looking to buy gs250 owners reviews appreciated

[ste42]

ive narrowed down my search to the gs250 they do seem a little scarce ,as anyone any views on ownership ? regards steve

[Shahpor]

Calling @superatticman 🙂

[Linas.P]

Is there any reason why you would want specifically GS250 over say GS450h? Yes GS250 could be little bit cheaper, but all the savings will be lost once road tax is considered and apart of that GS450h will be better car in every other aspect. 

So my view on the ownership of it - it is great as long as the purchase price reflects its value. In short it probably should cost 40%+ less than 450h to be good value... at least in my opinion.

Now that is clearly not the case, as they sell for just ~£1000-2000 less. Costs £340 to tax vs. £160 are less fuel efficient and have less standard equipment, which alone would have been worth £5000-6000 less when buying new.

[talaipwros]

1 hour ago, ste42 said:

ive narrowed down my search to the gs250 they do seem a little scarce ,as anyone any views on ownership ? regards steve

Had a 250GS Luxury ML for 3 years

 

Absolutely brilliant car, if you find a good example with Lexus history etc, go for it without second thought.

[ste42]

32 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Is there any reason why you would want specifically GS250 over say GS450h? Yes GS250 could be little bit cheaper, but all the savings will be lost once road tax is considered and apart of that GS450h will be better car in every other aspect. 

So my view on the ownership of it - it is great as long as the purchase price reflects its value. In short it probably should cost 40%+ less than 450h to be good value... at least in my opinion.

Now that is clearly not the case, as they sell for just ~£1000-2000 less. Costs £340 to tax vs. £160 are less fuel efficient and have less standard equipment, which alone would have been worth £5000-6000 less when buying new.

the main reason im not going for an hybrid is the spate of cat thefts that are getting worse 

[Linas.P]

I don't think GS450h would be any more affected than GS250. Some hybrids have higher concentration of valuable metals, but I doubt it is the case for GS450h. Correct me if I am wrong, but both have same 4 cats, 2 pre-cats and 2 main-cats. If somebody would target GS450h, then they would target GS250 as well.

Maybe it is just coincidence, because most hybrids are MPVs and SUVs... and they are targeted not because they are hybrids, but because the access to cats is simpler on the taller car.

 

[superatticman]

4 hours ago, ste42 said:

ive narrowed down my search to the gs250 they do seem a little scarce ,as anyone any views on ownership ? regards steve

Ahhh.....a man after my very own heart!

GS250 is a fantastic car. Its very much the right car for those who were happy in a Rover 75 2.5 Connoisseur, 3.0 Omega Elite etc. Ie those wanting a comfortable, brisk, well equipped smooth riding car but with added class and reliability from Lexus. Its really the last in line of decades of conventional, mid sized 6 cylinder engined cars. True, you will still pay a fair premium for it being a Lexus, but you will get a superbly engineered and extremely reliable car for your money. 

Looking at prices for the GS250 it looks like they've held their value quite a bit and am fairly surprised at the fact there is barely anything under 10 grand for an 8-9 year old vehicle. Think I paid £13k for mine with a 3yr warranty, 26k on the clock from Lexus Sidcup in December 2018. Looks like mine has only lost around 1k in value judging by whats out there. 

Yes the 300h is more frugal and the 450h is pretty rapid for the class of vehicle. Yes both are your options if you want to buy newer. But a car like this can be bought on condition as opposed to age. 

I'm more than happy with mine. I came from an E60 2.5 petrol and whilst it was a nice car overall, the difference in reliability and engineering is chalk and cheese. 

Good luck

 

[Nico72]

4 hours ago, ste42 said:

the main reason im not going for an hybrid is the spate of cat thefts that are getting worse 

To be exact, the cat thefts cannot get in for the GS 450h, as I have been informed by Lexus. I had asked if I should fit my car with a Catlock. And they said no need as it is located in an area that thieves can not cut and get it out...

[Linas.P]

I think they can get to the bottom 2, but not top 2. I guess the key difference is V6 vs L4 - on L4 engine there is single exhaust pipe with one large cat - so one cut and they take whole thing. On V6 it is 2 pipes with 2 cats each (total of 4) and they are much smaller, so any wanabe scum cat thief would need to spends twice as much time trying to remove 2 small cats (equal to half value of big one) and top ones could not be reached at all... I think gearbox has to come out or at least the support bracket for gearbox to even see them.  So double the work, half the profit - I doubt it sounds that attractive for thieves. 

Finally, maybe very basic thing, but the only way to identify GS450h from 250 is by hybrid badges, so if that is still concern and one wants to avoid any opportunistic parasites, then maybe just removing hybrid badges is enough. Well as well Lexus emblem is blue, rather than black, but I doubt scrotes knows such details, in worse case it could be replaced with black emblem and make car indistinguishable.  

[talaipwros]

8 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Finally, maybe very basic thing, but the only way to identify GS450h from 250 is by hybrid badges

it's the exhaust as well

[Linas.P]

5 minutes ago, talaipwros said:

it's the exhaust as well

You mean there 450h kind of doesn't have one? Yes you right, it has only 2 trim pieces which looks like exhaust, but surely such small detail would be hard to spot... We are not talking about car model experts here.

Whereas hybrid badges were always kind of "in your face" and maybe could attract some less than welcome attention. 

