Last 12 Months Of Ownership

[Nick W858]

Just completed my third year with my Mk IV 98 LS400, costs for the last 12 months as follows ;

Service (Lexus Hull) £753

Four new tyres £520

New Sat Nav Disk £112

Paint Chips minor repairs £120

Car Tax £180

MOT (passed first time) £41

Insurance £350

Total £2076

I covered 15000 miles using 2670 litres of fuel – average mpg 25.5.

The car has now covered 150,000 miles – no idea what the depreciation was but I imagine it would be very small given that the car is not worth a great deal.

I am still putting my company car allowance and tax savings aside so I am still in a good position to buy either a 430 or 460 when the LS400 finally gives up on me.

Still love driving it and still puts a smile on my face. Hope this is of help to anybody thinking about buying one – just do it – you won’t regret it.

Nick

[RedDog]

Seems bloody good value to me! :winky: Good luck to you!!

[Haylands]

Just completed my third year with my Mk IV 98 LS400, costs for the last 12 months as follows ;

Service (Lexus Hull) £753

Four new tyres £520

New Sat Nav Disk £112

Paint Chips minor repairs £120

Car Tax £180

MOT (passed first time) £41

Insurance £350

Total £2076

I covered 15000 miles using 2670 litres of fuel – average mpg 25.5.

The car has now covered 150,000 miles – no idea what the depreciation was but I imagine it would be very small given that the car is not worth a great deal.

I am still putting my company car allowance and tax savings aside so I am still in a good position to buy either a 430 or 460 when the LS400 finally gives up on me.

Still love driving it and still puts a smile on my face. Hope this is of help to anybody thinking about buying one – just do it – you won’t regret it.

Nick

Nick

So if my maths are right thats 32p per mile....(and the tyres and disc will last longer than a year) a bit better than the LS460 rated at £1.43p per mile by What Car....

Well done.....

Pete

[nelson]

Just completed my third year with my Mk IV 98 LS400, costs for the last 12 months as follows ;

Service (Lexus Hull) £753

Four new tyres £520

New Sat Nav Disk £112

Paint Chips minor repairs £120

Car Tax £180

MOT (passed first time) £41

Insurance £350

Total £2076

I covered 15000 miles using 2670 litres of fuel – average mpg 25.5.

The car has now covered 150,000 miles – no idea what the depreciation was but I imagine it would be very small given that the car is not worth a great deal.

I am still putting my company car allowance and tax savings aside so I am still in a good position to buy either a 430 or 460 when the LS400 finally gives up on me.

Still love driving it and still puts a smile on my face. Hope this is of help to anybody thinking about buying one – just do it – you won’t regret it.

Nick

[nelson]

I regularly get people saying that car must cost you a fortune to run in parts. the fact is that in six years of ownership the only major part i have replaced is the starter motor so i think that is fantastic value.Routine maintainance by a trusted local undependant at very reasonable cost -kumho tyres which i find fine and low depreciation ofless than a thousand pounds a year add up to a great package that wont break the bank. What other luxury car will offer all this

[maneesh]

Nice. Why take a 10 year old car to main dealer when independents can do the same job much cheaper?

[Nick W858]

Nice. Why take a 10 year old car to main dealer when independents can do the same job much cheaper?

I guess after running brand new company cars for 20 years I have been a little bit spoiled by always using a main dealer - plus I'm not aware of any independent specialists near me. As Pete has pointed out, the running costs are very cheap even with using the main dealer and of course those Lexus sweets make it all worthwhile

[Haylands]

Nice. Why take a 10 year old car to main dealer when independents can do the same job much cheaper?

Hi

I take your point but do independents do the same job cheaper....

Time and time again on here we are getting posts from people who have either done jobs themselves or had another garage do it and they are in trouble, yes go for it if you can spare the time to rectify any problems but most of the time it will work out cheaper to let "them that know" work on your car and do it right first time. Personally I don't want just any old mechanic fixing or servicing my car that I drive with my most precious possesions in (my family) I want to know that jobs have been done correctly and the parts used are to the correct standard. In my opinion the additional amount to get the dealer to fix/service it is worth it.

So the question should be "Can you afford to let someone else fix/service your car?"

