New Lexus owner

[simonmc]

Hi everyone, Simon here. I have been driving around in my 1st generation GS300 that I picked up last week and I am thrilled to bits with it, it ticks all the boxes. It was first registered in 1996 and has only done nearly 57,000 with good Lexus service history latterly residing in Poole where it was known to the local dealership. My wife and I are well into our 70s and our backs are not as good as they used to be at absorbing all the bumps, cracks and potholes of our local roads so we said goodbye to the exciting Jaguar XK (getting in and out was a real hassle!) and all stiff suspensions! I thought about the usual BMW, Audi, Mercedes from the 1990s but wanted something different so got hold of some contemporary road tests in motoring magazines and looking at some Utube videos I decided to go for a GS300 as did not want another the size of an XJ Jaguar of which we have had three….nice cars but too big for us now. There were some awful examples but eventually found a good one that has been very well cared for, the dealer did quite a lot of work on it and I asked for the belt to be changed. The soft leather seats and forgiving suspension are just what we wanted, it just wafts along, the in-line six is very smooth and everything works as it should so very pleased. The only surprise was the insurance in that Footman James who have insured all my older cars wouldn’t touch the Lexus so Adrian Flux have done it but it is over a hundred pounds more expensive than the 5litre V8 Jaguar XK! Any thoughts or ideas would be welcome. Looking forward to being involved on the forum. Simon.

[Las Palmas]

Welcome to the forum.

I am sure you are going to enjoy the soft and sweet GS.

Somebody here in the forum from UK may be able to inform about hopefully better insurance company.

Here we are lucky that a hybrid registered in 2016 cost no road tax and insurance company is happy to keep continuing customers so we pay no more than we did for a Golf tdi DSG 2005. We need to have small cars as parking spaces here are made for old Fiat 500 and that size of micro cars.

Place in our garage is no bigger.

[Vlady]

Hi Simon, welcome to the forum! Enjoy your Lexus ownership!

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Simon. You made a mistake using Adrian Flux. They are rip off merchants. Every year for the past 20 or so they've been between 2 and 300 quid dearer. Shop around. 

[Malc]

3 hours ago, simonmc said:

Any thoughts or ideas would be welcome.

Excellent choice of car

Not so with AF from my own personal experience of being totally 120% dissatisfied with their Claims Handling a couple of years past 

Using Saga seems to be ok for me right now

The premium paid is only of value when you come to experience their claims handling fiascos whichever company you're with

My dear old Ls400 which I've had for 11 years now, originated from Lexus Poole .......  thumbs up to them for sure

Malc

 

[Bluemarlin]

I've heard that Saga are ok, and it might be worth checking companies that don't appear on comparion sites. The bigger ones are Admiral, Aviva and Direct Line. The best deal I got was with Direct Line.

Funnily enough my previous car was an XK8, and that was cheaper to  insure.

[b4u2]

Welcome to Lexus!

The home of LUXURY & smooth motoring

[simonmc]

33 minutes ago, Bluemarlin said:

I've heard that Saga are ok, and it might be worth checking companies that don't appear on comparion sites. The bigger ones are Admiral, Aviva and Direct Line. The best deal I got was with Direct Line.

Funnily enough my previous car was an XK8, and that was cheaper to  insure.

Very odd, why aren’t classic car insurers prepared to take on the Lexus when the more powerful BMWs, Jags etc seem to be no problem! Thanks for the info, I used to be with Direct Line

[simonmc]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

Excellent choice of car

Not so with AF from my own personal experience of being totally 120% dissatisfied with their Claims Handling a couple of years past 

Using Saga seems to be ok for me right now

The premium paid is only of value when you come to experience their claims handling fiascos whichever company you're with

My dear old Ls400 which I've had for 11 years now, originated from Lexus Poole .......  thumbs up to them for sure

Malc

 

Thanks for the info, Malc

[steve2006]

Agree that FJ have become a little picky on which cars they will cover. Having had “Classic” cover for my 94 Celsior they wouldn’t even offer a standard insurance quote on the 04 as “it’s not on our database”

Being on classic cover my max NCB had also expired and AF were the only company to offer cover with nil NCB but it cost nearly 4 times as much. Hopefully with a years NCB in June I can get a lower premium on renewal.

Welcome to the LOC Simon, I found the seating in the 2001 GS300 I had was higher than the LS and firmer making getting in and out a lot easier.

