I confirmed today with my dealer that the car will be realeased in the fall of 2004 as a 2005...The GS300 will become a 330 and the horse power will be 240HP....Now he told me that GS430 will reamain the same engine wise at 300 HP...He also told me that both cars will be bumped up about 4grand...He said because of all the extra items that they will be adding...He said it will make a fully loaded ES300 look base compared to all things that will be added. Example heated steering wheel,rear camera,A/C seats, 3 window shades, rear seats that changes postion., radio and climate controls in the rear,parking distance,adaptive cruise control... Thats all he defently knew that the car would have. But my queston is with the GS330 now starting at about 44 or 45 and the GS430 starting at 54 or 55. Why would I get a 430 if the horsepower isn't even changing....Yea I will be short about 40 horsepower but thats not worth 10 grand. I am not sure what to do or even if the 430 will be around..I guess I will wait to see them when they arrive...I just hope the shape is nice and not like the ES ...I saw the new RX pics it looks okay but I like the old one a lot better. He said also with the SC330 coming and the new design IS330....That the GS430 might have it's last year in 2004

did he say when the is330 is coming? this fall?

anyway, i guess they are still going with luxury this time, not truly performance. with all the features the car will get heavier so probably even slower, but for the price you get so much luxury features it makes the s class and 745 look stupid

If I remember correctly, the IS330 and GS330 will both be introduced in 2004 as a 2005 model. The only car getting the revised engine for the '04 model year is the ES300-soon to be ES330. About all those details about the next GS, I'm not too sure about that, I did hear a few things, but nothing like what purebliss said..
Ed

thanks for the insight that makes me wonder why they dont' change the 300 engine to 330 engine altogether? i mean, wouldn't that cost them more to maintain two engine lines, 300 and 330, for a yr?

I don't mean to knock your dealer purbliss, but how did he get this info? I was told by my dealer (who I don't trust BTW), that the car is due this fall and it will be 4-wheel drive.

My point is that if the car is indeed a year and a half away, I'll bet Toyota hasn't even finalized options or prices yet - much less horsepower.

Yup - don't worry about it for now. All will be revealed in due time.

Each new version of each Lexus model has, in my opinion, been SIGNIFICANTLY better than the previous one. You might not like the look of the new ES300 for example, but driving the current one and old one back to back is like night and day. The looks of the new ES don't blow me away, but they're still decent I think, but the driving and ride is WAY better than the old one. 5spd auto vs. 4spd. Bigger. More features. Quieter I think.

So I'm very optimistic about a new GS.

Well if a GS330 has 240HP the GS430 currently has 310 I think, so that's *70* more which is a good bit. Plus, the V8 is a LOT quieter under part or full throttle than the V6 or I6. Plus the torque of the V8 comes on strong MUCH earlier in the rpms than the V6 or I6, so it feels a LOT faster. As I said in another thread, there's a lot more to performance than just HP.

Have you driven both a GS300 and GS430?

Lexus has always had two different 6 cylinder engines in the Lexus line. ES and RX use the V6; IS, GS, and SC use the I6.

As for the dealer knowing anything about future models, I'm pretty sure that Toyota/Lexus hasn't released anything official to the dealers and anything they say is speculation. Almost a year ago when my bro was deciding between an IS300 and S4, the dealer tried telling him that they have an AWD version out in europe and it will be out in the states soon... needless to say my bro bought the S4. The part about the cars being bumped 4 grand... I don't think its going to happen, Lexus has been pretty good at keeping the msrp the same as the last year of the previous gen... they just raise the prices incrementally for several years at the end of its life cycle

This all sounds too good to be true... that'll make the Gs more luxurious than the LS... which doesn't make any sense.
There are lots of stupid people working at dealerships... if you didn't hear it from a manager... I wouldn't believe it. Gs430 might have it's last year in 04, but they will definitely replace with another V8 GS, that's for sure. I also think they will up the HP a bit like the Q45. Anyways here are some pictures of 04 Audi A6 and 04 BMW 5... Confirm if these are for real...

due in sept...

Although I expect the new GS to be better I would not expect a"radical" change like the one we saw in "98". I would expect alot of people will be keeping there GS and not running to pay sticker for the new one.

Personally I think the new RX is improved from the old one but not enough to trade in my 2001.

exactly, the bottom line is we don't anything until lexus tells us, everyone has different people saying different things, meanwhile nobody told us about the GX470 until right when Lexus announced it. I don't see Lexus disappointing us, it may not have crazy HP but i don't see the V8 staying at the same HP, while the 330 goes up. Just my .02 cents.

As much as I love my GS430, I have to admit that if I'm in the market for a $50-60K car again in 2004/5, at this point I'm pretty sure I'll be looking at the E500. If we have a market rally between now and then, the new E55 AMG is topping my wish list.

It's absolutely nothing against Lexus or the GS430--this is by far the best car I've ever owned--but I've just fallen head-over-heals in love with the new E-class. Not saying it won't happen, but Lexus would be hard-pressed to release a car that woos me as much as a loaded E, much less the beast that is the E55.

Of course, unless I just find myself with copious spare change in a couple of years I suspect that a new $60K car (much less an $80K car!) won't be an option for me. The wife and I finished building our dream house late last year and have again taken on a mortgage. I guess I'll cross my fingers, but I have to admit that a GS430 as a "worst case scenario" is a pretty damned wonderful thought!!!

doug_999 I got my info from Ray cantena Lexus of oakhurst NJ....The car is defently coming out in the fall of 2004 as a 2005....You can also see the above post from Lexus of Manhattan and even says that it will be released then...Now for the options he had a print out of an email...He also stated that he would be going to something I guess like a class where Lexus would be teaching him about the new options....But the opitons I listed where noted on the email....The only SPECULATION was if the GS430 would be around and the price be bumped about 4 grand....The dealer is the largest on the north east coast he also an elite of Lexus dealership and I have purchased 4 cars from the same guy in the past...I trust him and I mean he showed me the exact memo that was sent to him...If anyone works for Lexus then they maybe they can post it...I think it was subject like something REFRESHED...

im glad i got a 'no frills' 98