Tone the Bone

is it covered under the warrenty?

I have had similar problems, on each of my three Lexus cars over the years, usually bubbling under the paint, and every time they have replaced all five wheels under warranty, no quibbles, great service. I just don't understand why they have let the problem continue. It is about the only thing that has been even a slight problem, and the fact they deal with it so well, one forgets it even happened until reminded ;)

Regards,

Tony

In my opinion:

Mk3 - Hmm Nice, but a classic?

I am lucky to have had a couple of Mark IIs [too bulbous for my liking] and now have a Mark 3, which is nearly three years old now.

I never thought Mark II looked good. I feel Mark 3 was a real improvement in looks, but still looks heavy from rear three quarter view

My 2005 GS300 SE-L will get around 33-4mpg on a motorway run. The best I have ever had was on a motorway leaving Switzerland into France, when I filled up in services, and cruised out for miles and miles downhill, and got around 45mpg going 80-90mph.

I find I will get 33-4mpg when cruising around 90mph on the clock on m-way. I find I get less cruising at 70mph. I have never had the patience to cruise at 50

Inspecting my tyres earlier today and noticed that the fronts have feathered the inside 10mm (drivers side more than passenger) to the extent that they have lost the majority of the tread, annoying/expensive as the rest of the tyres have 7-8mm. Is this a geometry problem or would a tracking adjustment take care of it? I run 34-35psi normally.

Hi Dave,

I have also had this problem, was told by main dealer it was the tracking, on my April 05 new model GS300. I had done about 25,000 miles, and needed all four tyres replacing. When checked at an independent well rated tyre dealer, they found the tracking to be spot on, with the new tyres fitted. Therefore no adjustment was made.

I have now done a further 5,000 miles and I haven't checked - I have glanced at the tyres, but haven't studied them.

Regards,

Tony

The question is, have you got a Lexus GS300

What year is it? 2005

How long have you owned it? 26 months

Did it come with Full Lexus History? yes from new

Have you had any problems with the ABS pump? No

Plus I will add this is my third GS model, none have had problem with that ABS pump, all have been either a few months old or brand new when bought, I do about 12-15k miles pa.

Hi Marcus,

I cannot vote as my answer to the second question is none, and it will only allow me to register a vote if I click on one of the answers.

Tony

Well . . . . . . . I guess this has been repeated many times on this forum, but here is my story.

My R reg 97 GS300 had two sets of wheels replaced, my '01 GS430 had one shiny set replaced with shiny, and I have had one change of four wheels on my '05 new model.

Each time all four were replaced, very cheerfully, by the main dealer, sometimes they changed the slightly used spare as well. The fact this was done, with absolutley no quibble, has reminded me to remain loyal and buy another Lexus. Their service levels are working.

This must cost them thousands of pounds, and there seems to be no change to the pattern - the alloy they use corrodes, then they replace it. Management of Lexus UK must know the answer, but they foot the bill during the first 3 years.

Is it connected with UK car washes, or the winter gritting?

Regards,

Tony

Hi all,

I will soon be buying new tyres for my GS300, now almost 2 years old [one of the first of the latest body shape] . I have done about 23,000 miles so the original tyres have done well.

I do not drive the car too hard, and wish to have tyres which are as quiet as possible, especially on motorways.

I usually replace tyres like for like with original brands, but the first quote I have had from my dealer was over £900 for the four tyres [Yokohama].

I have looked around, people on this site are using other brands, and I am sure tyres like Pireeli PZero, or Dunlop SP Sports are good quality branded tyres, but can be bought fitted for about £600 for the set. But . . . I don't want to fit them then find they are noisy or less well suited to the car.

Tyre size is 245/40R18

Any advice re trye noise and changing from the originals, especially regarding the newest model?

Thanks,

Tony

Manchester

Hi all,

I will soon be buying new tyres for my GS300, now almost 2 years old [one of the first of the latest body shape] . I have done about 23,000 miles so the original tyres have done well.

I do not drive the car too hard, and wish to have tyres which are as quiet as possible, especially on motorways.

I usually replace tyres like for like with original brands, but the first quote I have had from my dealer was over £900 for the four tyres.

