mrdoofa

I just wondered what typical MPGs you guys are getting? I averaged 38-39 coming home yesterday on the A1 and it's gone down to about 32 now that I've been doing more urban around town trips. Does this sound about right? If so I'm more than happy with that when you think what the car is and how powerful it is. I showed the car to my mum today and she likes it too, especially the reversing camera!!! She just said that it's too easy to go fast and its very deceiving because it doesn't feel as fast as it is. I just wish my dad could've been here to see this car, he would've loved it.

According to the screen it says version '08-'09. I haven't actually taken the disc out of the drive though. It has to be said that the more you drive this car the more you like it. The interior seems more sumptuous and less plasticky than the LS400 I had a couple of years ago. Another thing is I drove the 100 miles to the dealer in the insignia and got out of the car and my back was hurting, when I did the exact same trip in reverse in the Lexus I got out and felt fine!!! The battery actually went down to the purple segment today and I thought for a minute that the petrol engine wasn't going to kick in but then it did and I soon had it back up to 90% full after a couple of down hill runs.

I forgot to ask!!! The sat nav DVD is out of date as it still showed the roundabouts on the A1 which are long gone now!!! What is the newest DVD you can get and where do you get them from? Cheers!!!

Cheers everybody, it's quite easy to get too paranoid about the batteries lol!!! At least until you know what's normal. I wasn't sure if the battery ever shows full and how quick it should recharge, it recharges very quickly especially when braking going downhill. Farqui gave me a series of tests to check the hybrid system and it passed them all. The CVT gearbox was a bit strange at first but I really like how seamless it all is, I love it when you put your foot down and the car just launches when the engine and motor come in together!!! It was also a novelty when I hit a small tailback on the A1 and I edged through it without using any fuel. Another thing I enjoyed was all the LED interior lights at night and how they are sequenced. Anyway, sorry for rambling on but I love this car so much lol!!!

Went to see the GS450H today and all I can say is WOW, WHAT A CAR!!! Its now sitting on my driveway and I couldn't be more pleased!!! It was a strange sensation starting the car and driving off in silence on battery power and the radar cruise is another interesting experience. Its really, really quick too, this is definitely a car where you can easily pick up speeding tickets because it's so smooth, quiet and effortless. The seats are the most comfortable I've had in a car and the driving position is perfect. I was quite surprised at how fast the battery regenerates. I sat in the car for a while playing with all the gadgets and the battery ran down enough for the engine to start but once driving it built up charge again pretty quickly, the fullest I got it was one bar off the top with the bars green, the lowest it went on the way home was about 80%. I also had everything running, headlights, wipers, air con etc. I'm going to take some photos of my own tomorrow in daylight, another cool feature is the reversing camera.

I actually like a good old school diesel!!! A proper diesel should be noisy, unrefined, smelly but still economical. I'm personally a fan of the old Rover L series diesel, they just keep on going.

My current car is a diesel Vauxhall Insignia and although nothing seems wrong at the moment I do know it has a particulate filter which is a constant worry along with the dual mass flywheel, turbo, injectors, EGR valve and all the other problems which seem to plague modern diesels, not to mention that the government are going to start making life more difficult for diesel drivers. Also, no matter how good a diesel is it will always sound like a tractor!!! I do get good fuel economy out of it though. I'm so excited about seeing the GS450H tomorrow, I really hope it's a good one!!! I'll post on here as soon as possible when I've seen it.

The one I'm going to see tomorrow has just passed its MOT with no advisories.

😂😂😂

I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like, I've never driven a hybrid or a CVT before!!!

What a great group this is, lots of useful advice to go with on Wednesday and I thank everybody for their input. I just hope the car is a good one now!!! The dealer says he's going to get it MOT'd tomorrow so that if I do choose to buy it on Wednesday I can take it straight away without another 200 mile round trip!!! Another quick question, how effective are the heated/cooled seats on these? I did have an LS430 once and they weren't very effective at all lol!!! Nobody has mentioned whether or not the steering adjust motors can be a problem like on the LS.

I've just had a closer look at the gold LS400 baz is selling. I think he could struggle with this one. He is asking £1950 for it. I really don't understand why the bonnet, roof and bootlid have faded so much and it really is just confined to these 3 panels, the fading doesn't overlap into the wings etc. There is a lot of good service history with it although the last MOT had a few advisories, he's also including his private plate in the sale. He was selling this in order to get an LPG converted LS400 but has only gone and bought another standard one instead saying he couldn't resist the rare colour which is amethyst I believe!!! Anyway, I'm going to check out a 2006 GS450h on Wednesday, here's a link to it. What do you think? http://www.glasshousecarsales.co.uk/lexus-gs-450h-hybrid-electric-in-anwick-6171244

Thank you very much for all your help!!! It's much appreciated. As I said this is a bit of a leap into the unknown for me so appreciate any advice.

