Noru64

Hello users of the HS forum! My car blew up and I am wanting a reliable hybrid vehicle that fits in my budget of $7000.

I found great HS models which are all imported from Japan but they all have their pros and cons which makes my indecisive brain overloaded and I am in dire need of help choosing between these three cars.

I'll list the said pros and cons of each vehicles below.

HS 2010
56,000 miles
White(good colour)
Mid trim with main features like; foward/reverse cameras, cruise control, heated/ventilated leather seats
No exterior or interior damage except acceptable wear and tears.

HS 2011
54,000 miles
Red(least favourite colour tbh)
Top trim with main features like; Sunroof, Radar Cruise control, heated/ventilated leather seats
No exterior or interior damage except acceptable wear and tears.

HS 2012
110,000 miles
Grey(cool colour)
Same trim as the 2010 variant;
A bit more of wear and tear/bit of scratches on the rear left bumper.

They are all the same price(surprisingly). The reason I am even considering the high mileage 2012 HS is because I feel like the recall problems won't exist/be lesser on the newer car before the facelift. If I am wrong on that opinion, please do correct me.

Usage
I will be driving this car around the city but mainly I'll be making a 500mile round trip to visit my family every 1~2 weeks. So this car will rack up quite a bit of distance over the few years.

Any comments or opinions on these vehicles would be a great help as these are discontinued and is hard to find any reviews or anything these days.

Thank you!

Clutchless

I would favor the 2011 as it has the most options, and low mileage. Since you will be adding a couple thousand miles a month, this is important. Color is least important.
With higher mileage you run into normal wear and tear items in the suspension, such as struts, shocks, bushings, ball joints, steering rack wear, motor mount wear, brake system components etc.
and engine such as the water pump, hybrid system, fuel system, that need repair.
A lower mileage car will push that wear farther into the future. Think - in a year or 2 that 110,000 mile car will be pushing 200,000 and need a lot more repairs than the 54,000 mile car.

I have a 2011 and there was only 1 recall which was regarding the gas tank sender.
My only repairs at 105,000 miles were the battery which is a normal time wear item, the rear shocks, and front brake pads which are also normal wear items. The rest has just been maintenance although I consider the above items to be maintenance also. They wear out on every car.

If it has 18 inch wheels and navigation, that is considered a premium model. However the 2011 with radar cruise is the highest level trim available for the HS. There are little to no changes between the 3 model years.

Maintenance and accident history are the most important things on a used car. First compare the CarFax on each vehicle. Then use this link to go the the Lexus Drivers Site, join for free and enter the VIN of each vehicle (one at a time) to see the dealer service history. This will help you determine how well maintained they were and if any had a lot of problems etc.. Sometimes the site is cranky and you have to run the search a few times for it to work.

FYI there was a recall for the 2010 models to replace the transmission.
All of these vehicles were made in Japan.

​​​​​​https://www.lexus.com/My-Lexus/account/create-account

dougaliscious

I've got a car with the HUD, ventilated leather seats, forward camera, and radar cruise control.

• The one feature I always thought would be awesome but I could honestly do without is radar cruise control. It's not nearly as good a driver as I am, and just ends up being irritating when it decelerates when my path is clear.
• The one feature I use all the ****ing time in the forward camera. It has a feature to display automatically when slowing to a crawl. I use it for parking in tight places and peeking around corners before pulling into cross traffic. Absolutely indispensable.

So, given your options I would favor the low-miles car with the forward camera instead of the middle option with radar cruise control.

Noru64

Thank you Clutchless, and dougaliscious, to clarify, the red 2011 HS has the forward/reverse camera, sunroof, radar cruise control, land keep assist, HUD, dash cam, 17inch alloy. So it’s definitely one of the highest trims as opposed to the other HS’s. Honestly though, I have been staring at this red colour for far too long and I’ve started to get used to the red haha.
I planned a viewing for tomorrow for the red HS and hopefully all goes well!

