First time poster, and I'd love to hear some opinions. I currently drive a 2004 Acura TSX which has been great... Fun to drive, economical, and most of all, exceptionally reliable over its 165,000 mile life. My daughter is turning 16, and I plan on giving it to her.
I'm not an automotive die hard, but I appreciate good engineering and enjoy driving. I also live in a cold climate and there is 5-10 commutes a year where I really wish I had awd... In fact I've always told myself that my next car will be awd.
Here's my dilemma: i'm working with between $15,000 and $20,000. I'd be comfortable with $15,000 for a nice reliable car, and in the $20,000 range for a car that I can comfortably drive for 10 more years. My wife wants me to go with a newer Subaru, but I don't know that I would be happy going from an Acura product to a Subaru. Second option is finding a good deal on a 2012 TL SH-AWD, and driving it for 10 years. Don't love the styling but I don't mind it either. Seems like resale is poor in those and good deals can be had. They're fast too. Third option is Lexus. I've always had an appreciation for Lexus, and my brother has an early 2000s model that's probably got a quarter of a million miles on it and has been very reliable, which leads me to this forum. What do y'all think about spending $15,000 on a "high" mileage GS350 (80-100k miles) or closer to $20,000 for a cherry one? I know they're reliable, but is its design going to seem dated in 5-10 years? The new 4th gen ones look so different (I like the look, but too expensive). I guess my biggest concern is making a car payment on a car that seems old in a few years. How well is the 3GS going to age?
I'd really be interested in hearing everybody's opinions. Thanks in advance!

 

Buying my GS350 was the best car decision I made since buying my IS300

I had the same mindset as you - my next car would be AWD as I live right near the snow belt here in Ohio and can get over a foot over night. I also didn't want to rotate daily drivers every 2-3 years so it was easy to convince myself to pay for a car that will last. If you're patient you can find one with under 100k on the dial for under 20k.
Subarus are great in the snow, but going from the Acura you'd be taking a step down in terms of build quality and basic features.
If you enjoy driving - you'll appreciate the 350. I love the power and have never been disappointed taking any turn. It's been amazing in snow (with snow tires of course) - even with the traction "off" it's very difficult to get out of control. You have to do more than a simple one time button press to disable the traction and get wild.

As for the styling, I still get compliments from people and see the look of shock on their face when I say it's a 2008. If you don't know your models well, it's easy to confuse the new generation ES cars with the GS - not exactly a good thing! Overall, I think Lexus's 3rd gen models were some of (and still) the best looking models and were well distinguished compared to the other models.

 

i had a 06 then went to a 2010 ,2010-2011 has a little beter media center and built in satalite
but the earlier years are fantastic to