To Gs Or Not To Gs

[Tarling]

Hello Everybody

I'm thinking of buying a GS - grown tired of Mercs, good though the old ones are (replacing a W124 E280 - just can't fix it anymore)

The GS (just superceded shape) looks to be pretty well made - And the V8 (If I can find one) looks plenty fast... (don't care a bout economy - school runs only these days!)

There's a good buyers guide at Used Car Expert -

This car looks like the kind of thing I've got in mind... I'll avoid the hybrids as they just cost so much more.

http://www.usedcarex...k/buy/lexus/gs/

Essentially, I'm wondering which you guys would advise I buy - any tips and reccommendations and all that

Cheers and thanks

T

[dave1]

Depends how much you are willing to spend. The GS430 is a terrific motor.

[ColinBarber]

Series III GS430s start around £10k. The GS460s are very rare, not many sold. What is your budget?

[MrShades]

Lexus Swindon have a GS 460 for sale at the moment... £18995. Only 16 were ever sold in the UK.

Shades

[noby76]

saw that GS460 weeks ago now that car is about as close as one can get to an ISF performance wise mpg is no different from my current IS3. GS460 is a BEAST and very rare alot of car and go for less that 20K aswell!!

[MrShades]

saw that GS460 weeks ago now that car is about as close as one can get to an ISF performance wise mpg is no different from my current IS3. GS460 is a BEAST and very rare alot of car and go for less that 20K aswell!!

450h is quicker

[noby76]

the 450h is quicker by a couple of tenths of a second but give me the sound of that V8 plus bags of mid range torque over 450NM.. thing with the h models are the cost of batteries once they need replacing can cost an ARM and LEG but 460 is naturally aspirated engine muscle car !!

[dave1]

Lexus Swindon have a GS 460 for sale at the moment... £18995. Only 16 were ever sold in the UK.

Shades

So where did that figure come from?

[ColinBarber]

http://howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicle/lexus_gs460_auto#!newreg

not sure where the one registered in 2011 came from.

[dave1]

http://howmanyleft.c...60_auto#!newreg

not sure where the one registered in 2011 came from.

From that link it appears that 16 are taxed and 1 is SORN...17 total

[Tarling]

Cheers all,

About 12 to 15k is the budget.

I'd love a 460 - proper beast - V8's still sound the best - truthfully the straight 6 in the Merc only gives 20 odd MPG at best so I'm kind of used to it...

Think it will probably be this kind of thing though,,,

http://www.usedcarexpert.co.uk/buy/lexus/gs/d-84936/id-7253888/

Anybody got one?

What should I check for?

Best

Tarling

[PJ S]

Are you trading the Merc in against the Lexus or keeping/selling it privately?

If trading, and the budget is on top of the allowance, Swindon Lexus has a 460 for £19K, which I would be pushing hard for £17.5-18K.

They may use Manchester Lexus' 460 at £21K with same mileage as proof the car is already keenly priced, but they've no idea what Manchester spent on fixing any parts, etc to make it ready for selling.

They may be chancing their arm, or the area will accept that price point, or a very generous trade-in allowance given - 101 ways how that price was arrived at.

As for the V6 300, in SE-L spec, you'll not be (too) disappointed if that's what you end up opting for, but I would suggest you look for '08 facelift at that sort of money as well.

[Tarling]

I've finally got round to doing this. Been a very hectic few months to say the least!

I've found this 300 locally - does the money look ok? http://www.usedcarexpert.co.uk/buy/lexus/gs/d-101021/id-9526228/

A wise buy?

Cheers

T

[wendle]

I've finally got round to doing this. Been a very hectic few months to say the least!

I've found this 300 locally - does the money look ok? http://www.usedcarexpert.co.uk/buy/lexus/gs/d-101021/id-9526228/

A wise buy?

Cheers

Thats a 450h not a 300

[tonyricha]

Chris is right this is a 450h but please ignore these profits of doom carping on about Battery failures, treated right it does not happen,mine is almost on 170,000 with no issues,more than most cars manage over the whole life. Makes me smile the people who warn about this never seem to own a hybrid vehicle, missing out on a super car because of a rumor!

[Tarling]

Cocked that right up!

I always thought the hybrid system would be very reliable. Toyota have kind of bt the farm on it so I'd be surprised to see them mess it up. The 300's are very cheap in comparison though - as are the V8 cars -that's kind of my motivation...

Have you had any kind of issues at all with the batteries etc?

Best

T

[ColinBarber]

There have been virtually zero issues with the hybrid batteries across the entire range of both Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

[wendle]

Plus any small issues that have come up with the batteries
have been very quickly put right by Lexus with no expense to the owner.

The last thing Lexus want is problems with the batteries,
this will put people like your self off buying a hybrid car, even more so now
as the new IS300h and GS300h are in production.