Car

[b4u2]

Which car should I buy and look for?

A gs450h or gs300? 

Or better go for an RX ?

[serbarry]

It depends which are your needs: do you prefer a saloon or a suv? Do you want it hybrid or not? I personally prefer a hybrid saloon and indeed I am looking for a GS450H. 

[Linas.P]

Any rationale for any of those cars, what is your budget and as above what are your needs? 

[b4u2]

@serbarry

Well if hybrid is cheaper than why not but they can be more problematic. 

Like both in a different way that's the thing.

[b4u2]

@Linas.P

I would ideally set my budget at 3k my needs are super comfortable, cheap to run, reliable 

[Linas.P]

I would look in GS300 then, it would be difficult to get GS450h in reasonable condition for that budget despite it being a better car IMHO. You can get very old RX for that budget, but then it would not be that cheap to run either. Further considering the budget why not IS250 (although granted GS300 would be more comfortable compared like for like)?

[b4u2]

@Linas.P

will have to see can always up my budget 

[Linas.P]

Yes, but assuming you need to keep some extra money when buying any used car, for nice 450h you looking at at least double your original budget.

So the the first question here is what your budget really is, because it changes quite a lot if it is £3000, £4500 or £6000 +20% just in case.

[b4u2]

@Linas.P

If I said 5k then what would you say?

[serbarry]

Because I prefer the GS450H I found these 4 below in the range of your budget. Mileage between 88k and 122k

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?sort=relevance&postcode=bt11aa&radius=1500&make=LEXUS&model=GS 450H&include-delivery-option=on&price-to=6000&year-from=2006&year-to=2008&maximum-mileage=125000

I would choose one with Mark Levinson radio which I could not find clearly in all of them except the first (Sport) and the last one (SE-L).

[Linas.P]

If I would go GS, then I would want to get GS450h. There are savings to be made on road tax straight away and it is more powerful, better equipped car and more fuel efficient.

However, what you don't want to do with GS450h is to cheap-out on it, being better equipped it has a lot more toys and more toys means more to go wrong. It does not mean it is not reliable, GS450h overall is still very very reliable, but if you get the cheapest one on the market then the things may be broken on it... and it is not cheap to fix - in the end of the day it was like £60k car when it was new.

GS300 on the other hand is more basic, but there is literally nothing to go wrong with it. No hybrid Battery to worry about, no electronically adjustable dampers, no variable speed steering wheel. 

With £5000 you just about get GS450h under 100k miles, which may be good option. I would avoid car listed for £3200 with 206k miles, not that there is something specifically wrong with it, but at that mileage there is a lot of risk.

At the same time you can get 200k miles GS300 with almost complete piece of mind, bar general condition being acceptable and proof of some sort of service being done regularly. Overall, there is not much to go wrong on GS300 and they are not cars which require a lot of care overall, just a minimal reasonable service.

[b4u2]

@serbarry @Linas.P

What do you think of this one? 

I just found a great car on Auto Trader.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102159070213?atmobcid=soc3

Download the app to find your perfect car.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.autotrader.androidconsumersearch&referrer=utm_source%3DApp%20Share

[serbarry]

If you are not concerned by the fuel consumption, it could be good but I leave it to Linas to give you a more competetent advice. 

[rich1068]

9 minutes ago, b4u2 said:

@serbarry @Linas.P

What do you think of this one? 

I just found a great car on Auto Trader.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102159070213?atmobcid=soc3

 

If you're concerned about cost that's going to cost you nearly £600 a year to tax.

Odd apples, oranges or bananas thread.

[Linas.P]

It looks like tidy GS300, but in my opinion overpriced - if I would be given an option between two I would choose GS450h which costs about the same:

 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103109999434

for GS300 I would expect the price to be under £3000 and I would take advantage of higher mileage.