RyanC

iTrader: (1)

I just turned in my leased 2014 GS350 F-Sport AWD after 27 months. It is a little bittersweet - the GS has been a great car for me. I thought I’d just put together some comments on the car now that we’ve parted ways.

My reason for leasing was to be able to try a variety of different car brands - I started with something familiar to me, Lexus - but now I’ve moved onto BMW. It is nothing against Lexus at all - I have had nothing but positive experiences with Lexus overall.

Exterior

The first iteration of the Lexus spindle grille is a lot less aggressive than the recent ones like on the current IS, ES and GS. Personally I really like the look of the 2013-2015 GS. I’m not a huge fan of the rear tail lights - I wish they were all red. I know on eBay you can buy some red vinyl tape to cover the amber, but I figured since my car was leased I would leave it completely stock.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the 2016 GS when I first saw it but it has started to grow on me. I love the dark grey rims on the F-Sport, they are my favorite OEM rims of all of the cars I’ve owned - and they don’t show brake dust!

I’m not a fan of the height on the AWD models though - why does the car have to sit so much higher? It doesn’t look good at all. Again - I could have put springs on the car, but didn’t since its a lease.

Interior / Ergonomics

There is something about the GS that makes it feel more luxurious than most other car I’ve driven before. The way the windows slow down before they get to the top and close slowly, the feel of the volume and tuning ***** on the stereo, the way things feel to the touch - even things you normally don’t touch like the top of the dashboard have a soft cushy feel. Something about the interior just screamed quality to me. The way it looks too just screams luxury to me.

There are a few limited areas like the steering wheel controls that feel like they may have came from the Toyota parts bin - but otherwise everything else feels high quality.

The car is also very quiet on the inside. There is a bit of tire noise, but I suspect different tires would help here.

On the ergonomics front - I give the GS high marks for having buttons for the functions that you use most often. I cannot stand how my wife’s MDX requires you to use the touch screen to turn on the heated seats - on the GS, there is a button! The auto feature of the heated/ventilated seats works well too. I love the drive mode selector - I can change the driving mode without ever looking.

The puck for controlling navigation is not as bad as reviewers make it out to be - I got used to it really fast and the feedback you get through the controller works well. I do hate that you cannot control a lot of things on the navigation unless you are stopped.

Drivetrain / Performance

The GS in my opinion feels underpowered. At nearly 2 tons (4000 lbs) the GS is not a lightweight car. The 306hp / 277 ft-lbs isn’t enough. With a sub-6 second 0-60 time, the car isn’t exactly slow - but I wish the F-Sport model had a bump in engine power. A turbo or supercharger would really help!

The 6-speed transmission in the GS350 AWD also feels sluggish even in Sport+. I’m not sure if the 8-speed in the RWD GS is better, but Lexus could definitely do better with the 6-speed.

Handling / Steering

For such a heavy car - the GS handles well. There is a bit of body roll but overall I think the car handles quite well and more importantly predictably. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a sports car - but it drives well. The AWD system is excellent - it did really well in the rain and snow — confidence inspiring. The car also handles rough surfaces well but probably not as well as a car tuned specifically for luxury. The GS is tuned for a sportier drive, even with the Adaptive Variable Suspension - it rides somewhat stiff. The double wishbone front suspension though is quite good - I think it makes a big difference in overall handling and composure over rough surfaces compared to cars with a McPherson Strut system.

So - I am not one to care much about steering feel. Almost every car I’ve driven has had numb steering. However, what I do care about is how boosted the steering feels, how “quick” it is (the steering ratio). In my opinion - the GS steering is great - it may be numb, but even in Normal mode the steering weight feels just right and the steering ratio is appropriate. Put it in Sport+ mode and the steering ratio speeds up and the steering weight increases - almost too much, but with the increased ratio - increasing the weight makes sense. One of my biggest complaints when driving other cars is the steering - in my opinion Honda/Acura and Lexus (not sure about Toyota just because I haven’t driven a recent Toyota) do Electric Power Steering right. The Mercedes C-class for example doesn’t alter the steering ratio / weight at all depending on the driving mode you choose. Consider for a second you’re driving fast and taking a corner in sport mode - but the steering feels like you’re driving an ES … that was the way the C450 AMG I drove felt! The BMW 340 that replaced my GS is somewhere between the GS and the C450 in my opinion - there isn’t enough of a difference between Comfort and Sport mode on the BMW, but at least there is a difference!

