Planning On Buying A Gs300

[blazingounces]

I currently have a 2000 maxima and i am planning on purchasing a GS 3. I have a couple of questions. The Car i want to buy is the 2000 Gs3 black on black. It has 57k miles, kinda high, but the prices beats the mileage. I just was wondering what exactly to look for while test driving, and since its near the 60 k service how expensive this is. Im planning on trading in my maxima which i owe 11k on and the trade in is 11 so im hoping hell just call it a trade. But any comments let me know.

thanks

brandon

[Lexdiamonds]

I HAVE THE SAME QUESTION AS YOU DO, I WANT TO BUY A 2000 GS400 WITH 50K MILES ON IT AND I WANTED TO KNOW IF IT WAS GONNA BE RELIABLE FOR 4 YEARS, BUT NO ONE HAS RESPONDED REALLY TO MY POST YET. I HAVE HEARD THAT IF YOU TAKE GOOD CARE OF THESE CARS, THEY WILL LAST AT LEAST 150K MILES. I HAVE A GRAND AM THAT IS WORTH 8 THOUSAND AND I OWE 8 THOUSAND, SO I AM HOPING IT IS AN EVEN TRADE, BUT IT USUALLY EVER IS, THEY ALWAYS TRY TO SCREW YOU. ANY, GOOD LUCK ON GETTING THE GS3, THAT STYLE OF GS3 AND 4 ARE THE BEST LOOKING CARS I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY OPINION. LEXDIAMONDS

[blazingounces]

Yeah i agree completely... i have fallen in love with these cars for a while. The only thing im worried about is the possibility of getting screwed with the maxima. Im also not too sure if i want to purchase this just to have the new gs come out in 6 months. Hard decision, but i appreciate your reply

brandon

[naterbug69]

I'm new to the forum. Just bought a Black 2000 GS300 two weeks ago with 59,000 miles on it. I haven't found out what the 60,000 mile service will cost. I'll be taken it in and I'll let you know how much it costs. The car is fantastic; however, the radio display is fading. There's a guy in San Diego that will fix it for $175.00. A friend of mine has 90,000 miles on a '98 GS400 with no problems. Good luck with your purchase.

[TWINTURBO619]

I'm new to the forum. Just bought a Black 2000 GS300 two weeks ago with 59,000 miles on it. I haven't found out what the 60,000 mile service will cost. I'll be taken it in and I'll let you know how much it costs. The car is fantastic; however, the radio display is fading. There's a guy in San Diego that will fix it for $175.00. A friend of mine has 90,000 miles on a '98 GS400 with no problems. Good luck with your purchase.

hey what's going on... the 60k package will probably run you about $2500 bucks from lexus. totally not worth the money. you can do it yourself for a fraction of the cost. only thing that is worth changing is the timing belt. you could do your oil change, transmission fluid change, plugs & wires on your own. timing belt is where it's going to hurt. you actually need to take it to a shop or the dealer to change that out. that one alone will put a big dent on the wallet. good luck with your tune up.

[SW03ES]

$2500 for the 60k service on a GS300? Phht maybe in California lol. That will most likely run between $500-$1000 since they actually don't do a lot, still overpriced but $2500 is way off base even for the big 90,000 mile maintenance on a Lexus V8, thats only $1600 and that includes the timing belt and all the plugs.

And on a 2000 GS the timing belt doesn't get changed until 90k ;)

[TWINTURBO619]

$2500 for the 60k service on a GS300? Phht maybe in California lol. That will most likely run between $500-$1000 since they actually don't do a lot, still overpriced but $2500 is way off base even for the big 90,000 mile maintenance on a Lexus V8, thats only $1600 and that includes the timing belt and all the plugs.

And on a 2000 GS the timing belt doesn't get changed until 90k ;)

yeah, it's pretty expensive down here. when they told me that, i was like no, that's okay, i'll just take the spark plug change. but yeah, i'm all the way south in california, in the best city in the world... SuN dIeGo. but yeah, damn dealership. good thing is that our cars are super low maintenance.

[Neo]

See if you can take the car to the dealer and have them run diagnostics on the car. They can also pull the service history on the car, assuming the previous owner had their service done at Lexus. Of course, they'll charge you a few hundred for this but if it gives you a little more peace of mind before making the purchase, it is worth it. I would still caution that this procedure won;t find EVERYTHING that is wrong.

Things to watch out for: condensation in the headlights and rattles in the dash/glovebox. These are minor things but can be an issue. Year wise, your car should still be under warranty but the mileage might not. Double check. If somehow, it is still under warranty, I'd get these annoyances fixed. The condensation is hard to tell unless you are in the right weather conditions. The rattle is obvious if it is there.

There may be a few other things that may be slipping my mind.

As for the 60k service, it should be between 800 - 1300 depending on the dealership and what they are listing as part of the service. There should be a list of things required in the manual. You can actually select things that you can do and go in and have the dealer perform the things you want them to. Just talk to the service advisor. You can probably whittle the price down to between 400 - 600. You just have to do the rest yourself. Since you are just buying the car, it may not be a bad idea to do some of the service at the dealership to have them look over the car.

I have a GS300 with about 74k miles on it. No major issues. I would not hesitate to recommend this car to anyone.

Good luck.

