Going To Take The Leap! Used Gs300 Mk3 2005, Many Questions.

[MercuryK52]

Hello fellow Lexus owners!

After a long and hard battle within myself, scavenging on the internet after information on reliable non-boring cars I've come to the realization that Lexus appears to fit the bill (I drive an old, but oh so reliable and boring Volvo right now...)! I've lived in Japan a couple of years and know a fair share of Japanese too...so I may be quite biased.. :P

I have a few questions and concerns that I need help with.

(I'm from Sweden by the way, and I have no idea if there are any differences concering the MK3 release year.

The model I'm looking at is the GS300 MK3, 2005 - 2006 which is what a budget of 10 000£ will allow. I took one for a spin last weekend and, what a car! Although 10 years old, 110kmiles on the meter, the sound of the door lock mechanism, the handling, the seat etc. felt like it was barely used. Then there's the sleek design, sexy rims etc etc etc. :D I also looked at the IS250 model and though fun to drive it wasn't my cup of tea, not even a 2015 model. ;)

So, my questions to you Lexus GS300 veterans are:

- What should I keep in mind when buying a GS300 with 100 - 120kmiles on the meter? Will it still run like the state of the art fault free car it's said to be or will I be looking at high-cost maintenance in a not to distant future (expensive parts breaking e.g TCA, Catalyst, AC Compressor etc). What about the gear box or exhaust system?

Regular maintenance parts like break pads, wishbones, bushings, lower-upper balljoints, belts(?) etc. are parts that I can replace myself without much help.

- Are there any expensive services coming up around 100 - 120kmiles? The engine doesn't have a timing belt but usually I'd count that as a more expensive service.

- Do you service your car yourself or do you leave it to a "no name" dealer or toyota, or is a proper Lexus dealer the proper way to go?

- Lexus spare parts are scarce in Sweden, are there any good online stores in England, Germany etc. that you use? I'm not going to buy new front shocks at 600£ a piece from Lexus in Sweden when the time comes...

(As I said, I own a Volvo, hence my DYI questions ;) )

One last question. There were error codes present in the ECU(?) of the GS300 I test drove, P0102 and P2118.

Are these common errors, or should I be concerned? The dealer said it wasn't a big deal and that he'd take care of them without it affecting the asked price.

Thank you very much!

[dave1]

I would be concerned with those error codes on a car that has only done 11,000 miles (if genuine mileage!) MAF circuit low input & throttle actuator control motor. £10,000 seems very expensive for 2005 GS300.

[MercuryK52]

Dave,

Thank you for your reply! I made a mistake...not 10kmiles, 100kmiles

After having read through a lot of posts I get the feeling that I should avoid the 2005 - 2006 year models (carbon build up problem?) altogether and go for a 07 instead.

[benlamb]

Hi peter,

Just bought a '05 GS300 with 119000 on the clock.

You are right about the quality and Spec of the car, the equivalent Merc or BMW would be about £2-3k more.

Ive come across the problems with the piston rings aswell, and mine is using alot of oil at the moment but i did find a bit of advice regarding this, First being a really good engine flush/ Terraclean (donno if you have that out there) and changing the oil from 5w-30 to 5w-40.

Apart from that i cant fault the car, with maybe the exception of a couple of crap repairs from previous incidents. getting serviced beggining of next month then going to do a run to Germany in it.

Exhaust and CATS can be expensive and custon stainless exhaust are cheaper.

Hope that helps.

KR

Ben

[MercuryK52]

Thanks Ben!

Let me know how the oil remedy works out for you.

I'll look into how much a custom exhaust would cost in Sweden, but judging from the OEM cost I wouldn't be surprised now when you mention it.

I've found a 2008 GS300 (2007 make) with 8000miles on the meter, Executive package, Mark Lewinson radio etc. at a dealer 5 hours away from here by car. They're only open during weekdays which makes it a bit of a problem for me, tho I'll try to take a day off in a couple of weeks if the car hasn't been sold by then.