ColinBarber

Specs vary country to country. The UK Premier has full leather. Not sure about Japan models, they possibly have the option to have it or not.

You don't. You get MOT cover which will fix a failure under warranty but you still pay for the MOT test itself. You do get full roadside assistance as part of the warranty 🙂

I think the problems with the steering were covered via a recall so you should be okay there.

I don't think brand is too important but you should get an AGM one, for safety reasons and so that can stand up to deep cycling better than standard flooded batteries which is important on a hybrid. These don't tend to last more that 5 years so others hopefully can give you their brand recommendations.

A mod pulled it due to breach of the forums T&Cs (Treat your fellow members with respect) and a complain by another forum member

Hi Engine issues aren't common, but then again the GS300 isn't a common car. The issues with direct injection will cause carbon build up on the inlet valves leading to poor idling and high oil consumption - it won't cause an engine failure. If possible check for cold startup engine rattle but check out other potential problem areas such as worn suspension and steering.

Seems to be the case for the petrol version but looks like the diesels all have the same - this certainly indicates there are at least three different rack assemblies.

unfortunately those numbers appears to be OEM part codes. Are there any Toyota part codes - something like 44200-53120?

Closest thing to the series I GS in the UK is the Toyota Supra but that has uprated suspension. You can try is the Japanese Toyota Aristo which is essentially what the GS is - but firmness may be different, and the Toyota Crown which shares suspension parts with the Aristo. Probably best to source from the US - e.g. rockauto.com, but again be careful of different suspension setup between territories.

Unless you are willing to change all the brakes, rims smaller than 19" won't fit.

Unless there is something weird about the NX Nav, BT provides all services - it just provides Internet access the same as wifi. Live traffic updates, Street View and other apps via BT worked on my old IS, it works on my current GS and it works on my wife's Prius. Connected services is flakey at best so maybe it was coincidence that is wasn't working when you tried BT? If you have an iPhone, or any other type of smartphone, I cannot understand why you would want to use the slow, poorly navigated implementation of Street View on the Lexus Nav system - so much easier and faster directly on a phone.

Please can you explain what you mean by G45 and G11?

Use bluetooth for personal hotspot, that way it doesn't cause any noticeable impact to the battery when devices aren't actively connected to it and you can use WiFi in the normal way.

really just a myth. Conventional oil can clog a small gap, which when 'washed' away with synthetic oil will start to leak, but that relies on there being a faulty seal in the first place that would have leaked a bit before the conventional oil clogged in the first place. As you state, use the correct viscosity and you will be fine.

There were other changes that contributed to the improvement in mpg,