Last check before buy.

[johnatg]

Maybe things are different in Sweden. I paid about 44% of the new price for my car at 5 years old. That's rather more than 30% per three years depreciation and of course I paid a good deal more than the previous owner would have got on his trade in. Mileage and condition plays a part too. (Mine was relatively low mileage - ~40K miles at 5 years)

50% of new value after 5 years is more than 30% after three years. Maybe the figures you quote are percentages of new value rather than a percentages of the value at the end of each year. My 30% after each three years is pretty consistent with the figures quoted and that will continue until the car is 12-15 years old - after that, it depends more on condition and mileage. And of course, the actual £ (or whatever) amounts get smaller each year.

There are many big luxury saloons which depreciate to less than 50% of new value after three years, let alone 5.

Things, including cars, are worth what someone will pay. I don't really know if £15400 is too much - it doesn't sound cheap, but it was an expensive car when new, so even with plenty of depreciation it's still a good deal of money. My rule of 30% per 3 years gets you to about £12000 after 12 years but I don't know what it would have cost in Sweden 12 years ago - I'm assuming about £50K. Maybe it was more?

[TheSalmon]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

Maybe things are different in Sweden. I paid about 44% of the new price for my car at 5 years old. That's rather more than 30% per three years depreciation and of course I paid a good deal more than the previous owner would have got on his trade in. Mileage and condition plays a part too. (Mine was relatively low mileage - ~40K miles at 5 years)

50% of new value after 5 years is more than 30% after three years. Maybe the figures you quote are percentages of new value rather than a percentages of the value at the end of each year. My 30% after each three years is pretty consistent with the figures quoted and that will continue until the car is 12-15 years old - after that, it depends more on condition and mileage. And of course, the actual £ (or whatever) amounts get smaller each year.

There are many big luxury saloons which depreciate to less than 50% of new value after three years, let alone 5.

Things, including cars, are worth what someone will pay. I don't really know if £15400 is too much - it doesn't sound cheap, but it was an expensive car when new, so even with plenty of depreciation it's still a good deal of money. My rule of 30% per 3 years gets you to about £12000 after 12 years but I don't know what it would have cost in Sweden 12 years ago - I'm assuming about £50K. Maybe it was more?

John, it was hard to find price when new, but i think i managed.

Price in Sweden when released 2013:

Lexus GS450h price was set at 53450£ WITH F-sport. 

Comfort, not quite sure, but it says 40.000£, so i guess i have to trust it.

So after 5 years, the value should be 20k. Add another 5 years (soon 11 years old), and i guess thats where i need to find the depreciation.

So, lets say the car was worth 20k in 2017. It has 80.000 miles and is fully serviced by Lexus with 1 owner to whom i spoke, and he was very happy with it, zero issues. That has to play in on the price, but how much though?

My estimate would be around 14.000£. 15400£ now feels a bit steep. Maybe 14.500£ if the car is serviced on delivery.

 

What do you think?

 

On a final note, the market for Lexus in Sweden is very limited. It is not a car that many people drive, hence, it is pretty hard to sell. Most people drive SUVs or estates. I have a habit of changing cars after 3-4 years, a habit i am looking to brake and keep a car for much longer.

 

On the downside, i am not handy at all with cars. Even the simpler repairs or issues will be a challenge for me to adress on my own. There are a couple of GS300 and a NX300 for sale with extended service and warranty. I might have to make some sacrifices on my wish-list (horsepower, comfort) so that my wife won't kill me for buying an 11 year old car and then something happens when i have sold in the GS450 with my soul.

[Las Palmas]

11 minutes ago, TheSalmon said:

John, it was hard to find price when new, but i think i managed.

Price in Sweden when released 2013:

Lexus GS450h price was set at 53450£ WITH F-sport. 

Comfort, not quite sure, but it says 40.000£, so i guess i have to trust it.

So after 5 years, the value should be 20k. Add another 5 years (soon 11 years old), and i guess thats where i need to find the depreciation.

So, lets say the car was worth 20k in 2017. It has 80.000 miles and is fully serviced by Lexus with 1 owner to whom i spoke, and he was very happy with it, zero issues. That has to play in on the price, but how much though?

My estimate would be around 14.000£. 15400£ now feels a bit steep. Maybe 14.500£ if the car is serviced on delivery.

 

What do you think?

 

On a final note, the market for Lexus in Sweden is very limited. It is not a car that many people drive, hence, it is pretty hard to sell. Most people drive SUVs or estates. I have a habit of changing cars after 3-4 years, a habit i am looking to brake and keep a car for much longer.

