Lexus GS300 (S160) review: a used-market classic, not a daily driver anymore
3.2/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
A well-kept GS300 is one of the most mechanically honest used cars sold in Bahrain: the 2JZ-GE inline-six and its transmission are famous for outliving the rest of the car. Buy the 2001-and-later facelift for the five-speed automatic and better cabin electronics, inspect the suspension bushings and interior plastics hard, and price it as what it is — a 20-plus-year-old car, not a value alternative to a modern sedan.
Pros
- 2JZ-GE inline-six and automatic transmission are famously durable
- Genuinely comfortable, quiet ride for its era
- Cheap entry point into a real Lexus
- Simpler mechanicals than any modern Lexus sedan
Cons
- Interior plastics and bushings degrade badly in Bahrain's heat by this age
- Dealer parts support is essentially gone
- No modern safety equipment or airbags on pre-2001 cars
- Resale value is purely enthusiast-driven, not investment-grade
Before the LS400 made Lexus a byword for reliability, it was the GS300 that proved Toyota could build a sports sedan Mercedes and BMW owners would cross-shop. The S160 wrapped a 3.0-litre naturally aspirated inline-six around a rear-wheel-drive chassis tuned softer than its German rivals but with a smoothness the 2JZ-GE engine family is still celebrated for today, decades after it powered the Supra Turbo.
In Bahrain the GS300 was never a volume seller against the Camry or even the ES, and today it survives mostly as a well-informed enthusiast's used purchase rather than a family's daily car. That is the right way to think about it: this is a 20-to-25-year-old vehicle, and its remaining value is entirely in how well a given example was maintained, not in what it costs to buy.
What actually holds up
The 2JZ-GE and its automatic gearbox are the reason this car still has a following — both are among the most durable powertrains Toyota has ever mass-produced, and a low-mileage Gulf-spec example with full service history can comfortably clear 300,000 km without a major engine rebuild. What does not hold up as well is everything a 1990s Japanese luxury car was built with: interior plastics turn brittle in 45°C summers, suspension bushings perish, and electrical gremlins in the climate control and window motors are common by this age.
Buying one in Bahrain today
Parts supply is the real constraint, not mechanical fragility. Lexus Bahrain's official network has limited interest in stocking parts for a 20-plus-year-old GS, so buyers lean on independent specialists and grey-market Toyota Aristo (the Japanese-market twin) parts. Anyone considering one should budget for that reality rather than expect dealer-level convenience, and should have any candidate inspected by a specialist who knows the 2JZ platform before buying, not after.