Which Lexus for £5,000

[JamesIS220]

I may buy another Lexus in the new year and would like your opinions on which model in my price range is the most reliable, reasonable economy 30mpg plus. Is Less than £300 to tax a year, and reasonable insurance.

I had a quote of £870 to insure an 06 RX400 with 3.3 litre engine. I passed my test in 1999 and to date haven't had an accident.

I have lived in France for over 7 years and ROI  for nearly 3 and when I moved back to the UK on insuring didn't accept my French no claims as needed a legal translation, which would of cost £300. Only allowed me one year ncd. I now have 8 year ncd.

Thinking no more than £500 to insure. I wont do a lot of miles, probably max of  7,000.

Preferably ULEZ Compliant. Should I look at Toyota also? Older Prius.

What would you buy in my situation?

Many thanks. James.

 

[Britprius]

5 minutes ago, JamesIS220 said:

I may buy another Lexus in the new year and would like your opinions on which model in my price range is the most reliable, reasonable economy 30mpg plus. Is Less than £300 to tax a year, and reasonable insurance.

I had a quote of £870 to insure an 06 RX400 with 3.3 litre engine. I passed my test in 1999 and to date haven't had an accident.

I have lived in France for over 7 years and ROI  for nearly 3 and when I moved back to the UK on insuring didn't accept my French no claims as needed a legal translation, which would of cost £300. Only allowed me one year ncd. I now have 8 year ncd.

Thinking no more than £500 to insure. I wont do a lot of miles, probably max of  7,000.

Preferably ULEZ Compliant. Should I look at Toyota also? Older Prius.

What would you buy in my situation?

Many thanks. James.

 

Hi James.
You are asking a difficult question as so much depends on your preferences to type of vehicle.
For performance with economy, and comfort you will have difficulty beating a GS450H. My 2007 returns the low 40's. For pure economy 65 mpg zero road tax a gen2 Prius takes some beating, and in my opinion is more comfortable, and has more room than the Lexus CT200H

I have no experience of the RX400H, but I think you will struggle to get 30mpg.  I think the RX450H will be out of budget. Others here will no doubt have other suggestions.  

John.

[jumbojake]

you can have my 2012 IS200d for £5k ... what I'm being offered as part exchange is frankly insulting.

Before my IS, I had an Avensis, and I loved it..solid car.  sounds like your running costs are the main issue... don't forget to factor servicing/maintenance.. regardless Toyota/Lexus will fur sure save you from unwanted garage bills, but you know that.

I've been in loads of Prius used for taxi's .. the drivers all seem to love them .. which says a lot for a working car... just make sure you don;t get one they have had before you!

[Britprius]

To give some idea of Prius economy. I had mine from new as a company car, and when I retired I bought it. I had it for 8 years, and 145,000 miles. At that time the only things done to the car apart from normal servicing. 
Rear schocks replaced under guarantee at 40,000 miles because one was showing signs of oil misting. 
A nearside front wheel bearing at 90,000 miles due pothole damage.

Tyres averaged around 40,000 miles per set of 4 depending on make. The poorest were "Goodyear efficientgrip performance" the best Hankook Eco.
Insurance was under £200 fully comp with breakdown cover.

The discs and pads all round were original when the car was sold, and should easily reach 200,000 miles at the same rate of ware.
Fuel consumption averaged 65 mpg, but 75 mpg could be attained in the summer. 

John. 

[doog442]

I would consider the IS250 auto if you want to stick with Lexus

Many people reporting 30mpg  see thread below and they are pretty well bombproof.  

Loads available in your price range and VED is £325. No idea about Insurance as that depends on you, your history and where you live. 

[JamesIS220]

Thanks everyone.

Think it would be either a Prius or Lexus IS 250. I like the size/style of the 250. Would need to try both. Probably from 2007 upwards.

James.

 

[Cactus]

The is250 will have a considerable higher running cost in terms of fuel/road tax, servicing (if you opt for lexus servicing) and parts compared to the Prius. If you do lots of town work/ i think you will struggle with high 20s mpg with the IS250. It adds up even if you are only doing 7000miles per annum as we are talking about 2xmpgs vs 40+mpg.

Prius also has a more useable boot and rear seats (which folds down) as opposed to the Is250 (something you may factor in if you have dependents). 

The IS250 will be more refined/quieter cabin/ more gadgets (depending on which trim you go for). 

Barry

[Malc]

............. been driven in a fabulous all black leather Prius taxi the other day, amazingly comfy and a " nice place " to be in

If one of these was available at your figure you wouldn't do better maybe

Prius taxis in the States regularly achieve 700,000 miles they say

Malc

[Cotswold Pete]

As an LS owner for last 11 years, I would be going Prius in this case, the Gen 1 was good, the Gen 2 better, and amazed at the room and comfort in them.

Having not been in a 220 I cannot say whether the Pruis would be noisier or quiter, but always found them to be fine at 60+mph, not as quite as LS, but then again way less thirsty than a 400.

 

[Britprius]

There was a gen2 Prius taxi in Grease that covered 3,000,000 miles. Toyota gave the private owner a new Prius gen3 for it so they could dismantle it for close inspection. 

John.

[Malc]

1 hour ago, Britprius said:

Grease that covered 3,000,000 miles.

going backwards and forwards to the ECB to replenish the cash coffers at the Greek central bank no doubt 

Malc

[JamesIS220]

Thanks everyone.

The Prius seems the ideal car! How is the Toyota Auris hybrid thought of? Presume same underpinnings hybrid wise? May buy something newer and estate. Definitely Auto.

