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New (to me) Lexus GS450h

328K views 869 replies 90 participants last post by  James_G 
#1 · (Edited)
Well... after much debating and spending a while looking at 07-10 plate Honda Civic Type-R's, I realised that, actually something like a Lexus GS450h might be within my grasp.

Drove a GS450h years ago and was really impressed then, but way over my budget! It had everything - space, comfort and near silence on long journeys, outrageous performance (341bhp, 0-100 in 13 seconds etc), but could also do 40 MPG if needed, great specification, lots of interior room, and most importantly, brilliant reliability and superb service from Lexus dealers. It also has lots of great features - electric rear blind, memory seats, sat nav, Mark Levinson 14 speaker 5.1 surround sound system with DVD playback, heated and cooling seats, adaptive headlights, adaptive suspension, etc etc - and it's a hybrid so is great for both saving fuel and the most useful part f the hybrid system, the great boost in performance couple with almost instant throttle response.

Eventually, narrowed it down to a few, and after some negotiating with the dealer, trading in my wife's 14 year old 3 door Toyota Rav-4 (in VERY good condition) I drove from Central Scotland to 30 minutes from the Channel Tunnel to collect this car (430 miles). I stayed overnight after 300 miles, planning to collect the car the next day around noon, as it was being MOT'd and also some paintwork was being done on the boot lid the day I initially travelled. The car had a decent amount of paint done by the dealer for various dings, scruffiness to the bodywork and also a new front bumper as it was cracked.

However, it failed it's MOT, and I was due to collect it the next day! I was now 300 miles from home :( The parts (2 rear shocks) were only available from Lexus and would not be in stock until the day after I was due to collect.

After some negotiation and several phone calls to various dealers, we agreed to meet between the price the dealer could get them and fit them at, and the price I could get Lexus Edinburgh beside me to fit them for (with Lexus Owners Club discount). It also had a missing service book - which was OK as I had completed printouts and some receipts for everything (I also called and spoke to the previous owner - it's a 1 owner car - and he had to stop driving as he has parkinsons disease and said it was a marvellous car but "not the best in the body" so I was grateful the dealer had taken the hit with the paintwork repairs)! It also only has one key - the original owner and his wife are currently searching for this for me, but no luck yet (circa £250 from Lexus!!)

After all that rambling above, I finally picked up this November 2006, one owner, 71000 miles, GS450h in Mica Black with an ivory leather interior, at the end of July 2016. It looked in good shape, the wheels had just been refurbished to a reasonable standard (the original pictures had scuff on them and we agreed they'd be done as part of the deal). A few bits of the body work had not been assembled very well (arch liners, bumper clips) and a few minor masking issues, but overall the paintwork was actually pretty good. We agreed, I paid and off I drove.

Here are some pics of the car before collection from the dealer:












I then set about fuelling up (put in £53 to full as still had about 40 miles in the tank) and enjoyed a LONG journey home (total of around just under 600 miles that day) - hopefully worthwhile. When I got home I had covered this distance and this average MPG, from a 3.5l V6... :lol:



Overall an impressive car drives great, some things to sort, and some bits and bobs needed.

Some pics n the journey home:






Next jobs - Lexus for MOT resit and new rear suspension fitting and Major 100+ service.
 
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#421 ·
Another few random pics :)







And several times over the last week the hybrid battery has shown full charge and stopped needing to charge - normally only ever gets to one bar down in green, but there are a few roads here which are very steep down for a mile needing a bit of braking (both of which regenerate the battery). Super technology.



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#424 · (Edited)
Visiting the auto shop in Lewis today and bought a few things - cloths, screen wash and some G3 Professional Bodyshop Detailer



Came back from around 100 miles of mixed driving and cleaned the glass using a new glass cloth and then set about the bodywork with the G3 and 2 microfibres - one to wipe after spraying and another to buff - straight on/straight off:



Reflection shots :)




Does the job well, great reviews, easy to use, was less than £6 for 500ml and made me put the Meguiars Ultimate back on the shelf (at £13.95!). Will see how it beads etc when it rains compared to my usual combo of roughly 30/70 BSD Sonax / Demon Shine as a lubricant (and to stop the sometimes sticky grab of the BSD).

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#428 ·
One of the mirrors did not arrive to the dealer (on back order until the end of next week) but managed to pop in and order a couple of bump clips for my boot hinges (stops the boot lid hitting the hinge) - but not in the UK. Coming from Europe and due in on Thursday.