 

On the downside, i am not handy at all with cars. Even the simpler repairs or issues will be a challenge for me to adress on my own. There are a couple of GS300 and a NX300 for sale with extended service and warranty. I might have to make some sacrifices on my wish-list (horsepower, comfort) so that my wife won't kill me for buying an 11 year old car and then something happens when i have sold in the GS450 with my soul.

My wife saw a CT long time ago while we were driving in the old Golf and she liked it. Easiest way to keep wife happy is to let her chose next car. I did and OK with me. The CT is not a bad car. Golf used less fuel, had much more power and a good DSG but was putting black clouds out of exhaust pipe when going uphill. CR has good audio and that is fine with me. A GS is big and would be hard to find parking place to here. where parking places mostly are Fiat 500 size. Old Fiat 500.

[serbarry]

Thimmy also for me the GS was expensive at 8,250 euros (13 year-old car) when I bought in 2021. It was actually advertised at 8,750 euros and I only managed 500 euros off. But in Ireland the GS450H is such a rare car especially in the spec Sport that I wanted. I had been looking for nearly one year before finding mine and I bought it even if I think a fair price would have been 7,000 euros or 7,500. In your case you said that your wife's opinion counts (in my case it did not as my wife did not want me to buy the GS) so you should probably consider other options. Have you considered the fact that the GS has a small boot? Even if it looks overpriced and, as you said, would not sell easily as most people buy SUV or estate models, you have to set your priorities in choosing which car you want  to buy (SUV or saloon). If you decide to go for the GS, you may try to negotiate the price further, but I would not wait too long hoping that the dealer reduces the price because nobody comes forward to buy it. You may end up that someone else buys it at 15,400 £ while you are waiting. 

[bigglesfllesundone]

Boot space is pretty good, in the phase4 GS450h (the car in consideration,) it is 450litres.

However in the previous phase3 gs450h it is 280litres.

[TheSalmon]

On 3/30/2023 at 9:40 PM, bigglesfllesundone said:

Boot space is pretty good, in the phase4 GS450h (the car in consideration,) it is 450litres.

However in the previous phase3 gs450h it is 280litres.

Good to know!

I want to thank everyone who replied in this thread. Your contributions have been invaluable. I have decided to pass on the GS450. I made a pro/cons list:

 

Pros:

Comfort, luxury and style.

Hybrid.

Horsepower.

It's a Lexus (duuh).

Reliability.

Looks.

MPG/performance.

Cons:

The 6-month service-interval, with no estimated prices from the Lexus-dealer.

I am not a mechanic.

If something brakes on a Lexus, it tends to be extremely expensive, even more so in Sweden with the car being very unusual so parts are not easy or acceptable when it comes to pricing. Got an estimate from a dealer for a new hybrid-battery: 4650£!!!! Thats a THIRD of the purchase price. Never ever would i spend that much.

It's almost 11 years old.

I usually change cars every 3 or 4 years, which makes buying the GS450h, a bad deal.

Dealer refused to give a rough estimate of the expected value on the car in 3 years/150.000 miles if i wanted to trade it in for another Lexus.

The price. 15400£ was to steep and i offered 14800£ without success.

Resale value. It is EXTREMELY hard to estimate the value of Lexus in Sweden, since there are not many of them. Hence, you do not know if you pay to much or receive to little.

I have never owned an older car with that many miles on the meter, and i do not know where the threshold is when it significantly drops in value.

 

I guess Lexus is not for me. I prefer warranties and newer cars, of the expense of the luxury and reliability. It is easier to trade them in when they are 5-6 years old, instead of 14-15. I will not spend 30-40k on a 2-3 year old Lexus either, i think the prices are a bit on the high side.

Will be looking for a Volvo V90, XC60, Passat, Skoda or Honda and join the masses.

 

Hopefully this post can help someone else when it comes to purchasing a GS. I know other posts helped me!

 

[serbarry]

If you still think of changing the car every 3-4 years you should not have considered the GS in the first place as, as you wrote, a 14-15 year-old car is more difficult to trade in. It's a shame that the dealer refused your offer as 600 euros off could have been accepted. I am curious to know how long it will take to sell and at which price. Good luck with your search.

[DavidCM]

On 3/30/2023 at 7:47 PM, Las Palmas said:

 it. Easiest way to keep wife happy is to let her chose next car. I did 

.....and that dear friends is the one of the secrets of a long and happy marriage.

