Gs250 New Owner

[VisionEng]

Hello All,

I am another new owner of a GS250 Luxury ML, having previously happily owned a IS300 from new, which was still going well at 210k !!!

First impressions are really good. The overall comfort and feelgood factor are first rate although having driven the IS300 for eight years, I can feel the slight amount of lack of torque compared with it. Would have loved to get a GS350, but I am guessing that its not available in Europe. I reckon that would have been ideal for me. I did briefly consider the 450h which I understand does have the 3.5L engine, but literally 90% plus of all my driving is on motorways which sort of makes a bit of a nonsense having a hybrid, yes?

Am only just ploughing through the 892 (!!!) page owners manual and its pretty complicated - almost daunting really although of course you can just drive the car anyway.

I notice in the afore mentioned manual, that they recommend NOT jet washing the car due to the half dozen or so parking sensors around the periphery. Does anyone have any experience of this? I tend to use a local hand car wash and they always jet wash the car first with pretty powerful industrial units to blast of the dirt first. Am I really going to break the sensors doing this?

Have only had the car for a week, and seem to be getting about 33mpg for my long haul stuff, which although not brilliant by modern standards, beats the 27mpg I was getting for identical journeys on the IS.

Sorry to hear that paint chips seem to still be a problem with Lexus. My IS bonnet looked awful after 8 years/ 210k.

Still lots to learn and enjoy, including parking what seems to be a very large car at the moment!

Would highly recommend to anyone thinking of one. Prior to opting for the GS, I test drove a Merc C Class Coupe which I found too uncomfortable to drive and an Audi A4 and A5 which although ticked many boxes just seemed too pricey for what I was getting.

Regards,

marc

[Silver Arrow]

Welcome mate - I bought mine from Derby....

The car is sensational and like you I do wish it had more torque. It seems to just drop a cog at the slightest whiff of right boot lol.

MPG wise - Wendle has a 450h F Sport, but on a run I do get 34-38 consistently. It deffo improves if you use ECO on the motorway, and shove it into Sport for a quick overtake....

i considered the 450h, but for the extra cost you can buy A LOT of fuel....

The refinement is amazing....the paint is still soft....and yes it feel huge!

[VisionEng]

Thanks for the reply. I also bought mine from Derby - it was a very smooth and good experience, particularly as it was a demo car with 10k on the clock and 10k off the new price. I'm not normally that good with haggling, but I am quietly pleased with myself this time around.

Big thumbs up for Lexus Derby.

Cheers,

[Silver Arrow]

I don't actually live in Derby, but their service was superb, as you say very smooth and the guys there are very helpful indeed - I actually wasn't considering the Lexus at all after my shocking experience of an IS220d (one of the first made in early 2006, brand new but really bad car, 2.5 years of sheer madness.....).

I had an appointment at Audi across the road. We got there early, so popped into the Lex showroom just to snoot around, booked a test drive to kill some time just for the 'eck of it....ultimately walking away from Audi as they had a really bad attitude there, arrogant and the usual feeling that they were doing me a favour even just giving me their time/insisting on a short test drive because the car I was looking had a small amount of fuel in it etc etc - you know - the usual....

....and I ended up buying the Lexus that day! Amazing....I did haggle....and managed to get a reasonably good discount off list price for a car that was "in transit". 2 weeks later it was here....and to be honest if I was to get another Lexus I would just go straight there!

But I don't regret it all, even after 7 months. Just this morning I was still amazed at how quiet and relaxed the drive is, compared to the hard riding Audi A7's and 5 series BM's I was looking at buying. The car has been faultless other than a juddering wiper.

i too would have got the GS350 if it was sold here....no question. The emissions would be too high. Would consider importing one though from Japan....I thought the Hybrid was just a bit too expensive....

[steve2006]

Thanks for the reply. I also bought mine from Derby - it was a very smooth and good experience, particularly as it was a demo car with 10k on the clock and 10k off the new price. I'm not normally that good with haggling, but I am quietly pleased with myself this time around.

Big thumbs up for Lexus Derby.

