LS400 on LPG to GS450h……. Should I??

[Jdmboy150]

Hi all 👋🏻

I’m currently the owner of a 1998 LS400 V8 on LPG. I run this car daily and have done for the last 3 1/2 years. It’s awesome and I love it!

However, things are still getting expensive with life in general so am considering other options while still having a nice car to live with.

My LS400 does 19mpg round town and 30ish on a long run on petrol.
On LPG with the cheaper price it mathematically does 28mpg round town compared to petrol.
Most of my driving is around town and commuting with the occational motorway trip.

£48 will fill my LPG tank and will get me 230miles. I’ve also got to throw in £10 a week of petrol as LPG cars don’t like starting on gas.

Now with that in mind it’s not bad for a luxury v8 BUT it would be nice to be able to reduce my fuel costs a bit to help with…… “LIFE” 😂👍

I’ve been recommended to look at a Lexus GS450H as they are reasonably priced now and apparently get around 30mpg round town and 40+ on a run if driven sensibly and with the hybrid assistance.

So here I am……. Looking at them! 😉

So what can all you wonderful owners tell me about them? Are they pretty good on fuel? Any issues I should look for? Best spec for the money? 

I’ll be looking around the £4000 mark, maybe a touch more for the right one if I decide to bite the bullet! 

Thanks in advance 🙂

[SH20]

The GS450h  Premier I had was my first hybrid car and a diamond to own.    I was hooked on Hybrids after this and went on to 3 ES300h's, a short 12 month stint with a Toyota CHR hybrid and then back to Lexus with my latest car a LS500h.

Started with a 2007 LS460 SE-L  a superb car and introduced me to the Lexus brand back in 2015.

Go for a GS450h Premier model as the spec is the highest you can get although the lesser Luxury is till well equipped.  The V6 3.5 litre engine is bullet proof.

 

[Jdmboy150]

22 minutes ago, SH20 said:

The GS450h  Premier I had was my first hybrid car and a diamond to own.    I was hooked on Hybrids after this and went on to 3 ES300h's, a short 12 month stint with a Toyota CHR hybrid and then back to Lexus with my latest car a LS500h.

Started with a 2007 LS460 SE-L  a superb car and introduced me to the Lexus brand back in 2015.

Go for a GS450h Premier model as the spec is the highest you can get although the lesser Luxury is till well equipped.  The V6 3.5 litre engine is bullet proof.

 

Sounds good! I have no doubt in Lexus quality but it’s the real life fuel economy compared to my LS400 that’s going to make or break the decision.

[AJ450H]

nd a hybrid certificate. Its going well so far, 33mpg for winter mixed driving, it will take a while for me to feel at ease but my previous years ago lex, a 300 sportcross was a 22mpg gem. I paid a bit more for my 450h but I saw so many dodgy ones, mostly easy to detect by looking up the mot history. On mine I compared the milage on mots to the dealer service history. My fingers are crossed but loving it so far.

[Mossypossy]

I got about 35mpg out of my 450h.

Great car. Nothing actually went wrong in two years I had it.

[Malc1]

Scott hi

surely real life finances is simply not to payout £4k on a replacement car unless the prior sale of the Ls400 matches …….. the mileage fuel costs savings pale into insignificance by comparison 

Surely !

Malc 

[Jdmboy150]

9 hours ago, Malc1 said:

Scott hi

surely real life finances is simply not to payout £4k on a replacement car unless the prior sale of the Ls400 matches …….. the mileage fuel costs savings pale into insignificance by comparison 

Surely !

Malc 

Have you seen the value of LS400s recently? Mine should easily make £3500-£4000 so the value is about the same.

Putting a little more in for the initial purchase to make it easier month on month works for me.

[Jdmboy150]

9 hours ago, Mossypossy said:

I got about 35mpg out of my 450h.

Great car. Nothing actually went wrong in two years I had it.

Is that round town driving or on a run?

[Aras]

2 hours ago, Jdmboy150 said:

Is that round town driving or on a run?

He's talking about Premier which is MK4 GS. They are slightly more economical.

