What To Look Out For When Buying A Gs300 Sport (92 To 95)

[mikemillions]

HI Can anyone help as I havent got a clue what to concentrate on when tracking my chosen motor.

What problems occur on the 2nd hand models?

Any help will be great

[Chris Skelton]

HI Can anyone help as I havent got a clue what to concentrate on when tracking my chosen motor.

What problems occur on the 2nd hand models?

Any help will be great

:D Well Rule number one is not to mention that you're called Mike Millions! Gives them the wrong idea? :P

[mikemillions]

thanks for the advice.

Anyone have any more useful infomation please?

[eXOBeX]

I bought a non-Sport one, '95 N, 120,000 miles on the clock. Here's what was wrong:-

Front lower ball joints worn (bought replacements from USA)

Front brake calipers binding (bought replacements from scrapyard)

Brake servo/master cylinder jamming (bought replacements from scrapyard)

Rear crankshaft oil seal leaking (expensive to fix, this is why I got rid of it)

Gearbox whining slightly in certain gears under load

Car hadn't been looked after, I got bitten.

[maneesh]

Mike,

Oh, Chris is a funny man.

There is a wealth of information on this forum. Your questions have been answered many times in previous postings.

Use the "search" facility to search the GS forum using keywords such as "buying advice", and you will find what you are looking for.

[mikemillions]

Thanks eXOBeX for that, very useful and to the point.

Manish - thanks too, I have tried the search facilty and had a bit of joy but its always nice to get that recent 'human' touch.

Its really because I have to Part X my current car (Prelude Vtec 92) with a dealer for the I have been looking at and I wanna make sure I dont land a lemon......

if anyone else wants to chip in feel free :)

[MAC_600]

I've had mine for just over 3 years and it was on 56k when I got it and is now approaching 120k.

Things that have gone wrong or needed replacing :

Rear Wheel Bearing - cousin did this for £60 :-)

Brake discs/pads all round at 90,000 miles - £245 fitted (cousin again)

Mid section of the exhaust - £200 with goldcard from Lexus, cousin fitted for £30

Condensor went - £500 to replace, fit and regas

Compressor - waiting to fix - £150 - £200 for a 2nd hand one £450 recon and £800 new

If you ignore the aircon, which is always expensive to fix, I've done over 60,000 miles and have had spent £300 on repairs. Not bad going for a 7 yr old car with 120k miles on the clock.

It still drives like a new car, the engine is still so quiet and I can be driving at 90 with the sunroof open and still have an normal conversation with the passenger.

I have no plans on selling mine as I want to get to 250k

[chips229]

Hi Mike.

Heres a link with main problems on the mk1 GS300

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/knowledge...x_v2&id=158&c=2

The ball joints arent cheap to replace,your looking at £350 a side for the upper ball joints,just for the parts fitted both sides myself in about a hour...

The dash needle lights also give trouble.

You should have no worries with rust on the car.

The engines can have head gasket problems so check for oil in the coolant and vice versa.

Like maneesh says theres nearly everything to know in the GS300 section heres the link..

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...hp?showforum=51

Good luck with the new car.

Cheers chips.

[mikemillions]

Hi All,

Ive located one that I maybe able to Part X my Prelude for:

1994 LEXUS GS 3.0 Sport4 Doors, Automatic, Saloon, Petrol, 120,000 miles, Metallic Grey. 12-24 month warrantys available, Air Con, delivery service available, ABS, Alloy wheels, CD, Chrome wheels, Climate Control, Colour coding - Body, Cruise control, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Full service history, Leather upholstery, Metallic paintwork, Tinted glass. £3,295 p/x welcome.

http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/29179/stock.htm page 3

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Any observations? I think Im gonna take a look this weekend. (It was previously up fopr 3k )

cheers

[88b]

Hi All,

Ive located one that I maybe able to Part X my Prelude for:

1994 LEXUS GS 3.0 Sport4 Doors, Automatic, Saloon, Petrol, 120,000 miles, Metallic Grey. 12-24 month warrantys available, Air Con, delivery service available, ABS, Alloy wheels, CD, Chrome wheels, Climate Control, Colour coding - Body, Cruise control, Electric mirrors, Electric windows, Full service history, Leather upholstery, Metallic paintwork, Tinted glass. £3,295 p/x welcome.

http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/29179/stock.htm page 3

----------------------------------------------

Any observations? I think Im gonna take a look this weekend. (It was previously up fopr 3k )

cheers

It was previously up for £3k it's now £3295 Stealer is located in a very nice location . I'd read the 12 -24 onth warranty very carefully before buying it. But it's a lot of car for the money

[eMJay]

http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/29179/stock.htm page 3

The wheels look to be in good condition and still shiny.

