Advice needed

[Alexander-Lexus]

Hi all. 
I am looking for some advice towards my situation. 
I bought my Lexus GS300 (2003) in October 2020 for £3,000. It had 84,000 on it and has a folder full of history - has had the radiator replaced as well as the cambelt at 70,000. 
 

Since owning the car I have paid for the following work: 

-Rear break discs and pads

-New battery 

-New front driver tyre 

- Lexus service 

-Power steering fluid flush and replaced 

-Power steering rack bushes replaced 

-Lower control arms replaced 

-Top control arms replaced 

I am almost certain the the ABS rings need replaced or possibly ABS sensor - which is going to be done soon. 
 

I suppose my question is along the lines of is it worth continuing to pay for repairs - it now has 96,000 miles and everything else works perfectly - I put it in Lexus group online and people saying it is worth £1,000-£1,500 at best, which I find strange considering LS400 with double mileage and 6 years older being sold for £6k - I appreciate it isn’t as desirable as a LS400 

Most of this work is general maintenance, which is required on most vehicles, and I am slightly shocked at the prices quoted to sell and I wonder if it is worth keeping and continuing to put money in or if I am better off selling it - would appreciate peoples views? 
 

 

[PCM]

I think it depends more on how much you like your car...

Using a good independent helps a lot with costs and someone who gets to know your car.

The grass can be greener, but not always...

[Malc]

9 minutes ago, Alexander-Lexus said:

LS400 with double mileage and 6 years older being sold for £6k - I appreciate it isn’t as desirable as a LS400 

firstly please don't compare a curved banana with a beautiful peach 

seriously, the Ls400 is a totally different creature and there are some silly collectable car prices around right now

your control arms needing replacing at that small mileage seems a bit odd ...  were they MOT advisories etc ? I'm wondering or just good housekeeping by you

If you sold your car what would you want to buy and how much do you want to " invest " in the next one ?

Do you enjoy spending money on your cars ? ...  96k miles seems quite small and with the cambelt and control arms done then surely you have already invested in some future-proofing 

Maybe Lexus main dealer servicing etc for your 18 year young car could be a little OTT when an indy might charge you a third of the Lexus labour charges

I'm sure others with express experience of your model will have some more reasonable views than me

Good luck whatever

Malc

[royoftherovers]

I agree with all that Piers and Malc have said.

We have a Member who takes his Lexus to this Independent garage in Kidlington, perhaps you can consider using it too?

1.    Summertown Garage,    https://www.summertowngarage.co.uk

14-15 Bankside Ind Est, Kidlington; OX51JE.  Phone: 01865379550  

[royoftherovers]

"please don't compare a curved banana with a beautiful peach "

 

What a wonderful phrase to be meeting early on  a Monday morning. 

The wordsmith from Kent is alive and well  and still offering sound and sensible advice to anyone that will take note.👍👍👍

[OldTrout]

Alexander,

I have been using Summertown garage mention by royoftherovers above for over 50 years. They looked after my 1998 GS300 for 10 years (125k miles) when I swapped it for a 2007 GS450h. In the last few years seeing the direction the industry was going they trained up for servicing hybrids. This was a shrewd move.

Last week I had my 54th MOT and minor service* for £199.98. This includes a Battery check but not the year's warranty that Lexus would add. I'm nearing 15 year limit anyway. 

If you are in Oxfordshire you can't be that far from them. Give them a try. They will work with you if you do some things yourself.

John

 

* This is a Britprius idea. A minor service aside for oil and filters is mainly visual. Lots of the MOT is visual too. I have MOT and minor service every year and ask for occasional extra things like brake fluid swap that get done in a major service.

[AFlex]

On 8/23/2021 at 9:50 AM, OldTrout said:

This is a Britprius idea. A minor service aside for oil and filters is mainly visual. Lots of the MOT is visual too. I have MOT and minor service every year and ask for occasional extra things like brake fluid swap that get done in a major service.

This is a great idea for saving on service costs! Like you say, oil and filters tends to be the only thing they actually do during a service. Whilst the official Lexus service guidance says they will 'inspect' the other fluids such as brake fluid and gearbox oil and 'replace if needed', I wonder how often they decide that changing the fluid is 'needed' hehe. I would bet, not very often. Kind of goes against the whole principle of regular servicing in my opinion. What is the point if they aren't replacing things as preventative maintenance.

In general, the service schedule suggested by manufacturers tries to be very 'one size fits all' but this doesn't apply in practice, and you don't necessarily need to keep to their defined intervals once you are out of warranty and don't need it to provide comfort to a skeptical buyer of your car. The most crucial aspect of a service is the oil change - skip this and you will ruin your cars engine. I change my oil myself in-between services, which allows me to extend the time in between my services by a few months (I tend to do very low mileage).

Also helps if you have a keen ear to hear issues as they emerge rather than waiting for the service to pick it up.

[Spacewagon52]

I agree with all above. If you like the car - KEEP it! You have "sorted" already most of the wear and tear issues - sell it and the buyer will be getting all those advantages at a very cheap price!

 

"You know it makes sense Rodney!"

[Arnett]

The used market is stunning right now for sellers but that 1500 is low balled. Highly recommend getting it sorted via a decent non Lexus garage.

 

And if you want to keep running it. If not still get it perfect then sell it, just be aware youll be paying through the nose for something else anyway