Battalon

Hi there,

after selling my 2020 Corolla Touring Sport I am now looking for a nice epuipped GS450.
I narrowed my search to the F-Sport, because it is more common on the used market and I like a more sporty experience.
I don't trust seller per se and would like to know beforehand, what options the GS has.

Is there a way to by asking the seller for a specific spec to know, what I am dealing with?
​​​​​​For example, if it has rear wheel steering.

Best regards,
Julian

Lwerewolf

Get a dealership to give you the purchase spec off of the VIN (techdoc vehicle specifications). Perhaps get the owner to do this on your behalf.

Additionally, see how it was offered where it was bought from - in Europe it was pretty easy to get a loaded 3rd gen, for example - no reason to believe that 4th gens changed this a whole lot. This can let you narrow down the "spec" based on "this option only appears with this package..." Basically check the brochures.

Rear wheel steering - no clue beyond "turn the wheel completely in one direction and see if the rear moves" or "look for the rear steering rack".

Any other option - just look.

The front discs of the f-sport are pretty expensive (2-piece with alu hats, rotors NOT sold separately), keep this in mind. You will also have very limited boot space. Honestly, if I had a need for a Corolla Touring (and the new 2.0 hybrids are pretty damn good), I wouldn't swap it for a GS.

Battalon

Thank you for the reply.
My Corolla had so many problems from the factory ... the chemical smell was still present after 1 1/2 years, it had a defective part, a whisling sound in the door (which was present in a CHR I drove as well) etc ... I just had no luck with it.

Why wouldn't you switch? Because of the more expensive maintenance?
If you had to choose, would you rather choose the luxury or F-sport? Does the added features makes the F-Sport "less" reliable?

703

Are you in Germany?

Battalon

Yes sir I am.

703

What year are you looking at?

Battalon

2012-2015
I am only interested in the original facelift of the 4th gen.

Lwerewolf

Maintenance - if you're looking at a GS, you generally don't care about that.

Fuel economy - definitely not, the 4th gen 450h is about as frugal as it gets for what it is.

F-sport vs. luxury - probably f-sport, but I'd delete the intake sound generator ASAP. I like my cars quiet

Battalon

If someone buys a 2008 GS for 10k I guess, that person does care about maintenance cost.
Lexus in general is quite trouble-free besides normal wear, right? Who likes to pay high bills? If a model has particularly high maintenance cost without huge benefits in comparison to similar models/variants (F-sport vs luxury or excecutive), I would choose the model with less maintenance cost.
It is just like with my Corolla. I used less than half of the features included. Coming from a Corolla, I might not "recognize" the difference to other variants and just be happy with the knowledge, that I have to worry less about "obstacles" in the future.

It is still unbelievable, that the 450h gets an average of 35- (please insert the highest figure) with a V6 and 340hp.
The Corolla with a 2.0l and 185hp had similar fuel economy.

Lwerewolf

You gotta know the specifics. They tend to be way better than their competitors, but that doesn't mean that they're faultless and that they're cheap to repair properly if things go wrong. Basically forget about aftermarket parts. And no, you don't buy a 3GS if you aren't ready for potential big expenses - could've been meticulously looked after (obviously higher price than 10k), but you never know.

The 4GSh is less troublesome than the 3rd gen in general - batteries are still under warranty and should be using at least 3rd gen cells (although by now probably almost every 3rd gen has had a retrofit), haven't heard of any trouble with inverters.... ehh, those are the major differences, but it's plenty.

The shocks (~250eur/corner, a bit more with the bump stops and some other things), the potential brake actuator failure (literally interchangeable with the 3GS one) and the transmission aux oil pump might need a bearings swap (same transmission). That's about it in terms of "major" expenses (i.e. for what it is - nothing), unless the battery gives - then it depends on your local options.

If something does go wrong, it does tend to be expensive, but again - it's to be expected with those cars.

Battalon

I will definitely let the car incl battery check before buying.That's why I tend to look for a 2014-2015 year model.
I heared, that the shocks on the LS600h (which I was interested in before), due to the higher weight, tend to break tho I did not hear from such defects on the GS450h yet. Sure. Everything might break. But having notorious weak points on a car (e.g. almost everything on a modern german car), I avoid it. Nothing is perfect ... but I think, with the 4GS I will come close to what I expect from a car.

If the condition is as expected I will have my peace for the next years.
Does those "sporty" features of the F-Sport (rear wheel steering, different suspention) need extra maintenance?
There are not a lot of options in Europe, to get a reliable luxurious car (e.g. Acura)

The car will be a gift to myself for hitting my goal for my future profession. I had "bad luck" with two of my three cars I had before (Corolla and Audi A6 ...) and I don't want to expierence a positive expierence this time.

Im2bz2p345

Hi,

You might want to read over this excellent topic (it's posted in the 4GS main subforum, but it still applies to the hybrid) that provides way to identify different options in the car: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-pictures.html

As long as the car was taken care of it in terms of common maintenance items (even from 3rd party shops/mechanics), you shouldn't have any problems with the purchase. The difference between F-Sport vs Luxury is likely negligible. 99% of us hybrid have had little to no problems whatsoever and many have owned this vehicle well over 100K miles.

You can try searching in this hybrid subforms for issues that folks have had, but it won't be common unless you purchase a vehicle with unknown mileage/records ( :cough: bladest :cough: ). Good luck with your search and please do share photos with us once you actually purchase your dream car.

~ im2bz2p345