Lexus GS450H question

Shornw · February 19, 2020

Hi,

I'm cosidering buying a 450H and am trying to get my head round a few things so I thought where better to ask than the people who probably know them better than Lexus themselves.

1. Spec levels. What are the differences between a Sport, an SE and an SE-L. ACC in particular is of interest to me but any other info would be appreciated
2. one car I'm looking at potentially requires a new antio-roll bar - how much is this likely to cost (MOT states 'Front Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint has slight play both sides'

3. What are the major warning signs I should be looking out for - what's good to have and usual new car pooints of interest

Many thanks for taking the time to read this and huge thanks for any responses

cruisermark · February 19, 2020

Hi

I haven't got one but been lurking on the GS forum and picked up a few things.

Apart from checking electrics, service history and general car things the main faults to look out for are:

1) Leaking shock absorbers - these can start as early as 60k miles and the only replacement as I write is lexus parts.

2) Hybrid problems can start to surface the closer you are 100k - mainly these relate to failing individual cells within the Battery - these can be replaced with used ones but will cost you £700 by specialist companies.

3) There has been 2-3 cases of failed transmission pumps - lexus will probably quote for a new gearbox - however a member here " hayne" fixed his for alot less - look out for warning lights on test drive

4) Seized calipers is another to look out for.

5) Exhausts tend to corrode at the y pipe - there has been cases of back boxes falling off so have a good look

6) Check for rust on the bonnet leading edge

thats all I can think of - when looking take an extended test drive to ensure no warning lights come on. I look on auto trader and other sites every single day and these cars are very slow movers so negotiate.

As you can see the list is small but relative costs are high for example £700 buys alot of fuel

Many member have opted for an extended lexus warranty which costs £995 for 2 years - this also covers the Hybrid Battery.

Lexus will also do hybrid Health check and warranty the Battery for 12 months and costs £59

hope this helps

ColinBarber · February 19, 2020

1 hour ago, Shornw said:

1. Spec levels. What are the differences between a Sport, an SE and an SE-L. ACC in particular is of interest to me but any other info would be appreciated

There is no Sport. When first launched there where 3 grades; GS 450h, GS 450h SE and GS 450h SE-L. In 2010 the base GS 450h was dropped.

Specs did change from year to year but at a high level:

Base - Fabric interior - leather interior/electric seats (option)

SE adds to base - rear side airbags, bootlid spoiler, Multimedia ML Nav system and reversing camera, full leather interior, memory seats, rear sunshade, sunroof (option).

SE-L adds to SE - ACC/PCS, sunroof (as standard), wooden steering wheel (option).

At some point (possibly 2010) the ACC/PCS was removed as standard from the SE-L and became a costed option.

fred81 · February 19, 2020

there is a sport model, which had a bodykit and other bits as standard

Odysseus · February 19, 2020

2005 to 2007 cars: no indicators in the wing mirrors. SE and SE-L models available. SE-L has everything, including ACC and sunroof.

2008 to 2009 cars: indicators in the wing mirrors. SE, Sport, and SE-L models available. SE is base spec (which is still pretty good by all accounts). Sport adds active body control and a (subtle) body kit. SE-L gives you a Mark Levinson stereo but sunroof and ACC are now optional, so not every SE-L will have them.

2010 to 2012 cars: indicators in the wing mirrors, horizontal slats on the grille and wheels of a different design. Same options as the earlier cars, but in all cases there’s an updated stereo/nav without a tape player and with Bluetooth audio streaming.

I have a 2008 SE-L with all the options, including ACC, a sunroof and wood on the steering wheel. ACC is brilliant, well worth seeking out in my opinion.

Good luck with your search.

Sent from my Iphone using Tapatalk

Britprius · February 19, 2020

Anti roll bar links can be bought for £40 the pair. It is also a good idea to replace the roll bar rubber bushes at the same time. These are cheap.
As said previously check the shocks for leakage. This rely needs to be done with the wheels hanging "weight off the suspension" to see the seals where the shaft leaves the body of the shock. Shocks can be bought for circa £250 each.

John.

Shornw · February 21, 2020

A big thank you to all who took time out to read and reply - it's really very much appreciated. I have decided not to go with the car I WAS considering (2009 Sport with 137K, full Lexus history with Battery checks in 2017/2018) as there were a couple of things I wasn't quite happy with and I want my first Lexus experience to be the best it can be

Shornw · February 23, 2020

So... 2010 GS450H duly purchased. 64K miles with Lexus history and Battery check.

Few questions:

1. Why is the DAB radio so diffiicult to find stations? This may be me and my inexperience showing

2. Is it possible to get the mirrors to fold automatically upon locking

3. Do these have tyre pressur monitors? (I haven't seen anything that suggests it has)

LexIS200Sport · February 23, 2020

Wow score! Late model with such low miles - you're off to a good start 😉

Answers to your questions:

Not sure sorry - mine's an early model with analogue radio and cassette player 😛
Yes, but get ready to splice some wires (link).
Yes, they do. You don't get real-time pressure shown on the display but you do get a warning sign when pressure on any of the tyres is low.

Congratulations on your purchase and enjoy your car!

