photoguy

for me anyway...

Having owned an LS430 for a few years I went down last week to order an LS460.

Got down there and found a bunch of hassle with waits and deposits, some features gone compared to previous year, etc. Because of all this ended of test driving a GS350 for the heck of it - and then buying the GS.

Believe it or not if I had both in my driveway, the GS would be my daily driver. Yes the LS is luxurious like nothing else, but this damn GS is a blast to drive! After having an LS for 3 years, I almost forgot how much fun there is to driving besides a smooth ride and some extra buttons.

Some of the things I noticed:
- Even with 380hp in the LS, it feels more like a boat than a sports car.
- A lot of the LS only features don't make sense - the parking trick is not practical, the ottoman is special order only, it's very hard to get rear DVD, etc.
- I'm sick of the back seat having more features than the front. Yes I understand the LS is a limo in Japan but I'm not japanese and don't have someone who drives me.
- The extra room is not useful because my wife has a big "family car"
- Many of the new lexus features I wanted are already on the GS like Gen5 navigation, bluetooth, and keyless start.
- Hard drive is a good idea but I can't keep my entire library in 8Gig

To be fair, in the LS's favor I also noticed:
- Auto latching doors are a real life cool benefit - After a week of driving in the GS I still accidentally "touch close" my door and realize I've left it open.
- The leather is slighty softer in the 460. The GS350 leather seems about as good as the LS430.
- The auto close trunk is nice

I know many people will not agree - heck maybe even I won't after a few years of 30 series sidewalls, but for now it's 3GS baby.

RandalR

I agree. The LS's feature advantages don't seem worth the price difference to me, and the GS is hardly a little car, anyway - the trunk's a bit small, but the back seat room is pretty good. I'm loving the GS350 gas mileage. It kind of feels like a "sport limo", while the LS is more of a real limo. I'd like to have radar cruise control and XM traffic and the brake hold feature in my GS...but not for an extra $25K!

Besides, the GS just looks a lot more dangerous.

marshmallo

It depends on what you want from your car.

In my case I would prefer to have the LS, BUT it is
not as practical as the GS for me right now.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

from your post i think the gs definitely fits you much better. seems like you are more into the driving part of it rather than the luxury part of it. in that case definitely makes a lot more sense to get the 3gs

congrats!