I've asked if everything works on the car and they said yes, obviously I'll be testing everything anyway!!! Do these cars have the same problem as the LS400/LS430 with the steering adjust motors? I've never owned or driven a hybrid before, how do you check if everything is working as it should?

I've put a £100 refundable deposit on the silver one and I'm going to view the car on Wednesday afternoon. The car will come with a fresh MOT and a 3 month warranty. I'm looking forward to seeing the car!!!

A quick update, unfortunately the blue one has sold!!! I'm going to arrange a viewing of the silver one. It's about a 2 hour drive from me.

Hi guys, I am thinking of buying a Lexus GS450h. I used to have an LS400 mk4 but currently drive a diesel Vauxhall Insignia which is a nice car but it's no Lexus!!! I like the look of the GS450h and understand that they are seriously fast!!! The hybrid system should make it better on fuel than the LS400 (at least in theory!!!). I know it won't be as economical as the diesel Insignia too. What kind of MPG figures do you get realistically in the GS450h? I've found 2 I'm interested in which I have put links to below. Also, what do I need to check for when viewing these cars? do they have any common problems? How do you check the hybrid system is working as it should? Etc etc. Thanks in advance!!! Links: http://www.westfieldmotorhouse.co.uk/detail/241020/used-lexus-gs-3.5-450h-se-4dr-cvt-bradford http://www.glasshousecarsales.co.uk/lexus-gs-450h-hybrid-electric-in-anwick-6171244

I've heard a rumour that old Baz is apparently being investigated by trading standards. Does anyone know if this is true and why?

I noticed the small spanner is missing from the toolkit lol!!! It's a bit strange that you would go to the effort of photographing the sunroof, boot, spare wheel and toolkit but not the rest of the interior. I'd be very wary, especially for the ridiculously high asking price.

As I said a lot depends on how it's been stored and still being serviced as per schedule. We'll have to agree to disagree with the whole mileage thing, I've had low mileage cars which have quickly become money pits and high mileage cars that have never had a problem. It's the luck of the draw I suppose lol!!! £6k is still too much though.

You must be lucky!!! I suppose a lot is to do with how the car has been stored. In my experience cars generally don't like sitting around not being used!!! Rubber perishes, seals dry out, oils and fluids deteriorate with age unless it's been serviced regularly regardless of mileage. In my opinion £5995 is far too much for any LS400 especially when there is nothing really to gain from buying an ultra low mileage example. These cars handle mileage that well that you might as well spend a lot less and get one that's done a higher mileage because the car won't really be any worse for it as long as it's been maintained properly.

Might've been in dry storage for 10 years, looks tempting but I'm always wary of cars that have done too few miles and stood not being used for a long time. £5995 is very expensive too!!!

Hi guys, I currently own a 1999 LS400, I am very seriously considering getting a GS450h. It will likely be a model from around 2006-2007. I just wanted to know what people's general thoughts are about these cars and also when viewing/test driving one, are there any particular things to check for? What are the common issues with these cars etc? Many thanks for any help and input, Martin.

I'm not a fan of these high power tiny engines. I think it's much better to have a large unstressed motor rather than a tiny one constantly working it's balls off. I've had my fair share of problems with modern diseasels. A Diesel engine used to mean economy, reliability and we're as tough as old boots that just keep going and going. Now they are plagued with issues like EGR problems, DMF problems, DPF problems, injector problems, turbo problems to name a few. Only the EGR is relatively cheap, the rest are 4 figure repair bills and at the end of the day it still drives and sounds like Massey ferguson no matter how good it is or how much you spend on it. My mk4 is 17 years young with 164k on the clock and still feels right and tight with everything working as it should. Nothing even comes close to this car in my opinion, I just hope it still has lots of life left in it (I'm confident it has) because whatever replaces when the day eventually comes will be a downgrade. Perhaps a facelift LS430 would replace it one day.

Whatever you do, don't venture to the dark side which is diesel ownership. Since I got my mk4 LS400 back in May I cannot think of another car I'd rather have. I can't really think of a way to make it any better, it really is absolutely unbelievably good. When I do eventually change it'll probably be a facelift LS430.