Shornw · February 23, 2020

Thank you LexIS200Sport - so far I've been absolutely amazed with it and can't stop finding silly excuses to go out - talk about kid with a new toy 😄

Britprius · February 23, 2020

1 hour ago, Shornw said:

Thank you LexIS200Sport - so far I've been absolutely amazed with it and can't stop finding silly excuses to go out - talk about kid with a new toy 😄

Rob admit it you have found the power mode switch. Now try the hybrid power at the same time.

John.

.

subman · February 24, 2020

14 hours ago, Shornw said:

Thank you LexIS200Sport - so far I've been absolutely amazed with it and can't stop finding silly excuses to go out - talk about kid with a new toy 😄

Enjoy your car and go burn some fuel, just remember it is a performance hybrid so if you are hot on the accelerator it will still cost you 🙂

Grin on face, priceless

Shornw · September 24, 2020

On 2/23/2020 at 9:35 PM, Britprius said:

Rob admit it you have found the power mode switch. Now try the hybrid power at the same time.

John.

.

I confess - I have..... now - which is most fun...??? using them both or just enjoying the Mark Levinson experience 🤗

Shornw · September 24, 2020

On 2/24/2020 at 10:56 AM, subman said:

Enjoy your car and go burn some fuel, just remember it is a performance hybrid so if you are hot on the accelerator it will still cost you 🙂

Grin on face, priceless

Yeah - I found that - still cheaper to run than my other car even driven like a madman 😊

Completely loving the whole Lexus experience

Shornw · September 24, 2020

I do, however, have more questions, the answers to which aren't apparently obvious:

1. Does the SatNav run off a DVD? - I haven't found anything to suggest it does and if I select Update on the menu it suggests that update will be downloaded
2. Can the internall HDD be upgraded easily to an SSD? Judging by posts I've read, the HDD uses a non standard disk format but if you insert a non formatted disk will the head unit take care of it automatically and just format (or prompt to format) it

Sherra · September 24, 2020

I had the HDD in my 2010 Avensis. The nav can only be updated via the dealer at great expense through a special piece of kit and a single use heavily protected usb, Took about an hour.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Sherra
remove duplication

ColinBarber · September 24, 2020

3 hours ago, Shornw said:

1. Does the SatNav run off a DVD? - I haven't found anything to suggest it does and if I select Update on the menu it suggests that update will be downloaded

If you have a blue start button then it is a later 2010 model with a HDD based nav system.

Shornw · September 25, 2020

10 hours ago, Sherra said:

I had the HDD in my 2010 Avensis. The nav can only be updated via the dealer at great expense through a special piece of kit and a single use heavily protected usb, Took about an hour.

typical lol - thanks for the info, it wasn't quite what I was hoping for but good to know tho

Shornw · September 25, 2020

10 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

If you have a blue start button then it is a later 2010 model with a HDD based nav system.

Thanks for this.

When you say blue, do you mean the actual button is blue or illuminates blue? Mine has a black buttoin which illuminates blue.

I know there a HDD in the car as I can save music to it... it never occurred to me that the Sat-Nav could also use this disk. I was hoping to upgrade the HDD to a faster SSD with more capacity

ColinBarber · September 25, 2020

13 hours ago, Shornw said:

When you say blue, do you mean the actual button is blue or illuminates blue? Mine has a black buttoin which illuminates blue.

Illuminates blue, although I thought they appear slightly blueish even when off. Either way the fact that you can store music on the HDD means it has a HDD based sat nav which is only dealer upgradeable unfortunately - and wouldn't be worth the cost IMO because it would be at least £150+.

Shornw · September 26, 2020

13 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Illuminates blue, although I thought they appear slightly blueish even when off. Either way the fact that you can store music on the HDD means it has a HDD based sat nav which is only dealer upgradeable unfortunately - and wouldn't be worth the cost IMO because it would be at least £150+.

Thanks for this... a shame cos it also means I can't upgrade the HDD to a 2Tb SSD... and I'm certainly not paying Lexus map update prices 🤐

johnatg · September 26, 2020

You can update HDD sat nav yourself. Finally found a topic with a post I made a year or so ago which tells you how to do it (or at least, how I did it):

ColinBarber · September 26, 2020

The link provided is a discussion for the first generation of nav system found in the early series IV GS. The procedure should be somewhat similar but the seller doesn't appear to offer maps for the HDD based system found in the late series III GS.

Shornw · September 30, 2020

Thanks all for invaluable info.

This is the response I got from ToyotaMaps - $176 but no option to have a 2Tb SSD for extra music storage.

Hello Rob,

In order to update maps you’ll need to replace the 2.5” HDD located in the head unit. Without removing the head unit, this system can only be updated only with a special tool called NUT - navigation update tool (it looks like a suitcase with a FireWire interface), which can be acquired only by an authorized dealer. And another way is to replace the hard drive. Many dealers use this method too, because updating with NUT is a lot more time consuming process.

We offer these HDDs with the latest update 2019-2020 v2:

https://toyotamaps.online/equipment/toyota-lexus-hdd-gen6-eu-maps

A quick Google of 08HDD turns up some interesting things tho - when I have more time I will explore thsi further