New owner questions!

[IS300FSPORT]

11 minutes ago, Stever750 said:

Things I've noticed on more detail 

Shiny steering wheel, subtle but it's there. 

Slight shine wear pattern to drivers door suggests elbow rested on it

Seats were worn leather shiny appearance, but this can happen quite quickly. The car is 6 years old after all. 

Lots of scuffs to the kick plate drivers side. It's been entered / exited a lot of times. Similar marks to the bottom of the door and speaker grille possibly from feet knocking it on entry and exit that weren't so obvious when I bought it after the showroom shine. 

Severe paint swirls, it's at best lazy ownership but could suggest more use (washes). 

Subtle wear marks on frequently used buttons in the cabin eg air con button. It looks like it's been pressed many more times than the others. 

None of these are definite proof, but either the interior materials are cheap and not very durable and mark easily compared to the VAG cars I've previously owned, or it's far more used than 25k miles would suggest. Latter is the more likely confusion, and even if the mileage is genuine, then it's still been occupied and used a heck of a lot. I'm thinking at the very least an urban taxi which would explain the heavy wear indicators from long daily periods of sitting in it and getting in and out. 

Have you done a mileage history check on the gov site?

[Stever750]

1 hour ago, Notamech said:

Sadly many of us are in the same boat...lexus's service is no longer premium. Before buying the brand i heard loads about their Japanese way of doing things. The awesome customer focus and how everyone who leaves the dealership leaves satisfied. However my experience was far from it. When i bought mine used first thing i did was book it for service at a big name lexus dealership. I found their staff to be border line rude...no followups ..insensitive to the fact that i travelled far to get to them and to add to it incompetent. I ended up pointing to them things they missed as part of the "major" service. I was very disappointed as local indies have offered me better service.

But what i can say is try a different dealership if you have options around where you live. Fortunately in London I have that luxury so next time i just went to a Toyota Lexus workshop that was close to me smaller in size and not affiliated to any big dealership. I found their service levels to be far more acceptable and prices for repairs cheaper.

No chance to use a different dealer, it's the closest one to me already and it 95 miles away! 

Personally I'm not really too bothered by the quality of their service work providing they uphold the warranty if they fail to do the maintenance properly. I could use a much closer independent lexus service centre, but lose the warranty cover of course. I'm assuming that the warranty is worth paying for! 

[Stever750]

8 minutes ago, IS300FSPORT said:

Have you done a mileage history check on the gov site?

Yep, first thing I did, shows it didn't move much for 2 years of its life. Legally it's genuine, so from a valuation perspective it's fine. I mean if it's genuine then I'm disappointed in the quality of the materials because it looks far more used than my 18 plate superb that I sold with 45k miles. I really can't believe that a Skoda interior uses better quality materials than lexus, that's the bit I can't reconcile. 

[wharfhouse]

2 minutes ago, Stever750 said:

Things I've noticed on more detail 

Shiny steering wheel, subtle but it's there. 

Slight shine wear pattern to drivers door suggests elbow rested on it

Seats were worn leather shiny appearance, but this can happen quite quickly. The car is 6 years old after all. 

Lots of scuffs to the kick plate drivers side. It's been entered / exited a lot of times. Similar marks to the bottom of the door and speaker grille possibly from feet knocking it on entry and exit that weren't so obvious when I bought it after the showroom shine. 

Severe paint swirls, it's at best lazy ownership but could suggest more use (washes). 

Subtle wear marks on frequently used buttons in the cabin eg air con button. It looks like it's been pressed many more times than the others. 

None of these are definite proof, but either the interior materials are cheap and not very durable and mark easily compared to the VAG cars I've previously owned, or it's far more used than 25k miles would suggest. Latter is the more likely confusion, and even if the mileage is genuine, then it's still been occupied and used a heck of a lot. I'm thinking at the very least an urban taxi which would explain the heavy wear indicators from long daily periods of sitting in it and getting in and out. 

Interesting things - in general the interior trim has held up reasonably well on my car - now coming up for 10 years old and 150k miles. Some things may be more age than mileage related and/or some over zealous application of cleaning / polishing substances though. Also, a lot of short journeys, especially around town, can mean touching many parts of the car in a few miles as much as many thousands of miles on the motorway where you just sit there and don't need to touch anything for hours. Paint swirls can also come from someone trying too hard to look after the car and not knowing how to. I've heard a lot of people complaining about swirls in their paint and yet I did a post about a year ago on my car after I decided after many years of "neglecting" it and it being washed more times by the dealer than by me how good the paint still was - no swirls etc. This was probably because I hadn't subjected it to lots of washing and it's never been to one of the hand car washes, or any car wash, for that matter. I noticed at my local Lexus dealer where it's been taken all it's life that they use the spray foam lances to wash the cars, so again no damage through dirty/gritty sponges etc.

