Greetings - First off I wanted to say I think this is a great forum. Now please pardon my question/story. I know I know this is a lexus forum however I have never owned one but I am on the fence and need some real life stories from you kind folks. Please do not flame me too bad as I am a noob on this site and I cannot make a decision in regards which car to purchase.

I am looking to purchase a 2004 Gs 430 has 80K miles on it and the asking price is between 16 and 17K. I was also thinking of purchasing an audi a6 awd. I know most of you folks are thinking "ughh". The problem is that I live in area where I need to drive in the snow for the winter. Since the gs 430 is RWD and audi is awd I am having a hard time with the choice. I like both cars. Anyhow.. i suppose in life, if this is a "problem" then I must say, all is allright. I havent owned any of the cars I mentioned but been in both of them. I know 300HP RWD in the snow may not do well.

So anyone - your thoughts?

 

Dude buy the 430! I have the 400 and live in Colorado - now Colorado the snow only sticks around for a few days but I put some blizacks on it and she works - not like a awd and i have been stuck a few times but nothings better than having huge HP in the summer time and leaving folks in your dust? I test drove a v6 and said screw that.

 

Lol. Appreciate the response. I deal with snow for a few months out of the year. Also I take it that 80k miles isn't anything to worry about? The car looks very clean with nav too.

Anyhow keep the responses coming

 

Lexus is a well made car, I wouldn't worry about high milage as long as it checks out at the mechanic.

As for RWD in the snow I've got a couple thoughts. 1) Remember, your tires are the only part of your car that touch the road. 2) AWD can't save you from bad driving (yours or other peoples)

Finally, on Audis in general: the end of an Audi life is a lot of little (often expensive) things breaking and interior ware that makes it more difficult to sell at any sort of a reasonable price.

 

without a doubt, the GS will be more reliable. IMO, the 8 cyl engines from toyota is bulletproof and has many applications for obvious reasons. if it snows, drive slowly with your RWD sedan. unless you need to rally, get the more fashionable, and faster GS430. There is just something about these cars that makes you want to drive them. and if you get a G, you will see. ricer over sauerkraut.

 

Hey, welcome! What part of Ohio are you in? I'm also from Ohio, and the GS is the first car that I have owned that is RWD. Being RWD, that never deterred me from buying it, but I do have some pretty good general driving skills (IMHO ha ha). It's an awesome car, but driving an RWD car in the winter does take some getting used to, but it is not impossible to do. I think I got the hang of it in 1 winter ha ha ha. Putting the car in "snow mode" and putting some good snow tires makes a big difference. That being said, I would say go for the GS, you wont be sorry. They are really solid cars. Just make sure to check for up-to-date maintenance that is documented, and the carfax. Just doing a search on this subject matter, and you will find a goldmine of information. This is an awesome website so enjoy!

 

Will if the car is still available I am going to go look at it this week. I am excited about it.

As for where I live. I live near Cleveland.

I appreciate the responses!

 

Welcome to CL...

 

Welcome

Yea only one comment is as said, just not worth making a choice over the snow and how the car handles since there are way more other factors that you have no control over (like other bad drivers as mentioned above) the GS all the way man its just a few months you have to deal with, you'll have the rest of the year to enjoy a kick butt car

 

Welcome to CL! The GS is a great car in the winter with the appropriate snow tires. If you do choose to not go with a Lexus stay away from Audi as they have a ton of expensive problems. There much better awd cars out there, Good luck

 

Welcome to CL..well ! if you have problem driving in the snow, just apply snow chains..I suppose it will be alright. I don't know what it is like to drive in the snow since I've never live in the snowy area before. Like the rest of people in this forum said..The GS is a great car and DON'T let this snow issue be your problem...If you like and want the car then GET it..IMO

 

430.................

 

LOL - JoelGS say "Tirechains.. " Folks dont get me wrong I wont be using the car like ice road truckers. The winter driving I am concerned with is going up hills or winter storm situations.. Of course one would say "stay the heck off the road" which is true but sometime sya just get caught up in it. However I agree a good set of snows and should be good to go and just use common sense.

Any other tips regarding this potential purchase>??