luxury1

I have my Lexus SUV in for service today and have a GS300 AWD as a loaner. It is nice riding, quiet, plush but it doesn't feel as substantial or luxurious as the E. I also don't like the styling as much as the E.

List price is about $48,220.00 for the model as equipped which seems high at first but if you factor in the Xenon's, heated/cooled seats, power rear sunshade, AWD, sunroof, leather, keyless go, auto fold in mirrors, etc., it really is a good value.

It is a good car but not a great car in my opinion. I would buy it before a C or 3 series but not before the E. With this said, I would buy it for my wife because it really is a good all around car and she would be completely satisfied with it.

Anyway, this is just my quick review.

BudC

I'd wait until they put the 3.5 liter V6 in the GS-300. Some models of Toyota already have it.

I've heard that Toyota are holding off on using the bigger V6 until they put a bigger engine in the GS-430. If they put the 3.5 liter V6 in the GS-300, the horsepower would be too close to the current V8.

As for price, Lexus have about the biggest mark-up in the business so they have a lot of flexibility to deal. In any case, you should be able to get a 330i for less money and I'm sure it would be more fun to drive but not as luxurious or as reliable.

mkaresh

GS is a 5/E competitor, though it has the tightest rear seat of the three.

Correct on Lexus margins. Their prices look much better invoice-to-invoice.

The problem isn't that the 3.5 would be almost as powerful as the current 4.3. It would be MORE powerful. New 4.6 coming. The 3.5 could be very nice, as even the 300 is better driving car in many ways than the overly-gizmoed 430.

Using my site to compare GS and E, both V6 AWD--the site adjusts for feature differences--the Lexus is about $9,500 less at MSRP, $11,000 less at Invoice. This is for base prices; the difference at different equipment levels will vary a bit. Prices can also be compared with specifiied features. My comparisons don't include factory-to-dealer incentives, which can be large for luxury brands.

luxury1

The IS, ES and RX currently use the 3.5 so it definitely is coming for the GS The next car I am going to get is probably going to be bigger than the E but the S doesn't do much for me. The new LS or the 7 will probably be the way I am heading. This probably won't be until MY 2009 though. I plan to keep the E also as I don't think I will be able to let it go. I simply love it!

PHXATC

I just got done sporting in a GS300 for 3 days while my LS430 was in for a sunglassholder door replacement (3 days...hahahahaha, I was lazy and didn't want to go pick it up on my days off).

I can't say that I'm in love with the GS series. I've driven a GS430 and would take it hands down over the GS300. The windows are too tank-like for me and too narrow. The handling is okay, although not as heavy and surefooted as an E class. Cool cars, just not our style. It was fun to flog it around town for a few days though.

sklasse

what year was it ? 06 ...is redesigned version. GS is a great car ....reliability ( MAde by toyota the king of reliability), good fuel econonmy, great engine, and comfy and luxorious inside, you can go wrong with it ...its I think 5 K less than e. The Suv is not bad either.

mkaresh

GS 300 has better steering feel, engine sounds sportier when revved, while the GS 430 excells at effortless thrust. Most of the time you won't even hear the engine. As with many comparisons, which is better depends on your tastes and priorities. A GS 350 could be very nice.

On the price difference, as I already stated it's about twice 5k when comparing AWD models.

PHXATC

We drove both of them for 2 days each. In our driving time, I would disagree with you on the steering feel and engine sounds. GS430 has better steering feel to me (more closely resembles a MB) and sounded better when you stomped it. Then again, that's just me driving around town here. Doesn't matter, we didn't like either one of them when stacked against an E350.

BTW, we used your "calculator" to run some numbers. You need to put a "fun factor" and "driver feel" category in there too!


EDIT: Neither one of the GS' we drove were AWD, so maybe that's the difference in feel? Dunno.

sklasse

now picture this,

your car is not in the shop every two weeks...
all the electronic WORK in your car first time around ...
resale value doesn't drop like the yesterdays stock market....

can you actuallly imagine a car like that ? you don't have to, you just drove it.

Edison_Chen

Yup, just wait for the new 3.5 Engine. It'll maybe be around 300hp.....

Lexus GS will get more power:
Model in showrooms Engine hp torque LBS.-FT. 0-60 MPH
GS 300 Now 3.0-liter V-6 245 230 6.8 seconds
GS 350 Fall 2006 3.5-liter V-6 306* 277* 5.6 seconds*

GS 430 Now 4.3-liter V-8 300 325 5.7 seconds
GS 460 Spring 2007 4.6-liter V-8 380* 370* n/a

*Estimate
Source: Lexus