I have looked around, people on this site are using other brands, and I am sure tyres like Pirelli PZero, or Dunlop SP Sports are good quality branded tyres, but can be bought fitted for about £600 for the set. But . . . I don't want to fit them then find they are noisy or less well suited to the car.

Tyre size is 245/40R18

Any advice re trye noise and changing from the originals?

Thanks,

Tony

Manchester

Hi Trevor,

I have had 3 GS models over a number of years and my reason for continuing to buy them has been based on both the cars themselves plus my experiences with the dealerships.

I have almost always found that they try very hard [at least in Manchester and surrounding areas] to give excellent service, and even now, they manage to do things that surprise me - in other words do things better thatn you would expect.

Do you live far from another dealer? I would recommend having a drive, visit a different place and start again. I feel sure you will get service so much better it will surprise you. Or look around on the Lexus UK website, where all their stock is listed, and if you see another model that fits your criteria, give that dealer a ring, they may bring the car for you to try. They will try to please you.

Regards,

Tony

[please note - I am not an apologist nor shareholder, just a satisfied customer]

Hi Sid,

If you are ready . . . go for it :D . I owned two of the Mk IIs and waited for the new model to arrive, it has many things that you already like, the quietness, the smoothness, the reliability and adds many technical improvements.

Plus my GS300 with the new engine gets loads more miles per gallon. I even bought the new one with the same colour scheme.

Regards,

Tony

Hi there

I am a proud owner of a GS300SE Mark II, which has been a pleasure to drive. I am now think of trading it in for the New GS300SE.

Can anybody tell me what they think of the new version?

You views and comments will be appricated as i am looking to make a purchase soon.

Reagards

SID

so r u saying that i can make it a 55 plate?? excuse my ignornace

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Hi Boo,

If you ask the dealer for delivery on Sept 1st, it will then have a 55 plate, and will be taxed from Sept 1st. Otherwise you will get an 05 plate.

You have to weigh up the delay now to wait until Sep 1st against the increased value of 55 when you trade in.

To answer other points about Avonmouth - when my GS arrived, the dealer was waiting for it to travel up from there, as well as ensuring bodywork is OK, they fit some UK only parts. I believe they also fit the front and rear bumper sonars there. Also maybe UK foglights. I think those regs vary from country to country, so are fitted locally.

Regards,

Tony

Had my TRD ones stolen .

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Please excuse my ignorance . . . . what are TRD covers like?

Please send link to a photo :)

Tony

watch out for the toerag scallys . . . .

some :tsktsk: b*st**d :tsktsk: has stolen the four [yes 4] nice silver hexagonal tyre valve tops from my MkIII GS300

I called my local Lexus parts dept, it will only cost me a couple of quid [should I claim on my insurance? :) ]

But . . . . they told me they have already had to sell loads, half-inching them must be the new fashion

What is the point?

Any suggestions? Super glue them on? :D

Tony

the bootlid has no keyhole!

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The boot does have a keyhole. I have this car, it does have one, on the left of the rubbery release handle, opposite side to the rear view camera.

Plus the front doors have one each. The keyfob does contain a metal key.

Tony

Guys

I may be considering upgrading to a GS430 Sport and I was just wondering when the 430 was first available?  I presume it was 2001?

Cheers

Gavin

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Hi Gavin,

Just to add confirmation, my last car was one of the first GS 430s, it was an SE, and was first registered in November 2000. It was a demonstrator, I bought it when 6 months old. Sat nav, etc but the demonstrators lacked one item - memory seats. When I bought mine in May 2001, there were several for sale, perhaps one at each dealer, all minus memory seats, so if looking and testing you can tell which ones these were.

The earlier ones also had very bling chromed alloys.

It is a fast car, very smooth and quiet, great sat nav, not the greatest cornering car.

I do not know exactly when the 430Sport was launched, but a search on What Car or Parkers site might give you an answer.

Regards,

Tony

Btw that volvo must've been a cracker, that was one of the really crazy original ones wasn't it  :D  :winky: 

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Still . . . It was,

Very fast, turbo kicked in suddenly, but front wheel drive so it could produce wheelspin with kickdown.

