What To Buy

[21milehigh]

Looking to get a Gs not sure which year to purchase or 300 400 430 looking between a 99-02?

Are there any negatives or positives about any of these years?

What is the difference in Mpg between the V6 and V8 EPA says 24 for both?

Does anyone know how they perform on snow? I know they have a snow-driving mode, not sure how well that works.

What is the up keep cost? I heard the 30K interval tune up was expensive. Any other elaborate costs?

I know you must get these questions all the time. But, these forms are usually the best place for real information. Thanks in advance for any help you might give me.

[briggs400]

bought my 98 gs400....have put 10,000 miles on the car since i bought it. so far all i have had to do was change hid bulbs which was a bit pricey, and replace the yaw sensor...which was covered by the stealer.

as for snow...i have brand new snow tires on my car and it drives exceptional in the snow mode....and actually not too bad in the normal setting. i only had it for the last few weeks of snow driving last winter...but if you dont mash the throttle everytime on the snow....with decent winter tires (4 of them of course) its pretty good. probly because of size of the car.

Im not over the moon about the mpg with my car lately....but i think i know the culprit to poorer fuel economy recently, and for a V8 its not too bad...not as bad as my dads 740iL.

all in all my favorite car owned/driven/etc

[Wicked_Lex]

If you have the money, 21 mile, go for the 400. You'll have an EXTRA 75 horsepower and fuel mileage is damned good for a V-8. I get 25+ on the freeway when cruise contol is set at 75 MPH and it wouldn't do bad around town if I didn't lead foot it so much listening to the growl coming out of the Magnaflow mufflers.

[Wicked_Lex]

Forgot your other questions 21 mile. How does the GS drive in snow? The short answer is good, I've driven in snow in the Lake Tahoe area. The long answer is:

There are two settings that you, as the driver, have control over.

The Variable Skid Control - Make sure this is ‘ON’ if you are driving in snow or on wet pavement. It defaults to ‘ON’ after the engine is shut off. It works by sending a signal to the engine when the wheels start to spin and the engine feels kind of jerky like its cutting out. In less than a second you won’t have any wheel spin and the car moves forward as fast as it can without breaking traction.

The transmission control has 3 modes ‘Snow’, ‘Power’ and for lack of a better term ‘Normal’. In the ‘Snow’ mode the tranny shifts up quicker so the engine is running less RPMs and less likely to put you into a skid.

If you are driving in snow VSC = ON, tranny mode = SNOW

Trying to shut down some punk in a street race VSC = OFF, tranny mode = POWER

What kind of maintenance is there for the GS? There’s the usual 30K, 60K, etc. maintenance that involves replacing tranny/differential fluid, and coolant I got all three done at Jiffy Lube for abou $150. At 90K it is recommended that a timing belt be replaced but a guy at the dealership said it could wait until 120K. Other than that practically nothing except oil/filter and air filter changes.

The guy at Lexus said that the engine for the 400 is built so well that engines with 200K don’t even need a valve job. I had an ES300 before getting the GS and all I had to do was replace the factory battery after about 100K. The GS is a well engineered machine and Lexus has the highest consumer confidence rating of all automobiles. Buy one and have fun.