Buying Tips Gs450H

[Smart]

Hi - I'm looking to tap your collective expertise!

I plan to go look at a couple of GS450h's tomorrow and I'd really appreciate any tips on what I should look for?

Any common problems or noises I should be aware of?

It's from a non-Lexus 2nd hand car dealer and one of the cars has half Lexus service history and half independent. Is that a worry?

There here if you'd like a look.

Thanks - Paul

[tonyricha]

Hi Paul, truth is there is a storm brewing over the hybrid pump in the gearbox, cracking car but now falling over with no warning. Cars fully serviced by dealers are failing and Lexus don't want to know about helping with repairs, no warning they just stop the hybrid system working but with a red warning light on they will not MOT test. Lexus quoted me £3,500 plus fitting to change the gearbox on my 06 plate but maybe only really needed a hybrid pump at £900 plus fitting.

Mine died thru bad advice from dealership with full Lexus service history and just out of warranty.

Tread with care, Toyota don't care.

[LexIS200Sport]

Hi Paul, that GS looks the business (not sure about the roof racks though!)

Tony is a veteran with the GS450h, although this one does have rather low milage so I think very little could go wrong. The usual suspect for early 3rd gen GS's is interior trim rattle/creaks, so do listen out for them during the test drive. I noticed that the cup holder lid on the centre console is open in the photos - make sure it shuts and stays shut. The latch on mine is a bit dodgy so sometimes it self-opens when I go over a bump!

There is a valve-spring recall for that engine so please make sure that there are records of it having been addressed at Lexus.

Servicing of this car is similar to that of its petrol-only counterparts (oil, filter, and such), so I think a mix of dealer and independant stamps shouldn't be an issue. Just make sure they were carried out at the correct intervals (10k/1 year).

That's all I can think of at the moment other than the usual used car buying proviso (check that all accessories work, rust bubbles, etc..).

Apart from that, it's a cracking car to drive! :D

[Hayne]

Hi Paul,

They are fantastic cars being very comfortable and very fast having awesome acceleration. They are very well loaded with toys too. I love my GS450h and I'm very happy with it, apart from my issue with a transmission pump.

It is basically a petrol engine'd car with an auto gearbox and a Hybrid system strapped to it. The engine is very strong and reliable, the only issue I know of was relating to valve springs. This was due to an assembly robot being out of tolerance causing a scrape mark on the springs creating a weak spot causing it to fail over time. Mine has done 160k now and there are no oil leaks whatsoever, no knocks or unwanted sounds and the engine runs smoothly and pulls like a train, just like a new one.

The gearbox is also very strong and is an award winning design. It is the smoothest gearbox you will come across due to its continuously variable transmission and has the added advantage of fast acceleration as the virtual ratio ensures that the engine is at maximum revs during hard acceleration with no actual gear changes, giving it a 25% acceleration advantage over conventional auto gearboxes. It is a wonderful piece of engineering and I believe it to be reliable over many high miles. Its weakest point appears to be the auxiliary transmission pump for the Hybrid system which pumps transmission fluid round the gearbox when the engine is off (the gearbox has a mechanical pump for when the engine is running). I am currently investigating my issue with the failed pump in another thread, but if it fails, the car can still be driven fine, just without hybrid functionality. The pump costs about £900 to buy and is not a huge job to fit on a ramp.

The traction batteries are another potential weak point. There are about 40 nickle-metal-hydride batteries in the boot of the car, which cost about £4000 to replace. You will NEVER need to replace a £4000 bank of batteries (although I'm sure Lexus have made people replace them all in the past). You only ever need to replace the faulty cells at a cost of about £120 each. Of course, there will be some diagnosis time too, but people with basic knowledge of vehicles can test batteries.

Another weak point is the Hybrid inverter. I don't think that this is too common a fault, but used inverters are readily available for about £1k to £1k5.

I read somewhere that there is a GS450h with 350k miles on the clock and no major surgery.

Other than that, it has pretty much the same mechanical parts as any other V6 GS.

Don't let the weak points put you off buying one though. Just don't go to a main dealer if it goes wrong. I have had BMWs and Audis with poorly engineered design faults that make the Lexus seem very well engineered by comparison.

I don't visit main dealers, but spend time on the web looking for information about faults, and come to my own diagnosis most of the time, making ownership a lot cheaper.

I hope that helps you with your decision. In my opinion, they are excellent cars. Take the good advice from Tony and Ganesh too; they have owned their cars longer than I have.

Regards,

Giles.

[tonyricha]

yes well said but my advice is buy a GS300 if you really want one, just as nice ,only slightly slower and more juicy but easily repairable if broken. One of the reasons I bought hybrid was to avoid London congestion charge but that no longer applies.

If mine had suffered Battery failure I was prepared to replace but didn't see these issues which all of a sudden seem common.

[passman53]

A few weeks ago when I was looking, the 70K blue one had a tow bar fitted. It seems to have been removed? I was going to look at it but after ringing I never got the call back I was promised.