Cheers,

I use Lexus Derby for parts and as you say they are excellent, the times I have been in there and got the VIP treatment (coffee and biscuits) for a £10.00 LOC discounted oil filter.

Always get invited to the launches and Open Road Days even though I think they have now sussed the only time I will be buying a new Lexus is if my lottery numbers come up!

A great bunch of guys and gals.

Looking at your username I take it you work in broadcast engineering?

[Gra56]

Hello All,

I am another new owner of a GS250 Luxury ML, having previously happily owned a IS300 from new, which was still going well at 210k !!!

First impressions are really good. The overall comfort and feelgood factor are first rate although having driven the IS300 for eight years, I can feel the slight amount of lack of torque compared with it. Would have loved to get a GS350, but I am guessing that its not available in Europe. I reckon that would have been ideal for me. I did briefly consider the 450h which I understand does have the 3.5L engine, but literally 90% plus of all my driving is on motorways which sort of makes a bit of a nonsense having a hybrid, yes?

Am only just ploughing through the 892 (!!!) page owners manual and its pretty complicated - almost daunting really although of course you can just drive the car anyway.

I notice in the afore mentioned manual, that they recommend NOT jet washing the car due to the half dozen or so parking sensors around the periphery. Does anyone have any experience of this? I tend to use a local hand car wash and they always jet wash the car first with pretty powerful industrial units to blast of the dirt first. Am I really going to break the sensors doing this?

Have only had the car for a week, and seem to be getting about 33mpg for my long haul stuff, which although not brilliant by modern standards, beats the 27mpg I was getting for identical journeys on the IS.

Sorry to hear that paint chips seem to still be a problem with Lexus. My IS bonnet looked awful after 8 years/ 210k.

Still lots to learn and enjoy, including parking what seems to be a very large car at the moment!

Would highly recommend to anyone thinking of one. Prior to opting for the GS, I test drove a Merc C Class Coupe which I found too uncomfortable to drive and an Audi A4 and A5 which although ticked many boxes just seemed too pricey for what I was getting.

Regards,

marc

Congrats on new car. Just for info I do 90% on motorways and in 14000 miles I have averaged 38.2 mpg. Getting slightly worse now as I use the performance more. Glad you like the IS 300, I had one too and probably the best Lexus I have owned although the new GS is pretty good with all the toys and power.

[VisionEng]

Hello Steve,

Yes, the username is a bit of a giveaway. Have been in OB's since 1988, freelance for the last 10 years and mainly do Football and Cricket.

Cheers

[Ullevi]

Hi Marc,

Thanks for your write up!

I currently drive a 2009 GS300. I'm likely to change sometime this year and was considering the GS250. I am a bit concerned that I'll miss some of the performance that I enjoy in my current car.

How do you find day to day performance? How are you getting on with the handling and ride quality? I must admit I do like to drive enthusiastically but I also don't want a hard ride.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Vince.

[VisionEng]

Hello Vince,

I have now had the GS250 for 6 weeks and am still learning plenty. I am mainly using the Eco mode for my motorway journeys to try and squeeze more MPG out of it. Thats fine for cruising, but I can certainly feel the need for more power when overtaking and/or hill climbing. In this mode I am averageing about 36 MPG which is great compared to my 27 that I was used to with the IS300.

To be honest, I have only used the Sport mode on one occasion, and I was pleasantly surprised by the more spritely performance. If petrol wasn't so damned expensive, I'm sure I would be using it this way all the time!

The handling is just fine, nice and comfortable but no noticeable roll or sponginess. Obviously, it is a much bigger car than my previous one. No one could ever accuse the GS250 of having a hard ride. This is my favourite aspect of the car. It is sublime and feels just like an executive cruiser. You get a genuine feeling of being cosseted, and you can cruise along the motorway and just let the world go by.

The seats are exceptionally comfortable just like most Japanese cars, unlike the famous German marks which the motoring journalists love so much - they obviously don't drive them for hours on end like real people!

Are there any minus points?

