danbobnix

Thanks for the replies gents, I will write up a little list and take with me. Pete, The tape on the bumper is where the previous owner had a scuff with his second car- a nissan 4x4. Thanks again guys

Hello LS400 community, pleased to meet you, Been lurking and posting in the newbies section on and off for some time now, and the time has come and i'm going to view /(wanting to view, if it's still available) a 2000 LS400 with a fair few miles on the clock. The steer I'm after is, using the information handed to me, photos, email dialogue and service history proof, is there anything i should be wary of or look out for when i go and view it? I'm very excited to see her and test her as it looks good and is well priced, 4 hours away however. The interior looks immaculate and the parking damage is no drama, a friend who has experience in the industry has seen it and thinks its minor repair work. Hopefully the seller won't mind me posting the couple of extracts from the ad ,and photos which i will remove as soon as i'm told to do so: http://1drv.ms/1lZVkaw "MoT May 2015 with no advisories. Tax Jan 2015. Service history to 152000 miles, Lexus main dealer to 123000 miles. Air and cabin filters changed in the last month. Recent invoices for brake pads, battery, starter motor solenoid repair and coolant change.Two oil filters and sump plug washers will come with the car. Lovely smooth drive, no clonks or knocks from the suspension, gearbox changes smoothly and quickly. Four matched Goodyear tyres with plenty of tread left, full sized alloy spare." Any information or advice is welcomed Many thanks, Daniel

Now I'm turning my attention to the LS400 after seeing a lot on the road the last few weeks I think they look spot on! I was unawares as to how unbelievably good value they are, and I've had a few insurance quotes and they are very reasonable in comparison to what I'm paying for at the moment. Seen a few I'd like to go and look at as well. Any major dramas to be aware of in the mk4 later models? Moneywise are there any massive servicing or maintenance cost? Doing lots of searching and can only see little bits for the most parts. What are they like to live with?

Would love a GS,been searching for a while but none in budget Edited post from the original essay, now superseded by the below!

Seen a very low priced 300. High (to me) mileage on it however, with 130,000 on the clock, although i'm not put off and understand if it's well maintained it should only be wear and tear items that go pop. Upto now I have asked about service history and for more detailed pictures of any imperfections. Done a few searches and seen the usual cambelt service - anything that I should look for specifically with it being of this age if I go to view it? Obviously if it comes back with no service history i'll not go near it. Only had 3 owners and the last has been since 2007. Hoping there will be evidence of major services and plenty of receipts. Will have to wait and see.

Afternoon all I like to keep active on forums and will use this as a documented hunting thread for the IS of choice, when it gets going. Apologies. Buying power has been pushed back again a lot, but for the better; I have had a loan with Zopa (peer to peer lending, fixed interest rate over the term) for about 3 years which was due to finish next April and took up about a tenth (as of last October) of my wage. Just paid off the remaining amount to clear myself of it and save properly. Which was the reason for the Yaris T Sport, eco-ish driving, it's boring but did me some favours I guess. I'm very happy this has gone and can now concentrate on saving for the car! Happy days! It's one step closer to owning the IS of choice and i'm itching to get started. Currently reading every piece of information i can on buyers guides, from the US as well and browsing everything Lexus. Think I've got a problem... Happy motoring everyone!

Welcome, growing on me more and more these LS400's. Nice looking motor

That's a nice interior, are they sabelt seats?

looking forward to seeing some photos :)

Good lord I love that IS.

Can't stress enough how much fun they are. They're awesome, you're gonna love it panya, what else did you consider?

Gutted I don't have enough cash to drive 300 miles to take a look at your IS! I'm sure it'd be worth the drive. Enjoy the abarth!

You'll love the abarth, my esseesse was the most fun i've had behind the wheel of a car, wish i kept it. Which abarth garage is local to you?

£153,000 now, this is one viral ad. Popping up all over facebook and twitter now.

Thanks for that, very thorough. To be honest the LE isn't something I've found myself pining for, not too fussy on a colour at the minute, I think the only colour I wouldn't have is black; always regret my decision on purchasing a black car - massive pain in the backside to keep clean. Even a 25mile daily round trip to work (80/20 A road/M'way) car gets filthy after a couple of journeys.

