About To Buy My First Lexus

[breezeblock]

Hi everyone, only just registered so thanks in advance for any advice I get.

I bought a Rover 75 Conn SE about 16 months ago (the one with the TV/Sat Nav, etc.) and fell in love with it. Unfortunately it had been cherished by a little old lady and I immediately put an extra 30,000 miles on it and the old thing really couldn't handle it. Cut a long story short it now needs a new clutch, new breather pipes, few other bits and bobs and I also need to top up the oil after every trip on the motorway. Shame, but it's time to look for something more rugged and reliable.

I went to test drive a Jaguar S-type at a local garage and it felt pretty good...perfect history, immaculate condition and I was going to do a deal when I saw a Lexus GS300 parked alongside. Now I've always thought Lexus was a good car but too pricey but this was a Y reg 3.0i SE with the built in Sat Nav and all the gadgets (I'm a sucker for the gadgets). I test drove it and I can officially delcare that I am now a Lexus fan! Seriously, it was the best car I have ever driven.

But here's the problem: everything worked fine with the car - all the electrics, the brakes, the handling, even the air con was super cold - but I spotted the engine light was on. When I took it back to the dealer after the test drive I mentioned it and he was happy to admit that it had been tested and it was the air mass intake sensor and he pointed it out under the bonnet. He said they had already ordered the part and they would fix it and have the diagnostics redone afterwards.

Now I'm not a techie so I have to trust people like car salesmen and often I end up buying a great looking car with a dog of an engine. Plus, the little I do know is all about Rover 75's and Ford Galaxys (my other car).

This is a Y Reg GS300 with a perfect history, no recorded accidents, 67k on the clock, bodywork is 95% good (couple of small bumper scrapes), the alloys have just been fully refurbished and the price is £5,250. Does this air mass thingy sound reasonable and likely? I hope it does because I honestly cannot wait to get this car!!!!

Thanks in advance.

[maneesh]

In the current buyer's market, you WANT to pay 5,250 for a 7 year old Lexus GS? Have a read of my post where a 2004 GS300 with 59k is up for 7k!

Regarding the fault, it does sound reasonable, but there is NO WAY of us on here determining what the problem is without you sharing the diagnostics codes with us. The check engine light on could be lots of problems.

HTH

[breezeblock]

Point taken. Perhaps because this is the first Lexus I had looked at I hadn't shopped around enough. Truth is I'm a sucker for a factory fitted sat nav system!

[maneesh]

Point taken. Perhaps because this is the first Lexus I had looked at I hadn't shopped around enough. Truth is I'm a sucker for a factory fitted sat nav system!

Errrr, it's a factory fitted option from 1998 (when the GS was launched), which in terms of utility has been overtaken by £150 portable tomtom units in 2008. At most, the factory satnav in a GS (which was a 2.5k option new) adds no more than 200 quid (if that in today's market) to the value of a used GS, compared to non-satnav GS cars.

Caveat Emptor!

[maneesh]

oh btw, you LIKE gadgets? go drive a 2000 model LS430..high mileage ones would be coming at the top end of your budget! then you will be smiling all the way, and petrol costs are not any worse than the GS..

[breezeblock]

All points duly accepted.

However, if I bought it and loved it and lasted as long as it should then it would make me smile...and the more I smile the more I am willing to pay for it.

Comes a point when blatant and unbridled happiness over-rides the restrictions of market value and a frigid cheque book.

That said, I am currently looking at LS's on eBay!

[Lexus2D]

:)

[TheDon]

best thing i could advise if your spending a few thousand is to invest in a £50 portable OBDII reader... easy to use and will stop you getting conned.. it will work with all GS300's post 2000.

and will probably help you knock a few quid off... but the main thing is it will tell you exactly what is wrong with the car..

i have the mac tools ET50.. but there are plenty out there for the £35 mark also.. eBay is your friend here..

it will come up with any fault codes availiable to read.. so the dealer cannot lie.. also it will earn its money back the first time you use it!

[breezeblock]

Thanks for the advice fellas but I decided not to risk it....INSTEAD I JUST BOUGHT A GS300 FROM A LEXUS DEALER!!!!!

I don't pick it up till Tuesday though which is very annoying for someone with my low level of patience.

Its a 1999 with 77k on the clock and it has the desired Sat Nav. Everything on it works as it should and there is of course the warranty and, of course, the back up of the Lexus dealership. The decider was that they offered a fair price for my old Rover 75 (despite them spotting the clutch was going - fair play to them for that) and I managed to haggle 12 months tax and a tank of fuel and signed the deal.

So come Tuesday I will officially be a Lexus owner. Do I get a special badge or something?

[Gord]

Thanks for the advice fellas but I decided not to risk it....INSTEAD I JUST BOUGHT A GS300 FROM A LEXUS DEALER!!!!!

I don't pick it up till Tuesday though which is very annoying for someone with my low level of patience.

Its a 1999 with 77k on the clock and it has the desired Sat Nav. Everything on it works as it should and there is of course the warranty and, of course, the back up of the Lexus dealership. The decider was that they offered a fair price for my old Rover 75 (despite them spotting the clutch was going - fair play to them for that) and I managed to haggle 12 months tax and a tank of fuel and signed the deal.

