BittersIceAndSugar

Just got back from the dealer. The car appeared to be in very good shape, no major chips or scratches, no rust beyond what you'd expect for a car of its age (the exposed nut on the alloys and a couple of bolts inside the engine compartment etc). The leather was in good shape, no significant creases and it didn't look to be wearing thin. The piping on the drivers seat had split in several places which I guess is what you'd expect, but the leather itself had no tears. There was a bit of what I'd describe as 'speckling' on the seat itself, little spots that are slightly more pale than the surrounding leather. No major scratches or dings to the wood or plastic beyond normal wear and tear. Tyres looked in good nick. The touch screen computer and many gizmos all worked well, aircon blew very cold. I had to turn the heated seats on to warm up a bit The boot is very large for the size of car which pleased me. Bit of a smokey smell inside, and doggy smell in the boot, but not enough to bother me. The cam belt had been changed at 62k, so will be due for a change in about another 2 years but I was impressed at how easy it was to get to. I imagine a cam belt change on this car would be very cheap, just an hour's work? Only thing that concerned me was the alloy wheels looked as if the outer 'layer' had flaked off in a spot and were grubby underneath. The salesman told me this was the lacquer wearing off, and that it was normal and happens on all Toyota/Lexus cars, even new ones. Is this true can can it lead to problems? It had recently had new brakes fitted and service history looked good, only two previous owners. I didn't take it for a test drive but I'll go back if, after seeing a couple more, it looks the most promising.

Thanks, I've checked the AA guide to buying a used car so I'll have something to go on, and I'll check the service history to see if the brake master cylinder and cam belt have been changed recently. If the brake master cylinder has not been replaced, does that mean it's likely to break soon? Or do I need to physically look at it? How can I tell if a car is 'tired' or 'young'? I've only driven my learner Peugeot 307 on the roads (also my father's Volvo V70 and sister's VW Golf in a car park) so I don't have much experience of what a car should feel like, as you can imagine. Insurance is going to be steep, but then that goes for anything it seems! I'm going to be getting a whole family policy where I'll be listed as the primary, no-claims earning driver but my father and sister will be listed as occasional drivers. This halves the cost of my insurance! It would still be cheaper to get a little supermini or something, but I'm pretty sure I'd rather spend a few hundred quid extra and have a nice car that is a nice place to spend time, and looks respectable when I turn up at work or at a client's business (The Lexus GS seems perfect for this, I don't think it looks pretentious like a Mercedes etc might, given my age, but is still a nice refined car). I'll be viewing it tomorrow by the way.

I'm off to look at a 1998 GS300 3.0 SE. 98,000 miles on the clock, factory sat nav, full service history supposedly. Dealer is asking £3,000 for it (which is my budget, though I can stretch over that). This is my first time looking at a car, let alone buying one (got my test next week actually). I'm going with my father so I'll have someone who isn't completely ignorant! So what should we look out for? Is £3k a fair price? Also, while I'm asking, what sort of mileage can these cars do before they start to need a lot of money spent on them? Are they pretty reliable generally?