Couple days ago I picked up a Silver with Black interior '01 GS300. It's for my 16 yr old son but I've always liked the looks of this model GS with the rear spoiler. It has 168k miles and I got it for $5,500 but the dealer I got if from just did a whole bunch of stuff like the timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, plugs/wires, brakes, filters, upper/lower control arms, ball joints, and 4 new tires.There was more done but those were the main things I remember off the top of my head.

It's a nice car and I definitely think it's a great first car but it's not a LS by any means. I used to think that maybe I could step into a 2013+ GS since they were so much cheaper than the LS but now I definitely think it's worth waiting to get the LS. After I rode around in it for a little while and then got back into my LS it almost felt like sitting in a luxury apartment vs a college dorm.

I'm having fun with it at the moment mostly because I'm getting my son involved in maintaining the car like checking oil and tire as well as wash and waxing. We will also be swapping out the stereo with a double DIN and some new speakers next week once all the stuff comes in. Unfortunately I have to battle replacing the door lock actuators on this car as well.

Here is a quick picture I took when we test drove the car last weekend.

 

Love the look of that generation of the GS. I am sure your son is pleased; he will have great memories of his first car. I hope he takes to the preventative maintenance aspect of car ownership; it is a valuable thing to learn while young.

Jeff

 

That series of GS was one of the 1st Lexus models I found intriguing. I'm sure it will be a worry free car for you guys..

 

Nice car and sounds like a good price. Congrats...

 

Did they still put an inline 6 in the '01? Heck I'd drive that car today, it's a sweet car for a 16 y.o.

With those door handles, there's no locking without the fob, right? Wonder what makes the actuators go bad, on our LS' my theory is that you can press the button on any of the 4 doors, so maybe that's why all 4 are always locking and unlocking.

If you go back to 1998, the GS400 won car of the year and was pretty ridiculous. I was a young buck and had bought my first new car, the Maxima SE. I was behind a new dark blue GS400 and I thought, dang, would you look at that....

congrats on the pickup!

edit: just thought of something, all 4 doors are NOT always unlocking......but they ARE always locking....maybe this explains why the driver door actuator breaks and not the other 3, it unlocks much more than the rest....as the driver is almost always going to get in the car. I have unlocked a rear or pass door individually to get something out of the car...

 

Nice find. Always wanted to get on also, but just didn't like the smaller cabin and less than luxurious ride. Might be a bit peppy for a teen, but I'm sure you've got that under control.
Pretty sure all the 300 series were the inline 6. Enjoy and hope it works out well for your son.

 

nice buy....price wasn't low but you got a ton of stuff done and it should be reliable for many years now.

Love that inline 6...had it in my old IS300 with the 6 speed stick. It sounded great and pulled wonderfully, smooth. Not especially efficient.

Only downside I see is your son is going to be sorely tempted to slap a turbo on that thing. Or maybe that's upside depending on your point of view, ha.

 

I agree, this model of GS I've always kind of wanted as well. The dealer had a '99 ES with only 150k and it was $4k. Technically I should have put him in that because it was so cheap but I wanted something that I could drive if I had too. I really like the steering wheel and guages on this GS, wish I could have them in my LS but that's about only thing I would switch.

I've been permit driving with my son in my LS for about a year now so I asked him what he thought about the difference between the cars. He said it felt a lot more peppy than the LS. I don't think it's much faster, you just have to stab the throttle on the LS to get the V8 to go. I told him he is going to have to be mindful about his speed in the GS because a speeding ticket at his age is just about as bad as a wreck when it comes to insurance, which is the same price for just him with basic coverage as my wife and I combined with full coverage.

I know this wasn't the most smoking deal out there but I feel that for the price, quality of car, and the parts/maintenance that was just done it was a really good deal. It's hard to find a decent car around the $5k mark any more. I think this one is going to get him through high school and college.

 

I just saw a white one at lunch, and it seemed to have a badge on the fender like the LS430's sport suspension, so I walked over to look....it said Platinum Edition or something like that...GS300

 

I agree on the purchase decision and getting a good quality car for that price is tough sometimes. You want something reliable and durable. We drive Lexus vehicles for a reason. I'm sure this will work out great. The GS as the first Lexus I was interested in, but when I drove my first LS400... I didn't look back, but always liked the look of the GS.