Well, my lunchtimes at work consist of me browsing the web and willing weeks to go by to give me enough money to start really searching for the car. Anyway, am I right in saying, looking at the spec sheets and all I've read, that in the uk, the 300 were made as the same spec across the board apart from the limited editions and the models bought with the Navigator? The green is growing on me too, one on ebay that looks decent (from the computer screen) hope it doesn't shift for a month or two! Really enjoying browsing the forums.

Where in Blackpool did you stay? You must have brought the weather with you because it's been glorious round here for a few days now!

Welcome, looks very nice!

I'm in Hambleton, Rory, near smackpool, I mean, Blackpool.

Yeah I will listen to the advice and test drive the 200 as well, although i'll probably have made my mind up regardless haha. Keep waltzing over to Watford Car sales website, theres a grey one on there that if i had the money I'd be over in a shot to look at it. Bit far to go down with no intention of buying though haha. I'm a nightmare, can't wait for nothing! Guess it would cost a lot to take your 200 over there? (wherever there is? OZ?)

Cheers for all the replies folks, I've been a little bit out of the loop for a while and my apologies for not checking back in sooner, i hope all is well. Still not purchased a car yet, still not ready to purchase a car, generally as life tends to happen so does paying for it! A few stag do's, one this weekend actually, and a few holidays booked for this year means money is being spent elsewhere currently. Kept my eyes open for cars however, went to view a couple of altezza rs200's, and i've had my mind dead set on them for a couple of months and, due to costs of finding and importing one in good nick from Japan has kept me looking into the 200 and even onto the 300. At the moment I'm looking into 300's, currently enjoying the thought of the huge pimpin' (HA!) 3.0 auto. I'll change my mind more often than my underwear in between now and buy time, and guess the only way i'll know which to buy is test driving both the manual 200 and the auto 300. That and google-ing/searching IS200 vs 300, obviously haha. @Petay, yeah, it's excessive and ultimately if i could go back I'd stick with just one or two of them and save the money i've wasted; in saying that, i'm glad to have been lucky enough to own and drive the cars I have done. Insurance was piggy backed onto my old mans and due to that i'm only just upto 2 years NCB on my own policy. Even i find it quite shocking that the Yaris is the car i've owned the longest at about 14 months. Boys will be boys...

Think the blue is winning at the moment, forcing myself to wait for longer too, will have more power over the seller that way. It's just hard not to keep looking at them all over the internet haha. The Yaris was an attempt to settle on a car to put money away, an eco, warm hatch. It's reliable enough but just feels cheap like you say. My own fault for having 2 RX8's before that, a celica 190, and an abarth 500 previously. Tried running smaller, runabout-y cars but can't. Got a much steadier job now as I was previously self employed, so the yaris can go, took a small pay cut but the ceiling is higher in the long run :) Thanks for all the welcomes as well.

Allow myself to introduce... myself. I'll apologise for giving you my life story if I ramble. I'm Dan, 23, in Lancashire, had an erratic car history, think I'm on my 8th at the mo. it's a toyota yaris t sport and I planned to supercharge it with a TTE charger. I'm in need of the money I invested into it so I'm selling the supercharger kit to pay for numerous happenings in the social calendar around Europe that I've had to book on a hideous credit card! I have decided on the IS200 sport as the next motor, would have kept the yaris if I were to supercharge but it doesn't do much for me anymore. I can't make my mind up on colour, without the cream interior, either Red, Yellow or Blue. Black at a push, but they're a pain to keep clean! Not sure how long it'll be before I get one, a friend of the family runs a large car trade centre so I'm going to take my requirements to him and give him as long as he needs to find me one with full Lexus history and in a good condition. It will be my daily and probably not modified at great pace as I'll be putting money away for a house with the other 2/3's once I get the 200. Love the stance on a nice set of wheels and a drop Looking forward to getting to know the club and some of its members. Ciao for now!