Hi all,

I'm considering a GS450h. I've never looked at Lexus before and I have been caught out buying cars with 'new technology' before and want to avoid any pitfalls and problems that would spoil my enjoyment of the car.

I am looking at used cars ~£37k which are up to 2 years old from local dealers and probably the SE-L model.

Are there any known faults or gotchas with this particular model that I ought to look out for?
Are there any good bargaining points on this car? eg. Is it likely to be replaced with a new model soon?

Any other advice gratefully received.

Cheers
Pete.

Welcome to the club!

Not sure about faults, but the GS range has just been mildly facelifted for 2008...........

Many thanks - that's one bargaining point.

Is there a general rule of thumb as to how much is negotiable off of a used car price on the forecourt?

eg. If the car's up for £38k, is it reasonable to offer £35k (particularly if the trade in on the gas guzzler i'm putting in doesn't come up to expectations)?

In terms of the hybrid technology I have had no reliability issues at all, but dont expect to get the fuel economy of for example a Toyota Prius. The Lexus is a performance hybrid so gives you the performance of a V8 powered equivalent but with better economy than you would expect for a car of that engine size.
To give you an idea I used to have a Jaguar S-type V8. Urban driving would give around 16-18 mpg. Long journeys 20-23 mpg.
The Lexus Gs450h will give around 19-22 around town and a long journey around 30 mpg.

So clearly better and if your interested in performance, the Lexus is appreciably quicker, although if your like me with the volume of traffic, speed cameras, and just general safety performance is not so important.

Off course the big advantage is in road fund license and where I live congestion charging.

Finally its worth bearing in mind colour and trim choice. The light colour interior (Sutherland Ivory) takes alot of work to keep clean. In order to preserve the drivers foot well in my car, I still use the cardboard protective mat left in the car when I took delivery. Black exterior in common with any other car in that colour, again if your fussy as I am, as I have mentioned elsewhere on this site also takes a lot of maintainance.

Regards
Keith

Hi there, I've had a 450h SEL for about 6 months. As mentioned earlier, economy wise it's not like buying a diesel, but it is WAY more economical than other cars with comparable performance. I used to have an E500, the 450h is easily as quick, both on paper and in reality, and is about 40% more economical I'd say. If I drive it like a nun I can get around 35 mpg, but that's being VERY light footed. And it goes so well that you rarely drive it like a nun.

Downsides? It depends what you're used to. I found the ride significantly harder than the Merc, but not enough to stop me getting it. The biggest negative is the size of the boot, which you'll have spotted and gasped at when you tried yours out. Enough for the weekly family shop, but not tons more. If you want to carry a lot, you'll need roof bars and a box (which my local Lexus dealer has offered to loan me on demand. I've not tried them out yet, but I've no doubt they'll honour it)

One last point. It's really nice to drive something you don't see by the hundred. But that's got a downside too. if your windscreen gets smashed (as mine did last week), windscreen repair people seem incapable of getting a new one anything like as quickly as they can get one for a Merc or BMW or...

I'd still say go for it