From IS250 mk2 to GS450h mk4

[Anevb]

So after few months of research and countless hours watching every single YouTube video about GS450h, I went ahead and bought a 2012 GS450h Premier with 95k miles on the clock. The car has full Lexus service history, although the last one a little overdue - done 16 months ago.

 

The key differences to my previous IS250 after around a week of driving are (in order of importance for me):

- The ride - much more comfortable than the IS. I am enjoying every moment being in the GS. The IS felt better when cornering at speed, thanks to it’s much harder ride, but for the remaining 99% of my use the GS is miles better. I am happy I chose the Premier over the F Sport - the ride is that little bit smoother, which I prefer.

- The seats - gone are the days of my back being sore after 30 mins drive. I fell like I can drive the GS forever and not get any aches. The 18-way adjustable seat is nice to have but I feel like having too many options to adjusts makes me always fiddling with it and never happy enough with a single position of the seat.

- Interior space - I no longer have to move my seat forward if I need to drive with someone at the back seat.

- Quality after 10 years of use - it still looks and feels like a new car inside. The quality of the materials in unbelievable

- The eCVT - I thought I will be annoyed by the eCVT initially and that I will need time to adjust to it (because all the bad reviews from auto reviewers). In reality, I loved it from the first second and I think it fits the car perfectly - it adds to the luxurious feel. And I can cruise with 70mph with 1200rpm which I love.

I was thinking a lot if I should go for F Sport or Premier and I don't regret my decision to go for Premier at all. The smoother ride and stuff like power boot lid was higher priority than the looks.

I initially planned to service the car at independent mechanic. I don’t think keep paying premium rates for Lexus servicing adds any value to a 10-year old 100k miles car. With this thought in mind, I just did the hybrid health check for £59 last week. A week later I changed my mind and decided that I prefer the 100k miles service to be completed by Lexus, just for peace of mind. The car is still 9.5 years and under 100k so technically this service will add 6 month/5k miles warranty, which is welcome. When booking the service I decided to test my luck and asked the advisor if they are willing to make me a small discount given that I completed the hybrid check a week ago. At the end they made me a £40 discount, which is very nice gesture that they didn’t have to make at all!
 

 

[royoftherovers]

4 minutes ago, Anevb said:

So after few months of research and countless hours watching every single YouTube video about GS450h, I went ahead and bought a 2012 GS450h Premier with 95k miles on the clock. The car has full Lexus service history, although the last one a little overdue - done 16 months ago.

 

The key differences to my previous IS250 after around a week of driving are (in order of importance for me):

- The ride - much more comfortable than the IS. I am enjoying every moment being in the GS. The IS felt better when cornering at speed, thanks to it’s much harder ride, but for the remaining 99% of my use the GS is miles better. I am happy I chose the Premier over the F Sport - the ride is that little bit smoother, which I prefer.

- The seats - gone are the days of my back being sore after 30 mins drive. I fell like I can drive the GS forever and not get any aches. The 18-way adjustable seat is nice to have but I feel like having too many options to adjusts makes me always fiddling with it and never happy enough with a single position of the seat.

- Interior space - I no longer have to move my seat forward if I need to drive with someone at the back seat.

- Quality after 10 years of use - it still looks and feels like a new car inside. The quality of the materials in unbelievable

- The eCVT - I thought I will be annoyed by the eCVT initially and that I will need time to adjust to it (because all the bad reviews from auto reviewers). In reality, I loved it from the first second and I think it fits the car perfectly - it adds to the luxurious feel. And I can cruise with 70mph with 1200rpm which I love.

I was thinking a lot if I should go for F Sport or Premier and I don't regret my decision to go for Premier at all. The smoother ride and stuff like power boot lid was higher priority than the looks.

I initially planned to service the car at independent mechanic. I don’t think keep paying premium rates for Lexus servicing adds any value to a 10-year old 100k miles car. With this thought in mind, I just did the hybrid health check for £59 last week. A week later I changed my mind and decided that I prefer the 100k miles service to be completed by Lexus, just for peace of mind. The car is still 9.5 years and under 100k so technically this service will add 6 month/5k miles warranty, which is welcome. When booking the service I decided to test my luck and asked the advisor if they are willing to make me a small discount given that I completed the hybrid check a week ago. At the end they made me a £40 discount, which is very nice gesture that they didn’t have to make at all!
 