Pete

[nelson]

Pete-I dont let any old mechanic work on my car either as i care about my family too I use very experienced guys whose work i can trust completely.They just havent got palatial premises that have to be paid for by the customer.Icant justify spending say 753 pounds as Nick quoted on a service on a car worth-to use an old motor trade expression-seven tenth of a fairys bollocks.Each unto their own

[Haylands]

Pete-I dont let any old mechanic work on my car either as i care about my family too I use very experienced guys whose work i can trust completely.They just havent got palatial premises that have to be paid for by the customer.Icant justify spending say 753 pounds as Nick quoted on a service on a car worth-to use an old motor trade expression-seven tenth of a fairys bollocks.Each unto their own

Nelson

That’s fine if you trust the mechanic and he knows the cars, my point was that with these "complicated modern cars" (that I can't fix with a hammer....) if you leave the servicing to any garage you will probably end up paying more money in the long run.... Check with your local dealer first and see what his price is, a lot of the time it is not as bad as you think. Nicks £753 service must had had a lot of extras to get that high, if you tell the dealer you just want the service and to speak to you about any additional work that is needed then you can judge what needs dealer work and what doesn't.

Also just because a car is worth less than the service doesn't mean you should cut corners or use cheap parts.....

A Lexus is not a cheap car to run but it can be kept in top condition and reliable with only a small premium over other cars...

You seem to know about cars, there are those who think they can run an old executive car for the price of a Fiesta, it can't be done if you want to keep the reliability and safety that it had when newer...

Pete

[Nick W858]

Pete-I dont let any old mechanic work on my car either as i care about my family too I use very experienced guys whose work i can trust completely.They just havent got palatial premises that have to be paid for by the customer.Icant justify spending say 753 pounds as Nick quoted on a service on a car worth-to use an old motor trade expression-seven tenth of a fairys bollocks.Each unto their own

Nelson

That’s fine if you trust the mechanic and he knows the cars, my point was that with these "complicated modern cars" (that I can't fix with a hammer....) if you leave the servicing to any garage you will probably end up paying more money in the long run.... Check with your local dealer first and see what his price is, a lot of the time it is not as bad as you think. Nicks £753 service must had had a lot of extras to get that high, if you tell the dealer you just want the service and to speak to you about any additional work that is needed then you can judge what needs dealer work and what doesn't.

Also just because a car is worth less than the service doesn't mean you should cut corners or use cheap parts.....

A Lexus is not a cheap car to run but it can be kept in top condition and reliable with only a small premium over other cars...

You seem to know about cars, there are those who think they can run an old executive car for the price of a Fiesta, it can't be done if you want to keep the reliability and safety that it had when newer...

Pete

I have to concur with Pete and he has outlined exactly why I use a main dealer. The £750 service cost was made up of about £450 for the service (inc brake pads) plus another £300 of advisory work, which I opted to let the dealer undertake. To put this spend into context, you have to understand that I am in the fortunate position of being able to save my generous company car cash allowance plus the tax I would have been paying if I had taken a company car. This means that although the car is worth very little, to me it is actually worth £1000 a month as this is the amount I put aside each month. I have been doing this for the three years I have had the car and at the moment I have a car that is paid for plus £20k left over. This means that I do not worry too much about the main dealer prices, as I am happy that opting out of my company scheme has financially been very positive. Ok - I don't have a brand new car to run around it, but frankly, the LS is a far better vehicle for my needs than any company car I have ever owned. We all have the option to use main dealers or independents and I expect that we make this decision based on what suits our own personal situation.

[GoldfingerLS]

I can see both side of the argument here. I think it probably depends on which items are due for a service. For something more involving like a cambelt and water pump change I can see why people would take it to the main dealers to make sure a proper job is done, everything was torqued back to the correct specs where needed and have the peace of mind (which is not to say independents out there couldn't do the same). However for items like air filter, oil change, brake pads discs its quite difficult to go wrong at an independent or for a competent person doing it themselves. For anyone not familier with cars or if you have never sucessfully done mechanical work then best to leave alone.

I personally take this approach. Cambelt, starter motor took it to main dealer because it requires a lot of work. For oil changes, air filter, plugs, coolant, fuel filter brakes etc etc I do the work myself where I am fully confident (and I am very picky to make sure its done properly, exactly how I want it to the manufacturers torque settings and specs) or I take it to my trusty mechanic. With the money I save in labour costs (which is a lot) i put it towards buying pretty much genuine Lexus parts and good oil. Mobil 1 0W-40 oil gets thrown out and replaced approx every 4,500 miles regardless. For a 9 year old car I would be hard pushed to find anything which is in better condition. Rather than paying Lexus £120 per hour to change oil and filters etc, I would rather spend this on buying good parts.