LegendJoel

Hello everyone,

My name is Joel and I currently drive a 1995 Acura Legend Coupe and am an active member on the Acura-Legend.com forums. I'm moving to Barcelona for the fall semester so I have to sell my Legend, but when I return I'm going to buy a GS. Like the Legend forums, I'd like to become a contributing member of the Lexus forums.

A couple years ago, back in high school, I worked for Kuni Lexus in Denver,CO. I drove GS's all the time and I know how good they are in every way...speed, luxury,reliabiltiy, and LOOKS!

Can you tell me what years are good, and anything to look for/stay away from when looking for a used GS?

Thanks in advance,

Joel

LS4fun

I would say shoot for a 2000+ GS400 at this point with low miles. At this time, the prices of GS400's have dropped enough to become quite affordable.

Before you take the plunge, get a quote from your insurance company on what you would would pay. A newer GS is probably much higher from an insurance standpoint then the 95 legend.

Good luck.

mmarshall

Both the GS300 and 400 are good buys. The 300 has a silky-smooth in-line 6 that is just like butter. It will also be cheaper than the 400 for gas mileage, insurance, and maintenance. Its gas mileage, however, is not particularly good by 6-cylinder standards.
The 400, of course, will have more power, along with typical V8 smoothness...something to consider if you carry a load or drive in hilly country. It will cost more up front but probably be worth more if and when you want to sell it.
As far as things to watch for, there have been several posts in these forums about the GS stabilizer bars working loose with mileage and rattling....fortunately this doesn't seem to be dangerous enough to be a safety issue.
Also, on the 2001 GS300 there may (?) be an ECU transmission update for the programmer...there was on the similiar IS300 with the same transmission. Check the VIN of the car at a Lexus shop.
One other suggestion: if you can wait for a little while and pony up maybe a few more dollars, the 2005 GS will offer All-Wheel-Drive....something that is not available currently.
Good luck.

Hameed

1. Common problems older GS's 2nd gen. (98, 99, and maybe 2000?) are condensation in headlights,
2. door actuator problems (that is less common than the problem 1above)
3. Some annoying dash rattles that can be fixed for the most part

Cons? None that are important (at least in my mind)

Pros? Too many to list...............

I would buy mine again without any hesitation if I went back in time. I did my homework and bought one that had been maintained by the same dealer that sold it to me and had verifiable service records, was never in an accident and the paint was immaculate. Other than that, you don't have to be worried about much else - yes the GS is that good in terms of reliability.

LegendJoel

Nice!

I'm looking forward to returning from Barcelona in January and begining the search for my GS.
I'll keep updates on how the search goes.

Would everyone reccomend looking toward Certified Pre-Owneds' from the Lexus dealership?

Thanks

Hameed

Yes I definitely would recommend you do that!

fireballs gs400

depends if you just plan on modding alot or a little, a warrenty on parts your going to replace is kinda useless, unless you take it in with the factory parts put back on, but i purchased my with higher miles due to the idea of what i wanted to do to it, and well over two years later and i still don't think i am finished, but i think the gs is prob one of the best buys on the market, BAR NONE

hawk

if u used to work at a lex dealer, use your contacts there to get yourself set up. you could even try to work for them again, get an employee discount of some sort?!? especially if it's a car that's been sitting on the lot for a while