Hello all..
I'm bored at work, so I thought I would start what could be an interesting thread..
So, I'm and owner of a "cherry" '08 GS 350, all the goodies and am aware of the expense keeping this car as close to new as possible.
I can make a list of service recalls, Transmission issues, Suspension, Engine but I won't.
So, I read: "The Lexus is nothing but a glorified Camry".. How many of us think this is true? As a current owner Is your next vehicle going to be a Lexus, or are you considering others, such as Acura, etc..?

 

The ES is more along the lines of a Camry, whereas the GS has its own chassis/design. My next daily driver will definitely be a Lexus (either an LS or another GS). My family has owned several of pretty much every European car brand out there, and they've all been absolute garbage in comparison to my past SC400 and my current GS460. Same goes for the American cars they've owned. Converted my parents over to a 2014 RX350, and my brother is currently hanging his Euro fanboy towel in exchange for a '12+ GS350 F-sport. He finally admitted his Mercedes and BMWs just aren't worth the headaches anymore, and he's seen how I've been basically trouble-free with both cars since 2003. Acura makes an alright car, but definitely lacks the finesse and detail that's put into a Lexus. People who bash Lexus for being a "glorified Toyota" can live on their little cloud... I take it as a complement

 

I hear and read many great reviews about the GS460, nice ride..
I've always owned American cars, starting in the 70's with the Chevelle. My last vehicle (prior to the Lexus) was a Pontiac GTO 2006, black, 400HP 0->60 in 5 sec, some suspension mods.. The car was showroom.. That said, I purchased it a year old and had 118,000 before it was totaled. The car only had, if I remember, two recalls and they were minor. The trans fluid was never changed and didn't require changing. So essentially it was general maintenance, engine oil, tires etc.. Outside of the American cars I owned, I've had nothing to compare them to until up to now when I purchased the GS. Its been a whole new world for me as far as maintenance. I did read much about the Lexus and its dependability compared to all other imports and that's why in the end I went this route. Today, American cars aren't even on my radar for my next choice of vehicle. I think I'll stick with the GS (newer).

 

Ah, good taste! My dad has a fully restored '70 Chevelle SS, 4-speed, 369. By far my favorite classic. Unfortunately, our generation of Lexus is kind of the worst as far as build quality goes. They'll last forever, but they'll also rattle a whole bunch along the way, haha. Fortunately, the Club Lexus wizards have tons of threads on how to fix pretty much everything, including the rattles and squeaks. The 460 has been an awesome car for me though. Only a couple vibrating sounds that I need to fix, but it's been very reliable and fun to drive.

 

It seems much of the members here have the 460.. Perhaps I should have hunkered down on my finances and went that route as opposed to the 350.
I do love my car (I do mean love), my girlfriend need not read this. I agree, there are a few minor rattles here and there, but overall the interior is well
crafted and assembled.
I had the daunting task last week of replacing my seat cushion (Heated and cooled) due to rips (common). I realized how heavy these seats really are and how well they are built. I found the cushion on ebay, like new $150.00 shipped, I'm happy, looks like factory did the replacement, although it took me all afternoon.
So, I had a midnight blue SS 396 Bored and Stroked, 3 speed close gear ration 2nd to 3rd and a posi (I forgot what gears) rear end. I sold the car to a buddy of mine, he moved to SC and still running strong! I miss those days, stuffing your foot in it, smoking up the neighborhood, cops getting to know you well (they did like donuts).
I tried that with my GS AWD, yeah right, my girlfriend wasn't impressed, but it pulls pretty darn good for a 3.5L and I make less stops at the shell and Mobile!

 

Oh man the 2006 GTO was one of my favorite cars but I've never owned one unfortunately. Speaking of lexus and toyota. I used to owned an ES, that car was much of a camry although it feels al lot more premium. Now that I have the GS, it's a whole different and better car in every direction. How about if these people don't know anything about the GS nor the LS. And yeah I forgot to say that after my current ride I'd jump to the current generation GS.

 

If I were to get a car other than a Lexus (and was a sedan) I would probably end up with an Infiniti or Audi A6. I never really jumped on the BMW brand, its just not my thing, and the only Mercedes that I really want haven't been made in decades. That being said, I plan on buying the current generation GS when I am done with mine. It looks good, is big enough, and is a great highway cruiser.

 

The Infinity was my first choice just prior to the Lexus.. I test drove a few and was hooked. The GS won me over due in part to the performance, I fall in to the more agressive driver, always have been.
Another reason I went to the Lexus was OEM replacement parts/costs. Most parts for our GS's are about the same price point as Corolla's, friends that have Mercedes or BMW's can't say that.. As a matter of fact, parts costs for these cars discourages D.I.Y'ers..

My next project is mid pipe (from header to resonator) if anyone here has taken on this behemoth task, please let me know. After purchasing the pipe, I may hire a shop to install it.

 

Part prices are the same as Corolla? Perhaps OEM but aftermarket, there are tons more options on corollas. Our cars are too rare to stimulate more supply competition.

 

I wouldn't say our OEM replacement parts are super expensive, but they are far more expensive than Corolla parts, at least that was my experiene when i was redoing the front suspension

 

Is that whole "Lexus is just a glorified Camry" really still a thing? I only ever hear it from one type of person: the ones that buy or lease an unoptioned CLA250 or 320i (and who would probably pay $300 for a fresh pile of horse crap if it had a three-pointed star stuck on top).

