Buying a 450h

[Diego67]

Been to look at a 2008 450h 80k full Lexus history/ Battery health all good , very tempted actually .

Even though it’s 15 years old are they a good buy ?

Also all work has been carried out at Lexus inc recently new rear shocks a few other  bits and bobs  as well .

thoughts please 

[VFR]

IMO

How many 08 vehicles would you trust to be reliable even when they had full manufacturer service inc with what is a low ish mileage for this year ?

Yup only a Lexus will fit the bill to let you sleep at night. 

[serbarry]

Hi Rich and welcome to the LOC. I have a 2008 GS 450H that I bought in December 2021 with 189,000 Kms, no full Lexus service history as the last 4 services had been done by an independent garage. I bought it from a private seller and I found it in the specs I wanted after looking for one for nearly one year with constant monitoring of car sales websites. The seller told me that the previous owner had replaced the rear shock absorbers but he didn't have receipts to prove it. Anyway I bought it and for the first year of ownership until March 2023 I didn't have to spend money on it. In March 2023 I had it serviced by the local Lexus dealer and some issues came up: the rear shock absorbers needed to be replaced (so the previous owner had lied when he sold the car to the person who sold it to me); the exhaust system was defective and needed to be replaced and also the AFS sensor had to be replaced. As I didn't want to spend a fortune in replacing the entire exhaust system as quoted by Lexus I found a local garage which fixed the issue of the exhaust system for much less money. For the rear shock absorbers I brought it to Lexus and paid 1,200 euros for new OEM ones. I could have saved some money probably if I had searched for non OEM ones and get the job done by an independent garage but lack of time and knowledge and especially for peace of mind I preferred to go to Lexus. The AFS sensor was probably a stupid decision to let Lexus replace it as I could have saved a lot of money buying it on eBay for much less but here again I had no clue what to buy and what to look for so I went for the easy and more expensive way. The last thing I replaced was a TPMS sensor and valve 3 days ago and I went to a local tyres garage as it was obviously cheaper than going to Lexus. I actually went to inflate the tyre with the leaking valve as I had been doing since I bought the car and the garage offered to replace the sensor and valve. I thought that I had to go to the Lexus dealer for it as another garage had told and instead this garage replaced it for much less money than Lexus. I guess the GS you intend to buy should give you more reassurances than mine with much lower mileage and full Lexus service history. Best wishes.

[Steven Lockey]

7 hours ago, Diego67 said:

Been to look at a 2008 450h 80k full Lexus history/ battery health all good , very tempted actually .

Even though it’s 15 years old are they a good buy ?

Also all work has been carried out at Lexus inc recently new rear shocks a few other  bits and bobs  as well .

thoughts please 

Exhaust will go at some point and need replacing. (£1k)
Front shocks as well.  (£1k)
If it's on the original traction Battery, that is likely to need replacing/reconditioning at some point. (£700/£2k).

So long as you are aware that any of these that haven't been done will likely need replacing at some point in the fairly near
future you are good. Other than those the car should be solid. My 2007 is approaching 200k miles and basically zero
signs of mechanical wear after a refurb. Still producing max power as well according to the diags 🙂