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2008 GS450h Test Drive

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Old 02-18-08, 09:24 PM
  #16  
timeToy
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Come on people, the GT-R is a wet dream at this point, this is a first year car, with very limited run and crazy mark up. Plus a V-Spec is coming and then a V-Spec 2 and then a Nismo one and then a N1 race one and then...

oh and BTW I too like to get a GT-R it is just I will wait few years to make sure it live to his hype, that the fist year issue got fixed and get a few aftermaket bits and parts are available...
Old 02-18-08, 10:09 PM
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AKoch
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The first year was out in Japan, so it is its second one coming to NA. The reliability record was good, which was not entirely unexpected. But you are right - the updates and improvements will come. It is just always the case with these damn cars
Old 02-19-08, 06:29 PM
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borg1of2
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Thanks everyone for the input. I have been mullling it over and I do think I'll be getting one. It will be a used 07 with about 15K or so miles. The value of those is down significantly from new, which I would prefer to get, but the hit on the GS is pretty heavy, IMHO. My only hesitation at this point is trunk size. It's small and with my wife with an IS we pretty much don't have a vehicle with a good size trunk. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Have any of the GS owners found the trunk to still be usable for luggage, etc?
Old 02-20-08, 08:48 AM
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The G Man
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The trunk is too small, thats why we have a SUV as a 2nd car.
Old 02-20-08, 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by borg1of2
Thanks everyone for the input. I have been mullling it over and I do think I'll be getting one. It will be a used 07 with about 15K or so miles. The value of those is down significantly from new, which I would prefer to get, but the hit on the GS is pretty heavy, IMHO. My only hesitation at this point is trunk size. It's small and with my wife with an IS we pretty much don't have a vehicle with a good size trunk. I don't think it's that big of a deal. Have any of the GS owners found the trunk to still be usable for luggage, etc?
how much have you found it for? any pics? good luck with your purchase!
Old 02-22-08, 09:59 AM
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borg1of2
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I've found a couple for $45Kish. One had about 25K miles and the other had about 15K miles. They aren't CPO, but each has 2 years left on the manufacture warranty. These all have the NAV/ML package.

No pics yet as I haven't purchased it yet. I have an agreed price for one, but I am in the process of selling my RX, see posting on the classified board, which hopefully will occur so that I can move forward on the purchase of the GS.

Yea, the trunk thing scares me a little as we will only have an IS 350 and a GS 450H if I get it, so no SUV in the family. It's just the two of us, no kids at this point, so I think we'll be good.
Old 02-22-08, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by borg1of2
Yea, the trunk thing scares me a little as we will only have an IS 350 and a GS 450H if I get it, so no SUV in the family. It's just the two of us, no kids at this point, so I think we'll be good.
Same here, no SUV; Last week we went skiing, so we rent a Highlander for $320 for 8 days unlimited mileage... At this price there is no need for a SUV !
Old 02-22-08, 03:37 PM
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Originally Posted by timeToy
Same here, no SUV; Last week we went skiing, so we rent a Highlander for $320 for 8 days unlimited mileage... At this price there is no need for a SUV !
lol, you couldn't fit the skiis in your airplane of an LS??
Old 02-22-08, 05:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Wassa786
lol, you couldn't fit the skiis in your airplane of an LS??
I will have to wait a few more years for my airplane to be delivered , as for the LS my wife said no, no wet, snowy, dirty shoes in her new car !
Old 02-22-08, 05:39 PM
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buy her some winter mats
Old 02-24-08, 07:32 PM
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thanks for the info guys.....
Old 02-25-08, 12:15 PM
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Default 2nd Test Drive

So, I headed back to the dealership that had the 08 to do another test drive. They let me and my wife take out on our own, as a loaner, and we spent some more focused driving time. I did enjoy it, but now see what other say about the acceleration, but its not that bad for my tastes. I did notice that the back seat was much smaller then I expected. I spent some time last year looking at BMW 3-Series, Acura, Audi, and Lexus IS and rear seat/legroom was an issue. In sitting in the back of the GS450h there wasn't a lot of legroom. Do others see this as well? Is the room equal to a Benz or BMW 5-Series?

It did appear that it's easier in and out compared to the IS, but the actual room when you sit is smaller, plus the seat sits low and it's hard to get your feet under the seat.

Thanks for all of the help!!
Old 02-25-08, 12:29 PM
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the is rear room is ridiculous for sure, but i agree with you the gs isn't much better. numbers aside, i had a gs400 and i also feel that the 3gs rear room is not as spacious as the 2gs. i can't recall 5 series and e class exactly, but somehow i feel they have more space.

for sure the gs is better than the is, but i don't feel it's whole not. not like when i compared the ls460 (even swb) where it becomes much better
Old 03-12-08, 10:12 AM
  #29  
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GS450h was go for me. My previous was 2005 BMW 645, and loved the handling of that car. This is my first Lexus, but I have to say once I hit the throttle it does not stay on the road as bmw does. Anyways, I was looking for performance, and emissions factor. German cars became the worse in the second category, so that's why they lost long time customer... Maybe it is not about going "green", but for sure it is about sending others the message...
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