As for new cars, I'm probably going to hold onto my GS350 for a good long while because I really do love my car, and none of the new cars really excite me – for example, the only real improvement in the 4GS is the suspension, but I don't doubt that I could get handling and ride feel close to that of Sport+ by doing some suspension mods to my 3GS. The only cars that I really want are a Gran Turismo with the F1 gearbox, or a 458 Italia.

In fact, this is something I've thought about a lot recently – the current generation of cars are only marginally better than the previous gneration, whereas the previous generation was a major improvement over the preceding generation. Let's take the GS for example. The 2GS is a great car, but the 3GS has much better power and improved transmissions, better gas mileage, and many new and useful features (ventilated seats, power folding mirrors, adaptive headlights, radar cruise control, TPMS, more powerful brakes, rear sunshade, adjustable suspension, auto windshield wipers, etc); in contrast, the 4GS actually has fewer powertrain options than the 3GS (not V8 or 8-speed tranny), the remaining engine is exactly the same as on the 3GS, and the only real improvements are the suspension, the bigger nav screen, and the paddle shifters. Most of the other new features – facacta like blind spot monitors, lane departure warning, lane keep assist and driver alertness monitoring – are things that I very strongly dislike. And this same rule applies to most other cars too, so I'm not just picking on the 4GS. The 4GS is a very nice car, but going from the 3GS to a 4GS is basically a lateral move (or a backwards move if you have a GS460)

As a side note, blind spot monitoring is the most dangerous thing fitted to cars since the Pinto's gas tank: most of ze new German cars have blind spot monitors, and they're going to cause many accidents in about 3 years when they start failing but the owners have become used to relying on them.

 

My GS is in for an oil change and they gave me a loaner, an RC350 F-Sport, and this is definitely going to be my next car. The interior is dated compared to the Germans, but the car overall is such a nice fit.

 

Th

That is true for previous generation ES, the current generation ES is actually a glorified Avalon... The NX is a Rav4, and there are a few other shared platform. Specifically for the GS, it is significantly different car from engine and power train as well as chasis such that it is not comparable to anything in the Toyota brand line up (for North America only) There is nothing wrong with the Toyota brand, and I couldn't care less about what the sticker says. When buying, I was particularly interested in specific technical design attributes of the car, if Toyota had a similar less expensive car, yea I'd go for it.

I like my Lexus, I would consider another when the time comes in a couple of years (my wife's cruddy Mazda is about to literally fall apart at 7 years old with 140K km on it... actually strike that, the wheel did fall off with the mount breaking off the body... now apparently the exhaust and fuel tank is hanging on by a hair so complain all you want about quality.. a few dash rattles and console squeaks are no big deal when taken in the right context). I am not a Lexus fanboy, but would consider anything made by Honda and Toyota based on my past experience with cars from them and others. I do love the looks of Audi and and BMW, and am intrigued by some of the Infiniti models I have seen/been in, but I am nervous about owning any of those long term. I do agree that Lexus may be a bit behind in terms of getting with the time, I am not convinced with the latest models still running a basically unchanged 2GR-FSE engine, and that new 2.0L turbo they are putting in the NX/IS/GS is apparently very anemic on pick up.... compared to the BMW 2.0 turbo engine which i felt drove very perky and smoothly (a friend has an X1). so there is that, Lexus would have to get a bit more up to date on chasis+engine/power-train to keep me interested, I don't care for the buttons in the cabin.

 

Well said..
Correct me if I'm wrong but Toyota/Lxus is fairly new to the turbo, especially the small 2.0L. Quite amazing the horsepower they are squeezing out of a 2 litre. Back in the day when I raced outboards, we ran a 2.4 Litre and was extremely happy running them at 7000 RPM @ 300 HP..
I agree as I would consider the next vehicle as a Lexus. I'm also watching a few american manufacturers that are also planning new concepts and perhaps a step up in quality, long way to go nonetheless.
I recently attended an auto show primarily for Chevrolets', of course there were many corvettes and camaros and they looked impressive, but they were "Corvettes" and "Camaros" nothing I really would consider.. I did speak with a group of owners there however, and overheard a conversation about re-tuning thier Chevy's to run with the "Metrics". I got a kick out of that... I was going to tell them what my daily driver was. I played along as I am genuinely interested in what american owners have to say about thier cars nowadays..
One thing I might add about the Lexus,, in peticular my GS 350, the 3.5 does run out quite well and has suprising torque, however, if you catch the trans in the right gear and stuff your foot in it, can be dissapointing somewhat. So, I think Toyota/Lexus has some resarch and development on Trans and Engine power curve and sync.

 

Toyota is not new to Turbocharged engine and I wouldn't say new to Lexus since their Toyota counterpart had optional turbo engines. One of the most popular one is the JZ series engine. The 1st and 2nd Gen Toyota Aristo had an optional Twin Turbo, 2JZ-GTE carried from the Supra. The 2nd and 3rd Gen Soarer had optional turbocharged engine. Before then the 7M-GTE, 1G-GTE, etc. Smaller engine wise, Toyota had the 2.0L, 3S-GTE. Toyota moved away from turbocharged and I6 engines for awhile because of emission regulation in different countries.