Car back from holiday now, and completed another 1500 flawless miles. Almost 2500 miles since it was serviced at the start of this month :)
 
#429 ·
Spent a bit of time on/off over the last few weeks doing bits and bobs

Treated all the plastic with AF Revive



Tyres with Meguiars Ultimate



The drivers seatbelt was filthy - many options but went for jam it outside the door and pressure wash it carefully - worked well!



I cleaned the plastic sill covers as they were filthy



I then worked on all the chrome trim on the car (and my wife's) using RaceGlaze Glass and Chrome Polish - works great





Also treated all the (lots of) plastic on my Wife's Rav with AF Revive - a good product as usual




I did give the Rav a decent clean, coat of sealant, glass done, and the inside done too with products I use on the Lexus.



Finally, cleaned some marks from my interior using a sample of RaceGlaze Fabric Cleaner, which seems a great product. Wipe on and wipe off.

Roof before


Roof after



Rear tunnel before



After



Driver footrest before



After a VERY quick clean





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#430 ·
I ordered some clips for the boot hinges which stop the boot lid bumping against the hinge on full open.

Special order of course, came from Europe - bought 3 (to have one spare) - £4



I painted in the bits where the old clips had worn the paint of had chipped the paint. Look like this on



Followers of the thread may also remember I fixed the boot release button (which is a rubber pad that degraded badly) using black Gaffa tape which has been great.



However, finally a company now makes an upgraded heavy duty plastic type button cover to replace the rubber, which arrived today



Also some specific vehicle anti rattle tape arrived too which will be going mainly around the dash plastics around the sat nav etc



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#431 ·
Progress will keep going on this as it's going into Lexus on Monday to get both of the exterior mirrors replaced as they are not dipping as they should when they go into reverse. The final repair under my now expired Lexus warranty - CANNOT argue, it's paid out a fortune in the 2 years and the car will be 12 in November!!

Also, after lots of looking, negotiating with the boss, and various conversations with private sellers, dealers and several visits to the auction, I have bought this as a second car to spread the load of this beautiful Lexus, use for "messier" stuff, work, and for our imminently arriving puppy (tomorrow [emoji106]):




8 years 10 months old, 10 weeks MOT left, 114,000 miles, superb MOT history but, as a trade in with non dealer history sold at auction, the service book is of course missing but I can see various stickers etc in the car indicating servicing at an independent. It's pretty scruffy in quite a few places, so will need a good amount of work inside and out. I also specifically bought a bottom of the range car, and petrol, to limit costly issues with electronics or diesel stuff - but it's a Toyota so will need to be unlucky for big bills. Also had an exhaust break/blow too.

I'll get a separate project thread going for this one [emoji106]





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#433 ·
Have now tried checking all my tyres, and getting them all up to PSI, one was slightly low (30 and should be 35). Also done a system reset on the TPMS system and all lights are now gone.

I’ll try the car tomorrow on a run and see how it goes. Hopefully all sorted and just a blip.


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#434 ·
Have now tried checking all my tyres, and getting them all up to PSI, one was slightly low (30 and should be 35). Also done a system reset on the TPMS system and all lights are now gone.

I'll try the car tomorrow on a run and see how it goes. Hopefully all sorted and just a blip.

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Was it not just telling you that you had a lower pressure - as you found out ? rather than a fault ?
 
#439 ·
Spent some time yesterday on replacing the boot release button cover. On many of these cars the rubber becomes soft and then, sort of, rots or disintegrates over time.

I had repaired it but sealing it with several layers of black gaffa, which worked fine, but a company have now released a seal for this as you need to buy the whole unit from Lexus.



Took the boot liner off, which was actually not needed, but gave it a clean inside anyway






This is what it looked like as I started to peel back the rubber layers



And the new part fitted (and some paint on the rusty screws for the number plate lights)



Also noticed a scuff on my bumper



Luckily managed to buff this out

Finally the boot looks like this



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#443 ·
Car into Lexus this morning and this was my courtesy car



Both exterior mirrors were replaced, including shiny new black caps (so no scuffs and scrapes on the old ones now) and the inside of the car hoovered, but no washing as requested.

They also replaced some of the missing trim and cover clips in the engine bay from the last service so all good in there.

Car running great now - and that was it's last repair under warranty, 12 weeks short of 12 years old. Bravo Lexus.

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#452 ·
Managed to give the car a quick dry with a drying towel between showers and get a quick coat of Soft 99 Kiwami Extreme on the car, which is great, easy to apply and beads well



Some reflection shots




and lovely shiny new mirrors, which work perfectly



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