 

Lexus will offer you a warranty to 150,000 miles if you ask Boris.

[KayCee]

Well Done Boris you will not be disapointed with your purchase I too like you at my first 450 a few years ago thought CVT i dont think i will like that But i did and still do

They also panned the Sat Nav which i must agree can be challenging sometimes but it as got that many features on first use  is a bit of a fiddle but in truth it as never let me down or got me lost never.

How about a few Photos  Boris

Congrats on your purchase

Robert

 

[Anevb]

9 hours ago, KayCee said:

Well Done Boris you will not be disapointed with your purchase I too like you at my first 450 a few years ago thought CVT i dont think i will like that But i did and still do

They also panned the Sat Nav which i must agree can be challenging sometimes but it as got that many features on first use  is a bit of a fiddle but in truth it as never let me down or got me lost never.

How about a few Photos  Boris

Congrats on your purchase

Robert

 

I was sceptic about the sat nav and the infotainment system in general (again, all reviewers hate it) but I actually enjoy using it. 

 

I will upload pics as soon as I find some time to wash the car. Hopefully this weekend. 

[Shahpor]

I went from a IS220d to a GS450h Premier, so I can certainly understand where you are coming from.  It was even more of a change for me coming from the manual diesel.

That being said, I agree with what you have listed but for me the biggest difference was the performance.  Again, moving from the IS, the change was quite drastic!

I still miss mine...☹️

Looking forward to see some pics 👍

[SSUR]

The stand out feature on the GS4, as you have said, was the outstanding build quality and the materials used in that interior trim.
 

Note the abundance of leather all along the door panels, top of dashboard, all along the centre console and even the carpet in the rear which meets the lower base of the seats. Compare with the ES and others which are all scratchy plastic down there.  
 

It is more like a mini LS and no other car in the GS class has an interior close to its quality. Even the smooth leather seats are in a different league to the hard artificial leather used in the German rivals. Enjoy…

[KayCee]

Yes

9 hours ago, SSUR said:

The stand out feature on the GS4, as you have said, was the outstanding build quality and the materials used in that interior trim.
 

Note the abundance of leather all along the door panels, top of dashboard, all along the centre console and even the carpet in the rear which meets the lower base of the seats. Compare with the ES and others which are all scratchy plastic down there.  
 

It is more like a mini LS and no other car in the GS class has an interior close to its quality. Even the smooth leather seats are in a different league to the hard artificial leather used in the German rivals. Enjoy…

Yes Totally agree The bean counters are in by the look of it and soon as they come

in Quality goes through the floor whilst having mine serviced at Hull i noticed a ES which looked tasty from where i was sat i got up and looked inside not a patch on the GS so my next car may not be a Lexus as they dont have a GS replacement

[SSUR]

Interestingly I had exactly the same issue and after 4 x GS cars in a row over many years I rejected the new ES and instead went for a used LS600hL which as expected is an obvious step up in quality over the GS.

[Anevb]

I booked my car for a service next Wednesday and will have a courtesy car for the day so I'll have a chance to compare it's build quality to the GS. I'm not sure what they will give me though...

[Initial P]

I love using the rear blind on my GS4 as its so well engineered even compared to the GS3.

[Anevb]

Some pics as promised... I spotted some stone chips/parking damage on the driver's door (last 2 pics). What are my options to get these repaired? I would prefer NOT to do anything myself as I don't want to mess up with the paint.

[Shahpor]

Looks good 👍

For the damage, I had something similar, so got my local ChipsAway guy to come and repair it at my workplace.  Cost about £200 all in.

[SeanR]

Nice motor.

 

Ive just had a similar done, mine was £220

 

Make sure they do it properly, ive had to have these small rust jobs done twice in the past because the first spray shop did not prep it properly and the paint bubbled again.

 

Go to someone reputable