Joining the 300h club

[Anthony B]

Having been a member of the LS430 club for five years and having had to say farewell to that car I've now bought an IS 300h,  reg no ND13 ZHR.  I'm the third owner and the car has done 72720 miles. I shall rejoice in the £10 a year road tax and a fuel bill less than half of the 430 bill.  I do no more than 9000 miles a year these days but I intend them to be enjoyable in driving terms.  I'd be glad to learn what other users think of the 300h and what - if any - problems might arise.  

AFB

[wharfhouse]

75k miles in my 64 reg - only thing that has gone wrong is a sensor in the washer fluid bottle that was replaced under extended warranty.

[200h]

Hi Phil

welcome to the IS forum.

i have owned a 63 plate Is300h and last year i bought another IS300h

i've only had 1 part fail and that was motor on the heater ,replaced under warranty.

you've made a good choice.

enjoy the car

 

[Thackeray]

So, what are your first impressions of the IS300h compared with the LS430? Are you regretting the change?!

[Jayw13702]

I have a 63 plate 300h that’s just done 106000 miles, 50k of that in the last 12 months.

So far the only odd issue I had was the hybrid fan vent was blocked and caused a Battery overheating message to appear on the dash. Cleaning the hybrid fan and filter out soon put that right.

Check your o/s chassis leg just between the air box and the back of the front light, some owners have found a bit of rust on the chassis leg in this area


Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

[doog442]

On 5/27/2019 at 9:44 AM, Anthony B said:

Having been a member of the LS430 club for five years and having had to say farewell to that car I've now bought an IS 300h,  reg no ND13 ZHR.  I'm the third owner and the car has done 72720 miles. I shall rejoice in the £10 a year road tax and a fuel bill less than half of the 430 bill.  I do no more than 9000 miles a year these days but I intend them to be enjoyable in driving terms.  I'd be glad to learn what other users think of the 300h and what - if any - problems might arise.  

AFB

I think you made a wise choice. Having perused the IS300h / IS250 / IS200t forum almost daily since its inception you should be able to sleep at night.

As a matter of fact to get a general feel of the reliability it might be worth scrolling back through the forum, perhaps whilst enjoying a nice glass of claret. 

[Anthony B]

Absolutely not.  I amazed myself by the speed of my adjustment to the loss of my 430, and when looking forward rather than back I'd already decided to find another Lexus (do most Lexus drivers stay with the marque?).  I considered the CT300 but the spec wasn't right for me - I needed a saloon big enough to cope with long journeys without stress as well as saving money in local running around.  The Swindon Lexus dealers gave me a test drive in the latest IS300h and it made my mouth water.

So here I am - paying only 10 quid a year to the Chancellor, and I already know that by careful driving I can achieve 50+ mpg - thus literally halving my fuel bill. Barring major mishaps the car will pay for itself in 5 years.  The ride is great, and though I miss some of the tweaks in my 430 - the steering wheel retracting to make egress easier, the self-closing doors - on the whole I'm content with my new experience.

AFB

[doog442]

25 minutes ago, Anthony B said:

Absolutely not. 

Not what ?

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, doog442 said:

Not what ?

Not regretting the change-----T`was in response to Thackeray`s post a few contributions earlier, I think.

[HMS]

Hi all, After considering what to go for as my next car I have decided to go for a IS300h 2016 make. I am looking at some alternatives in 16/66 regs and there are thousands of pound difference in prices depending on iles on the clocks. This is normal and I want to know that I decided to save a little by going for say 50-60k miles instead of 30-40k, will I be losing out on a ot of things?

I would like to know from you guys what is maintenance cost for this car and do you save in road tax? 

And, finally, in your expereince do you think that the dealership would negotiate on the display price?

Thanks

[wharfhouse]

I purchased a 2 year old IS 300h with 40k miles on the clock and it has now done 75k miles without problems. If you are buying a car with full known history then a higher mileage can save you quite a bit of money. You can also get extended warranty from Lexus for total peace of mind. You can also negotiate better on a higher mileage car at Lexus dealer as more people want low mileage - I manged to get something more off mine. You can find service costs on the Lexus website (under Owners / Maintenance and then select the model id car) - it's a 10k mile/1 year service interval and costs vary a bit depending on what is done each service but budget about £900 for each minor and major pair (so 20k mikes/2 years). Road tax used to be £10 a year until the government changed how it was set - so depending on age you might be on £10 a year otherwise current rates. 

 

[ganzoom]

53 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

You can find service costs on the Lexus website (under Owners / Maintenance and then select the model id car) - it's a 10k mile/1 year service interval and costs vary a bit depending on what is done each service but budget about £900 for each minor and major pair (so 20k mikes/2 years).

 

 

You can choose to wast £900 every 2 years on servicing, or take it to any good independent and pay less than half the cost for the same job :).

Road tax on 16 plate car will be £20 a year, and woudlnt change apart from inflation linked rises. 

You really don't need a warranty, if the IS300H was made by BMW/Mercedes/Audi that would be a different story :).

[ganzoom]

11 hours ago, HMS said:

 will I be losing out on a ot of things?

