonderful job here and I am perplexed that it is not getting more credits from the press (lots of journalists are so pro German cars).

Lexus is different for sure and for the best actually. Here are my honest views so far:

EXTERIOR LOOK AND ENGINE

Simply beautiful and understated at the same time, no one would know that this car is a very powerful machine 3.5 V6 but with the electric power it feels like a 4.5 V6. In fact I took it for a spin on the motorway and was blown away with the amount of torque it delivers (it reminded me of my E63 AMG!). In town, it drives so smoothly and the suspensions are definitely smoother than my predecessor BMW car. The car is silent and it is clever actually, as it encourages you as a driver to drive gently (as opposed to BMW) to benefit the electric power.

INTERIOR AND SAT NAV SYSTEM

Again, it is a breath of fresh air and love the simplicity and luxurious feel of the leather around the dashboard. the seats are superb and more comfortable than the BMW and a bit more elevated than before, but I am happy with the visibility around. I love the leather gear box, it feels solid and glad it is in the centre console (Mercedes have made a terrible mistake to put the gear behind the steering wheel). 

The SAT NAV system is very different to any system that I have had (Mercedes and BMW) and heard a lot of bad press about it with the mouse pad, but frankly it actually exceeded my expectations: it is fine using the mouse pad (after a bit of practice) and the system is actually a good one to use and for many reasons I can say it is a brilliant system: I can receive my emails, sms texts, live traffic information at no extra cost - with BMW, you would have to pay an annual subscription of £140 to receive emails, sms, RTTI (real Traffic Time Info). Really pleased with the system. I can use Bluetooth connection (Spotify) and USB (iPod) to listen to my music and the sound system (basic system with 10 speakers) is actually very good and clear. The sat nav is ok to use also - BMW has a better graphic with 3D but overall, the Lexus sat nav does the job well.

DEALERSHIP SERVICE

I bought the car from LEXUS Edgware Road and so far, the staff have been brilliant ensuring I am happy with my Lexus car.

It will be returning to the dealership this week, so that my alloys are refurbished (a few scratches were found when car was for sale), including a paint job to be done at the back of the bumper. So, they will provide me with a courtesy car until all jobs are completed. If I had waited for the jobs to be done, the car would only have been ready on 9th Jan, so I could not wait this long and wanted to drive it as quickly as possible.

Overall, I am extremely excited to be part of this exclusive brand and I am looking forward to many months of driving this machine...

 

[Nick W858]

Looks lovely welcome to the club and enjoys your GS.

[Malc]

welcome to the Club

hope you have many years of brilliant Lexus driving ...................... and advice from this forum  .....  which you probably won't actually need very often

Malc

[ColinBarber]

Very nice, welcome Nick 🙂

[cruisermark]

Very nice car - enjoy

Totally agree with the car promoting a sedate driving style.

When driving the 430 i'm calm and relaxed watching the revs and being careful over potholes etc. When i'm in the BMW I often find myself turning the dial to sport mode and just flooring it lol

[Nico72]

2 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

Very nice car - enjoy

Totally agree with the car promoting a sedate driving style.

When driving the 430 i'm calm and relaxed watching the revs and being careful over potholes etc. When i'm in the BMW I often find myself turning the dial to sport mode and just flooring it lol

Glad you agree with my findings. It is built for one purpose: to be very calm and relax from A to B without having to prove anything. The car is exciting and I love the memory seats with steering wheels moving back when stepping out and moving in when fastening seat belt. It feels wonderful. The clock is simple but very elegant, I could stay inside for a long while for sure. I am super excited to be part of this exclusive Brand.

[i-s]

Very nice! 

We just got ours on the 23rd, and still trying to get our heads around it!

[Nico72]

2 hours ago, i-s said:

Very nice! 

We just got ours on the 23rd, and still trying to get our heads around it!

Glad for you! I am doing the same too. I just found out that you can have a 3 D map (as opposed to 2D as default) by clicking on the compass top left corner when map is in full view - this is a cool feature as I thought it would only have a 2D map...  

[Shahpor]

They're good, aren't they?

Welcome Nick.

I have had mine just over 3 months now and I am still surprised occasionally by how well it drives.

Love the interior colour of yours, beat the boring black that mine is.

Happy motoring

[Nico72]

7 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

They're good, aren't they?

Welcome Nick.

I have had mine just over 3 months now and I am still surprised occasionally by how well it drives.

Love the interior colour of yours, beat the boring black that mine is.

Happy motoring

Thank you Shahpor,

Yes they are brilliant cars! I read your posting with enthusiasm and I am excited to be part of something special.

[Vlady]

Hi Nick, welcome to LOC and congratulations with the new car! Enjoy it!

I am like you moved from BMW and was surprised how different Lexus feels to BMW, agree with all your points, Lexus just is so relaxing and you don't need to prove anything to anyone while driving, even other drivers are nicer to you! lol! 

Happy New Year!

[Guest]

Great looking GS450H and of course quite rare unlike BMW's.

[olliesgrandad]

Hi Nick. Smart move. Pearlescent white is gorgeous. I did 26000 miles in 12 months with my 2015 GS300h. Fabulous cars 

[Odysseus]

Just spotted this!  Congratulations on the new car, looks great.

I too purchased my GS450 from Lexus Edgware Road and recognise that room they sit you down in for paperwork while you look at your "new" car through the windows, very theatrical and good fun.

Have fun with it!

[Farqui]

Hi Nick, that's a great looking GS you've found yourself and what an Xmas present 

Enjoy.

[Nico72]

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments! You are right I was in the 'handover room' doing all the paper work before getting to drive the car away. They made this moment quite special I must say as I never had this kind of treatment. whilst the paper work was being done, I could see someone doing cleaning on my car through the dark windows... 

I am very excited to be driving this car and it is so smooth. I am trying to find all sorts of excuses to get out picking something from the shops...