HarryGa

Hi MikeyV, currently money is no object if you consider I would otherwise be paying £22k to £25k for a one year old BMW 320d luxury with similar mileage, which is an idea I am still toying with. The point you make is certainly valid - the wrong car could be a money pit! Graham: I actually think the silver colour (sic) is a bit dull and I suppose the toys on the SE-L would be more appreciated. I've noticed that the SE-L comes with 19" alloys and as my prime concern is ride-comfort I suspect that the 18" on a standard SE would give a better ride, less road noise and all those things I hate. I would definitely say that a dark colour ensures the car feels 'newer' from the outside, the silver is my main complaint of this particular car I mentioned.

I'm in my early thirties, so the alloys certainly don't bother me so much. I'm more concerned about the dealer bodging items to temporarily fix inherent issues with the car. I'm going to look at two cars this weekend and that is indeed one of them ;-) I'm just concerned that the 2007 models are significantly worse and 2008 to 2009 and onwards to the facelift variety have had different parts re-engineered in order to correct inherent issues. Knowing my luck I'll have it 3 months and one day, warranty expired, and the engine will explode!

Hello group, I've been looking at buying a quiet, refined car that is also reliable and unfortunately can only find massive cars such as the LS460 as an option; although that's not really a bad thing! I've seen an LS460 with 30k miles for £17k at a non-Lexus dealer... Seems a bit too cheap to me, but I notice that it's the 2007 model. Perhaps they just wish rid of it, as it's clearly a trade-in. 2008 model seems to be quite a bit more expensive even with double the mileage. Googling brings up the 2007 model as partiuclarly problematic, is anybody here aware if this is true for the UK LS460 of this year? I've been in an LS600h before so I'm familiar with test-driving a 'new' car, but I'm going to test-drive the above LS460 this weekend... given the year of the vehicle could you please indicate what I should really be looking out for? I'm happy to get underneath the car at the franchise dealer and have a look myself to look at bushings and whatever is required and have performed minor maintenance on cars before, although not on a luxury car. I think that for the price the cars are a bargain, but my nightmare would be buying such a rare car then discovering it has numerous issues that are extortionate to fix. I can't see a definitive list of typical issues but 'engine issues' look to be extremely common according to certain warranty websites. If you're interested in what I'll be using it for then it's mainly for motorway journeys of 150 miles each way a couple of times per week. I am sick of the interior noise and ride of my ford focus Thanks, Harry.