2

Just check the spec of the cars, its can vary alot. If you want all the toys go for 'Premier' spec, ours has literally all the gadgets you would want, if you find a rare one with the added 'safety pack' your also get adaptive cruise control, emergency crash avoidance etc, which is now pretty much standard equipment on all 2019 cars but wasn't so in 2016. On the other hand I didn't even realize some IS300H spec didn't even come with a reversing camera!!

[HMS]

That's brillinant stuff- such a helpful community of people! Many thanks for all your advice.

I am at the top end of my budget with 16 plate with more than 30K+. Although I notice some car are in the market with older plate and even a higher price. I don't want to go back too much because part of this buy is to enjoy some moder technology.

I noticed in the following but if I saved money by taking it to a local garage will that affect the residual value when it comes to part exchange or selling off? Thanks

1 hour ago, ganzoom said:

You can choose to wast £900 every 2 years on servicing, or take it to any good independent and pay less than half the cost for the same job :).

Road tax on 16 plate car will be £20 a year, and woudlnt change apart from inflation linked rises. 

You really don't need a warranty, if the IS300H was made by BMW/Mercedes/Audi that would be a different story :).

 

[HMS]

1 hour ago, ganzoom said:

Just check the spec of the cars, its can vary alot. If you want all the toys go for 'Premier' spec, ours has literally all the gadgets you would want, if you find a rare one with the added 'safety pack' your also get adaptive cruise control, emergency crash avoidance etc, which is now pretty much standard equipment on all 2019 cars but wasn't so in 2016. On the other hand I didn't even realize some IS300H spec didn't even come with a reversing camera!!

Thanks I think I am going for the exec spec- I know there are premier trims are available at higher price, more miles on the clock and with an older plates- for a like for like do you think that would be a better choice?

[wharfhouse]

1 minute ago, HMS said:

That's brillinant stuff- such a helpful community of people! Many thanks for all your advice.

I am at the top end of my budget with 16 plate with more than 30K+. Although I notice some car are in the market with older plate and even a higher price. I don't want to go back too much because part of this buy is to enjoy some moder technology.

I noticed in the following but if I saved money by taking it to a local garage will that affect the residual value when it comes to part exchange or selling off? Thanks

 

As with any up market car when you come to selling the price will be influenced by a non-Lexus service history - how much that matters to you depends on your own circumstances and how long you plan to keep the car etc. Also a Lexus service gives you a free hybrid health check (extra 10k mile/1year warranty) but you can buy this seperate to servicing for £59. If you do take Lexus extended warranty the car must be serviced by Lexus. 

[wharfhouse]

3 minutes ago, HMS said:

Thanks I think I am going for the exec spec- I know there are premier trims are available at higher price, more miles on the clock and with an older plates- for a like for like do you think that would be a better choice?

Mine is 64 reg Executive spec and I'm very happy with the level of kit but then I've never been into having lots of tech in a car

[200h]

hi phil

does the exec model have parking sensors and a rear view camera

[wharfhouse]

My 64 reg Executive has parking sensors front and rear but no rear camera. Has leather with manual seats (heated) and the standard sat nav. Do check though any specific car as the spec seemed to change each year... 

[HMS]

11 hours ago, 200h said:

hi phil

does the exec model have parking sensors and a rear view camera

exec only have parking sensor no rear view camera however some (not sure about brand new ones) premier ones only have rear view camera and no parking sensor whch feels rather odd athough not necessarily a deal breaker.

[HMS]

15 plate premier vs 66 plate exec similar mileage; premier £700 higher; driving expereince is simiar I think but the priemier has lot more bells & whistels. which would be a sensible buy? especially if I want to replace in 3-4 years time.

Thanks

[matt8]

I'd choose the premier personally.

[LexusIS300h]

On 6/7/2019 at 8:37 PM, HMS said:

Hi all, After considering what to go for as my next car I have decided to go for a IS300h 2016 make. I am looking at some alternatives in 16/66 regs and there are thousands of pound difference in prices depending on iles on the clocks. This is normal and I want to know that I decided to save a little by going for say 50-60k miles instead of 30-40k, will I be losing out on a ot of things?

I would like to know from you guys what is maintenance cost for this car and do you save in road tax? 

And, finally, in your expereince do you think that the dealership would negotiate on the display price?

Thanks

I don’t know if you’re interested in this, but my 66 IS300h is up for sale on Auto Trader with a genuine sub 10k Miles, not shabby for a car that will be 3 years old in October. I promise you it is immaculate inside and out and we only parted company with it because my wife and I had difficulty getting out of it with poorly knees 🤔. FP66EEB 

It’s not with  a main dealer although it has full Lexus service history, so you might get something off it if you negotiate

 

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, LexusIS300h said:

I don’t know if you’re interested in this, but my 66 IS300h is up for sale on Auto Trader with a genuine sub 10k Miles, not shabby for a car that will be 3 years old in October. I promise you it is immaculate inside and out and we only parted company with it because my wife and I had difficulty getting out of it with poorly knees 🤔. FP66EEB 

It’s not with  a main dealer although it has full Lexus service history, so you might get something off it if you negotiate

 

Link please.

[LexusIS300h]

1 minute ago, royoftherovers said:

Link please.

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904207165323