jimb

Just a word of warning. It seems that every car car be clocked! I sold my R-reg (face-lift) LS400 a couple of months ago with over 140,000 miles on the clock. I saw it on autotrader today - advertised as having just 95,000 miles. I recognized it from the wheels - I sold it with six-narrow-spoke, 16-inch alloys which would be unusual for a car of this size. So I rang the number, asked for the reg and sure enough it was my old car. I even asked about a small tear on the leather and, sure enough, it was in the same place. I asked what exactly was the mileage, so they switched it on and read 95,000 off the clock. The car is also being touted as a two-owner car. It was a three / four-owner car when I sold it and I reckon it's changed hands once or twice since! It's just a bit frustrating to see this going on...what, if anything, should I do about this?

Oh, about the cambelt, Just look up the service book (if there is one) and see what, if any, dealer stamped the book around the 60 to 70k miles mark. Look up that dealer's number, ring them, give the reg and just ask if they did it..... Happy hunting! Also, check out the "knowledge" on this site...some useful stuff there I'm only new here too, but there seems to be plenty of expertise here

You say £7,500 is the top of your budget. That's enough to buy you an R reg (1998) Mark II face-lifted model, albeit with higher than average miles. I've seen a number of cars on Autotrader and elsewhere with, say, 90,000 miles listed for £8,000 or less. After haggling, £7,500 or less should buy them. And many of those are SE's with the much-needed leather interior. Admittedly, most are private rather than dealer adds. But if the service history checks out there've got to be worth a look. But maybe you prefer the Mark I shape. Youwannalexus, now you should getyourselfalexus

By the way, has anyone experience of getting a leather conversion done or know anyone else who has? If so, were you happy with the standard of the work done relative to the money paid? Have looked at pictures of the new GS - it looks well but is not as radical as I expected. Maybe that's just the point...

Cheers, Collin that's what I thought Mudz, I was actually thinking about buying it as the price was fairly right (even for an S) and the exterior colour is exactly what I want. So I was going to buy and then pay 1K to a specialist firm to have the car re-upholstered in leather! I know it sounds mad! but a black leather interior is a must! And it's hard to find as '98 GS with black leather and an exterior colour that suits. Most '98 GS cars for sale seem to have grey or beige leather interiors.

Thanks for replies to previous posts.... Considering travelling quite some distance to look at and buy a Mark 2 '98 GS 300. It's only the S model (no leather) but the owner thinks it has no cd player (he's selling it for somebody else). I thought all Mark 2's had a cd player as standard, regardless of whether they were S or SE. Does anyone know it these cars could have been bought without a cd player in a special order situation? Sounds a bit unusual to me that someone would do that to save a relatively small sum of money on a car that would have cost 30k new! Just a bit concerned that if it doesn't have the cd player like it should what else is it missing? And how much to retro-fit the stock cd player and changer if it doesn't have it? Jim Just looked at the pictures of the salvage operation on that ship carrying 3000 luxury cars on general forum - impressive stuff!

Collin, you mentioned about differences between the S and SE You said about the S : that it only has the 16-inch rims, no leather, no heated seats, no memory seats, no sunroof and no headlight washers when compared with the SE Any other differences that you know of or is that the lot ? Jim

Cheers guys, all useful stuff The car I was looking at is not suitable.....so I'm on the hunt again :mat: Looking for a well-kept 1998 navy or black GS 300 SE with black leather inside, don't need sat nav though it would be nice, do need a service history though Maximum of 75,000 miles If anyone happens to be selling one, I be keen to hear from you!

Have had a look through the 'things to watch out' on the site...useful pointers If anyone has any other pointers on what to look out for when buying a 50,000 / 60,000 mile GS300 (Mark II) would be very keen to hear them too... Keep up the good work!

This is only my second post...have just been through archive of posts...very good forum! I just put 40,000 miles on an LS 400 and was very happy with the car (apart from fuel consumption). Extremely comfortable. Sold it and getting a second-hand 1998 GS as I thought the LS (a 1998 model) looked a bit too conservative and I need something a little smaller. Trouble is, having gone through the posts the steering / vibration problem seems to be a problem with a lot of GS cars and seems to be causing a lot of grief At the time, I paid no heed but I drove a GS300 belonging to a work colleague last year and, now that I remember, it did exactly what's described here. Between 50 and 65 or 70 mph the steering wheel (and the car itself) vibrated violently. I just thought that his particular car has been very badly kerbed or even crashed, but it seems to be an endemic problem! I'm having second thoughts about a GS now....is this problem really an issue for a lot of people! Just need re-assurance....should I have kept the LS

I'm new to this forum.... I'm in the process of buying a '98 GS 300 which is close to needing a 60,000 mile timing belt change...just wondering what dealers charge for doing this ... or is it a job i could undertake myself! I paid a lot for the same job on my previous car - a '98 LS400 - but the job was done abroad as I did not live in England at the time. Cheers