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Hi there guys, it's been a while since I have been on here. Since I last posted I'v gone and gotten myself married, but much more importantly I'v also ( for only a very brief spell ) owned a 1998 LS 400. Un-fortunately though it didn't capture me the way my old GS 300 did.

Therefore I have now settled it with myself that although not really needed, I am going to treat myself to a very fresh 2001 - 2005 GS 300. Think of it as a wedding present to myself :flowers: .

Anyhow, browsing through the auto trader I came across two cars, both 2003 plate, both in a lovely light-ish blue with cream interior, one with 63000 miles and the other with only 33000 miles, both dealer cars. The higher miler apparently has a F.S.H and is also based way down south which I am hoping means less possibility of underside corrosion. The lower miler is based in Sale in Cheshire I think ? Forgive my geography here but I believe it is in the upper-midlands?? Anyway it has no mention of service history and from the pictures the seats seem slightly more used than the higher mileage car.

These cars are listed at £3985 and £4495, which to me sounds slightly over priced no? Although I have no problem in paying a little extra for a pristine example. Now as I am over here in the R.O.I it is not as easy as just go and have a look so if I do decide to travel I will need to have my mind made up beforehand.

I would greatly appreciate any of your opinions on these cars regarding price etc. or if anyone has maybe viewed these cars or has any knowledge of them could they please let me know.

As always thanks in advance guys,

Colm.

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Have you got links to the cars? My 99 GS300 Sport had 136,000 miles on it, and ran like a dream, so either of those whould be good unless seriously abused. Low mileage engine may not help on the rubber suspension parts though, as perishing plays a role as well, You will only tell this by seeing the car and driving it unfortunately.

Did you have a mk2 before? If not, I would recommend going and trying out a couple local to you (Even if you aren't interested in buying thwm), pick one good looking one, and one dog. You should then get a feel of what to look for when you are heading to view the potential candidate(s).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi, all, guess who bought the 33,000-mile car.........

Hope I haven't made a mistake, but it does drive beautifully.

What are the odds with the cambelt? It's not been changed, but in my enthusiasm to buy, I didn't think about the possibility that age would be just as crucial as distance.

It does have fsh, been done every year, regardless of mileage. I topped up the washer bottle today and realised that's two cats under there, this is the first really big engine I have had, I usually have Volvo's but they just aren't smooth enough over bumps.

Any answer welcome.

Neil

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Comgrats on the pircjase B)

If it is a full Lexus history, they should be able to tell you of the cam belt has been done. There is normally a sticker on the cam cover with the mileage written on it when it was last changed. If it hasn't been changed, I would get it done pretty soon. Unlike the mk1 gs300, the mk2 has an interference engine, so valves will hit pistons if the belt snaps. You can pop the top front cam cover off pretty easily to check its condition.

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Thank you Tigerfish, I'll get out there and have a look at the belt and if it looks the vaguest bit dicky, I'll get the dealer to replace it next month (no money left this month!). Presumably any sign of wear or stretch is bad, please contradict me if I'm being optimistic here!

The last couple of services are non-franchise dealers, so If the belt hasn't been done, then I think I overpaid, but it drives nicely and is sooooo comfortable. I thought it would ride bumps better, but most of the roads here in Sheffield are dreadful, so few cars stand a chance of impressing.

I don't remember a sticker.....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Colm,

I'm a fellow GS owner in Cork! Would you be better off buying in ROI? Large engined barges are probably cheaper here than anywhere else in the world! With your apparent budget I think you should be able to squeeze into a 3rd generation 2005- GS if you wanted. I do appreciate though that there is not the same level of choice here.

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Hi Colm,

I'm a fellow GS owner in Cork! Would you be better off buying in ROI? Large engined barges are probably cheaper here than anywhere else in the world! With your apparent budget I think you should be able to squeeze into a 3rd generation 2005- GS if you wanted. I do appreciate though that there is not the same level of choice here.

I've heard that about ROI vehicles to the extent IIRC one LOC member bought a Lexus from a dealer over there and the dealer shipped it over on the ferry.

Is it the fuel price in the ROI or other market factors causing big cars to be unwanted?

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Hi Colm,

I'm a fellow GS owner in Cork! Would you be better off buying in ROI? Large engined barges are probably cheaper here than anywhere else in the world! With your apparent budget I think you should be able to squeeze into a 3rd generation 2005- GS if you wanted. I do appreciate though that there is not the same level of choice here.

I've heard that about ROI vehicles to the extent IIRC one LOC member bought a Lexus from a dealer over there and the dealer shipped it over on the ferry.

Is it the fuel price in the ROI or other market factors causing big cars to be unwanted?

Fuel price is actually slightly cheaper here generally AFAIK! The main reason is road tax. Tax on my GS300 is approx £1250 stg per annum! And that's not even the highest rate - if my GS was registered after July 2008 (when road tax moved to an emissions, rather than engine size, basis) I'd be paying £2000 stg! The Irish public have always had an aversion to "big" (i.e. > 2 litre) engines, and it's getting worse. For new cars, it's really only small cars that sell in any numbers as patrol variants. Virtually anything sold in the Focus size class or bigger is diesel, generally under 2 litre. The new BMW 518d should sell here like hotcakes! Most petrol cars over 2.5 litre and over 7 years old are very hard to shift. Almost everything 3 litre or bigger and over 8/9 years old is all but worthless. About two years ago I was offered £2500 stg for my (then) 6 yr old / 90k mile / FSH / good condition GS300 w/ nav against a newer 450H - by a Lexus dealer! God knows what an independent place would have offered.... I declined! Still driving it as it's not worth getting rid of it for buttons - it's worth more to me than that.

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  • 6 months later...

Update - I got the cambelt done, fixed price £300 at the dealer. It turned out that the water pump also needed changing, but there was no labour charge, because the engine was already dismantled. Wonderful service at Lexus sheffield. Only downside is that now they keep telling me about cars I can't afford.

Now all I've got is a funny wheel wobble/vibration, it sort of goes wobble, WOBBLE, wobble, gone and cycles through every few seconds once you get over 75. Not that I do, of course, but if I did, it would do that. I'll start a new thread about it.

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