Looking At A Gs300....

[Ficcus]

Noticed this is up for sale near me:

http://www.castlemotors.com/2005-05-lexus-gs300-se-l-luxury-saloon-auto-wd05cpx-16989.html

Thoughts?

I'm interesting to know the running costs of something like the GS300 (will be searching the forums a little later today for more information). I do quite a lot of short journeys of ~3 miles, is something like the GS300 "okay" for that sort of usage?

The example above looks great, but I'm concerned about disproportionate running costs. For example, cam belt costs, tyre size (can't tell if those are 18/19" above), servicing and general ongoing maintenance....

Thanks

[IHgs300]

Welcome to the club Bill, I have just purchased a gs300 myself (although a lot older model). I have owned both an is200 and a 300 and found no difference in mpg.

The wife does short journeys and fuel usage is very managable. The more modern engines should be even better.

If you decide to buy a lexus you wont regret it.

[Bluesman]

Do like that interior, very smart. Mike

[RayKhan]

Buy it you'll Love it

[bigegg]

In my experience (not with Lexa) - big engined cars don't like short runs.

Having said that - if you buy a Lexus, you won't regret it.

An "italian tune-up" once a month, and make sure you stick to the 12 month service interval, regardless of the actual mileage (unless you do the 10,000 miles sooner), and the 3-mile journeys won't do any harm.

As to mileage - a couple of years ago I compared a 2.0 petrol omega, and a 3.0 petrol omega (both estates) over 3 months and about 1500 miles each - petrol was in the 125p/l range

The mpg and thus the cost per mile worked out almost exactly the same - 22p/mile

It worked out at +47.6p per journey for the 3.0.

ie, the cost per mile was the same, but it cost 50p extra every time I started the engine, or that each journey was 2 miles longer in the 3.0. If you're only doing 2 mile journeys, then this could double your fuel costs compared to a 2.0 - on a 100 mile journey, you won't notice the difference.

If the lexus is the same, that should give you a ball park figure as to how much your short journeys will cost you.