When I got my car at two years old with 40k miles on it there were a number of scuff marks on some of the hard plastics like lower door trims etc. and some marks on the drivers side door sill paint from someone catching it with their shoes getting in and out. Certainly more "wear and tear" than one might expect than in a well cared for car. However, I knew the history, as it was bought new and serviced on schedule at the same dealer that was selling it and the person who owned it was something to do with civil engineering and used the car for business. As I knew I would be putting a lot of miles on the car (as I also use it for business too) and not babying it and the price was a real bargain (which I negotiated down a bit further!) , I was happy with slightly less than perfection.

If it's always been Lexus serviced you should be able to see the service history which logs the miles at each service. Alternatively, the government M0T website will show you the mileage at each MoT which may show any discrepancies (of course nothing under 3 years old though). Being a Lexus Select Used Car, then I would have expected then to have done the standard checks for clocking before selling the car through that scheme. Maybe time to ask them for that report, or indeed run your own report (I think they cost like £20).

 

[Notamech]

2 hours ago, Stever750 said:

No chance to use a different dealer, it's the closest one to me already and it 95 miles away! 

Personally I'm not really too bothered by the quality of their service work providing they uphold the warranty if they fail to do the maintenance properly. I could use a much closer independent lexus service centre, but lose the warranty cover of course. I'm assuming that the warranty is worth paying for! 

Yeah its definitely worth paying for the warranty and hybrid cover that comes with servicing at lexus.

My understanding is that lexus have service centres that are attached to a dealerships And they also operate only workshops like the kind i ended up going to. These are not affiliated with a dealership but are still authorised toyota lexus workshops and if you go to one of these your warranty still remains valid. 

[Stever750]

16 minutes ago, Notamech said:

Yeah its definitely worth paying for the warranty and hybrid cover that comes with servicing at lexus.

My understanding is that lexus have service centres that are attached to a dealerships And they also operate only workshops like the kind i ended up going to. These are not affiliated with a dealership but are still authorised toyota lexus workshops and if you go to one of these your warranty still remains valid. 

That's been my conclusion so far, so happy to continue with that strategy. Financially it's been a benefit, which is what I hoped for, so the project is delivering against the plan!

[Stever750]

I opened the bonnet for the first time at the weekend to check oil levels. It was immediately obvious that it was very clean, not cleaned clean, but unused clean so that reassured me that the mileage is genuine. It's covered 8k miles since I bought it in March, and the oil still looks new, the cleanest I've seen in any engine after 8k for some time. Difficult to ascertain how much is in there, as no matter how I tried, the dipstick was smearing, but it's definitely still full. 

So far then the only issue I've had is a cracked windscreen at the weekend from a stonechip, not the cars fault though but still irritating especially as just had to change the windscreen on the Auris a couple of months ago. 

 

[wharfhouse]

1 hour ago, Stever750 said:

I opened the bonnet for the first time at the weekend to check oil levels. It was immediately obvious that it was very clean, not cleaned clean, but unused clean so that reassured me that the mileage is genuine. It's covered 8k miles since I bought it in March, and the oil still looks new, the cleanest I've seen in any engine after 8k for some time. Difficult to ascertain how much is in there, as no matter how I tried, the dipstick was smearing, but it's definitely still full. 

So far then the only issue I've had is a cracked windscreen at the weekend from a stonechip, not the cars fault though but still irritating especially as just had to change the windscreen on the Auris a couple of months ago. 

 

That definitely looks good - there are a number of areas that get surface rust quite quickly such as the top of the struts and around the inverter housing. The oil doesn't surprise me. I have never topped up my oil between services and my car is now getting on for 10 years and has covered 150k miles, and on checking the oil hardly ever moves on the dipstick. Just checked it recently as it's due for it's 150k mile service this month and the oil on the dipstick looks like when it first went in 10k miles ago.

When you get the windscreen replaced keep a careful eye open for water leaks. I started getting a damp passenger side front carpet and found dripping from under the dash. Asked Lexus to investigate and they said they thought it was from the windscreen. I had a new one fitted a few months previously so took it back to the windscreen fitters along with the Lexus report and they replaced the windscreen again. They told me that there was something at the top of the top of the windscreen that hadn't been done properly leaving a small gap for water to get through. Sorry I don't know any more details but it's just a word of caution to check after heavy rain for any dampness on the front carpets for a couple of months.

[Notamech]

A trick to ensure that the oil "catches" on the dipstick vs just flow away is to rough up the portion between the 2 dots with some sandpaper or a scouring pad. Clean it thoroughly before putting back. Also i have noticed that to read the dipstick correctly you have to look at the top side i.e the side thats facing the engine. The underside rubs againt the bent tube when pulling out and smears the oil.