RE: Shed of the Week: Lexus GS300

[OldGermanHeaps]

dandare said:

st4 said:

ReaperCushions said:

Probably because the cream leather is a million times nicer! Can't believe anyone ever spec'd this car with this hideous cloth.

Why - cloth is nice to sit on - leather isn't.

+1

almost as good as velour, shame you dont see it anymore, velour senator seats were the comfiest things going.

[Blackpuddin]

Mr-B said:

connoisseur21 said:

Solid and reliable is Lexus all over, and this shed is a great example. Due to need am waving goodbye to a 2009 Gen 3 GS450h which has cost me nothing but servicing and tyres in 60k+ miles. Am replacing it for a year with a 2006 Lexus RX 88k miles, great condition, from a Lexus main dealer complete with 12 months manufacturer used warranty. Lexus reliability and usability is epic. How many BMW/Merc main dealers have the bottle to fully used warranty their cars at similar age/mileages? None perhaps?

12 year old car with 12 month warranty! Very impressive. Bravo Lexus.

The RX could well be the most thoroughly developed car on the planet.

[dapprman]

Blackpuddin said:

Story says seating was a special order. According to its ebay ad, the car now seems to be with a 'virtual garage' in West London.

ActiveMotor Co., Nestles Avenue, Hayes
Some one else on the Lexus UK forums was a potential buyer and asked me if I knew of them as I work near by - or more accurately across the dual carriageway from where the photos were taken (GSK building at Stockley Park, Uxbridge/West Drayton/Yiewsley - just down the road from the big Lexus dealership).

[jussojones]

That engine ,had an is300
That’s a sleeper suprised a few 335i’s even a m3
That was napping
Worth buying just for that
Good copy of a senator 24v not quite as powerful though
Good buy

[OldGermanHeaps]

the last time I worked on a lexus parts were eye wateringly expensive, is that still the case or have the aftermarket caught up?

[gareth_r]

OldGermanHeaps said:

the last time I worked on a lexus parts were eye wateringly expensive, is that still the case or have the aftermarket caught up?

I had a 1998 model, 1997 registered, GS300 for 13 years and c.160,000 miles (out of 228,000 on the mileometer).

There are not enough of them around to support the sort of aftermarket that's available for the German brands.

However, most of the parts it needed - brake pads & discs, lower front balljoints, radiator, harmonic balancer, rear springs, rear half of the exhaust, windscreen - were available without bothering the Lexus dealer.

What finally killed it was (according to the code that kept putting the ECU into limp mode) a failed "accelerator pedal position sensor" for the drive-by-wire. That had to be a Lexus part, and it cost more than a slightly scruffy 21 year old GS was probably worth (and I needed an estate car) so ...

EDIT: I thought the GS turned out to be a pretty good buy for £4000.

Edited by gareth_r on Saturday 2nd February 22:46

[Birdster]

I’m surprised that this hasn’t been snapped up.

Surely at this price, condition and history is important and this appears to tick those boxes if it’s as good as it sounds.

Maybe if it had leather and was still up for £1250 it would have sold. Normally this would be a £1000 car on Retro rides/AT/eBay. So maybe the £1500 is that bit too steep.

[Gm1982]

I had one of these, in that colour as well. In 4 years very little went wrong and i didnt look after it very well. Shocking brakes. No, really, do not drive one of these fast. Amazing comfort though as long as the suspension is still in good order. Maximum waftery for the money, comes fully loaded as standard and will gobble up motorway miles in short order.

[gareth_r]

The brakes are fine, unless you use crap pads... or thrash it down the Alps, perhaps.

When mine was fitted with random aftermarket pads supplied by the local motor factors the brake fade was appalling. Switched to Mintex and the problem went away.

In this scientific test, the GS stopped from 70mph in a shorter distance than the contemporary 911 (one time, anyway) - 139 feet vs 170 feet.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KGkKDaYd3Mo

[ExPat2B]

gareth_r said:

The brakes are fine, unless you use crap pads... or thrash it down the Alps, perhaps.

When mine was fitted with random aftermarket pads supplied by the local motor factors the brake fade was appalling. Switched to Mintex and the problem went away.

In this scientific test, the GS stopped from 70mph in a shorter distance than the contemporary 911 (one time, anyway) - 139 feet vs 170 feet.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KGkKDaYd3Mo

The problem was that the sliding pins in the calipers were not very good ( on all Lexii of this vintage ) and it often led to uneven wear/sticking and reduced performance. Simple fix though, and new recon calipers are the permanent resolution.

Great cars though, hugely underrated and this is reflected in the price and condition of the cars. Regardless of the BMW/Merc being the better car new, I would rather one of these in minty condition than a BMW 530 with knackered everything and an engine that leaks oil.

The achilles heel is the fuel economy of the I6. It is gloriously smooth, torquey a perfect match to the autobox but by god does it like a drink, and the nature of autobox/I6 petrols is that they simply won't do much more than 30mpg regardless of being driven like miss daisy is in the back, and 20mpg is much more probable with "normal" use. This is why this car is not selling - it will cost you the purchase price in fuel in one year.