Troy113

I'm looking to buy a 2008 gs 450h but am concerned with the long term reliability and maintenance costs. I drive my cars till about 150k miles and would want to keep the gs 450h for that long as well. Does anybody have some insight to share on whether this car will be as reliable as the gs350? Is the relatively high depreciation rate of the gs 450h any indicator of its maintenance cost and long term reliability or is it just due to the pace of advancing hybrid technology?

I've read some other threads in this forum and all i've seen in significant additional costs to owning the gs450h is potentially replacing the battery for the hybrid engine at 100k+ miles. Thanks in advance for your insight! Hope to be an owner as well soon!

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

I wouldnt worry so much, when I asked my dealer how many hybrids come in with problems he said those are the most well built ones and usually no one comes in for problems I'd say that your pretty safe and I wouldn't worry plus the battery is covered for 8Years.

sprtent

iTrader: (1)

^ is the same info I had when I did my research to buy my used 450h. Plus, my co-worker's 2004 Prius has over 200K problem free miles and still on the original drivetrain, and battery. At that point it was just searching for the year, color combo, and features of what I wanted.

After several months owning, I would say I did good. No problems or suprises so far. Actually I am pleasantly suprise of how powerful this thing is when in Sport and Power mode.

Make sure you do your homework on the car's maintenance and recall history. Depending on your driving references, you might want (or not want) to look into options such as ML, VDIM, or ****. Also do some reading on run flat tires on this car too. Good luck

Troy113

Thanks for the advice, im past the whole concern of long term reliability. Test drove the one i was looking to get today and unfortunately it did not work out. The car was not in as good shape as the dealer claimed it to be, both the exterior and interior. But i have to say that the drive was niice. The search continues, more motivated than ever.

LexFather

There is absolutely no additional maintenance. Its like a normal car. The only thing is hybrid coolant might be low and need refilling which is at major service checks.

The battery replacement over 100k is hype, it doesn't happen and if it has (Prius) Toyota has also eaten part of the cost.

The biggest part is drive the car and use the hybrid powertrain instead of letting the car sit.

Troy113

Update: I went back to the dealer and went ahead with the purchase. '08 black sapphire, ivory interior, ML, 18k miles. It cleaned up pretty nicely after it was detailed and touched up

Stormforge

+1. in fact, the feb/11 issue of consumers report was comparing how a 9 yr old prius held up. it did very well, and almost performed like new. i'll scan this and post up when i get a chance. this just shows how reliable hybrids are, and that if you are considering a GS450h, you should not have any major concerns with regards to reliability

neurocity

iTrader: (17)

Huge sigh of relief here.

This hybrid stuff is so new to me, I've been trying to ram my head full of knowledge in the last few days with this car.

Again, I need to tell myself and look at my past.

1997 Lexus SC300 30k-100k (Brakes, tires, belts, oil/filters)
2002 Lexus GS300 40k-115k (Brakes, tires, belts, oil/filters)

Only ever had to fix stuff that was wear and tear. Cant imagine this being any different.

Stormforge

please see attached pdf file from consumers report (feb/11 edition). if this doesn't convince you of the reliability of toyota's hybrid system, nothing will!

L8Apex

this is the most helpful thread i have read here. thx

ghd8989

iTrader: (6)

My hybrid batter went out at 92,000 and I have heard that some of the RXs are having batteries die on them. I think the jury is still out when it comes to mileage tested batteries. Luckily I had 8,000 miles to spare on the warranty. Yikes!

L8Apex

Any idea on what the invoice was?

Often they give an invoice with prices, then zero it out due to warranty. The inv is for your records

ghd8989

iTrader: (6)

I didn't ask for one. Its a 5,200 for the battery. Pretty scary.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Its true that sometimes the battery does go but the number I'm hearing is 90k nothing below, and its a rare occasion, I wouldnt worry yourself so much. Lexus makes a solid car.

bamachem

My thread

I was told that my battery was the first documented failure in a GS450h, but that they had some failures in the RX's already - but extremely rare and very few. I was also told that the warranty is an unwritten "unlimited mileage and age" on the hybrid system because Lexus wanted the parts back and that they wanted to take care of their customers. We'll see...