richygs300

Warranty Wise (.co.uk) is what I use and several other mates aswell. try the site and see what you get but I can tell you they pay up, no limits. I believe you would qualify for the premium cover, almost the same as a new one and you can pay a premium to cover main dealer labour rates. Cheers Rich

This is an immotive subject for me aswell. In the past with different cars etc... I have literally had it tracked at one place, gone up the road to another who say it's out ! The problem seems to be the equipment and set up the garages use, abuse and all that, their machine tells them it's OK but it's not, it's just the best they can do. I now go to a rally car prep company in Norwich (an 80 mile trip ) as they have one of the only "Sun" set ups laid in tons of concrete and boy is it accurate. Since then never had issues and whatever car I go in with it comes out fine. My suggestion would be to find a race prep guy near to you as these boys don't mess about as it's serious stuff to them and most are more than willing to take your car in. They even weight the cars down to the specs to ensure any pre load on the suspension is accounted for before adjusting. Normal costs vary from around £47 upto £300 if you have KDS done including setting the steering box straight and working out from there although that 's only necessary if you have a rebuilt front end to set up. The same goes for wheel balancing, make sure you at least have it done on a machine with the studs adapters on not just the cone type. It may seem a lot of bother but if your like me spending anything from £600-850 for a set of decent tyres the last thing you want is uneven wear. Cheers Rich

I have a seriously fast Alpina 7 series BMW (302 BHP) and have previously had 5 series aswell. You're right on the quality & reliability side as I once had a Carina E years ago before the BM's and it 's the reason I ended up in the Lex family. You will definately notice nothing goes wrong ( and I ain't going to touch wood either) as these things just work everyday day in day out unlike the niggly problems you get with other makes. As for the drive itself I beleive you will find it softer in general. I tested slightly older Lexus than you're looking at so of course there may have been improvements along the way, but they are Jap cars and usually set for the US. In the end I went for the GS Sport being a bit firmer and once coupled with those 18 inch and decent tyres, a little fiddling with the pressures you can get it nearly there in the ride stakes. I have to say however that I don't think it will ever feel like BMW. Somehow through the chassis etc there is a difference and in my mind why people still buy BM etc... ( not the small stuff, 5/7 series 3 litres upwards I'm talking about) but they are different types of car. The Lex is very comfortable , can shift it when you want , will never let you down etc but scores lets say 85 /90% in all areas. The 7 series scores 100 in ride handling but bugger all every where else! If you want a pure drivers car I think you won't be dissapointed but will feel you wouldn't keep up with a decent BM on the open road. However for the other 364 days of the year the Lexus is a more "sensible" option. You pays your money ! If I had the chance I get it!

It's obviously a personal taste thing, I don't mind it but I think it would go better with more contrasting leather. A mate had the black wood trim option on a VolV* sport with cream leather and it looked really tastefull indeed Are you saying you "lose" your original bits as they use these ie you can't buy outright ?

Hi, I a newbie here too with a very similar car. GS300 Sport N plate 49000 A1 condition £6900 ( bought as seen though from an estate clearance) and needing new tyres so I think your price is about spot on for a decent car. Best of luck with yours I actually preferred the blue colour but there were none around down here . Almost all of them appear to be silver ! Had the same AC re charge done but not the belt & plugs service yet ( can't wait !?^&*) For anyone else looking has anyone heard or had a blowing from the exhaust problem? I have a blow that's getting louder by the trip and after diving underneath appears to be coming from just after the Y split on RHS, the specialist I use ( very good actually) says he's had to weld a few here on the flange side so it must be a trap area I suppose. The garage said not worth replacing as this is a small hole with a bit of plate put over will be fine.

I can totally agree. I had these on my Alpina 7 series (302BHP) and couldn't wheel spin them ( no TC fitted either). I have fitted YOKO AVS Db to the GS300 as replacement and they are as they say totally quiet it's unnerving not to hear them after the SO3 but in no way come near the performance. The SO3 is basically a race bred tyre and most of the scuby track boys swear by them, I can see why. Be carefull with the SO3when they're down to 3/4 mm they start to lose the wet grip strength as you seem to have now ! They lasted 18000 miles on that BMW so are not that soft a compound as others - Brilliant piece of kit

Can recommend the Gliptone aswell, used it on 15 year old cracked BMW leather ( including the colouring paste ) and have already "fed" the Lexus seats with it, softens them a treat. Take your time doing the job as per the instructions - rush it and you won't see the best results. I approached it a bit at a time, section by section - not so boring that way. Another little tip is to work it in with a pair of marigolds on directly, much better than a cloth, gets your nieghbours worried though !

Start of October so still learning about them, a pretty safe bet if bought sensibly I think ( like most from the T brand !) Posted pics here http://www.lexusownersclub.com/gallery/alb...lbum02/DSC01808 Rich

Had it done as it was the reason for some " unweidly" wandering. There are two arms on each rear wheel for adjustment - the main one ( most rearwards) to the frame near the diff I was told does the toe the second one that goes upwards to the frame is I was told for camber. I think it's worth getting the toe done as it made a lot of difference on mine and can be knocked out if like mine the previous had obviously kerbed it big time ( buckled wheel etc...) The toe arm looked like a concentric type adjuster on the bush itself, mine had both siezed over time and took the guys some time to free off eventually releasing/cracking the bush housing altogether. This has left me with "adjustable rear" again but only by moving the whole arm not by turning the bush. It works but isn't how the "fine" adjustment should be made although the price of new arms fitted doesn't warrant it yet.

Re registered due to the tech problems but never mind ! I picked mine up at £6900 for N plate with 49750 miles on full Lexus history 1 owner Money spent on tyres ( ouch take the previous post regarding 18 wheels ) 54000 service about £300 including freeing the brakes off plus new viscous fan, so in reality total cost about £7800 to have it running nice It can be done but a lot I went to see were getting tired at the 5/6k mark, probably meaning you'll spend at least 1k to get it all right, could be a false economy --Best of luck and hold out for a goodun Cheers Rich