abbeyrd

Having owned a 92 ES, 98 GS, and an 06 SC (the last sold on 2013), I have always had good luck with Lexus. Never were any of them a "fun" driving car like my 02 BMW 325ci, 12 X3, or even my 13 MB E350 Cab. Thinking of trading the X3 but the only Lexus I would think of buying is the GS 350 F Sport. The IS is junk. Need it to be reliable because I will be owning this for 10 years. Reliability I know is a Lexus strength even though some people might have had lemons but I'm sure it's quite rare. I am really intrigued with the new 2017 Audi A4 but their reliability scares the hell out of me. In fact, I like the car much more than the GS. If Lexus built the A4' I'd buy it in a second. There's the trade-off. Security of reliability which I think is pretty much all the GS has over the Audi. Has the driving dynamics changed with the GS? I don't want the same dead steering of my previous Lexus's.
Reliability means very much to me as I purchase and do not lease my cars. Sorry for the rant.

islandbeef

Two Words: Sport Plus

Experience it and you'll sign on the dotted line.

abbeyrd

Is that part of the dynamic handling system package?

dchar

No. It's part of the F-sport package. Sport S+ firms up the suspension! weightens up the steering, and makes the throttle and transmission more aggressive. Look at the comparison tests for this segment, and the GS is ranked top in class for handling.

The A4 is one segment lower than the GS. The GS really compares with the A6; so if the GS seems less "nimble" than the A4, you'll need to consider the extra size. The only thing that intrigues me of the A4 is the new technology...but I've had an A4 in the past and it was pretty boring to drive (a lot of understeer), service department treatment wasn't that good, and the reliability was horrible. Sold it at 100K+ miles due to too many problems especially with the 2.0t engine. The 3.5L in the GS has been around for awhile and has been very reliable.

Fla904

I was just in your situation the other day. I just recently sold my 2012 Camaro 2ss (6.2l v8) and wanted to upscale to a luxury car but also wanted something that was as fast as my Camaro. I was looking at a 2013 Mercedes cls550 and hadn't even considered or thought of a Lexus prior. I test drove the Benz, started filling all the paper work out and at the end they wouldn't throw in a 2yr warranty so I slept on it, And the next day I realized I didn't want to risk very costly repairs with a Benz, it was also twin turbo charged and turbos are known for issues. I went across the street to the Toyota dealership and they had 2014 Lexus gs350 fsport, I test drove it and fell in love, it has more luxury features than the Benz does! That and it comes with Lexus's 7yr 250k warranty. Benz was 45k Lexus was 43k and MUCH nicer. The only gripe I have is the speed, it's not as fast as the Camaro or Benz but it's decent enough. Plus it's not like it's legal to do 150+ on any roads anyway. The luxurious interior of the Lexus really impressed me. The two days I've had it im happy.