Hey All,

I am new to this board and would like some advice on whether to purchase a 1998 GS300 or GS400. My decision will be based on the following two issues:

Firstly, I am interested in the number of miles each of you may have on your car, how long you have had it, and what the repair (outside of regular maintenance) visit frequency to the dealer has been.

Secondly, I currently have a high-end car (ahem!) that has proven to be a joke in regards to reliability. The prices are outrageous for repairs and in my opinion the repair costs detract from the attractiveness of the car. My question is this, if any of you have had the following services/repairs done what kind of price range do they usually run?

Oil Change: ?
Regular Service: ?
Replaced Cats: ?
Replaced Water Pumps: ?
Replaced Radiator: ?


Please help as I need this information prior to making my decision this weekend....

Thanks,
AARKAAH

 

I just bought my 1999 GS3 in Aug and it came with less than 17000 miles on it. Since then I racked up about 4000 miles. So far I went to the dealer twice:

First to get my rear door latches lubricated, felt a little stiff, and also had them check the steering wheel telescopic motor, because it sounded odd when fully extended, was replaced but didn't change anything.

The second time was because I saw a tear on the seal around the driver side door, the previous owner kept rubbing against it, was also replaced.

Everything was covered under warranty.

Oil Change: 1000 miles to go /done every 5000 miles, oh ya, I got my dealer to throw in 4 years worth of oil changes .

Regular Service: next service at 30,000 miles

Replaced Cats: nope...nothing in service record

Replaced Water Pumps: nope...nothing in service record

Replaced Radiator: nope...nothing in service record

 

Hi guys,
aarkaah, i have a 98 gs4, got it with 59 k now at 76k,changed water pump, timeing belt,spark plugs,pully.spark wires.$780 at dealer never had any problems with the car. you CANNOT go wrong with these cars,go for it.OIL changes are $46, bring your oil and filter its $21.

 

I've had my car for almost 2 years now (over 33000 miles yesterday) and never went to the dealer for anything other than oil change and scheduled maintainance. I've had a few problems but those are minor (blown fuse on cigarette lighter). If you want something reliable and cheap (relatively speaking) to maintain, get a Japanese car. And while you're at it, why not get the best of it, Lexus.

 

if you like to have your car serviced by the dealer, you can always call around for estimate. here are some answers:

1. oil change: $40 for reg oil, $60 for mobil 1.

diy : $8 for gs400 filter, $10-25 depends on oil choice, $10-15 labor if you have a reliable outside tech guy.

2.reg service: $150-600 depends on the miles

3.cats, radiator, h2o pumps......none of my japanese car ever had prob with those....

my lex ownership history:
93 gs300, bought it at 15kmiles, sold it at 95k miles, only probs: cd changer skipping(i was picky), and the auto retriving steering squeaks a bit, no biggie...
98 ls400, bought it new, sold it at 10kmiles, use the $$$ for other investment
now: 99 gs400, .....going like the engizer bunny....


Globe,

for the blown cig lighter fuse, this is the trick: perry from longo told me NOT to use the cig lighter socket for cel phone charging, use the one below the arm rest..

 

I am at the dealers but I am still hanging on to the check. (Sticky fingers.) Somebody push me over the top...

Ato

BTW - Thanks to all for their input - I really do appreciate this.

 

My dad leased the car. He put like 24000 miles in two years and i have put like 1500 in 3 months so i am to like 26000 i believe on a 99 GS.

All i have had done so far is had the dealer change the oil and replace the battery. The eletrical system got messed up and drained the battery when some idiot in an old Ford truck hit my car on the back right at 40+ MPH because he didnt stop at a stop sign. The worse part was he drove off too... Before the accident I changed the wipers on my own too because i hadnt planned on taking the car in for service for a while. But when the accident occured i just had them do the 25,000 mile service because it was covered by the warranty if i did it then but it wasnt covered on its own or something like that....

 

We are on our 4th Lexus
93 LS400 bought with 60K miles - sold with 135K. No major problems other than air suspension replacement (VERY expensive)
It ran as good as the day it was made when we traded it for a 98 LS 400. Bought it with 40K miles, now has 70K. Other than regular maintenance, runs perfectly.

Had a 92 SC 400 bought with 70K; sold with 140K - ran perfectly. Other than regular maintenance, never spent a dime. Upgraded to a 99 GS400. Have had it two month - runs perfectly.

I would go with the 400, not the 300. Higher fun factor. In addition, there were some earlier posts on this board about some tranmission "problems" that appeared to be specific to the 300.

 

I have a cell phone holder on my center passenger side A/C vent so I HAVE to charge with the ashtray charger.......... why not use that one? The one under the armrest doesn't blow any fuses?

Plus there are no holes or anything to have the charger pass through the divider between the 2 levels of the armrest. If I leave my cell at the bottom compartment then I can't hear anything.