100K-miler for sale, opinions?

[MartinH]

I spotted this pleasingly-specified GS300H at Lexus Hedge End (who I have read are well thought-of by posters here). It has more mileage even than my '07 IS250, which is wonderful on the motorway but shows its age on degraded roads. Any opinions on whether it would be a good buy?

[Anevb]

If the car has a FSH then I wouldn't worry about the reliability side. The biggest risk with hybrid car is the hybrid system but Lexus will extend the warranty on the high voltage Battery until the vehicle is 15 years old - it will cost you around £60 per year. 

Reliability aside, I think you will have to test drive it so you can feel the suspension. I had IS250 before my GS and was getting tired from the firm ride. I tested a GS with f-Sport and a with normal suspension - chose the normal one. The F-Sport GS still drives smoother than the IS though. On the other side, the IS was cornering much better.

[Steven Lockey]

Sounds like the shocks are starting to go. 

The GSs are quite heavy cars, so the shocks can go early if driven a lot on rough roads. 
I had to have the shocks replaced on mine although at higher mileage (150k) which costs
around £2k OEM. The 300h ones may be a bit cheaper. 

 

[Redefined]

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/results?registration=Hk66gww

 

Good place to also take a look...

[Linas.P]

I have seen this car offered privately for £14k on facebook marketplace (It may have been £14,999... so say £15k). For £17k it is not great buy. I wouldn't worry about mileage at all, 100k is completely fine for car with service history, besides to do this mileage in 7 years car must have been on motorway a lot (and that is great!).

I guess the key difference will be that this car no longer gets the Lexus Relax warranty, so you would be missing out on that for last 3 years of it's life, so I expect the car to be discounted accordingly and I do believe that £14-15k was more realistic price, £17k for 100k+ miles GS300h is a lot, if it would be GS450h... then maybe...

In summary I don't think mileage on Lexus matters as long as there is service history, big miles in short time is good sign, means car driven on motorway (usually), but key question is price - if car is priced based on mileage then Lexus usually are very good value for money, but if they are priced based on years with high mileage then that is automatically bad deal. 

[MartinH]

As Linus suggests, it's likely most of that mileage will have been on major roads and the car is unlikely to have bashed about the lanes where those big tyres aren't at their best — where indeed a big saloon such as this is not the most wieldy. I love the interior but GS does not have what my spouse deems a requirement, the ability 'to put stuff in'. That way Corolla lies 😬

[bigglesfllesundone]

I think that Lexus offer a warranty for cars up to 150k miles, when the 100k limit for lexus relax is exceeded.

I haven’t seen a price for this, nor whether it is for the 10k between services or a year. Does anybody have any details please?

 

[johnatg]

Seems pretty expensive to me. It is 6+ years old -  i paid just a bit more for my (premier) car at 5- years old and less than half the mileage of this. Second hand car prices really have rocketed but I think they are on the way down now. Was obviously a motorway cruiser for the first 3 years (to 87K miles) but hasn't done many miles for the last 4 years (but then neither has mine)

I don't think GS300h shocks will be any less than GS450h - I suspect they use the same shocks, even though the front of the 450h will be a bit heavier (maybe). Note that it has AVS (Adaptive variable suspension) which is what really puts the shock price up.

You need quite a bit off this price - but good luck with that - Lexus dealers aren't very negotiable.

[PappringBaculd]

On 2/2/2023 at 4:19 PM, Linas.P said:

I have seen this car offered privately for £14k on facebook marketplace (It may have been £14,999... so say £15k). For £17k it is not great buy. I wouldn't worry about mileage at all, 100k is completely fine for car with service history, besides to do this mileage in 7 years car must have been on motorway a lot (and that is great!).

I guess the key difference will be that this car no longer gets the Lexus Relax warranty, so you would be missing out on that for last 3 years of it's life, so I expect the car to be discounted accordingly and I do believe that £14-15k was more realistic price, £17k for 100k+ miles GS300h is a lot, if it would be GS450h... then maybe...

In summary I don't think mileage on Lexus matters as long as there is service history, big miles in short time is good sign, means car driven on motorway (usually), but key question is price - if car is priced based on mileage then Lexus usually are very good value for money, but if they are priced based on years with high mileage then that is automatically bad deal. Nerdle is a really fun math game that has taken the world by storm. It's just like Wordle, but with math!

I'd drive anywhere in my old, high-mileage cars. In two weeks, we're driving my Ford turbo diesel Excursion to South Dakota with a big trailer. It only has 240k miles. We've driven it across the nation, and I'd drive it to Alaska today. I use an F250 turbo diesel pickup truck with 226k miles to move big, dirty stuff around my farm. My job vehicle is a Ford Crown Victoria 4.6L V8. No issues after 180k miles. An Infiniti Q45 with nearly 300k miles ran great when I sold it. I sold it because parts are becoming scarce and expensive, and I didn't want to cope with a costly repair. The baby of the fleet, my wife's Infiniti G35X, has nearly 160k miles and will last for years with minimum maintenance. For school and job driving, the kids' Jeep Grand Cherokees with the 4.0 I6 engine and 250k miles are fine. They need to enjoy nicer, newer cars by driving old, high-mileage ones, so I don't want them to have them! I also want them to learn how to fix and maintain.

[Linas.P]

10 hours ago, PappringBaculd said:

I'd drive anywhere in my old, high-mileage cars. In two weeks, we're driving my Ford turbo diesel Excursion to South Dakota with a big trailer. It only has 240k miles. We've driven it across the nation, and I'd drive it to Alaska today. I use an F250 turbo diesel pickup truck with 226k miles to move big, dirty stuff around my farm. My job vehicle is a Ford Crown Victoria 4.6L V8. No issues after 180k miles. An Infiniti Q45 with nearly 300k miles ran great when I sold it. I sold it because parts are becoming scarce and expensive, and I didn't want to cope with a costly repair. The baby of the fleet, my wife's Infiniti G35X, has nearly 160k miles and will last for years with minimum maintenance. For school and job driving, the kids' Jeep Grand Cherokees with the 4.0 I6 engine and 250k miles are fine. They need to enjoy nicer, newer cars by driving old, high-mileage ones, so I don't want them to have them! I also want them to learn how to fix and maintain.

your point being?

[GMB]

13 hours ago, Linas.P said:

your point being?

I think the point Gregory is making and actually agreeing with you, quite correctly, is that big old lazy engines will stand high mileages easily provided they are serviced regularly of course. The only area of real concern would be suspension and brakes on a heavy old car.

Having said that, my old Rover P6 3.5 V8 was a rusting disaster that overheated. Coming down Wrynose pass the brakes failed as they were red hot and boiled the brake fluid!  That was a scary moment.

[SSUR]

I had a brand new GS300h for 6 years, excellent car with no issues at all, only one interior roof trim had to be replaced under warranty, absolutely nothing else to report.

These are amazingly well built cars and should be fine subject to FLSH and parts being changed when required. You will see some appear on AT now with 200k plus miles but certainly the condition in photos looks great. You must expect to spend some money as it will be a used car. Like others have said Lexus must be the only make offering 11-15 year used warranty, just amazing and the hybrid Battery also has a 15 year cover although please check any mileage restriction.