Alan172

Downsides??? I see them as plus points. Less things to go wrong in my opinion. And... No reversing camera...passed my test without one. Parking sensors...passed my test without one. TCPTCSVC (or whatever it's called) tranny...The jaguar growls rather than hums, (which is so much better imho). Extended warranty....24 months Gold Warranty (renewable). USB...charge up before leaving home. Sat Nav...Google maps on my phone. LED lights... don't do much driving in the dark, but my bulbs are pennies to replace.... Downsides indeed 🤭 ALL plus points. No regrets whatsoever. This is the car I needed to buy. I've no doubt you'll continue to enjoy your 450h John, while I fall quietly in love with my lovely old Jag ❤️ I'll pop by every so often. Might even pop a piccie up from our jaunt on Sunday 👍 All the best, Alan

Hi again. Well, as promised, here are the first photos of the Jaguar! It's the 3.2 straight-six from 1996 (X300). Very happy with the condition, but it's currently on a SORN until Sunday, so I've only driven it just over a mile. Come Sunday, we'll (hopefully 🙄) be able to take the car up through beautiful Glenshee for our first run in her. Road tax is something like £260pa, and I got Comprehensive cover with a £6,000 agreed valuation for an amazing £123pa with PBIS. Couldn't be happier guys! Hope you're all keeping well 👍 Regards, Alan

Thanks John. Not old enough. I certainly feel it! 😂 Take care of that Lexus. I might be wanting it off you when I return! All the best, and take care. Alan

Thanks Colin. I certainly will. Jaguar pics on a Lexus forum....whatever next! 😁👍

Evening everyone. Just wanted to drop in and, surprisingly, say goodbye...at least for a while anyway. An email from our classic car club popped into my inbox this morning, and it contaned an advert for a long standing member's 1996 Jaguar XJ6, which I have always admired when he brought it to events. Truly immaculate car. So, as you will probably have guessed, I've bought it. He's getting it serviced before I pick it up, so should be with me by the end of next week. A bit different to the GS 450h I agree, but I just couldn't pass on this one without kicking myself. Maybe someday I'll be back on the forum, looking for help with my GS 450h, but for now at least, it's a much earlier than anticipated farewell. Many thanks to those who have offered their help and advice over the last few days, especially John, who took time out of his day to talk with me via Skype. This was very helpful, and very much appreciated. You seem a friendly bunch, and I wish I could have got to know you a bit better. All the best to you all, and I hope you continue to enjoy those hybrid drives. Alan

Cheers Mark. I'll have a look at these 👍

Many thanks for this William. Starting to feel a little more comfortable about the car as I learn more. I haven't seen your link, no, but will definitely take a look at it over the coming days. You guys have been excellent with your help and encouragement!👍

Hi David. That would be a huge gamechanger for me if this can be done. I had no idea! That's the reason forums like this are so amazing. I'll look into this at the weekend. I see John's stuck a link up for the company responsible. Awesome!

Afternoon John. Thanks for that. Would love to talk to you about the car, so that would be excellent. I only have Google Duo on my phone's/tablet, but I'll download Skype, and see if I can figure out how to use it! As you can probably tell, I'm great with techy stuff. Why can't we just have kept Windows 95 for everything! Unfortunately, I'm unsure when I'll be able to contact you. Taking my 94 year old Mum down to Rothes Halls for her Flu jab at 2:30pm, and then back to her house for a coffee and choccie biscuit! Will email you shortly though, and we can arrange a time to Skype. Thanks very much for this. Also, if Steve is looking in, could you elaborate please on what the options were that you mentioned about the traction battery in the event of any failure? Would love to hear your views. Thanks in advance Steve 👍

Yeah, agreed, it's getting late. Pretty much ready for bed myself. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find them easily, but I'll have a look at some point tomorrow John. Most of them were on the forum I believe, it's just remembering the search terms. My memory is awful due to my bloody pain killers. It does my head in! I'm in Glenrothes (the nice end!) Have a good night. Hopefully speak tomorrow. Alan

