I am a contract courier for a group of pathologists in Nashville, TN. I Provide a vehicle to work with and travel 250-400 miles per day. I currently own a '99 Honda accord in which I have traveled 170,000 miles in 24 months. I have been considering the GS300 as a replacement. My current vehicle is a '99 Accord with which I have enjoyed more than 205,000 relatively trouble free miles but I am no longer comfortable in it. As my car is where I spend most of my time I have realized that I crave luxury. Having driven two GS300s (a '98 & a '00) and a 400 ('99) I am more than satisfied with the car as a benchmark in comfortability as well as being extremely fun to drive. I have decided on the 300 over the 400/430 not because of the initial savings but because of those that will be garnered in the long term (75 gallons of gas per week vs. 85.)
As it is a considerable investment with no hope of significant return I have a few questions that I hope those of you with experience can answer:
-Has anyone had to rebuild a '98-2000 3.0 liter Lexus engine and how significant was the cost?
-The advertised MPG seems high. Does it hold true in the long run?
-I plan to buy a vehicle with 60-80k and will add 80,000 per year. What kind of problems can I expect to face as I approach 100k? 150k? 200K?
Thank You in advance for your help. I appreciate whatever response I receive.