[Steven Lockey]

These thread often amuse me since I got mine for £1k 🤣

Ok, it was 15 years old when I got it but its still running perfectly other than minor issues with the exhaust and shocks needing replacing.

[serbarry]

1 hour ago, Steven Lockey said:

These thread often amuse me since I got mine for £1k 🤣

Ok, it was 15 years old when I got it but its still running perfectly other than minor issues with the exhaust and shocks needing replacing.

Really Steven? Only £1k in 2022? Wow! That's a real bargain if you consider that I paid mine 8,250 euros in December 2021 after looking for nearly one year.  Did you replace the rear shocks and the exhaust? 

[Las Palmas]

On 4/2/2023 at 7:19 PM, TheSalmon said:

I guess Lexus is not for me. I prefer warranties and newer cars, of the expense of the luxury and reliability. It is easier to trade them in when they are 5-6 years old, instead of 14-15. I will not spend 30-40k on a 2-3 year old Lexus either, i think the prices are a bit on the high side.

Will be looking for a Volvo V90, XC60, Passat, Skoda or Honda and join the masses.

 

Hopefully this post can help someone else when it comes to purchasing a GS. I know other posts helped me!

 

Good luck with whatever you are buying. Of the brands you mentioned, Honda is not the least reliable.

[Steven Lockey]

42 minutes ago, serbarry said:

Really Steven? Only £1k in 2022? Wow! That's a real bargain if you consider that I paid mine 8,250 euros in December 2021 after looking for nearly one year.  Did you replace the rear shocks and the exhaust? 

No, got it in 2020.
Actually paid £1700, but they refunded £700 cos the hybrid Battery was on it's way out and I told them they would have to refund me and come collect the car from 200 miles away otherwise 🤣

Instead of doing the repairs, I replace the Battery for £2k, then all 4 shocks for £2k and had the exhaust replaced for just under £1k total. 
Also had it repainted which was another £2k, so spend £8k total but its not far off 'as new' now. Had a mechanic give it a major inspection and he said it was in really good condition mechanically
despite hitting nearly 200k miles. Could of done all of that cheaper by scrimping and using 3rd party parts but decided to stick with OEM.

Given any luck it should be good for another 4-5 years now without anything major needing doing (according to my mechanic) since all the common failure points have been replaced already.

[serbarry]

I am going to replace the rear shocks at the Lexus dealer next week. I preferred to fix the 2 leaks in the exhaust 2 weeks ago for 160 euros rather than replacing the entire exhaust for a lot more. I hope the repair will last. Was the Battery replaced at Lexus? Only £2k? I thought it would have been more expensive. 

[Steven Lockey]

2 hours ago, serbarry said:

I am going to replace the rear shocks at the Lexus dealer next week. I preferred to fix the 2 leaks in the exhaust 2 weeks ago for 160 euros rather than replacing the entire exhaust for a lot more. I hope the repair will last. Was the battery replaced at Lexus? Only £2k? I thought it would have been more expensive. 

Nope, got it done by Richard who is highly regarded in these forums. Its an upgraded Battery with more capacity than the original one.

[Riccccccardo]

On 3/24/2023 at 6:29 PM, TheSalmon said:

Thanks for the answers.

I have talked to the dealer and apparently, we dont have the 15-year hybrid check-warranty in Sweden. I got a bit worked up and asked "why is Sweden always the exception"? Got no answer.

 

He offered me a warranty of 6 months/3000 miles which made me suspicious. The car has been sitting at the Lexus dealer for 4 months and i fear that could have had an impact on the battery.

 

Well, i dont know if i am ever going to buy a Lexus. I've been a Honda guy, and they are easily repaired with low prices and cheap service and they also go on and on and on. I dont want to get stuck with a 4000£ hybrid change on a 11 year old car. The hybrid system really scares me. Feels like everything that can go wrong will be extremely expensive since it is a hybrid. 

 

I also dont have especially long drives to work so i am worried about the effect it could have on the battery aswell. For my understanding, it needs to be driven quite a bit to keep it in shape.

 

There are only 3 GS450 2012 on sale in the entire country, so i suspect that many share my viewpoints.

On the flipside, during the test drive of gs300 and IS, they were by far the best cars i have driven, so the "i want" in my might be stronger than my current needs..

The car is mine when if i want in for 15400£. I really need to think about this.

 

 

I have an alternative view as the gs 450’s are so nice not to many people selling.