Please see below Steve... Thanks again for your input guys. Please let me explain where I'm coming from with this. I retired last year with spinal issues. I'm 53, and have always loved cars, especially shall we say, the retro years. I own a 1992 500SL that is my pride and joy, but only use it April to September. I decided to go down the retro route for my everyday car too, thinking I could tinker with it at weekends to keep me busy. So I bought a 1993 Audi 80 2.6E Saloon, but rather than being a source of joy, it has turned out to be a money pit, and a source of misery...and it's still not running right! Anyway, I took the decision to look for something newer instead, and sell the Audi on. I've been weighing up 7-series Beemers, Jag XK and XF's and then the Lexus GS300 and GS450h. The 450h came out head and shoulders above everything else, for several reasons, and seemed to tick pretty much every box I wanted ticking. The only issue I suppose is me knowing absolutely nothing about hybrids. When I looked deeper into potential issues for the 450h, all I was seeing was doom and gloom. You know how it goes, you do a search on Google, and you get pretty much exactly what you asked for. In my case, loads of pound signs! The last thing I want is to go from a relatively (in my mind at least) medium sized money pit (the Audi) to a much larger money pit (the 450h), and that seemed to be what was staring me in the face. I'm not rolling in money, but I would like to invest in a nice car that I can hopefully keep for many years. Something nice to look back on when I'm too dangerous to get behind the wheel any more! I've had a heavy heart for most of the day after reading the things I've read about the 450h. I had previously had the impression that Toyota, and hence Lexus, were the reliable choice, and I guess it was just a bit of a shock to see the cost involved in what appeared to be, an almost inevitable issue with the older (and I suppose all) 450h cars regarding battery life. You guys undoubtedly know Lexus far better than I, and I guess I've been spooked by the stories I came across this morning, but I really don't want to give up on the 450h dream. I love the look of the car, and can only imagine what they feel like to drive. The SL with it's 5 litre V8 is great fun, especially topless, but it's not an everyday car. Please, to keep me on the right track, and away from Beemers, could you guys lay out what my options would be if the battery, inverter or timing chain were to go pear shaped? If there's any other 'issues' you think I might be about to get paranoid about, please chip in on that too. The more I understand, the better I will inevitably feel, and then I can maybe stop pestering you all so much. By the way, I've no idea what a dsg box is Steve! Sorry. Alan

Hi again. Just wanted to post an update. The dealer wouldn't budge from the £7,000 he wanted for the 2006 450h he was selling on ebay, so that has fallen through. I was also looking at a private sale on ebay. It had damage to paint on rear o/s panel, but otherwise looked lovely. However, figuring in the cost of the paintwork correction and delivery, on top of the £6,000 the seller wouldn't budge from, I had to back out of that one too. Additionally, I've since spent about 4 hours today looking at the 450h in more detail, both on here, and elsewhere. It would appear that the cars I'm looking at buying, 2006-2009, are on borrowed time with the traction battery, and maybe a few other things that I wasn't aware of 6 hours ago. With a heavy heart, I'm now thinking I need to move away from this model if I'm to avoid ruining myself in the near future with crippling repair bills that could come out of the blue at any time, and without warning. Just want to thank those members who provided guidance in my short time spent here. It was very much appreciated. Regards, Alan

Hi Herbie. Yep, I'm just about to send that request off now. He was supposed to do an HD Video Walkaround yesterday afternoon too, but that didn't materialise, and still waiting. Not discussed price yet, but he's advertising it at £7,000 which according to AuroTrader valuation, is about £2,000 over what it's worth. We'll see how things go. I'm in no rush, and the right car at the right price will come along at some point. Cheers

Many thanks for this. He certainly hasn't sent that to me, however, one of the attachments was a Health Check for a Porsche 911 Carrera 🤔 I'll ask him about providing the document you've shown though Steve. As an update on my search, there was another car I had been enquiring about, but seller wanted £6000, and AutoTrader valued it at less than £4,500. It also needed some damage to the paint addressing, and with the delivery costs to Fife, I would have been paying up to £7,500 for a £4,500 car. He wouldn't budge on the price, so had to let that one go.

Thanks Steve. That puts my mind at ease, at least on that particular point! Dealer just sent through photos of some documents from Lexus on one of the cars I'm looking at. The only thing not showing as 'Green' on the form is for 'Battery/Charging', which is an 'Amber', with the comment 'Tester shows good recharge'. On a separate invoice for this work, it shows that Lexus did an overnight charge on the car. Does all of this sound ok to you? Thanks for all your help. I've never had a hybrid (or a Lexus) before, so this is all new to me.