Also suited me as the estate I had had 7 seats.

Also as an estate, it had an uncovered boot area, it was noisy, rattly, and it encouraged me to look for refinement.

I found this link site with a quick Google . .Volvo T-5R link page

Mine looked like this one http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/391706

Regards,

Tony

After further investigations it appears that Lexus are doing what is called a "conquering" exercise to attract non Lexus owners, so unfortunately a BMW or Merc (spit) driver would probably get a better deal than a Lexus driver.

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That is shocking if true, how did you find that out? :o Hmmm, the car we're changing is a merc anyway, so maybe best to go to another dealer and not say anything about owning a lexus.... :P

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I feel sure it is true, when I first bought a Lexus, I was trading in a Volvo T5-R estate [yellow]. They gave me a great price for it, against a new Mk II GS300. Their offer was equal to top dealer price for my older car - so maybe £4000 more than trade price.

7 years later, it still feels like that was a good deal. So it is not a new strategy for Lexus.

They won me over, they give me excellent service, but these days, the deals are not as good.

Regards,

Tony

Great Pics guys :)

do the doors pull themselves closed if you dont fully slam them? like the LS430 does?

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Only the boot.

some nice shots there Tone - not the sort of ones we've seen before.

Thank you for the compliment, Matthew :D

the HUGE (L) on the front is not growing on me yet - I thought it might

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I think the boot lid one is also larger, does anyone agree this is a trend for most manufacturers theses days?

New models seem to me to have gradually larger logos, especially on the boot lid.

Examples: Ford, Renault, Peugeot plus ????

Regards,

Tony

Here goes.

I have uploaded these to the Gallery. I have only uploaded small files, 640 by 480 pixels. I have tried to show details, not general views of the car.

As I have uploaded the files to the gallery, I have placed links to the pictures in the gallery.

Cheers,

Tony.

headlight view

headlight washer inserted in chrome headlight surround trim

interior lights 1

interior lights 2

heated seat control

cool seat control

new alloys

tapered rear quarter

Give me half an hour, guys.

Tony

Congrats to both of ya, so whos was the FIRST new GS in the club??

I am going to claim it :D

My car was delivered on April 15th, first day.

Re: Photos: I agree with you, but any photos I can take do not match the standards possible by the professionals, and there have been loads of those available on Lexus UK, Lexus Europe, Toyota media website, etc

I have been trying to take some pics of some of the details not shown on those pictures, but these LED interior lights are very difficult. Some only come on when it is dark, and give a diffuse glow. A picture would not be interesting - an example - there is an LED light under the each of front seats lighting the rear passenger footwells. Doesn't make an interesting picture. :)

Another example is that as well as putting on the cabin lights, opening the door [when dark] puts on five lights within the door - a white one pointing down to the floor under the door, a red one for safety [as in the past], a further white one pointing inwards but at the floor, one within the door handle recess, and one shining down from under the external mirror.

I write this as other driving innovations are not noticeable, the car is smooth and quiet, as before, so the many technological improvements that there must be are not obvious to the driver.

In the metal, the car is better loooking than the MkII GS. I was never under the illusion it was a good looking car [i had 2 :) ] . It looks sleeker and lower, but isn't lower. Dimensions are very similar. Probably the best view photographically is from the side as in John's avatar [a professional shot]. Even then, it looks better in the metal, with sunshine :P

All of this is my humble opinion ;)

Regards,

Tony

Hi John,

Congratulations on the new car :D

It's a great feeling, and another novelty for me is having a car when there are very very few like it on the road.

Have you worked out the sequences for when the blue interior lights work? For example the steering wheel is only lit up after dark on entry and exit.

Re phone: I have an XDA type phone, and this makes a Bluetooth connection, but I also cannot download my phone numbers. I think the trick may be to copy one's favourite 100 numbers to a clean SIM card in a Nokia phone, then download them from that phone. The handbook also states you should have the engine running when transferring.

Regards,

Tony

That was some Sunday drive ... 

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Hahaha - now edited to 200 :D

T