NoDak

so i have been lurking for quite a while as a guest. i just wish to thank everyone on the 4GS and LS460 forums for all the posts. i have been going thru about 50 pages of posts each within the 4GS and LS460 threads for months and now i am in a pickle.

2013 GS350 awd or a 2010 LS460 awd.

the 2013 is 15.5k miles and 44.5k

the 2010 is 19.1k miles and 47k

now i currently have a paid for 2010 legacy 3.6R for trade at 50k (51k at trade in probably)

right now i am having issues (mid life crisis i think it what it's called ) trying to pick a GS350 or the LS460. i love that the GS is 2013 but the features of the LS is what i fell in love with when they first came out.

hell i even named my first dog after i got married Lexus. sadly up until now i couldnt fathom owning a lexus but have been a faithful toyota owner since 1984 with cressida's up until the fwd version came out (avalon) and then switched to 4runners (wife is a die hard tacoma fan with a 2012 double cab tx trd v6).

anyway back to the subject. since my state (ND) does not have a lexus dealer in the whole state (one of the few that are like this) i have to shop anywhere from 500-1000 miles away.

i know posting this in the GS forums will cause bias as would posting in the LS460 cause bias. originally back in august i was 5 mins away from buying the GS, but the wife was concerned about spending money after bills. now i have decided to bite the bullet and get a p/t job to just pay for the GS/LS regardless so that takes her point off the table.

would i be better served by the luxury of the LS or the fun of the GS. i know this is subjective and i will have to decide, but this flip flopping within myself is killing me

maybe some insight from you folks will help me decide which way to go. new and fresh 2013 or older dated 2010.

thanks a bunch for your time in this matter,

NoDak


forgot to add : my fallback if these 2 dont work out (ie they sell before i can get them) will be a 2014 4runner limited.

RobertE

Ultimately it is your choice between lux or sport, although in my opinion the GS has a nice combo of the two. Something to consider is that you will have to travel 500-1000 miles for any warranty work on these cars as they are both still under warranty with the low miles on them. You can get the normal services done at your local Toyota dealer so that's not a problem. I don't think you can go wrong with either and I agree you have a tough decision. Have you driven either one of these models before. If not it would be worth your time to make a trip to a Lexus dealer even though it will more than likely mean a trip to South Dakota depending on what part of North Dakota your in. But you definitely want to test drive them both to see how they feel, you will more than likely find you prefer one over the other when you actually drive them.

When we test drove both I like the GS350 Lux model and my wife went nuts for the LS460, we compromised as we always do and I got the GS350 and she ordered the LS with everything( her version of compromising, we've been married 40 years so go figure), her LS will be here in another two weeks.

Are you going to be the only one driving it or will your wife be driving it too? If so you want to make sure she drives them both also to see if one is more to her liking than the other.

Good luck and you cant go wrong with either.

praetor

Wow you are all over the board. GS, LS and 4Runner. I went with GS for blend of luxury and sportiness. It's a good compromise but only you will know what you prefer more.

sydtoosic

i've had the pleasure of driving both... i had 2 2013 GS F Sports, now i have a 2013 LS460. like them both but the LS IMO is the car i was looking for. GL with your decision.

1111GS

Go with the flow... 4GS was named Midlife Crisis Winner.
Interesting that you have 4Runner as the 3rd choice. I bought my 2000 4Runner because I always wanted a 4Runner since the 96 model came out. I drove the brand new truck off the lot. On the way home I questioned myself if I made the right decision. It took awhile for me to get used to it (came from sedans). I guess I'm not a truck type of guy.

NoDak

1. i will be the primary/only driver. she hates cars. i would have to pry her from her 2012 tacoma. she hates cars so much she rather me drive her tacoma than have to ride in the car as a passenger. btw we've been married for 22 years. grats on your lasting marriage. hopefully this is our first and only marriage.

2. only reason i looked at the 4runner is due to the winters and deep snow getting out of my subdivision/work parking lot the rare 2-4 times a winter season (which happens to last 6-8 months a year). also for hitting the fishing spots that i use the tacoma for, thats why its a fallback option

3. GS is more like my legacy 3.6R, awd and fun, but i did get into trouble once doing 91 in a 70 for 21 mph over for $110. thats consided very high side in this state , so the LS would tame the beast so to speak, and put it to sleep if i get the 4runner.

4. yeah for me to test the GS and LS, its a 550 mile drive one way. i would like to make a deal over email with the option to back out after test drive, functional test of buttons/features/etc, and a cool off time to decide between the 2. just to do the above would take 3 days of my time with a 2 nite motel room stay. leave friday after work. deal on saturday, drive back on sunday.

5. i've read thru the forums across both GS and LS and found very informative posts about out of state dealing and what to look for. stay away from the 07-09 LS for the VSR issue. air suspension long term reliability and the dreaded average (50k) replacement under warranty that i see about them. the ML amp issue that may crop up, but i dont think these have the ML system. thankfully the 10 and 13 are timing chain based since thats what i always look for in an engine. only thing i havent found is if the engines of both are non interference types.

6. vanity issue. luckily for my town, there are dozens of IS250's of the older variety, but i have not seen one GS350 or for that matter a LS460 for the last few years. i see old LS400/430's but no 460's.

