.

 

Great write-up... and from one (prior) Infiniti owner to another, I couldn't agree with you more. With a few minor exceptions, I love my GS and feel that its a better car in every respect than the Infiniti product.

 

There is something to be said for cheap interiors. In general they do not rattle like a Lexus. High quality interiors are more difficult to silence.

Every premium car I have owned rattled and creaked. My cheap Corolla never made a sound.

 

Well, you're in NY, that's understandable. But probably more than 2/3 of people in this country do not need an AWD. For many it would be just a waste of money and a drag on performance.

As far as the trunk space, again, not everybody needs it. There are plenty of people enjoying their Porshe and Ferraris and Mazda Miatas even though their trunks are even smaller than the GS 450h's. Personally, I don't mind the smallish trunk even one bit. Our second vehicle is Honda Odyssey...

 

Houston or DFW? Well, we have our own little Lexus dealership right here in Austin. So, I'm getting it here. It's actually quite close to where I work, so it's very convenient.

The "demo" car fell through -- turns it, it had been wrecked! Had hit a deer. At least they told us.

We are getting a brand-new one now, same exact colors/features -- coming in Wednesday. And, because of all the crap they put us through, we're getting the "demo" price -- and more!

 

My MINI had a "cheap interior" and rattled and squeaked quite a bit, but -- darn it -- I loved that little car! Of course, I didn't have luxury expectations when I bought it. I just smiled and enjoyed the ride. Why did I sell? Changed jobs, and now suffer a killer stop & go traffic commute. Could not handle the stick in such traffic, and couldn't bear the thought of an automatic MINI. Perhaps when I am able to do a "third car..."

 

My other car is a '06 mini, thats why I need a car with some trunk space.

Everyone claims that the AWD performance is worse than RWD? Are you guys basing this off of the .1 second 0-60 difference? How much worse is the performance? If i got the AWD, it would have to be special order, so i would be basing my decision on the RWD test-drive.

 

I've got a GS300 AWD and don't have any problem passing on hills, getting on the freeway, etc. The GS350 AWD should even be better. If you get one, you'll be getting a superb vehicle that outperforms the vast majority of other vehicles.

 

The car is heavier, so the performace will suffer a bit. You also have more components that can break without getting any benefit out of them (in California). You also have to worry about having fairly uniform treadwear on all four tires.