I also test drove a random HS today and my god it feels way heavier than I thought. Not really a problem tho lol.

thank again for the comments!

Clutchless

Good luck on the test drive and remember it is always good to have a local independent shop do a pre-purchase inspection. These are usually about $100. You can use what faults they find to negotiate a lower price or pre-purchase repairs. Call around to places near the store selling the vehicle and see if any can do a pre-purchase inspection if you drive over or if the dealer will take it there. If the seller does not allow this, then eliminate that car from your choices.

Either of the low mileage vehicles looks like a good choice if they have decent service histories from Lexus.
I am surprised the 2011 does not have the 18 inch wheels or Navigation listed. I suppose it probably does have Nav as does the 2010 but you just did not list it.
The Nav on these vehicles is not very good and now is out of date. If the dealer can update it at this point in time, it would cost a few hundred dollars.
You are better off using your phone via Bluetooth to navigate.

Noru64

yes the 2011 has just about everything the other years have. nav as well. I tried test driving a different hs yesterday but I could not figure out how to connect the bluetooth audio for the life of me because it’s in japanese lol. I guess I’ll have to trial and error my way for a week or so with all the buttons on the screen

Clutchless

Where are you that the car has Japanese on the screen? FYI see this recent thread on the subject with how to change it to English instructions.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hs-...10-hs250h.html

Noru64

haha, a bunch of used hs models got imported to new zealand form japan since 2020 or so. it’s quickly catching trend i think haha.
thanks for the link ill check it out.

Noru64

So far I am really liking the cars I test drove. My mind is leaning towards the 2010 HS as the 2011 HS is from a private seller and had a fair bit of panel gaps on the front bumper. The 2010 HS from a dealer has already done a pre-purchase inspection so I know that I'm safe with that.

I've been keeping an eye on the CT's as well since its a nice hybrid too, and the pricings of the CT's threw me some questions as they are a couple thousand dollars more expensive than the HS from the same year/era. IDK, just thought it was interesting.

But yes I am this close to pulling the trigger on the HS

dougaliscious

If one of the cars has a banged up front bumper, maybe test the front parking sensors work as expected. There isn't a sensor directly in front but there are sensors both front corners.

The CT - everything else being equal - will have slightly better fuel economy. Definitely drive that model and get a feel for your preference before buying.

I don't hear a lot of good things about Toyota dealer pre-purchase inspections… Maybe get this dealer's sign off on some key things like the state of the tires, the state of the 12 V battery which is accessed through the trunk, and their proprietary test results of the hybrid battery. Oh and course $10 suspension parts that cost $600 to install...

Clutchless

I have owned both and the CT sits lower and is much slower although with much better mileage as it has a Prius engine and hybrid system. Far less horsepower. There are more of them around as it was sold for about 7 years. It's a hatchback and the HS is a sedan..
The HS has the Camry engine and hybrid system, you sit higher, the ride is better and it is much quicker if that is important to you.

Trexus

I agree with Cluthless and dougaliscious. Either way as long as there are no major problems you will be good. Let us know what you decide to purchase and as long as you take good care of your HS you will enjoy many, many miles and years. The HS is rare and it's always fun when people try to figure out which Lexus model you have. Wish Lexus made a second generation model of the HS.

Noru64

Haha yes, I am quite excited to actually drive the car around my city when I finally pick it up probably next monday.
I ended up purchasing the 2010 HS as the 2011 and 2012 variants had some iffy elements here and there.. and the 2010 was just from a reputable small dealership with one of the best quality wear and tear amongst 11 other avilable HS's for sale in my area. I also could not risk geting a new bumper in the future since HS was discontinued.

I had a last minute hesitation for the CT but it was 2 grand or so more expensive than the HS I ended up getting. (I do gotta say, I really got used to the design of the HS. It looks very very pretty(biased))

Enough of my rambles.. but thank you so much guys for helping me out choosing my HS. It was a very exciting week for sure. Test driving literally all the HS's in my area was definitely a challenge haha.