Never Owned A Lexus

[39buss]

Looked at my first lexus last weekend. Sad looking car on an outdoor dealers lot which was a pity for it had some good things going for it. Yesterday took my first drive in one, (gold badges,why?)with a brand new MOT(no advicers) one key but no history or mileage as the failed clocks were changed now showing 185000. The seller (dealer from home) is contacting VOSA so will hear from him shortly... or not!. Apart from that car was pretty good and YES I did like the overall feel of comfort, smooth quiet powerful ride and lighter and easier than a 5 or 7 series. Chassis number : JT153UF2000041677. Is this a Mk2 please. My last two cars were LPG and just loved the low running costs (47.9ppl up here) but my yearly mileage is low now so a very nice one would fit the bill. I'll keep you posted on my progress but it may take a while.

[ManicMark]

Hi theres a couple of lpg ones on eBay at the moment lowish miles also

[39buss]

Tried another Lexus today, MkIV , sat/nav, loads of history, 127000,drove beautifully but the body was touched in,in loads of places,no damage or dents, I assume knocks and scratches. It got worse:these are the things that dont work : both mirrors,remote locking on both keys,rear windows on drivers controls,CD cartridge wont eject,drivers seat belt on door post,a reasonably poor drivers seat. The remote locking is the biggest worry as the other faults 'may' just need a good auto-leccy. No matter you've still got to live with the poor paintwork. As it stands its no longer a class executive saloon ( from the outside) but can that be offset against a 'good price'. I'm pondering. Why the gold badges?.

[steveskeggy]

What is your budget? You seem to have looked at a couple of sheds so far, there are bad examples of every make of car, no matter what the make.

I was made to believe that the gold badges were a pointer to the car being an import, ie made for the Japanese market and then converted instead of being made specifically for the European market, which I understand have silver badges (though i could be wrong).

BTW the remote locking could be the least of your worries, that may be cured by a simple re-programming, where as the rest of the faults could be either something small (a fuse) or something large (new seat).

Did you try the SatNav, sometimes imports have SatNav or radio controls still in Japanese.

There are more than enough good examples out there to completely bypass the poor ones, if your budget is right and you are prepared to travel for it.

Tried another Lexus today, MkIV , sat/nav, loads of history, 127000,drove beautifully but the body was touched in,in loads of places,no damage or dents, I assume knocks and scratches. It got worse:these are the things that dont work : both mirrors,remote locking on both keys,rear windows on drivers controls,CD cartridge wont eject,drivers seat belt on door post,a reasonably poor drivers seat. The remote locking is the biggest worry as the other faults 'may' just need a good auto-leccy. No matter you've still got to live with the poor paintwork. As it stands its no longer a class executive saloon ( from the outside) but can that be offset against a 'good price'. I'm pondering. Why the gold badges?.

[39buss]

From what I've seen of ebay/autotrader/Lexus forum a MkIII or IV as I like the dash layout and general upgrades made over the years. Sat/Nav worked ok ,maps and audio came up nice and clear. Thanks for your points and I'll keep looking.

[sir john]

A bit of advice.. forgive me if im teaching you how to such eggs.

Buy the best you can.

Dont buy a Lexus with faults.. there are plenty out there that are perfect and they are not always any dearer.

I, of course, know this before i bought my 93 LS400. but i bought the first one i saw.

Why?? because i needed a car NOW! I had a £1,000 budget and wanted a safe 4 seater that wouldnt let me down.

I looked at Lexus because my mate has a GS300. I wasnt intending to keep it more than a couple of months as it was just a stop gap.

That was 14 months ago and i WOULD NOT PART with the old girl. only trouble is, it needs a few things doing that i could have avoided if id had time to look around a while.

So look at loads and buy the best. These cars are the best on the road. enjoy...

[ManicMark]

From what I've seen of ebay/autotrader/Lexus forum a MkIII or IV as I like the dash layout and general upgrades made over the years. Sat/Nav worked ok ,maps and audio came up nice and clear. Thanks for your points and I'll keep looking.

Hi the gold badges were just an option like the wood gear knob & half wood steering wheel. As people say there are good ones out there. Mine has a perfect history but the paint had suffered a bit ( black shows every blemish) but at £2250 a year ago I thought it was massive value. £3500 would have bought me a mint one.

[Manc]

From what I've seen of ebay/autotrader/Lexus forum a MkIII or IV as I like the dash layout and general upgrades made over the years. Sat/Nav worked ok ,maps and audio came up nice and clear. Thanks for your points and I'll keep looking.

Hi the gold badges were just an option like the wood gear knob & half wood steering wheel. As people say there are good ones out there. Mine has a perfect history but the paint had suffered a bit ( black shows every blemish) but at £2250 a year ago I thought it was massive value. £3500 would have bought me a mint one.

some say the gold badges should be the top of the range models, but this is a lie as mine has gold badges including aerial bolt, but is without the traction control, suspension adjustment & power switches (not the ECT/Power)...so i doubt very much it is top of range.

Apparently its a rare colour combo of white/silver outside with black interior!? and that earns the rights for my car to have the badges.....?

Well, it doesnt stick with me as a reason for the gold badges even tho the biege interiors i see are awful

I've lost my job and it could force me to sell my 93K plate - its had most common faults fixed, never broke down and still runs mint........you interested

[Nitmoi]

You could buy them Gold plated or get them done. I don't think Lexus did them - Too austentacious. (can I spell that ?)

[Ninety-Eight]

You could buy them Gold plated or get them done. I don't think Lexus did them - Too austentacious. (can I spell that ?)

They are specified as part of the DHP package on the Mk4 so they were definitly a factory part offered on at least some models.

You can buy both silver and gold ones off eBay so many owners may have converted one way or the other.

I think it depends on the colour of the car. My Mk4 is purple (yes, really, although the log book says it is red) and the gold badges and aerial look neat on that. I saw a lilac one (yes, really) and the gold badges looked awful, silver would have suited it better. Same with black ones. All IMO of course.

It seems to me the gold is more common than the silver finish. Maybe thats because the gold ones catch they eye more, I dunno.

I'll echo the "buy the best you can" comment as you'd spend more fixing a bunch of electrical faults, bushes, etc. than you would pay extra to buy a good one.