I am a current owner of a 05 BMW 545I and am in the process of selling my car due to issues i have been having with it (12 trips to the dealer in 6 months total 15 days in shop). I would greatly appriciate any positive/negative feedback from the current 06 GS430 owners about the gs430. I have test driven the GS430 a few times but the 10 minute test drive dose not give you enough information.

Thanks

 

it's awesome bud. I love my GS. hasn't given me any problems at all. Lexus, as you probably know, is one of the best, if not THE best when it comes to reliability. Not to mention, it's an awesome car to begin with. I'm more than sure that you'll be happy with a GS 430. Good luck on the decision man... I know it's a tough one. P.M. me if you have any specific questions.

-Niloy

 

arunp,

the best way to find out is to see if the dealer will let you keep the car for a day. alternatively, you can rent one for a day ot two. that way, you can test everything, the way it handles, how you feel after a long drive, does your family like it, etc etc.

i have always loved lexus. i have owned 3 LX470's and just bought a GS. However, ive also currenly got a Porsche Cayenne and previously owned a BMW 530i. I like the lexus for its buttery shifts, comfort, quietness & interior. however, i do miss the handling of the bmw or even the porsche suv while driving the lexus sedan. it's always a tradeoff, just depends if its a trade off you are happy with.

 

arunp, the GS is a great car. It's more luxurious than your 545. However, your 545 is more of a driver's car, with better responsiveness and handling.

Lexus is known for their reliability. I've had a couple minor issues with my 430, but that's to be expected with a first model year car. Power wise, the 430 should be very comparable to your 545.

One thing to consider is the upcoming engine change to the GS460 in the fall (or so we hear). The GS 450H (hybrid) will also be available this spring. The availability of these two cars may influence your purchase. Good luck.

 

That in itself was the main reason I went with the GS over the 645. I did not want any issues with the car as it was going to be driven purely for pleasure and i wanted to be able to hop in and go...and I could not see anything that justified the higher price tag of the BMW. I also flirted with the M45, but it did not do it for me; although it is a nice car...just not my kinda nice.
This is my first Lexus but I have been a Toyota (trucks) owner for many years. The 430 is a beautiful car which rides and runs very well. Other makes do some things better and some things worse but overall I felt it was the best car for MY money and MY style of driving. I have become used to Toyotas conservative styling which I feel is balanced out by their reliability.

For the money you are about to spend, go with your gut feeling so you can fully enjoy your ride with no regrets!!

 

It makes me feel as if I won the lottery

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback. i really appriciate it. I finally have a buyer for my car. I had one question about the GS430, how does it handle at high speeds; 100+. Also i did notice some wind noise at high speeds. Is that normal. I do want to keep this car for a longtime.
I have had several BMW over the last 7 years. 323, 330, M3, x5 3.0, X5 4.4 and 545i. I never kept any of them after the warranty expired except for the X5 4.4(big mistake). But even during the warranty period i have had many many issues with almost all of my Bimmers. I finally lost it when the dealer quoted me over $350 to replace the front turn signal bulb on my x5 4.4. BMW's are great cars as long as they are under warranty. After that it is like going to a doctor without health insurance. The dealers charge over $100 / hr just to look at the car. Hopefully i will not have that with the GS.
How is the Lexus service ? Have you had any bad experiences? Sorry for asking so many questions

I am getting the following quote from the local dealer :
06 GS430 with Mark Lev + nav pkg
MSRP $58200 approx
sell for $ 53500

Is that a good deal? Do you think i should try and negotiate any more? I missed out on the december to remember lease specials, i am not sure what the Jan 06 rates are going to be.

 

Sorry to hear about your bimmer woes -- not unusual from what I've read. Lexus is rather chintzy about the test drives -- when we tested the 530 and the M they just copied my license and handed over the keys. Lexus (two different dealers) always had a salesman in the car, and allowed for very limited freeway driving. We ended up getting a GS300 over the BMW, regardless, and it's a truly great car with an inspired design (not to mention it has a place to put your drink that isn't a piece of plastic flimsily floating in mid-air -- what was BMW thinking?).

 

arunp,

In June I purchased my 06 430 (same options) for 53070 + tax & Lic. If I remember correctly that was 2000 over invoice but that included swapping the oem rims for chromed oem rims. If you give the rims a value of about 800.00 which is what I was quoted for the swap then I paid about 1200 over invoice. That was the best deal I could negotiate as the car was in limited supply at the time, especially the red one .

 

[QUOTE=03LX470]arunp,

the best way to find out is to see if the dealer will let you keep the car for a day. alternatively, you can rent one for a day ot two. that way, you can test everything, the way it handles, how you feel after a long drive, does your family like it, etc etc.

I have talked to the sales person jokingly to say I will return with the car tomorrow but she just laughs. I think they did something like that once when I got my first new car: a chrysler concord about 10yrs ago. I'm going to ask next time I go for a test drive since my first and only was in pouring rain and at night!

I would really like for them to just let me borrow the car and choose my route. I would say spend a at least 20-30 min the car. Specially since you going to keep it for at least 3 yrs.

 

I will ask the dealer to let me keep the car for a day. I think that is agreat idea. 10 minutes of driving is really not enough time to decide on a 50K + purchase. Thanks for all the help. I will post pictures when i get the new car.