[SW03ES]

yeah, it's pretty expensive down here. when they told me that, i was like no, that's okay, i'll just take the spark plug change. but yeah, i'm all the way south in california, in the best city in the world... SuN dIeGo. but yeah, damn dealership. good thing is that our cars are super low maintenance.

Thats unreal! Wow, my fiancee wants to move to San Diego too...

[jbarhorst2]

I have a '97 SC300 with the same engine as the GS300. I am just turning 129K with no engine issues. I did have a small air conditioning issue (leak) that was repaired under warranty. I also have not yet changed the timing belt. Since it is a non-interference engine, I wasn't going to worry about it until it broke or the water pump started leaking. I bought mine 1.5 years ago with 82,000 on the clock and have been very pleased.

[Neo]

Just remembered a couple more minor things that might be issues.

The radio display LCD can go bad. Mine is doing this but it does not bother me too much since I will eventually put in an aftermarket system.

I've also head of the door lock actuators going bad but this does not happen to everybody.

:)

[Lex_Chick _GsBGizzle]

Hey, being a gs fan and all, going from a max to a gs is a great step, but I wouldnt go with it since it is at least four year old , and all that milleage. If i would i would think it; s only iswe to get a car which is newer than the car i traded in, even if it is higher class. How much are they asking? WHy not consider a '02 - '03 is300?

[SW03ES]

57,000 miles is literally nothing for a Lexus, they're just getting broken in. If you extrapolate out the mileage its been on the road for 4 years thats not really high mileage at all, its pretty average.

[Cobra]

i was just gonna start a thread about this, figured just save space and do it here. as my first post, i'd like to say that i'm also interested in buying a 98-01 gs 300... i was gonna buy a maxima, but i figured why not dish out a few extra bucks for a much nicer car? anyways, a few questions i have; what problems, if any, should i look for? and just curious as to how many mpg's you guys have gotten out of the gs 300's(or 400 if you own one)? and how about driving in snow(lots of snow), since its a rear-wheel drive car? any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance guys

[Lex_Chick _GsBGizzle]

So, blazingounces, as i was asking , would ya consider an is, how much are they asking for that gs, if you are gonna get one the same year?;)

[SW03ES]

i was just gonna start a thread about this, figured just save space and do it here. as my first post, i'd like to say that i'm also interested in buying a 98-01 gs 300... i was gonna buy a maxima, but i figured why not dish out a few extra bucks for a much nicer car? anyways, a few questions i have; what problems, if any, should i look for? and just curious as to how many mpg's you guys have gotten out of the gs 300's(or 400 if you own one)? and how about driving in snow(lots of snow), since its a rear-wheel drive car? any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance guys

The GS is not great in the snow. I would stay away from the 98 model as it was the first run year of the car, 99-04 though fair game!

[Cobra]

i was just gonna start a thread about this, figured just save space and do it here. as my first post, i'd like to say that i'm also interested in buying a 98-01 gs 300... i was gonna buy a maxima, but i figured why not dish out a few extra bucks for a much nicer car? anyways, a few questions i have; what problems, if any, should i look for? and just curious as to how many mpg's you guys have gotten out of the gs 300's(or 400 if you own one)? and how about driving in snow(lots of snow), since its a rear-wheel drive car? any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance guys

The GS is not great in the snow. I would stay away from the 98 model as it was the first run year of the car, 99-04 though fair game!

so exactly what are the problems i should look for? and where can i find the TSB's?

[GSPARKINGONLY]

I keep seeing newer Maximas around town and think, "That's a nice looking car", realizing now that it looks quite a bit like the GS, which is why I like it. I think Nissan is trying to emulate the GS, but if you've driven the GS, you know there is little comparison.

I purchased a 99 GS300 w/60k about a month ago and it is amazing. I have driven quite a few japanese sports cars and nothing hold the road, has the ride or handles like this vehicle. The variable valve timing spreads the torque out across the powerband and the electronic transmission is AMAZINGLY responsive.

I've had this car in snow and ice here in Topeka already, and a lot of it. The car has excellent traction for rear wheel drive. Remember however, that traction is extremely dependent on the tires you run. My rear-wheel-drive GS3 with good Michelin tires does better than the front-wheel-drive Civic I had that had poor tires.

As for service costs, at 60k, the manual calls for new plugs and to replace engine coolant and brake fluid. The timing belt is not called for until 90k. At 60k, my GS3 has clear brake fluid and engine coolant so I'm not going to touch that. I may try to replace the spark plugs myself. The manual calls for special dual-tip plugs for this vehicle so make sure to use the right plugs. When a GS3 hits 90k you can have the timing belt replaced by a reputable garage and it'll cost half what the Lexus service would charge.

My gas mileage is an honest 20mpg around town. I have yet to make a road trip however so I don't have the highway mpg.

I've known a few people with Lexus cars and they have over 150k on them and they still look and drive like they are a year old. AND they still have an impressive resale value.

One more thing, if your thinking of buying the Lexus GS, drive it and you'll never want to sit in a Maxima again. The Maxima is a great car but the Lexus GS is on a whole higher level.

Unfortunately I'm going to have to sell mine this spring to free up some cash (I'm going to get married) but I'll be spoiled by Lexus until I can pick up another one in a few years.

Peace on, Lexus drivers! B)