Visited my local dealer today. Dropped the wife's car off for service and upon my return this beauty was ready for a test drive. Still smiling and thought I would share-

Enjoy-





Note the condensation











Finally the all important sticker-



Doug

PS-Full size photos in my gallery

 

wassup w/ the condensation?!

 

Was that inside the lense? From the picture it looks like a bad waxing job.

 

Great Photos!

This just shows that rims make the car and the GS430 rims make the vehicle look so much nicer than those GS300 rims. It's almost like they are totally different cars in a sense.

 

I you go to my gallery you can view a larger image of the headlights and unfortunately it looks to be water. A real bummer.

The car was loaded and a closer inspection of the sticker will depict everything it has. It was a beaty to drive, and I was allowed to drive it about a half hour-

Doug

 

Oh that's Quartz Shadow, very nice!

 

Wow almost $59,000 and still the dreaded condensation issue I wonder if it will still have that rough idle too. It is a real beauty though. Do they have led taillights?

 

what rough idle are you talking about?

 

That almsot look like the flint mica - but if u put them both next to each other, the flitn mica would look better. I knwo its subjective - but for those that havent seen the pix of flint mica on this car, check out teh thread i just posted todaty a few minutes ago.. it is HOTTT!!! particulary the second last picture.

 

So how was the drive Doug?

 

The gs300 Black/Black with the red in color type wood (don't recall the factory name). It had been offloaded and needed the prep work done. The plastic was still covering the interior. I believe the sticker was about $50K.

I picked up literature, but nothing that hasn't been posted priviously, except for an accessory flyer. Nothing much there, I can post pics if you all wish to see it. It had a car cover, pic of the cargo net and optional wheels offered and a few other misc items.

I can tell you tho, the sequential shifting was a hoot (you can manually start in 1st). The steering feel (eletronically tuned or something) was fantastic. The brakes were truly amazing. Dropping the hammer and mannully shifting up thru the gears was sensational-

Doug

 

Water in the Headlights? Condensation? Your kidding right?

If this is Condensation, this is a major issue that needs to be fixed, I'm sorry, for a car of this calibration, there should not be condensation in the headlights. I have a 1998 SC400 and my babies are sealed tight.

I hope Lexus fixes this. Sorry little things like this really bug me.

 

You're kidding right? The rims in the pics here look MINISCULE and silly. I think the 2nd gen GS's 17s fit better.

Car does look nice anyway. GS4DOUGIE, very curious to hear more about your tesr drive. How quiet was the car? How did the shifts feel? How was the handling? Seat comfort? Anything you didn't like?

 

That seems biased because 1) You own a Gen 2 GS 2) You haven't seen the 18" on the Gen 3 GS in person, and only through photos.

To be fair, the stock 17's on the GS4 are nice, but if you compare them side by side and in person, the 17's look out of proportion compared to the 18's and the Gen 3. Yes i've seen the cars in person. I've always loved the Gen2 GS when it first came out in late 97 and won Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year Award in Feb 98, but the new GS in it's own respects is a very nice vehicle.

 

Bit-

The test drive was dreamy to be honest. I wish I had hit the freeway, but I have a feeling I'll be back to the dealership to do it again.

The car itself was laid out extremely well. It had more switches then I am used to but I think that was merely because it was my first run so to speak. The dash lights are very nice as is the information they provide (sport setting susp. on, PWR setting vs. ETC on etc.) and the finish on the gauges was attractive. The drop down gig with all the control features was nice but a little daunting to use while in motion, but I trust in time that would become second nature.

Many have noticed that the arm rest side frontward and backwards. That feature was nice. When in the forward position it diguises the seat heater and cooler switches so they are out of sight.

The triptronic transmission was what I really enjoyed the most. Because a couple of tugs backwards and you're in first. Dead stop, punch it, watch the revs and just slap the shifter forward to shift thru the gears. It had great launches and really pegged your *** to the seat back. Cabin noise was serene, except when on the throttle excessively. The V8 had a nice growl to let others know you were mashing the gas.

We chatted while driving with music in the backround (stereo) and you couldn't really hear the motor running, no road noise (I am on SO3's currently) so I was pleased.

Another photo not in this post was of the overhead map lights. They are those awesome LED Type which are focused on your lap and not the entire front seat (although it was daytime).

It was a lot to take in, with the many new features and controls, but my first impressions were very good. I was really disappointed to see moisture in the the headlights (PS only) but I think that was probably the only drawback. Frankly, the only other thing that would concern me is that it's a new design and we all know there's gotta be some bugs. When they suface and what they'll be nobody knows.

But, in all honesty, if had the scratch I would have my name on one NO DOUBT.

If I have overlooked anything, or if you have any questions, sound off.

PS- hands free phone integrated (sp) in the NAV screen was killer.

Doug