7. well i thank you all for your inputs and for any more than come after this post to help me with my decision. i will keep checking this post to follow up or to start a new thread once i decide which way i go. but i think without a proper test drive of both, i really cant make an informed decision or for my warden to give her input from a passenger perspective.

BigAnthony

Great choices. Can't go wrong either way. I'm 6'1 300lbs and I have a 2013 GS F-sport AWD and I have the drivers seat all the way back. It's a tight squeeze in the back seat for an adult with me in the front. This would not be an issue with an LS. I do like the styling and handling of the F-sport but for pure comfort and luxury go with the LS but keep in mind they do fall short on spirited performance.

sydtoosic

when I owned the GS F Sport, I couldn't wait for the light to turn green... Talk about spirited driving. Now that I have the LS I'm content doing 45/50 MPH, that is until I hit the highway. The LS is no slouch in the spirited driving dept. she gets up with that V8 and she handles pretty well... Not as well as a GS F Sport, but you have to remember the LS is almost 5K lbs.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

GS would get my vote as it's the best balance of sport and luxury of all those you listed OP

NoDak

yeah if I get the LS the whole point was to slow down my driving. I am bad enough with the 3.6 coming out the south exit at work that has a constant radius 90 degree right hand turn into a long merge section is bad for me I usually am doing about 30 at the start of the turn, drop it into 2nd (since it had paddle shift and holds gear until you redline) and by the time I am at the end of the merge lane I am just hitting 85-90 and going into 3rd. turn off traction control and let the awd pull me thru the turn without the nanny kicking in.

I really need to quit that before I really get into trouble with the highway patrol that randomly sits outside that work exit.

and to top it off the dealer dropped the LS460 from 46877 to 45877 today.

decisions decisions

NoDak

now I just thought of some more questions for you folks that keep them longer than 1-2 years.

if I get the either car for oh 4-7 years, would the 13 GS retain more of its value in the end compare to the 10 LS? I was thinking that since the 13 is so new, it would retain more value on trade in that far out. I know neither car could ever be resold as cpo since I put way to many miles on a car each year due to work (200 miles each week just for work).

they are getting to the point where they are within <$1000 of each other and when I do trade up I would like to have some value for trade in.

I will be lucky if I get 16k for my paid off 2010 legacy 3.6R premium as it is even though Edmunds best case is 16.8 at 51k miles even though currently its at 50258.

any input would be welcome good or bad. even bad views give insight to resolve my line of thought.

RobertE

They will be pretty close in residual value as the 13 GS is 1st year of a model redesign which tends to not hold the resale amount quite as well as the next years of the model. The LS is three years older but as you can see for yourself it is comparable in price to the 13 GS you are looking at right now. I would figure it a wash as long as you keep either one in good shape.

NoDak

after much contemplation and discussion with the warden (TM) , I have decided to go with the deep sea mica GS350 awd. after going thru the owner pic thread and all the cosmetic mods, that pretty much sealed it for me and long term plans to actually make this my first car I actually do some mods. i intend to keep everything stock except oem sized wheels, and maybe a front lip mod, and maybe side and or rear body mod. since i have to deal with snow that sometimes gets deep, i have to keep my height at factory specs. its bad enough going from a legacy at 5.9 clearance to 5.7 on the 4GS and its worse on the 2010 LS460 awd at 5.5 inch clearance.

also i did notice that the LS460 has a center diff. how is the 4GS laid out? front rear diff or front rear and center diff like it is in my legacy?


I went back to my old stomping ground of a part time job and they say I can start anytime I wanted for whatever days I wanted. so that solved the payment for the new 4GS without touching my discretionary fun money for the family. don't do much on Friday nites or sunday but sit on my butt anyway, so might as well earn some p/t money.

now I just hope it stays on the lot until the 28 of this month.

anyway. my last question is the plat ext warranty.

I know the cpo warranty extends out to 3yrs/100k, but I intend to take this ownership out to at least 5-7 years. I have always bought ext warranties for my personal piece of mind regardless of what others have said due to personal experience with those unseen big ticket items that I always seem to get oddly enough with any vehicle.

back to the subject at hand, what are the range of options for these plat ext warranties.

years and or mileage coverage is based on top of the cpo or in conjunction with the cpo coverage?

i have gone thru the threads but i am not sure how the coverage works when you already have a cpo warranty.

thanks for your time,

NoDak

sydtoosic

Nice color choice, what's the interior color? If you don't want them to sell it before the 28th, just give them some change to hold into it for you.

LouG

Ummm.....not looking to **** in the pool...but I have a question.....

I'm just wondering how you plan on handling warranty repair issues. For all I know the Suburu and Toyota dealers are just as far away, but IMO the closest dealer being 500 miles away would be a deal killer for me. Unless of course the Toyota dealer will perform warranty work (of which I am not familiar). YMMV.....

But to provide some contribution to the thread, I'm in a similar boat as yourself. A few weeks ago my wife and I went to drive a 2010 LS. It was my first test drive so I have to go back, but all I can really remember was how big the car was (and this was the SWB). We sat in the new GS and she really liked it, and yes it's roomy, but I feel that as I get older (and since I like to keep cars for 10 years), the LS might be a better decision for the long term. Just my $0.02.