Faults:

* Heater stopped working the first week I bought the car.

* The car overheated and the radiator went... I pulled over into a car park, and as I got out of it, I noticed a trail of coolant, which the dreaded vehicle had left behind.

* There was a very annoying issue with the starter motor the whole time I owned the vehicle.

* The driver's electric seat stopped working.

* The transmission had to be replaced (I just bought a used one from a wrecker as the unit was so expensive).

* The head lining was sagging.

* There was some odd issue with bulbs blowing in the head lights.

* One of the remotes stopped working completely. I had to go into the dealer to get a new key, which cost a huge amount of money.

* The car began leaking oil; this was the last straw and I sold it at the Auckland car fair for $2,500.

General Comments:

The vehicle is the worst I have ever owned. I was told that Lexus is a good choice if you want a reliable luxury car... In this case it definitely was not!

Break downs were a common problem, and whenever I took the car on a long trip, it was a nerve racking experience.

The worst break down happened one the Napier Taupo Road. I turned the car off as the traffic was very slow (my car made it even slower), and as the traffic began to finally move again, the car wouldn't start. I had always experienced starter motor problems with the car throughout the entire time I'd owned it, but this was bad. I got out of the car to find there was a long queue of vehicles behind me. Thankfully a truck driver helped me to start the vehicle. This took a long time and there were many aggravated drivers behind me.

The way the car drove was okay I guess. It was a bit of a whale on the road, and the interior was fairly comfortable. But I now know why vehicles like BMW, Audi and Volvo outsell Lexus, as they offer far better quality ride and materials.

I eventually sold the car in early March at the "Auckland Car Fair" for $2,500.

Owning a car like this was a tragic experience. It cost me a lot of money, which is a problem as most of the time I owned the vehicle I was a student paying rent and school fees, food, clothing etc for my three children. I should have kept the Volvo 850 I owned prior to this, which caused me no trouble whatsoever.

I will never buy another Lexus, and have replaced it with a 2006 Volvo S60, which consumers rave about on this website, and I am sure it won't cost me a bomb to run and be a worry whenever I drive it. I have owned the Volvo for a month (in the first month I owned the Lexus, the heater clapped out).

Thank you for reading... I hope this review drives you away from Lexus and into a Volvo.

Rachael

Faults:

The power antenna has stopped functioning properly.

A bulb on the audio display is out.

Air temp mix servo is on its way out.

General Comments:

This is our family car.

A generally effortless luxury sports sedan. I had switched over from two turbo Soarers and one V8 Soarer into the GS300, so performance isn't as satisfying, however to me it's more due to the fact that the throttle system is drive-by-wire (DBW) instead of direct cable/mechanical.

Getting up to speed is perfectly fine, however with a full load, air conditioning on and trying to overtake requires a little bit of timing and much right foot gusto. Our GS300 is equipped with E-Shift, however I never use it unless I want the vehicle to hold its gear going down steep declines.

For a large luxury sedan, I think the suspension is quite well sorted and makes the car feel a bit more lighter than it really is. The only gripe here would be the brake pedal feel, it'd be nice if it were more direct.

Interior wise is as a Lexus should be. The only gripe I can really think of is driver leg room is a bit of a minimum considering the size of the car. Very comfortable.

Our GS300 is pretty much fully equipped... self leveling HID lamps, mirror polished 17" alloys, tilt/slide sunroof, leather trim etc. The only thing I wish it did have would probably be a limited slip differential, which were never available on Australian delivered examples from what I know. The only other thing to top it off would've been the 3UZFE engine from the GS430 (again, never available in Australia until the current model release).