With MK3 450h 35mpg is about what you get on a run. If you drive like miss daisy in her 70s + cruise control on a long stretch you might see closer to 40mpg. 

In town,without trying to save fuel just driving with the flow im getting around 22-24mpgs.

[Malc1]

16 minutes ago, Aras said:

He's talking about Premier which is MK4 GS. They are slightly more economical.

With MK3 450h 35mpg is about what you get on a run. If you drive like miss daisy in her 70s + cruise control on a long stretch you might see closer to 40mpg. 

In town,without trying to save fuel just driving with the flow im getting around 22-24mpgs.

that mpg sounds like non LPG territory for me with my Ls400s tbh 

Malc 

[Mossypossy]

3 hours ago, Jdmboy150 said:

Is that round town driving or on a run?

That was a two year average. Mk 3 2009 which is probably your £4k budget.

Not so sure I would be happy with one over 15 years old now though due to huge complexity. One big bill and it will end up in the bin.

[Aras]

1 hour ago, Malc1 said:

that mpg sounds like non LPG territory for me with my Ls400s tbh 

Malc 

Well,it's not prius,but its not that bad tbf. Dont forget that its got 3.5 in there,and gs350 in town gets around 15-17mpg,so hybrid part does have some benefits when it comes to economy,i call it glorified start stop system.

 

On the other hand,i would advise you to have a decent test drive in one,as it's not everyone's cup of tea. I'm as an example, already checking ads for beemers and audis,reason being,f*** cvt transmissions. Some other people loves them tho...

 

Its not a bad car overall,but if you get an old one,expect big repair bills if something goes wrong. Batteries around 1k,new inverter can set you back 2k+,if you get sport trim,they got active anti roll bars,when they goes thats around 3k mark,shock absorbers 300 quid per corner unless you drop in shocks from gs300 in there. 

Im not saying that all this will happen to you,there are people who haven't got any issues even with early models,but thats the issues you should have in mind while purchasing one.

[Nunev]

Hey there,

Short version - No, I'd say if you get the MK4 GS300h, it might be cheaper to run, but with the MK3 450h it will be difficult.

I did something similar to that:

Started with UCF20 '95 LS400 with LPG no vvti and 4 speed tranny. I got much worse fuel economy out of it but I guess the extra gear and vvti help drastically. Got it for 3 years and then went and bought a Honda Legend '06, which also had an LPG system, but is an AWD car and I think is heavier than the Ls. Sold that after 2 years of ownership and am now with a '13 F Sport MK4 Gs450h. Comparing the Ls and Gs - I'd say the Ls had a superior build quality in terms of interior and a much softer ride. The Gs feels a bit quieter though.

Still in terms of gas costs my graph would be going downwards as out of the three cars the Ls cost the least and the Gs the most in terms of gas. Disclaimer - this is in my country and here LPG is more than 2x cheaper - 55p per litre LPG vs 114p for petrol

I got a 450h knowing it will be more expensive to run, but I wanted the extra power to be there in case I need to use it. The 300h is much more fuel efficient but is slow and is only available for the Mk4.

Below are my fuel consumption numbers. Small disclaimer - I am from Bulgaria, so I am not used to the Imperial system but will give both numbers for reference. Another note highway speed limit is 87 Mph / 140 Kmh, while extra urban is 56 mph / 90 kmh here.

LS400:

City -  14- 18 mpg (16-20 l/100) LPG 

Highway - about 20 mpg (14 l/100) LPG

Extra Urban - 28-29 mpg (9.7-10 l/100) LPG

Honda Legend

City - 12-14 mpg (19-23+ l/100)

Highway and Extra Urban about the same as the Ls

GS450h (4 months of owning it so far so my numbers might be inconsistent)

City - 27-31 mpg (approx 9-11 l/100)

Highway - about 28 mpg (10 l/100)

Extra Urban - estimated 33-35 mpg (8-8.5 l/100) - this might be lower, I've mostly driven city and highway.

Please note that the mk4 450h is more efficient than the mk3 despite having the same drivetrain as it supports the Atkinson cycle