New To Lexus Starting With A Gs450 H

[doro708]

Finally I managed to buy a car that i always wanted but i was thinking it will be a long time until i will manage to get it. After 7 years since i got my driver licence and 9 cars , number 10 had to be special so i moved from a Honda Accord 2.0 vtec executive to a different league and managed to get myself a gs450 h . Initially i was looking for a gs 300 because it was cheaper but i managed to find this one for a good price and i decided to go for it .

I don't have any photos yet because i just bought it 2 days ago , it is still raining and it need a really good valeting because the previous owner i think was eating , sleeping and living in the car by the mess that it is inside but i will fix that as soon as the weather will improve and i will add some photos.

I am very happy with the car . From Norwich to Sudbury where I live i got 34.8 MPG , very pleased with that . I have already read all the handbooks and spent a couple of hours in the car trying to figure out all the gadgets.

The car is a gs 450 h SE from 2006 , 1 previous owner , FSH , 111200 miles and is in a decent condition.

Of course i also have to solve a couple things:

1) wheel alignment - i have already been today to a place called tread first and had the alignment done but not good enough so tomorrow morning i will be back again and they also said that they can't adjust anything on the rear because is very difficult to have access

2) car needs a extreme interior valeting because it is a very dirty so will get a full valeting pretty soon

3) 3'' crack in windscreen under the road tax which will be solved on the insurance pretty soon

4) a service - last one was done 10k miles ago so i think is time for a new one and i would like to have your guidance if is possible for a good and not very expensive lexus specialist in suffolk/essex area

5) sometimes the left Xenon bulb goes off so i will check it see if is any connection or swap the bulbs and if the bulb is the problem i will buy 2 new ones and change them.

6) rattle and squeaks near the glove box and front of the dash so i will try a method that i have seen here on the forum at MR Shades

7) cupholder lid is broken and a bit of lacquer from the central console wood trim is cracked so i will see how it is possible to refurbish it

I hope i will be able to solve all the problems asap and enjoy the car .

I would like to also ask the owners of gs 450 h if what has to be changed at this mileage as a part from the service other than usual air filter, oil and filter and if i have to change the gearbox oil although the gearbox is smooth and nice.

Kind regards,

Adrian

[Ken997]

Welcome to the club man.. You will love the GS. I bought mine just 10 days ago and i love it. Mine is a 2007 model with full options list. I found it fairly quickly and just decided to go for it.

Mine too needed some attention. It has covered 60k miles and it was due a full service which i got done yesterday. Check the spark plugs have been done as they need replacing every 50k and they are a bitch to change. Im in Dublin and it cost €300 just to have the plugs changed, something about the location of the rear 2 plugs being time consuming.

A full service includes the brake fluid, oil, filters and a full diag check which will look for any faults logged on the ECU.

The dash rattle can be fixed by getting a small piece of cloth, about 3 inches by 6, roll it over a few times to about 2 inched by 2 and stull it down the dash between windscreen and the dashboard. It goes to the right side of the left speaker on the dash. This sorted my rattle.

Headlights that go on and off are a sign of bulds which are past their best, i replaced both of mine and the differrence is jugh so really worth your while getting them done.

Get the jobs done and you wil have a cracker..

[doro708]

Thank you mate!

I already love it but i will even more after all the bits will be done but anyway i have already started to do a couple of things .

1. Tracking done now , car handles really well.

2. Lights sorted , just bought some d4s bulbs from eBay for £25 and fitted those tonight and thankfully everything is working well . The car still had the original bulbs is guess , the philips.

3. Bought all the tools necessary to fix the dash but i will do that after i will change the windscreen so in a bout 2 weeks.

4. Next week the car will have a full detailing on the exterior and interior so it should be like new after that , except alloys which will need to be refurbished sooner or later.

5. The car will get a service this month as well , still don't know which dealer i should choose in the Suffolk, Essex area or if there are any lexus specialist around.

6. Can you tell me if the heated/cooled switches are illuminated at night , not only if the heat is on or cooling , also if they have the green light like the others switches and the same for the power hybrid and hybrid snow switch because mine are not and i would like to fix that as well.

Kind regards,

Adrian

[petayV8]

this is my dream Lexus! congrats on the new car. im going to give mine a good going over this morning, looks like a nice morning for it

[doro708]

Thank you petayV8 . I hope soon you will have your dream get alive. It really is an amazing car that make me to drive very relaxed and put me in a good mood everytime . I will be in a even better mood after i will have all the bits sorted because i hate having my cars not how i like .

