This might be the one!?

[royoftherovers]

4 minutes ago, 200h said:

Hi Alex

dont forget with the 69 plate you will still have the remainder of the lexus warranty

and the AA breakdown service for you and anyone else in your household.

That`s if he remembers to have it transferred !

[200h]

i liked the interior my F Sport had

in particular i liked the A,B,C piller cappings in black and the roof lining

 

[Alex34]

Some valid points! Thanks!

I do really like the F-Sport but was put off by the extra luxury road tax nonsense... especially when I came into this thinking the IS300h was still £10 per year 🙄. It's not a tonne of money but it's like literally throwing it down the drain, especially after all the income tax I already pay.

But, there's no more after 2020 sadly. Decisions, decisions.

[200h]

my 17 plate F Sport used to cost me £480 (2 x 6mths payments)

i now have a Gs300h thats 6 months older

my 1 year road tax for the F sport would pay for 48 yrs of road tax for my Gs

ludicrous isn't it

[ganzoom]

9 hours ago, Alex34 said:

Is the F-Sport worth spending almost £8K more on and having to spend £1280 more in road tax over the next four years? Will two years newer make that much more of a difference in 7 - 8 years time?

You can be 100% sure in 7-8 years time a F sport wouldn't be worth a few hundred £££ more than a normal IS300H let alone close to £10k more. Mechanically and functionally these are identical cars, but us humans are vain creatures so looks do count.

These cars do seem to last forever with very little care, and ongoing running costs are so low even with ours just doing 3k miles a year financially there is no pressure/need to sell.

At 6 years old our IS300H has only just gone through 1 set of tyres (£380 for the set), £20/year VED, a true 45-50mpg on normal unleaded, and am going to move to an oil change every 2-3 years rather than every year. Insurance this year was also only £260 fully comp. Its harder to find cheaper motoring, especially with the reliability.

Given you are planning to keep the car longterm, buy which ever makes you more happy.

[Alex34]

4 hours ago, ganzoom said:

You can be 100% sure in 7-8 years time a F sport wouldn't be worth a few hundred £££ more than a normal IS300H let alone close to £10k more. Mechanically and functionally these are identical cars, but us humans are vain creatures so looks do count.

These cars do seem to last forever with very little care, and ongoing running costs are so low even with ours just doing 3k miles a year financially there is no pressure/need to sell.

At 6 years old our IS300H has only just gone through 1 set of tyres (£380 for the set), £20/year VED, a true 45-50mpg on normal unleaded, and am going to move to an oil change every 2-3 years rather than every year. Insurance this year was also only £260 fully comp. Its harder to find cheaper motoring, especially with the reliability.

Given you are planning to keep the car longterm, buy which ever makes you more happy.

This is what my thinking was. Figured they will be roughly the same value you in 10 years time maybe £1K or £2K difference in 7 years time. So I lose a lot more on the newer car. 

The change in road tax amount is a big change as well. I thought I would be in the same position you are currently in. £140 per year is a big difference from £10 or £20 per year but £460 for the F-Sport is mad.

Definitely some things to consider. 

[Linas.P]

5 hours ago, ganzoom said:

You can be 100% sure in 7-8 years time a F sport wouldn't be worth a few hundred £££ more than a normal IS300H let alone close to £10k more. Mechanically and functionally these are identical cars, but us humans are vain creatures so looks do count.

It won't be £10k more expensive for sure, but it will be more desirable car and thus will sell easier and little bit more expensive. Looking at the prices now for 7 years old IS300h F-sport that could easily be £500-1000 more, compared to Luxury or Exec models (all rest being equal). Even Premier seems to be cheaper, despite being actually better equipped less "party piece" F-Sport dials.

@Alex34 Yes indeed, buying new or nearly new car is best way to burn a lot of money in depreciation alone, added to that stupid new road tax means I would personally look for cars before April 2018 (when road tax changed). 2017 cars as such being almost perfect at the moment - still relatively new so that you don't feel like getting obsolete car, but already depreciated most of the way (~3years) and as well still new enough not to be worried about wear and tear.

[paulrnx]

5 hours ago, Alex34 said:

This is what my thinking was. Figured they will be roughly the same value you in 10 years time maybe £1K or £2K difference in 7 years time. So I lose a lot more on the newer car. 

The change in road tax amount is a big change as well. I thought I would be in the same position you are currently in. £140 per year is a big difference from £10 or £20 per year but £460 for the F-Sport is mad.

Definitely some things to consider. 

5 years ago I’d have bought the more expensive one. Now I’d buy the cheaper one. I’m within 2-4 years of early retirement and I’m starting to make decisions more about minimising cost rather than what I can afford. Last July I moved out of a 2019 IS300h Sport and into a 2015 NX300h Luxury. Both had 18k miles. To drive, my NX still feels like a new car and certainly as tight as the IS. You have a choice of two vehicles with only 9k miles difference, which is almost negligible given the quality of these cars, but with a considerable difference in purchase price, which is not negligible. I’ve spent an absolute fortune on cars in the past and whilst I was happy to do that at the time I wouldn’t do it now. You’ll have to ask yourself whether the newer car is worth it to you but given your priorities and wanting to be at about £300 per month, I would have thought the cheaper one would be the best bet. Buy the cheaper one and treat yourself to a private registration plate for £300 - £500 from DVLA and most people will never know you bought the cheaper one? Like you said - decisions decisions decisions 😀 Good luck with whatever you choose 👍

[Linas.P]

Sometimes there is a difference e.g. there is a point where Lexus started introducing LSS+ and other features which if you go with say 2013 model you wont get. On some other cars there are "facelifts" which are more preferable etc. But as far as I am aware 2017 was already "facelift" model for mk3 IS and the options remain more or less the same (don't quote me on that, but if there were differences they were mostly negligible).

So really... what is the difference between 2017 and 2019 or 2020 cars? Sure there is few numbers being different on number plate, but apart of that not much... getting like £15k+ discount for having 9k extra miles is amazing saving.

There is time and place for new cars and that mostly is - tax savings getting one on the company (paying from gross salary) and that you can choose colour and other options of your liking. But if you choosing from existing cars and one already has everything you would want anyway, then there is no actual benefit of having never car, especially for private buyer who won't save on tax.

[Alex34]

Thanks for all the advice guys!!

In the end I went with my head and pick it up yesterday. So I am now the proud owner of an IS300h Advance!

Although it drives very different from my old Gen 1 IS300, the drive home certainly brought back nostalgia and I'm very happy to be back behind the wheel of a Lexus.  

I forgot to take a picture when I picked her up as I was busy chatting away to the sales manager but have attached a pic from the advert. 

I'm about to purchase the OEM rubber floor mats, boot liner and mud guards. Is there anything else i should consider?

 

 

[MartinH]

Kool