[Initial P]

Of course OP might prefer a standard auto gearbox rather than the CVT, I know I would 🙂

I'll be looking at one of these very soon too after my MK3 was written off following a incident last weekend on the M5 😞

[LenT]

13 hours ago, Initial P said:

I'll be looking at one of these very soon too after my MK3 was written off following a incident last weekend on the M5 😞

Very sorry to learn about this, Pete.  I hope you and any passengers emerged relatively unscathed.  It’s a very unpleasant experience.

My Accord was also written off on the M5, by an HGV changing lanes without looking.  We walked away from that and were very fortunate to do so.  But it did result in my buying the Lexus.

So, every cloud…..

Good luck with your search for its replacement.

[LenT]

2 hours ago, LenT said:

My Accord was also written off on the M5, by an HGV changing lanes without looking.  

Drat!  My error.  It was the M25 on which my incident occurred.

Maybe it affected me more than I thought?

[Initial P]

Thanks 🙂

Local Lexus Hatfield dealer said today that GS is like a unicorn 😆 and used cars stocks are low right across the entire range with prices rising.

[Linas.P]

GS250 are certainly rarest, because they were sold only for couple of years before facelift. GS450h are rare because they were very expensive when new, but not as bad as GS250... and for GS300h - they choice is quite decent and price is not bad, even in comparison with say IS300h, which is nowhere near as good car. 

As for eCVT - I think it should be least of anyone's worry, it is far better than CVT in older hybrids and it has "fake" steps which are surprisingly enjoyable to use on the twisty roads. Now obviously - if you floor it from the stand still it will get locked at something like 3000-4000RPM and causes disturbing drone, certainly does not make car feel very sporty when accelerating. Yet there is not other way to put-it - that is the most efficient way to accelerate as it keeps the engine always in perfect power band. The only down side is perceived noise, which I admit is not as nice... especially in 300h where engine sounds dull as well, but not so much and issue in 450h as V6 sounds fairly good even at said 3-4k RPM. 

[Chris111]

6 hours ago, Linas.P said:

As for eCVT - I think it should be least of anyone's worry, it is far better than CVT in older hybrids and it has "fake" steps which are surprisingly enjoyable to use on the twisty roads. Now obviously - if you floor it from the stand still it will get locked at something like 3000-4000RPM and causes disturbing drone, certainly does not make car feel very sporty when accelerating. Yet there is not other way to put-it - that is the most efficient way to accelerate as it keeps the engine always in perfect power band. The only down side is perceived noise, which I admit is not as nice... especially in 300h where engine sounds dull as well, but not so much and issue in 450h as V6 sounds fairly good even at said 3-4k RPM. 

Spot on.

[Initial P]

Finding a good MK4 450h isn't easy though...

[Shahpor]

12 hours ago, Initial P said:

Finding a good MK4 450h isn't easy though...

I might have one for sale soon 🙂

[royoftherovers]

24 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

I might have one for sale soon 🙂

A racing certainty I`d have thought Shahpor. Be good for someone given the Extended Warranty work carried out ?

[Shahpor]

I should think so.

I actually got it back today with a new TPMS valve for the NSF tyre, a new NSR shock absorber and the new transmission oil pump it needed.  They didn't have the seat heating element in stock, so it is booked in for a few weeks time to get that done.

I also had the rear discs and pads replaced, so the car should be good to go.

Since I have kept all the paperwork, the car does have an impressive file to go with it, but my understanding is that if it goes through a dealer then GDPR no longer allows them to pass it on and it is thrown away ☹️

When the time comes, it would be nice for it to go to an enthusiastic owner, but that would depend on timings I suppose.

[royoftherovers]

Before you started reporting Shahpor on your Gen 4 GS, I`d have said that Lexus and Warranty work was a huge contradiction in terms.

There is no other Member I can think of that has needed to have so much warranty work performed on his/her car.😒

I cannot imagine that Lexus has had such reports on other vehicles covered by the Lexus Extended Warranty, but of course one does not know.

[Shahpor]

Well, to be fair, in almost 3 years of ownership, this is actually the first time I have had any warranty work done on my GS.  I did have a few bits done when I bought it, but that was used approved sales work rather than warranty.

I did also have quite a bit done on my previous IS, so perhaps I am the reason that Lexus has removed the extended warranty 😲

[lukash]

Hi there, I'm a owner of GS250(2013 F-sport) since 2018.

This is a great car,becoming a rare. Let me highlight the reasons why I chosen this vehicle over others Lexus models at my budget, when I bought mine. Remember, this is my personal opinion only.

I was thinking about IS300h, IS250, GS300h and GS250. 450h was over my budget.

I had to refuse all IS models due to I'm 6ft, and I like to have more room (I can still fit to an IS but getting in/out is easier in GS)

I do like pure V6 engine, simple engine,no turbos, but still enough powerful and sounds nice on higher revs :)

I do prefer traditional auto gear box over CVT. I know, new CVTs are better than before, but I'm a fan of auto-shifting gears.

I do not mind the fuel economy, so I choose pure petrol car over 300h hybrid Lexus.

Service costs are very similar comparing to other models at this age, sometimes are less.

The only cons I found at the moment is the road tax cost but it is law,we can not change it :(

Overall, GS250 is a nice vehicle to drive unless you drive a huge distances.

 

Do a right choice :)

 

 

[royoftherovers]

Nice post Lukas.