[simonmc]

2 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Hi Simon. You made a mistake using Adrian Flux. They are rip off merchants. Every year for the past 20 or so they've been between 2 and 300 quid dearer. Shop around. 

Thanks Vlad will certainly shop around next year, I was so surprised that Footman James didn’t want to know that I panicked as time was getting short. Why isn’t the Lexus given the classic car status?

[Malc]

1 hour ago, steve2006 said:

I found the seating in the 2001 GS300 I had was higher than the LS and firmer making getting in and out a lot easier.

hahahahahahaha  .....    maybe when I get around to " upgrading " to a newer model I'll take your advice as my dotage may necessitate me looking for some posture springing stuff 

[ALAW]

Hello Simon and welcome to the LOC

[simonmc]

22 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Agree that FJ have become a little picky on which cars they will cover. Having had “Classic” cover for my 94 Celsior they wouldn’t even offer a standard insurance quote on the 04 as “it’s not on our database”

Being on classic cover my max NCB had also expired and AF were the only company to offer cover with nil NCB but it cost nearly 4 times as much. Hopefully with a years NCB in June I can get a lower premium on renewal.

Welcome to the LOC Simon, I found the seating in the 2001 GS300 I had was higher than the LS and firmer making getting in and out a lot easier.

Hi Steve

The same thing happened to me, being with FJ on classic cover for nearly 9 years where NCB was not applicable the only thing I could offer AF was a No Claims document that was not acceptable so then I remembered I was the insurer on my wife’s car with LV so AF got in touch with them and thankfully I got the full bonus…..hopefully you should see a saving next year.

[Peter land]

Hi, I'm new to this group, nice to meet you all

[Malc]

welcome Peter

Malc

[simonmc]

Hi Malc

I was just glancing through other topics when I came across one of your replies when you said that you propped your LS400 bonnet up with a broom stick! The car dealer( McCarthy Cars, Croydon) that I bought my GS300 from also had worn out struts on bonnet and boot and they had replacements made up by someone who specialises in doing only that. Give Rob McCarthy a ring mentioning my name (Rev’d simon manley-cooper) and am sure he would only too willing to help, incidently very helpful people to deal with.

[LenT]

My wife and I are of similar vintage to yourself, Simon.  I have the Lexus insured by the AA - with whom I’ve been a member for over 50 years - and my wife’s Suzuki 4x4 with Saga.

Every year each tries to add the other car but they match each other so closely that it isn’t worth changing the status quo.  On the rare occasions their claims depts.  have been called upon, they have both provided excellent service.

So not surprising recommendations, Simon - but recommended nevertheless!

[simonmc]

Hi Malc

I was just glancing through other topics when I came across one of your replies when you said that you propped your LS400 bonnet up with a broom stick! The car dealer( McCarthy Cars, Croydon) that I bought my GS300 from also had worn out struts on bonnet and boot and they had replacements made up by someone who specialises in doing only that. Give Rob McCarthy a ring mentioning my name (Rev’d simon manley-cooper) and am sure he would only too willing to help, incidently very helpful people to deal with.

[simonmc]

On 4/4/2022 at 6:04 AM, LenT said:

My wife and I are of similar vintage to yourself, Simon.  I have the Lexus insured by the AA - with whom I’ve been a member for over 50 years - and my wife’s Suzuki 4x4 with Saga.

Every year each tries to add the other car but they match each other so closely that it isn’t worth changing the status quo.  On the rare occasions their claims depts.  have been called upon, they have both provided excellent service.

So not surprising recommendations, Simon - but recommended nevertheless!

 

[simonmc]

Hi Len

Many thanks, I’ve been with the AA for almost as long, why I hadn’t thought of them I don’t know but will try them next year. Really enjoying my first Lexus, love that engine!

Simon

[Malc]

On 4/5/2022 at 9:45 PM, simonmc said:

propped your LS400 bonnet up with a broom stick!

Oh my, that was a while ago ......  with my Mk1 which I gave away at 180k miles a loooooong way back ...  now on my 3rd Ls400, my 95 Mk3 and the struts at 27 years young and 238k miles seem to be puuuuurfect .......... 

I've used  SGS  for rear screen /boot uplift strut on my now sadly departed Mazda 323f ...  that too was a brilliant little car 

Malc