serbarry

I fully agree with Linas and the situation in Ireland as far as insurances are concerned is very similar to UK.

I read that some owners of Prius and Auris TS did the conversion in Italy, and they seem very happy with it. But I agree with you: I would never do it in my car as hybrid is already a complex system.

Is it BRC or Landi maybe?

As a foreigner I sometimes find it difficult to understand some idiomatic expressions also on this forum. I appreciate you considering how important is to write correctly especially for foreigners.

Everything has suddenly changed: the seller called me saying that today in his company the management announced that they will replace the company's cars fleet and as a consequence he needs to give back his company car (this was the main reason of sale of the GS), and he will need the GS for another 3 months. We anyway agreed that whenever he decides to put it on sale again he will call me before advertising it so that I might have the chance of buying it before anyone else. Pity, as I was really looking forward to seeing it on Sunday.

Any suggestions?

I am going to see this GS on Sunday. Is there any particular aspect that I need to check? The seller told me that the shock absorbers were replaced 4 years ago.

Me too I hope that if I buy this GS for 5,500 euros I don't have to pay a lot of money in maintenance after, but it is a big question mark.

That is true: this GS pays "only" 750 euros in motor tax and would pay 1,809 euros if it was registered until to 2007.

Because there is not much choice of models compared to UK? Or why?

I have been driving about 8,000 km a year in the last 4 years so it should be ok I think.

I am not sure what you mean with the sentence above. Is it worth going and have a look at it?

This one appeared just 2 hours ago. It looks like a SE-L to me even if the advert says Sport. It was serviced by a Lexus dealer until 2016 and after by a local garage. Do you think 233.000 km are too many? https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/lexus-gs450h-sport-stunning-car/27959520

Welcome James. Did you buy it from Lexus Sheffield? Was it the one with only 7,230 miles at £ 11,350?

This one was published 30 minutes ago. Unfortunately I think it is a base trim. I don't see the Mark Levinson radio. https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/lexus-gs450h-stunning-car/27914214?campaign=3

I might be wrong but I think I read here on the forum that there are no alternatives to OEM shock absorbers for the GS.

Well £300 equal to nearly 350 euros so it is not a huge difference, but yes 10 years difference is not little.

I understand your point John but for me it is still unreasonable that a new driver must pay over 3,000 euros or pounds to get a policy only because he/she is a new driver. Even though they are more likely to cause an accident, insurances do not review this on the basis of the claims every year to see if prices can be reduced but instead they keep charging a lot, and I do not think that consistently every year new drivers cause a lot of accidents.

I think in other countries the fine for not having an insurance is much higher than £100 and maybe also includes the confiscation of the vehicle. In southern Italy there are plenty of vehicles with fake insurance discs on the windscreen because some people simply don't want to or cannot pay the insurance costs.

One thing which surprised me when I first got an insurance in Ireland is that the drivers are insured and not the cars. In Ireland (and probably also in UK) you must declare which people are driving which cars and, as you said, you have to declare your occupation, where the car is parked overnight, if you are commuting to work, etc. In most European countries including Italy cars are insured and not the drivers, and this means that anyone who has a valid driving licence can drive any car without problems and you do not have to tell insurances all the information above because they only need the registration of the car and the details of the person who is buying the policy but they do not even need to know the details of the driving licence. I go back to my parents in Italy once a year and I drive my dad's Toyota without any restrictions and the same when I go to Slovakia to my wife's relatives and I drive my mother-in-law car.

I think he meant that it is unreasonably too expensive like in Ireland. I got a quotation for a GS of around 400 euros, but I am 50 and been driving since I was 18 and never made a claim. With the Prius I paid 280 euros.

But if the battery had died, he could not start the car and consequently he could not put in neutral. At least in the Prius it is not possible but maybe the RX is different?

First I would check what that light is about, secondly I would ask for a full Lexus service history with all the stamps proving that the mileage is genuine.

No, they are all owners of the new hybrid Yaris. It would not be a topic for that forum if it was not hybrid.

The description says that there is a light on the dashboard saying "check hybrid system". Even if they say that it drives perfectly I would prefer to know what it refers to.