[Keleko]

Welcome to the club Adrian.

I've had mine for about 4 months now and love it to bits. It annoys my dad that mine is faster than his LS600h hehehe

[doro708]

Thanks Keleko .

I am still enjoying it so far but i still have to do a lot of things to be exactly as it should be . Recently i changed the air filter with a K&N one , next friday it will be in for a service with the Lexus Ipswich dealer , in 2 weeks it will have the windscreen replaced . I also order some bonnet struts because i think mine are a bit weak and a mini vci Toyota cable with software just for fun. I also think i need to have my alloys refurbished or replaced because they are corroded and on the front left is losing some pressure but soon it will be done everything .

Regarding the speed yes it is something totally new for me and i enjoy it especially with such a decent fuel economy but i think i would like to be in the LS a bit more than in the GS :P

[Keleko]

Thanks Keleko .

I am still enjoying it so far but i still have to do a lot of things to be exactly as it should be . Recently i changed the air filter with a K&N one , next friday it will be in for a service with the Lexus Ipswich dealer , in 2 weeks it will have the windscreen replaced . I also order some bonnet struts because i think mine are a bit weak and a mini vci Toyota cable with software just for fun. I also think i need to have my alloys refurbished or replaced because they are corroded and on the front left is losing some pressure but soon it will be done everything .

Regarding the speed yes it is something totally new for me and i enjoy it especially with such a decent fuel economy but i think i would like to be in the LS a bit more than in the GS :P

The LS is nice but it's just a bit big for me when it comes to parking. It does, however, have a few more toys which I would have liked to have seen on mine.

My GS doesn't seem to be that great on the mpg but then again I don't drive like a saint. I get around 23 round town so I think I may need a good service to see if I can bring it up.

[doro708]

Well i get about 27-28 but i do mostly short runs about 7 miles each way to work and when i finish i spend a couple of minutes stuck in traffic . I reckon a good service , good tyres and tyre pressure and that's it for better mpg , other than that you can't do much.

[Keleko]

Well i get about 27-28 but i do mostly short runs about 7 miles each way to work and when i finish i spend a couple of minutes stuck in traffic . I reckon a good service , good tyres and tyre pressure and that's it for better mpg , other than that you can't do much.

I do about a 12 mile round trip 6 days a week. I've got Pirelli on the front and Uniroyal on the back, just pumped all my tyres up to 35psi so we shall see if that helps. MOT is due in march so will get a good service done too.

[doro708]

Hi everyone.

Today i have been to Lexus Ipswich for the minor service on my car , 110k miles. I paid £179 , the fixed price from lexus official website . I have not been very impressed with the service , i waited from 2 pm till 4 pm and it was really cold inside. At the end i have asked the guy from the service desk if they also checked the transmission fluid because i told them that since booked the car for the service and he said that gs450h is special and the oil in the gearbox is guaranteed for life so i also wanted to ask you your opinion . They said that i also have a excessive oil leak from offside front engine which requires a good clean and rechecking in 200 miles . The problem with the leak is that i since i bought my car i have worked a bit on it and i have inspected the oil and engine a couple times and i have not seen any leak , there is no oil under the car since i bought it and when i asked him from where it could be he said that it will need further investigation because they can't say the cause yet .They also said that both rear calipers show sign of corrosion and need to be stripped and checked but i think i will do that myself . I told them that i have some noise from the back and they said is the heat shield but i will inspect it because they want £64.50 for it + labor. I have also asked prices for the heated seat bulb : £7.26 , pwr/ect/snow button bulb: £5.33 and i wanted to buy some clips for the plastic cover trims from the engine and price for all was : £19.99 a bit expensive i think so i said i will try to source them myself but i told them to bring me the bulb for the heated seats and for the pwr/ect/snow button as i couldn't find them anywhere else.

As a final note i am not very impressed because the lack of customer care(waiting in cold for 2 hours),unclear answer for the oil leak which i don't think it i have it ,every time when i was asking a question i couldn't get any answer, price for the parts was £40.95 , labor £95.70 , I have done the first service since i bought the car at Lexus for my peace of mind but from now on i will try to find someone else.

Please let me know if any of you changed the transmission fluid and knows from secure sources that this is a serviceable item .

Kind regards,

Adrian

[AdamBu]

I've spent some time in the Lexus Ipswich showroom and it is a bit chilly in there, typical showroom though.

