calibra71207

I have bought 2 years warranty for peace of mind. It is my first experience with hybrid and to be honest I am really afraid... 🙂

🙂 no idea how to explain but in real they look ok. So made a decision 🙂 I thought that 121000km during 11 years will be better than 90000km during 13 years. If the battery is not used properly it is not good as well. The biggest concern with the Japanese cars is that they don't have any service history (usually). On the other hand japanese people are crazy about the cars and service. It's always a risk. Shall I be worried if the car is ex taxi?

Hi Guys, I am targeting this car and probably tomorrow will make a call. https://www.turners.co.nz/Cars/Used-Cars-for-Sale/lexus/gs450h/19507553 I think 2008 plus mileage that indicates regular use will be better option. There are more features as well that are important to me.

Hi Guys, So I need your advice. I'm not too sure if you can help but maybe. I have selected 2 cars to choose. Both are fresh Japanese import. Both through dealers specialized in used cars from Japan. Price is not a factor because is a bit similar in this case. Number 1 - 2006, 93000 kms, very good interior and exterior condition, all the features apart from radar, parking sensors but has got leather, ventilated seats etc, no ASSS which is important I think. link: https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2165063058&rsqid=299244cc6d7c4adbb6c89452227475fd-001 Number 2 - 2008, 121000 kms, very good interior and exterior condition, more extras and after lifting model, radar (I don't need that), Music AUX (nice), DABC (no idea what is it) and unfortunately ASSS, parking sensors (nice) I am going to buy a 3 year warranty for the car so maybe I shouldn't worry about ASSS? When I was driving both cars the only one difference / symptoms I noticed was: Number 1 - batteries were charging a bit longer (it might be very subjective) Number 2 - during very fast acceleration I noticed some weird, robotic sound from central speaker on the dashboard (very quiet but weird one) What do you think Guys? I was surprised today after driving number 1 - was around 20 minutes test drive - after 10 minutes I switched to hybrid (from power) and normal (from sport) and I got 16.6 km/l which is around 6.02l /100km . I was shocked as my current city driver - Mazda Verisa 1.5 is doing around 7.4/100km . Any advices? Both cars seem to passed big service at Lexus (90 000kms and 120 000kms). They don't have any history but most of the cars from Japan are ok. Maybe I should take into account this service facts? I will be grateful for any advice or thoughts? Thank you Guys in advance

So far I have viewed 2 cars since I found out about ASSS and both of them are equipped with that. One of this car is my option. I will check another 2 this week and we will see.

So re suspension, all the 450h have got this ASSS or only some of them?

Satnav in Japanese and problems with radio frequency is a standard here as 90%of the used cars market comes from Japan so it is not a concern for me at all. I know about the Japanese auctions report as well and it is true that most of the cars are in great condition. Someone has told me that hybrid battery is checked twice, first at Japanese auction and secondly here by NZ Vtnz but I am assuming that is just basic test. The good thing is that here is a huge amount of Prius and hybrid Camry running around mostly as the Uber cars so there is a couple of places to fix potential problems. Is Standard suspension problematic or quite durable (shock absorbers?!)

Thank you Guys and I will keep you posted how my search is going. Cheers Peter

Thank you for the first reply!!! Much appreciated. I know that I should avoid cars with ASSS and this can be checked only in the spare tyre space? Re battery I will check with Lexus NZ if this option is available here. The procedure with this option is I can do the battery check before or after purchase to get this Lexus warranty? Re service history - this is the biggest issue with Japan import - they don't usually have any written history. Aby other options or features that I should avoid? Thank you in advance

Hi Guys, First of all, hello everyone. I am fresh here. I live in NZ and I am looking now for a GS450H (3rd gen). All the cars here are freshly imported from Japan, usually without any service history available but we can suppose that Japanese are pretty good at doing all the services and maintenance on time. But anyway it is a guess. I am targeting a car from 2006 - 2008 and they usually have got a mileage of 60 000 to 125 000 kms (not miles). I have got a couple of questions for the experienced users: 1) What should I check before buying - I am going to bring a Hybrid specialist to check the battery but do you know from your experience how reliable this kind of opinion might be? 2) Do you think that is better to choose a car from 2006 with 93000 kms or 2008 with 125000 or it doesn't really matter 3) Is there any possibility to check the hybrid system during the test drive - for example today I was testing 2008 with 125000kms and initially batteries were empty (car is sitting at the dealer place for almost 3 weeks) and during 15 minutes of test drive was charged until 80% (2 upper lines weren't filled up). Drive was a combination of crusiing 50-70kmh plus 3 minutes highway - 100kmh plus 2 strong acceleration from 20kmh to 110kmh - at the end of the drive - still 80%. 4) What is the DABC system?very problematic and expensive to replace? Especially with the mileage over 120 000 kms? 5) Any other symptoms / common problems that I should check before buying? I have tested a couple of cars and GS450H is the great one. I just love it but buying such advanced technology is always a risk so I am trying to minimize that. I will be grateful for any tips and tricks. Thank you Guys in advance !!!