Best luxury saloon car ever built for that era and even outshines today's competitors
The water pump failed at 131000. The alternator failed because the power steering pump leaked onto it.
This is a great car in every respect, and still runs like the day it left the showroom 14 years ago.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 6th July, 2010
Smooth, powerful and now very good value, but not DIY-friendly
Main front-to-rear brake pipe found seriously corroded and likely to rupture imminently (even though the car had just been bought with a year's MOT!)
Some suspension noise (knocking); cause yet to be identified.
Power steering pump weeping (above alternator) - a common problem on these, and expensive if ignored.
Underside of car generally quite rusty. My 1983 Granada was in better shape underneath!
Metallic paint was faded and quite dull in places.
This car had been SERIOUSLY neglected by its previous owner(s) with little or no maintenance for probably 50k miles. However, I have so far found no faults, other than those listed above.
The car is extremely smooth and quiet, pulls like a train and without any hint of vibration or harshness. The brakes are powerful too, with no juddering or pulsing.
The seats are fairly firm, but long-term comfort is good (in my opinion the Mk2 Granada Ghia's seats and interior are more comfortable and impressive to look at).
The factory audio system is fabulous.
The memory function on the driver's door stores two settings for seat and steering column, but not the mirrors (surprisingly).
The beautifully clear instruments auto-dim at night when the brightness can be adjusted (it's fixed during the day, and can sometimes appear too bright!).
The fiddly door mirror control is not illuminated, and is hard to locate at night.
Climate control system is fantastic.
There's not much maintenance you can do yourself on these cars, especially without a garage hoist, however there's a very good website with illustrated tutorials (www.lexls.com). Change the timing belt at home? Forget it!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 13th December, 2004
I would definitely buy another - Brilliant!
This car has never let me down. However, come the MOT, wear and tear on key components - brake disks worn too thin, and suspension ball joints and bushes needed replacement. The parts are very expensive and at this age exceed the value of the car.
Notwithstanding this, the car is beautifully made and should last many more years yet. There are minor rust spots over the rear off-side wheel arch and on the drivers door above the window frame, but nothing major. Only the temp gauge / clock display no longer works and I need a new CD changer, but other than this, everything still works magnificently. If you can stand the spare part prices in the UK, petrol economy is OK in mid-thirties.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 8th December, 2004
A large overrated Toyota
After two weeks ownership, had to replace a suspension arm bush due to knocking from the front.
Very poor fuel consumption, average 16mpg on combined usage. Dealer can find no fault, says accept it, it is a 4 litre car??
Excessive vibration. Again the dealer says this is normal???
Just had to replace both front tie bar bushes due to creaking from the front suspension. Fault was cured - 150 miles later same fault re-occurs.
The car has a full Lexus service history and many receipts going back 4 years, so has been serviced correctly. My experience with Lexus has been very poor - it drives well, apart from the vibration, creaking suspension and excessive fuel consumption. I have owned large engine Mercedes before, but the quality and fuel consumption was far better than the Lexus. My local Lexus dealer seems unable to find faults on the car - they cured the suspension fault only for it to return 3 weeks later.
Would I own another Lexus - not even as a gift. It is up for sale and I am looking for another Mercedes.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 5th February, 2002
This reviewer bought the car with 140K miles on the clock. I bought a brand new one and of course have none of these problems. Germans envy the Lexus brand saying that they follow the production procedures to the letter. I suspect he has bought a car which is a lemon even though the mechanic says there is no problem with the car. If he's only getting 16mpg out of it I'd suggest he buys a sports car to suit his driving style.
7th Jan 2005, 06:31
Having owned one of these (and spent some major dough on it) I thought I might be able to help. Front suspension noise possibly ball joints, quite common and can go well before 100,000 kms. Whatever you do, fix the power steering pump before the alternator gets killed too. You can often repair the pump for about a third of the price of a new one, you'll have to go somewhere other than Lexus dealer though (I went to a power steering specialist). Lexus dealer only interested in selling a complete new one. Hope that helps!