The Sat Nav - Oh dear. The previous model in the IS300 wasn't that clever, but this is worse I'm afraid. I went from Derby to Huddersfield last week (about 55 miles) and it wanted to take me via the A1, M62 which would have added about 50 miles to the journey - crazy! The traffic information system is just a nuisance. The other night, the A500 had an exit closed and it popped up the 'Do you want to see an alternative route?' every 30 seconds or so for half an hour even though I had entered 'No' the first time. I just wanted to turn the thing off.

The fact that everything has to be accessed via the screen system is also a bit annoying, but to be fair, all modern cars are like this - its just the current trend.

Example -: to turn on/off the RDS traffic announcement messages used to be one push button above the radio. Push it once to enable, again to cancel - simple. Now, you have to go through several pages of software to do the same thing - not safe whilst driving.

The ML audio system is just great - well worth going for the 'Luxury' just for that.

Overall, very pleased I went for it and I'm sure you would be too.

Cheers,

Marc

[Ullevi]

Thanks for the info, Marc.

I guess I'll have to test drive the GS250 to see how performance compares.

The GS450h sounds plenty fast but I was hoping to avoid a hybrid, I just have a nagging doubt about their complexity and possible reliability issues. I must say I have not heard of any reliability issues with the hybrids so perhaps I have nothing to fear.

Decisions, decisions!

[VisionEng]

OK Vince,

I briefly considered the 450h because of the much higher power, but until I stop doing 30k miles a year on motorways it will have to wait. Even Lexus sort of admitted that for someone who spends his life on motorways, hybrid would be a bit of a waste. Personally I wouldn't be too concerned about complexity/reliability - if anyone can cope with that sort of thing its the Japanese in my opinion.

Cheers,

Marc

[Silver Arrow]

I also considered the GS450, for all of about 10 minutes....I worked out that the extra MPG against the extra cost to buy (some £7000 or so) meant I could buy lots and lots of petrol, plus a small boot, extra weight etc; didn't make sense for me with the needs I have. I only do 7-9000 miles p/a.

But as stated above, if you need more power, Sport seems to do the job, and I too just waft about in Eco mode. The only other bad point is that the car has so little torque that it does just drop gears and the economy can suffer. I've found that actually using sport in manual mode at certain times helps - you can force the car to hold onto gears for longer/stay in a higher gear and it really helps economy on A roads.

Even without resorting to that I can drive around town and get 18-25mpg, or 32-38 now on a run. This is all at legal speed limits of course . I haven't zero'd the MPG reader since new, and it shows 29.1 mpg, but a lot of my journeys are dual carriageways.

Compared to my old diesel 5 series (LCI 5 series), that was 22-29 in town, 43-46ish if I recall on a similar run. The BMW long term MPG was 36.8, but it was a 3.0ld 6 Cyl and auto (525d)

All that aside, it is so much better than even the new 5 series to drive, one which the journo's rave about; the 5 series has a hard unforgiving ride, stingy kit and so-so reliability. Every where in the world the GS gets rave reviews....except the UK!

[Ullevi]

Thanks for your report, Silver Arrow.

I'll give both a look in the near future, but from what you are saying, I suspect the GS250 may be the one to go for.

I'll keep you posted.

[jb_soprano]

I looked at lexus Europe website, GS350 AWD is sold in Poland so obviously it meets euro emissions, without being stereotypical bit of an irony selling it there of all places and not even sold in Germany and seeing UK is one of Lexus Europes biggest market after Russia anyway

[Silver Arrow]

Its not that it won't meet regulations, but no one would buy it because it's Co2 would be so high.....

Most exec cars are bought as company cars in the UK- and it wouldn't cost in. Even the GS250 doesn't, at all!

[wendle]

Thanks for the info, Marc.

I guess I'll have to test drive the GS250 to see how performance compares.

The GS450h sounds plenty fast but I was hoping to avoid a hybrid, I just have a nagging doubt about their complexity and possible reliability issues. I must say I have not heard of any reliability issues with the hybrids so perhaps I have nothing to fear.