Not a problem for me as it's only a 10 minute walk back to my house from the showroom or do what I do and pop into the swallow and have a bite to eat

They do need some customer service training too, I went in there and enquired about parts and to say at least he was blunt and off with me

[doro708]

Well now i got a really nice cold from there so i will spend my weekend in bed . To me it looked like the guy from there was not capable to give a decent answer to any question and he didn't really care about customers. At the end when i received the paper with what has been done on a couple jobs it was ticked R from replace , thing like diesel fuel filter (on a petrol car),A from adjusted on air filter and inverter coolant and a couple other things that i could not understand because it wasn't clear and when i asked why is an R for the diesel fuel filter he said maybe the technician made a mistake and i asked the same about the air filter because i told him i replaced the original one with a K&N and he said he has no idea. Today if i will fell ok i will check it anyway and also the oil level because yesterday i was tired and it was raining and i just wanted to get home.

[coneybiller]

Defo check to see if theyve replaced your K&N, I also have 1 fitted but put the sticker on the airbox to say do not replace! My lexus dealer (cheltenham) is pretty good, seem to be very helpful! Although again they always seem to dodge questions, but I think thats what service advisors do so they don't end up with too many awkward time consuming/bonus sapping jobs!

I got the same reply regarding the transmission oil at lexus of stoke, but when i visited a lexus specialist in newport, I had them replace the oil to which he said was absolutely filthy and long over due a change! It takes an oil called ATF-WS which is a toyota only oil and only manufactured in japan by toyota (apparently). Can't remember exactly how much it cost me but wasn't overly expensive! Didn't notice much of a difference from the change either but obviously worthwhile doing from the state of the oil!

I had an oil leak from the back rear rocker cover, check to see if your car has had the valve spring recall within the last 12 months (probably longer ago though), if so you could argue that they havent fitted the rocker cover correctly causing an oil leak. You'll have to go to the garage that carried out the recall but they should replace it under parts/labour warantee! Thats what I did anyway :winky:

Oh and rear callipers are renowned for seizing on the 3GS line, usually ends up with new callipers, or you can unsieze it yourself with a blow torch and hammer then sanding the slider pins and regreasing! Ball ache though!

[doro708]

Thanks for your information Coneybiller.

Regarding the filter i have checked Saturday and it's fine they have not changed anything and exactly like you i had the k&n badge on the airbox . With the oil i will also try to find someone , maybe roy's motor in Norwich and see their opinion , now i have 112k or less and i am not doing many miles . About the oil leak i have checked saturday and today again but nothing , i guess they just wanted to mess up with me maybe because i sprayed the bonnet latch with some grease and it was a bit oily there but nothing excessive and anyone would know that anything oily will be from there .About the rear calipers i will see what i;m gonna do . I have seen on the eurocarparts website calipers from pagid for £100 so i might change them .

Anyway today i had my full valeting including exterior protection detail & interior , leather cleaned and conditioned and carpets cleaned and I am keep wondering if i am a guy who cares too much or i am being an idiot but for example i will post a couple photos with what i found and think that is not acceptable to see when someone ask you £150.

I have to mention that i have left my car home and took my girlfriend car to work so when i arrived home from work my car was ready and the guy gone so we were supposed to meet after that but after i inspected the car i called him and explained him what i think it was wrong so tomorrow he will come and sort some of them but he said that on the leather because is perforated he can not take out those bits inside the holes and all the cars have this problem and and also now that he cleaned the leather and treated it has lost a bit color like is on the door card so i told him that is not really acceptable .

Now i am asking for your opinions guys : I really am a very difficult guy or I am asking too much ?

I love my cars and i always loved them so maybe i have to high expectations from people who work on them .

[doro708]

After i managed to bring the car almost to my standard and make it pretty much faultless and a place to enjoy i decided to also post some photos of how it was when i bought it and how is now with the new alloys .

[Shepherd]

one of the best things you can do, if you have time, is to get into car detailing. Load of advice at http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/

I used to clean, wash and polish my car myself a lot. You can save a fortune, get a bit of exercise and the satisfaction at looking back at a beautifully detailed car is worth it.

[doro708]

Thank you for your advice Shepherd. I have already started slowly to buy some stuff , i just bought a pressure washer , some decent car shampoo, wax , alloy cleaner , some interior treatment for leather and plastics so when the weather will improve a bit i will try them .