JDR76

I have an RX and love it. My wife drives it daily, but I'm always happy to drive it on the weekends. We have the IS for fun, and the RX for smooth and quiet luxury. I'm always impressed when I drive it. My man card is still in tact.

And yes, we'll be trading it in for the 4RX next year.

yardie876

The new RX gets my vote. Love love love the looks. But I'd also check out the new XC90 (a bit effeminate like others have said though) and the Cayenne/Macan brothers. I hear they drive great.

dseag2

You will get used to it. I traded my GS for an S5, and although the screen is much smaller it is fully functional. Especially since the GS screen had redundant information. I do miss the overall look of the interior with the Cabernet leather, big radio ***** and analog clock in the GS, but the S5 is a hoot to drive. Tough to have everything.

SW17LS

Get an LS

All kidding aside, its very tough to find something nicer or even as nice as the GS for the money. Thats why I upgraded. Even the LS lacks some things the GS has.

As for the X5, be sure you look at one with the nappa interior and the leather dash and door panels. Huge difference.

sick21

Yeah the X5 I test drove had Nappa leather. I thought it was nice enough. I like how 'modern' the interior feels. Even the awkward tablet like screen, I kinda liked it. But the ride was choppy and the steering was really heavy. Not sure how I feel about that as a daily. Seems more like what I'd want on my weekend sports car. Or maybe the M Sport isn't for me and I should have checked out different packages.

Either way, I'm still undecided. Pondering the idea of being a stay at home dad since my wife got a new position as a nurse. Maybe I don't need a more expensive car just yet. I can't decide on anything!! But I do really want an SUV.

jarabanos

There are plenty of stupid issues on the IS350. I went from a 3IS to a 4GS and haven't looked back.

Funny enough when I traded in my 3IS it was totally unplanned and a result of one of the stupid issues. I took my car into the dealer for some excessive break noise, walked over to the showroom to look at the GS. 2 hours later I was driving off the lot in the same showroom model I was looking at and said goodbye to my IS.

I suppose it's different for everyone but issues on my 3IS included:

-Rattles on my window switch panel, center console
-Blown ML subwoofer and rear passenger door speaker (both defective)
-Loose E-Brake cable that I had to take in 3 times to get fixed properly
-Knocking sound coming from front right wheel area when going over bumps (apparently due to a loose e-brake cable)
-Squealing/squeaking brakes (beyond reasonable)

I think the 3IS interior looks cheap. Honestly I feel like the whole car was designed by the JV squad while the GS and LS were designed by the Varsity squad. lol.

It's a great car, nonetheless. I really enjoyed the 14 months or so that I drove it and you would probably enjoy it too but there are definitely trade offs.

sgmstr

for me, I am not going to stay with Lexus any longer. Two things that I hate on my 2014 are the interior noise during hard acceleration (it sounds like it's mimicking what the turbos and muscle cars have) and the low headroom for its size.

Don't get me wrong - I love all the features, reliability and quality the GS has, but the low headroom is what killed it. I wish the seats could go down little lower to compensate for that.

I stopped driving this car a while ago and it's currently sitting in my garage and literally collecting dust waiting to be picked up by my 25 year old brother to be driven by him.

leased myself a BMW 535 Luxury Line and loving it!! It cost about $5K more than my GS and the payment is only $50 more than the GS. 3 yr lease @ 12K miles. $2,500 drive off and $450 a month. It also has a great headroom.

It was a pleasure being part of Club Lexus for past a few years. Good luck and best wishes to all of you!

rijc99

If you take off the attachment on the intake tube it will get rid of the extra noise.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

What about the 2016 facelift GS F-Sport? I would wait a few months and I am sure you would be happy. I had a great 2013 Lexus GS F-sport and I do miss it. My lease was up back in March but I got an amazing deal on the updated 2016 Audi A7 3.0T so I went with that. I love the A7 and its a great car with no quality issues so far at 5k miles. My other Audis have lasted many years and have gone past 100k miles. The A7 is sporty with the sports package but the GS F-sport has the edge with the dynamic dampers.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

I found the luxury line X5 very ponderous and confused today on the standard suspension. I think your test drive of the M-sport is a bit firmer of course with the sports suspension and dampers.

We wanted one for my mom and I hate the standard suspension set up with the runflats since it has more body roll and a spongy ride quality to it with too light of a steering feel. Our 2013 Mercedes Ml350 diesel with airmatic felt more planted, sharper, and smoother without sacrificing too much.

So we will be going with the luxury or x-line trim X5 diesel with the dynamic dampers and rear air suspension because that tremendously improves the ride comfort and handling while keeping the car stable and flatter through the corners. There is no ride harshness like the M sports package. I will of course switch out the run flats for her after few months of ownership.

rijc99

On my end, I feel the FSport has the edge over the 535i MSport w/704 sport suspension (even with the LCI revised tuning). It's amazing, Lexus seems to have surpassed BMW and Audi in terms of handling and steering feel.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

I totally agree. I had a 2011 BMW 5 series before my 2013 gs f sport and god I hated that junk. Too many issues and the steering was sloppy and the ride was lumpy with vibration issues . My gs felt worlds better and made so happy.

dchar

The M-sport X5 have the same standard suspension as the other lines. The M-sport line is only cosmetic stuff and sport auto transmission. There is an option for dynamic dampers and rear air suspension, but it isn't different between the lines. So I guess the X5 doesn't ride or handle well without this upgrade...

Johnny Rad

First, the new RX int looks really great. If the ext can avoid the mile long front overhang of the NX, then the ext will also be a winner. There's a lot to like with the higher driving position of a SUV.

I totally get how you can't stomach the predator/alien-like grill on the refreshed GX. It's far more palatable on the LX, which still performs surprisingly well in comparos despite its advanced age. The LX is a high class rig and its upcoming refresh looks like it'll be an even sharper option. The new int looks a lot like the new RX int.

If you can live with the new GS-F not being a M5/E63 fighter and its awkward err progressive interior aesthetics, it might be up your alley. It pains me that Lexus doesn't put a mightier power plant in its GS350 F-Sport, so that leaves the hotted up GS-F which aint gonna be cheap (if msrp and production qty has been published, I missed it).

I've tried to love the LS. It's a really, really nice car. I'm always impressed with them when I sit in them. Unfortunately, it can't hold a candle to its competition in terms of performance: it's slow, can't take turns and its old-school V8 gulps gas. I suspect the target market (read: old dudes) doesn't care. I want to put the LS on my short list, but just can't. I digress ... It's a great car and I think you should at least consider one.

Afrosheen

Save your shekels for the GS F. The boring seats are gone, the engine is stout (not exactly class leading but more than adequate) and since the price is in the LS territory your dealership should be very eager to resolve anything you find wrong with it.