Had a brand new corolla in France in 2007 for 2.5 years until sold the property and didn't need a LHD. Apart from servicing nothing needed in the 45,000 kilometres covered. It wasn't perfect as even having the window slightly open water would drip onto seat/ window switches and Grandparents were uncomfortable on long journeys. It was a hatchback. 1.4D4D manual. In light blue. cost 21,000 euros. Sold for 8,000 euros! I wanted to buy one a year old in the UK!

James.

[Britprius]

14 minutes ago, JamesIS220 said:

Thanks everyone.

The Prius seems the ideal car! How is the Toyota Auris hybrid thought of? Presume same underpinnings hybrid wise? May buy something newer and estate. Definitely Auto.

Had a brand new corolla in France in 2007 for 2.5 years until sold the property and didn't need a LHD. Apart from servicing nothing needed in the 45,000 kilometres covered. It wasn't perfect as even having the window slightly open water would drip onto seat/ window switches and Grandparents were uncomfortable on long journeys. It was a hatchback. 1.4D4D manual. In light blue. cost 21,000 euros. Sold for 8,000 euros! I wanted to buy one a year old in the UK!

James.

The Auris does use the same system as the Prius. You possibly know already "but it is not clear from your post" all the Toyota/Lexus hybrids are auto's there is no manual hybrid. Other Toyota hybrid cars worth looking at are the Yaris, and the Rav4. 

John.

[black-on-black]

Also if you're considering getting a hybrid looking to getting some catalytic converter security lock. It's happening a lot now and I advise you invest.. I am also a victim of the crime on the RX400h.

[m4rkw]

I'm very happy with my 2006 Harrier. They're fairly rare I guess so might be hard to find, but it's been very reliable, very little gadgets to break and better fuel economy than a regular RX-300. I paid 6k for mine but it was low mileage.

[Shepherd]

I have owned IS220d, IS250 and now on RX300(2006). All driven to at least 130K miles and bought it 70k, 105k, 105k.

IS22d had good fuel economy but the dodgy EGR/DPF  setup meant  1, I had to clean the EGR every 10k miles 2, I hated to leave cyclists in a mist of while un-burnt diesel smoke from time to time and hated to look back in the rear view mirror of all the environment damage it was causing. I believe the problem was fix in the IS200d

Moved over to the IS250, loved it a lot, however as bullet proof as they are they are not unbreakable , especially if you buy one with a dodgy service history. I ended up with a seized engine and had to get that fixed and sold it on. But when it was working it was really good. Bad on fuel economy and did not have the kick of the 220d turbo but was still better somehow. 

I moved over to owning a tiny little auto Honda Jazz for a bit due to financial troubles. Great fuel economy and space for a little car but zero gadgets and comfort. Also had a sightly slipping CVT auto which is known fault. Wanted to get back into Lexus fold so got rid of the Jazz (which was bought by an exporter who exported it to Cyprus, seems like its a big thing there) and bought the RX. 

Main thing about RX300 which I have had for a couple of years now is that it is super comfy, cheap to buy and insure and had huge boot space for those ikea trips and trips to the airport. Its quite heavy on fuel (17 - 23mpg), tyres and brakes. If you do a lot of mile then I would not recommend it but if you do say 3 to 5K miles a year like I have stared doing now a days then I would say its over all great because its cheap to buy and run at that level of miles. I bought mine for 4K and got the cam belt done by Lexus Leeds for another £500. So cost me about 4.5K two years ago at 104K miles now its at 135k miles, but since I am traveling a lot I am not driving it much anymore.

I am also looking for another car now as wife has gone and bought a Q3 and I cannot justify two SUVs at home anymore. Thinking of getting back to saloon/sedan shape. So , currently thinking about a change over towards middle of 2020 for either the LS600h or the GS450h or even the GS250 (Same as the IS250 engine but all else is new and new predator grill).

I also travel a lot in taxis and it might be just me but I like the CT200h comfort over the Prius-es that I have been in.

[HP1]

I was surprised to learn that a Prius is more expensive to insure than a  IS250

Helped me to leave the hybrid out of my search :)

[rich1068]

Which Lexus for £5k? All of them!

[JamesIS220]

Hi everyone.

Thought I would update you on what I went for.

A 2015 Toyota Auris Hybrid touring sport in Icon plus trim. couldn't afford the Excel and it only added road safety stuff and half leather. Liked the parking sensors though! could of had a 17 plate in silver and same Icon trim but 41k miles and a fleet car. Thought 15k miles difference is 18 months driving for me.

Full Toyota history and done 25k. Added to current 940 insurance for  renewal in April for £119.00. Went with 3 year warranty and service plan.

Very pleased with it.

James. 

[scudney]

Congratulations and well done 🍾👍

[olliesgrandad]

Fabulous colour. Enjoy 👍

[Guest]

congrats on the new purchase 

[JamesIS220]

Thanks everyone

It was the colour that drew me to the car. Toyota had white, grey and silver and dark blue. Had this car brought up from another Toyota dealer as liked the blue and already had a silver Volvo.

James

[mikey2001]

Love the colour, looks great in the Sun ☀️

Congrats on the new car 😀

[royoftherovers]

On 1/15/2020 at 10:08 PM, JamesIS220 said:

Hi everyone.

Thought I would update you on what I went for.

A 2015 Toyota Auris Hybrid touring sport in Icon plus trim. couldn't afford the Excel and it only added road safety stuff and half leather. Liked the parking sensors though! could of had a 17 plate in silver and same Icon trim but 41k miles and a fleet car. Thought 15k miles difference is 18 months driving for me.

Full Toyota history and done 25k. Added to current 940 insurance for  renewal in April for £119.00. Went with 3 year warranty and service plan.

Very pleased with it.

James. 

Nice purchase James.She looks to be a well cared for car.

Did you manage to stay within your budget ?