So come Tuesday I will officially be a Lexus owner. Do I get a special badge or something?

Well done mate, no badge................just big smile :D

[jamesholden]

Thanks for the advice fellas but I decided not to risk it....INSTEAD I JUST BOUGHT A GS300 FROM A LEXUS DEALER!!!!!

I don't pick it up till Tuesday though which is very annoying for someone with my low level of patience.

Its a 1999 with 77k on the clock and it has the desired Sat Nav. Everything on it works as it should and there is of course the warranty and, of course, the back up of the Lexus dealership. The decider was that they offered a fair price for my old Rover 75 (despite them spotting the clutch was going - fair play to them for that) and I managed to haggle 12 months tax and a tank of fuel and signed the deal.

So come Tuesday I will officially be a Lexus owner. Do I get a special badge or something?

It wouldn't happen to be a Dark Blue one would it? If so, very nice and a decent price!

[breezeblock]

It certainly is dark blue!

[aztecbandit1]

Sounds like a nice Lexus your having, so dont forget to post some pics when you finally pick it up :D and welcome to the club :D

[maneesh]

It certainly is dark blue!

Is that the one from Bradford? Looks mint.. ENJOY!

[breezeblock]

That's the one!

[maneesh]

That's the one!

What do you think of the big fat armrest? That's one of the nicest luxuries about the GS and LS models that I miss every day.

[breezeblock]

I do like a fat armrest. My Rover 75 had a decent one which was full black leather but the GS one is twice the size. I'm just online now looking for accessories and add ons but I can't find any (other than performance mods).

[Anees]

Well Done! Sounds a nice car :D

[Paradroid]

Welcome to the forums. Car does sound nice.

You're another former MG/Rover owner like me, I just changed from a ZS180 to a IS200 :)

[shake]

Welcome to LOC!

the front arm rest is great on the gs. you dont realise how useful it is until its gone.

[P4UL T]

Well done on you new purchase, the GS is a great car

[breezeblock]

My first Lexus is now sat proudly on my driveway (in the rain). Picked her up today - she looks spik and span (although I don't really know what that means). Only problem seems to be the passenger door release which isn't working at all. I think there was an issue with the window mechanism so I'm guessing when they took off the door card they perhaps didn't fit everything back together because it worked Ok during the test drive. I need to contact the warranty folk tomorrow but it's no big deal - also gives me a chance to see the fellas at Lexus Stockport and mither them stupid about every single part of the car!

Oh, nearly forgot...the other thing was reversing sensors. For some reason I didin't even spot this car didn't have them. Maybe I was too excited when I test drove it? Not fond of the Halfords ones - is it possible to retro fit them (actual Lexus ones)?

Cheers

[dave1]

Only problem seems to be the passenger door release which isn't working at all. I think there was an issue with the window mechanism so I'm guessing when they took off the door card they perhaps didn't fit everything back together because it worked Ok during the test drive. I need to contact the warranty folk tomorrow

Congrats....GS is a great car. Which warranty folk must you contact?

[breezeblock]

Only problem seems to be the passenger door release which isn't working at all. I think there was an issue with the window mechanism so I'm guessing when they took off the door card they perhaps didn't fit everything back together because it worked Ok during the test drive. I need to contact the warranty folk tomorrow

Congrats....GS is a great car. Which warranty folk must you contact?

The company is called TWG Services - I've never heard of them before. Called them today and they said the Lexus dealer should sort this one because it was obviously like that when I picked it up. Problem is that means I have to spend half a day in Bradford tomorrow while they fix it.

[Chris Skelton]

Breezeblock.....Spick and span?.....

The noun spick has various meanings, or rather it had various meanings, as it is now rarely used outside of spick and span. These include: a side of bacon, a floret of lavender, a nail or spike, a thatching spar.

Likewise span has/had several meanings, including: the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, a measure of butter, a fetter or chain, a chip of wood (as the Norse word spann-nyr).

Just from those meanings, and there are more, we could generate sixteen possible combinations to form spick and span. It isn't clear which, if any, of those words were used when coining the phrase. Some clue might come from the fact that the phrase is very old and was originally spick and span-new. This is cited in Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives of the noble Grecians and Romanes, 1579:

"They were all in goodly gilt armours, and brave purple cassocks apon them, spicke, and spanne newe."

The alliteration in the phrase suggests the possibility that that one of the two words alluded to cleanliness and freshness and that the other just followed along. Which one is most associated with the qualities of spick and span? The suggestions most frequently made are that spick is a variant of spike or nail. In the 16th century nails were made of iron and soon tarnished. It is quite plausible that new nails would have become synonymous with cleanliness. We have the phrase as neat as a new pin, which has just that meaning. The old Dutch word spikspeldernieuw refers to newly made ships. The OED suggests that this is the origin of spick, although they offer no reason for that belief and none of the early citations of the phrase refer to shipping. As for span, chips of wood also display the same fresh, sharp-edged qualities and seem to be a plausible source for the use of the word here.