Mine weren't great when I got my Sport, except for one of the fronts, and despite regularly washing the brake dust and dirt off they have gotten worse and only the one that was already good is still shiny.

It looks a bit silly when I've cleaned the car because three of the wheels look grey and one looks like it should, smooth and shiny.

[mikemillions]

http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/29179/stock.htm page 3

The wheels look to be in good condition and still shiny.

Mine weren't great when I got my Sport, except for one of the fronts, and despite regularly washing the brake dust and dirt off they have gotten worse and only the one that was already good is still shiny.

It looks a bit silly when I've cleaned the car because three of the wheels look grey and one looks like it should, smooth and shiny.

cheers, The wheels were a little rough aound the edges but i guess this is to be expected....I think Ill take a look this wekend and see what kind of a deal he'll do for a P/X. Ive seen a few but this one with the blacked outr windows just looks so good!

[randyreindeer]

Ten inch rears as well. Looks great.

Check its a gen sport. Did they not appear till 95?

[mikemillions]

Ten inch rears as well. Looks great.

Check its a gen sport. Did they not appear till 95?

Sorry for the ignorance but what is the "10inch rear" relating too??

Also I guess to confirm its a gen sport the log book is good enough to go on.

Cheers

[MacRS200]

Sorry for the ignorance but what is the "10inch rear" relating too??

Tyre width :D

[Theorist]

Hi Mike,

for what its worth I think your prospective buy is slightly over the odds, remember that if it's not been done, at 120,000 a cambelt change is going to be due. At 140,000 new set of platinum spark plugs 6X £12 plus labour. Have a look on autotrader.co.uk there are loads under 3 grand. don't worry about high milage, go for the newest you can afford. At 3 grand everything should work, there should be no rust anywhere, the interior should be pristine. Listen for grinding ball joints when on full lock, juddering brakes - wrongly tightened lugnuts bend the rotors, take it on a dual carageway and brake hard from speed.

It's a truly great car the MKI but don't pay too much!

Good luck.

[mikemillions]

Hi Mike,

for what its worth I think your prospective buy is slightly over the odds, remember that if it's not been done, at 120,000 a cambelt change is going to be due. At 140,000 new set of platinum spark plugs 6X £12 plus labour. Have a look on autotrader.co.uk there are loads under 3 grand. don't worry about high milage, go for the newest you can afford. At 3 grand everything should work, there should be no rust anywhere, the interior should be pristine. Listen for grinding ball joints when on full lock, juddering brakes - wrongly tightened lugnuts bend the rotors, take it on a dual carageway and brake hard from speed.

It's a truly great car the MKI but don't pay too much!

Good luck.

Thanks for the comments, thats great.

How much would the cambelt normally be?

[88b]

Hi Mike,

for what its worth I think your prospective buy is slightly over the odds, remember that if it's not been done, at 120,000 a cambelt change is going to be due. At 140,000 new set of platinum spark plugs 6X £12 plus labour. Have a look on autotrader.co.uk there are loads under 3 grand. don't worry about high milage, go for the newest you can afford. At 3 grand everything should work, there should be no rust anywhere, the interior should be pristine. Listen for grinding ball joints when on full lock, juddering brakes - wrongly tightened lugnuts bend the rotors, take it on a dual carageway and brake hard from speed.

It's a truly great car the MKI but don't pay too much!

Good luck.

Thanks for the comments, thats great.

How much would the cambelt normally be?

Genuine Lexus belt from the dealers in Progress Rd. £25.04, plus a couple of hours to fit it. No special tools needed.

[wow300]

Ten inch rears as well. Looks great.

Check its a gen sport. Did they not appear till 95?

Sorry for the ignorance but what is the "10inch rear" relating too??

Also I guess to confirm its a gen sport the log book is good enough to go on.

Cheers

Ive had 2 gs300 sports and neither one had sport written on the log book, but they were genuine sports.

[mikemillions]

Thanks Guys,

Well, I went to see it, still have to drive it but all the service history checked out.

Basically they want 2K plus my Pelude VTEC (92) in excahnge for the Lex (with cambelt and 12 month garen') which is not really appealing.

Cambelt done at 80K and needs to be done.....thanks for the quote on price, guess a pal of mine can take care of that.

Guess Im gonna have to think about this one!

Ive been tracking eBay + autotrader for the last few weeks but theres not many sports rolling around?