Decisions, decisions!

the new GS 300h is comming out soon, may be something to concider

[Ullevi]

Thanks to all for your advice.

The good news is that I have just put a deposit down on a red GS250 F-Sport with black interior. Will be picking it up next month as soon as I return from hols. I am getting a cracking deal from Lexus Coventry who have been great.

I tried both the GS250 F-Sport and the GS450h Premier while my GS300 was in for a service, and whilst I loved the straight line speed of the hybrid, I preferred the way the 250 drove and handled, and ultimately liked the F-Sport interior more.

I can't wait !!!

[ColinBarber]

I tried both the GS250 F-Sport and the GS450h Premier while my GS300 was in for a service, and whilst I loved the straight line speed of the hybrid, I preferred the way the 250 drove and handled, and ultimately liked the F-Sport interior more.

Surely it would have made sense to test the GS450h F-Sport to compare against the 250? The different suspension, 4 wheel steer and variable gear steering is what makes the F-sport handle better rather than just NA vs Hybrid. I guess price came into it?

[Ullevi]

I tried both the GS250 F-Sport and the GS450h Premier while my GS300 was in for a service, and whilst I loved the straight line speed of the hybrid, I preferred the way the 250 drove and handled, and ultimately liked the F-Sport interior more.

Surely it would have made sense to test the GS450h F-Sport to compare against the 250? The different suspension, 4 wheel steer and variable gear steering is what makes the F-sport handle better rather than just NA vs Hybrid. I guess price came into it?

Yep, ultimately I preferred the feel of the drive the GS250 gave, it felt a touch lighter (which it is) when cornering and the boot is slightly larger (useful for when taking kids to uni).

And yes, the deal they put together for me was a clincher.

It may not have been the most scientifically valid comparison, although I did test drive a GS450h F-Sport about 6 months ago, but it was clear to me when I drove the hybrid this time around, that I was never going to pay the extra premium for one. I specifically chose my current GS 300 (one of the last sold in the UK) because I didn't want another hybrid after the RX400h I'd owned.

Just personal preferences, I suppose.

[Silver Arrow]

Actually, if not mistaken, the Premier has the variable suspension, and it might (though not sure) have the 4 wheel steering etc too.

I couldn't justify £8-10k premium for a hybrid. The 250 might not be as quick, but it's OK, and you can buy a lot of extra petrol for £8000!

2nd hand it's a different matter. The GS tends to lose value like a stone dropping out of sky in the UK, so if I was looking for a 2nd hand one, then in 2 years you'll probably be able to get hold of a 2 year old 450h F sport for £20k, or a 250 F sport for like £16k and thats from the Lexus dealers....thats my guestimate. They will be cracking 2nd hand buys whatever!

[ColinBarber]

Yes you are correct, the Premium does have the adaptive suspension although it is only the F Sport that gets the rear wheel steer and the variable gear ratio steering.

The GS is starting to drop now, more so on the 250 with Lexus offering up to £4k off deals for used model when taking out finance. I think once the 300h is available the 250 will drop even faster.

[Ullevi]

I'm on holiday after next week, then I'll collect my GS250 F-Sport the day after I return!

I can't wait!

Here she is when on display at the dealer:

[Ullevi]

Well, the day came today and I am the proud owner of a GS 250. Not driven in anger yet, just spent time setting things up.

Here are some pics:

[normski2]

Very nice indeed. Trust you will be very satisfied. Nice colour too.

Have to admit the front end is growing on me the more I see of it. No doubt the new is250 will do the same with time.

[Ullevi]

Very nice indeed. Trust you will be very satisfied. Nice colour too.

Have to admit the front end is growing on me the more I see of it. No doubt the new is250 will do the same with time.

Thanks, unfortunately the photos seem to have been cropped when uploaded.

I saw a couple of the new IS at the dealership and must admit they are mighty good looking cars. In photos, the front looks like it doesn't work, but in the flesh the Mesa red and the white ones I saw yesterday looked fabulous.

ETA Ooops, just realised you can click on the thumbnails and see the whole picture!