Hey all. New here. Coming from a 2012 G37xs and looking to buy a 4th gen GS350 (ideally AWD f-sport) soon. The is350 is too small for me as I'm 6'2 and have kids. My budget is ~15k so I'm hoping to find a heckuva deal! lol

I've done a ton of research but I figure you guys/gals are the experts. Anything I should look out for? Any common mods that mess up the car down the road? I usually do all my general maintenance myself. Any headaches or annoyances with maintenance/repairs?

Thanks in advance!!

Chris

 

$15k will get you a pretty high mileage car. So you'll pretty much have to check everything... Oil leaks, all the fluids. At those mileages you would want to check for oil burning issues. Check to see if the trans is shifting correctly. See if you can get it on a lift to check for rust, check the suspension, more leak checking. Check out the date on the tires and the condition of those too.

 

Your search will be similar to this guy's:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...17k-miles.html

Take a code reader and check AC servos for any stored codes. There's a parameter somewhere in one of the data lists that shows how long since last code clear.

 

A fellow G37 defector. Lol jk. I came from a G37 coupe a few years back too. You'll like the GS if you can find one for 15k. I only miss my G37 cuz it was fully modded and had a little more power than the GS. You cant go wrong with any mods for the GS. The main issues with the GS is the sunroof rattle which is an easy fix, and the ac servo issue which is not an easy fix.

 

The GS350 is a solid choice—great space for the fam! Just keep an eye on the service history and check for any suspension issues.

 

I think 15k is doable in the current market, but the car will likely have some cosmetic or mechanical issues, though I'm sure most will be easy to ignore or resolve. About this same time last year (market was decidedly a seller's), I scored my 2013 AWD Lux with 118k for I think it was 17,900ish, but they also gave me top dollar for my trade at the time so it felt like a better deal than that. Mine has annoying cosmetic issues (basically needs a front bumper soon,) and some other small things like not so great leather condition, but no rips. Stuff like that helps bring the asking price way down IMO.

AWD is "great" but the car does sit quite high on it's springs, so just be aware that it rides and looks different than the RWD model. Also the front driveshaft is in the way of the driver's foot well, because we're LHD with a Japanese-made car here, and that would normally be on the passenger side. Not critical but since you are the same height as me, thought I'd bring it up. Also with your height, you'll probably appreciate the Lux trim seat upgrades, so maybe hunt one with all the buttons on the seat.

IMO you are likely to be able to keep the car a long time with minimal maintenance, so do keep in mind while you may find a car that's more expensive initially, it will could save you big when amortized out long enough.

Btw what's your ZIP code?

 

Thank you. I'm in (20170) Northern Va but looking across the nation for the best deal. Based on the replies I'm probably going to have open up to about ~20k.

 

I love my G! She's still purring at 220k but time to let her go while she's still in good condition.

 

Lol I told myself I wasn't gonna mod the GS, but I already went down the rabbit hole. You'll notice that the GS picks up much quicker from a stop than the G37 does, but the GS's power band is early on and drops right around 5-6k rpm. The G37 will pull from 3k rpm all the way to redline with minimal drop in power.

 

This Lux looks pretty clean, would just check for rust since it's a NY car.
https://nycmotorclub1.com/vdp/215918...t-Hempstead-NY

​​​​​​They didn't offer free Carfax but car gurus says no accidents. Service history looks good. Looks like they replaced the fuel cap and the sunroof assembly at some point. It's been a year since the last recorded oil change so definitely change it.

 

Seems like a real good deal actually. I guess everything isn't on it on cargurus or cars.com. I also upped my limit to 25k after seeing prices.

 

I've had my '13 GS350 AWD Premium for almost 10 years now. Purchased certified with ~43k miles and now close to 75k miles. No issues during the 3yr certification/warranty period. The dealer fixed an AWD whine noise related to the transfer case for free under a TSB. Out of pocket work: serpentine belt, the sunroof weatherstrip, in-dash analog clock, AC O-Ring and AC Condensor. The AC work was the most $$$ repair.

Other issues i've seen with the 4GS are with AC servo motors issues, door locks/actuators failing and nav/infotainment problems after changing the battery. Headlamps do tend to show some wear/fading/discoloration after some time - highly recommend getting them professionally refinished and installing PPF.

I've done quite a bit of cosmetic repairs over the years - most recently had the dealer refinish all wheels. Last year got into a fender/bender and had new headlamps and bumper/fender work done: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...l#post11605270

Even though it seems like i've had a bunch of repairs both mechanical and cosmetic, the GS rides very well and performs just right in my opinion. Most of the issues i've faced were minor overall inconveniences but do understand that you will be getting into a used vehicle where the likelihood of an issue becomes higher with certain factors like age/mileage/maintenance history. Look for something that has been cared for by the previous owner(s), have a pre purchase inspection and drive more than one GS (I think you'll likely prefer an F-Sport AWD coming from a G37x).

This is where I purchased my GS and they have a '14 GS350 AWD F-Sport in a rare deep sea mica (dark blue): https://www.lexusofmtkisco.com/used-...CE1BL4E5026931

Good luck with your search - lots of helpful folks on the clublexus 4GS forum so you'll find some great information, posts and help. Hope you join the 4GS fam soon!

 

Yea I usually look at Car gurus. That's where I found that one. But car gurus only had 7 pictures and no Carfax. Sometimes dealer sites will have more pictures and/or free Carfax, so once you find the car, just search by VIN to find the dealer site.

 

I wasn't really looking for this exact car but I found it on Market Place. 124K Black (obsidian) outside, red (cabernet) inside. I found it was always serviced at Lexus. This is a very nice driving car and has more power than I expected. Especially in Sport+. I paid $14,500.00 for it. They are out there. A west coast car will have less corrosion, The only thing so far is a rattle somewhere that I cannot pin down yet.

 

Rattle is most likely from the vacumm pump.