Reliability

Its to be expected that on a 27 month old car there wouldn’t be too many issues - but the car was basically perfect. I only needed oil changes on the car, and surprisingly - I needed the GS350 badge replaced (under warranty) because it was falling off.

Nitpicks / Complaints

That damn footwell on the driver’s side on the AWD model!! How after washing the car and driving around there is almost immediately a spray pattern on the rear quarter panel area - the car really could use mud flaps (which are available in Japan I hear). The heated seats never feel warm enough - the heated steering wheel works great - but I never feel the heat on the back of the seats (This was also a problem on the ES350 I had). The paint seems too thin - there were a lot of rock chips in the front bumper when I returned the car. Why doesn’t Lexus have more F accessories for the car? The GS was supposed to get a F-Sport springs but they never got released I don’t think. An F-Sport exhaust would be cool!

Overall - I really liked the GS350 - there will be a bunch of things I’ll miss about that car compared to the BMW thats replacing it. I know Lexus considered killing the GS all together after the 3G and I really hope they make a 5G GS.

JDR76

Thanks for the review. I agree with everything except I really like the 6 speed and I thought the variable gear ratio steering (VGRS) was not available on the AWD models, but rather was a RWD only option.

badman5

I am actually loooking for a 14 GS F Sport. You also seem to have the cold weather i'd like. What color interior and exterior did you have? Where did you turn your lease in?

RyanC

iTrader: (1)

Thats right, the VGRS wasn't on my car -- VGRS varies the steering ratio the entire time based on speed - but the electric steering rack in the AWD GS350 still varies steering ratio based on the mode, so the Normal has a "slower" steering ratio than Sport+. (I think this is right - I could be mistaken and just am feeling the increased weight and thinking the ratio is also increased)

RyanC

iTrader: (1)

My car was Liquid Platinum (outside) and black (inside). I turned my lease in last weekend - car is for sale -- http://www.pohankalexuschantilly.com...-VA/2862508063

Funny enough they are selling the car as a Certified Pre-owned for less ($40.9K) than I would have paid if I bought the car out of my lease (~$42K).

charley95

Does anyone here not like the narrow armrest on the interior door panels? After test driving one I thought it was too narrow for my liking.

rjm

Good review and thanks for posting it. I agree with most of what you say. While you went from the GS to BMW I went the opposite direction. I went from owning 4 BMW's to the GS and am still happy with my move after 4 years. I would love to hear your review of the BMW after a year or two. For me, the BMW is no longer "The Ultimate Driving Machine" or anything close to it. My complaints were with the crappy runflat tires that required replacing every time you hit a pot hole. I hit a pot hole on I-35 that resulted in big bubbles on the 2 left tires. After $900 spent on 2 new tires and a complete alignment it was fixed. I hated the Start/Stop system. What were the engineers thinking on this one? The engine shuts off every time you stop at a stop light unless you override it. The battery was charged by their "smart charging system" only when your foot was off the gas pedal or you were sitting at a stop light. Brilliant engineering!! A new battery costs over $500 because it has to "be registered to the car" or it won't charge correctly. My last BMW was in the shop for electrical anomalies way too many times. It spent 10 days in the shop to trace down a 6 amp battery draw that ran down the battery every night and resulted in a dead battery every morning. Turned out to be an electrical fault in the "Smart Access System" in the right passenger door handle. That cost a bit over $1000 to repair. The solution is to leave the battery on a trickle charger whenever you are not driving it. But I'm sure you are familiar with these complaints from BMW owners on the forums. Bimmerfest is the best BMW forum. I hope you will check in here from time to time to share your impressions with the car. They really look great. They just don't live up to their past reputation. I sincerely hope you don't have any of the problems I had with mine. I will never buy another BMW.

Bartman619

Same sentiments here. After owning 3 BMW', the last one being the Best I think...e90 3 Series. I just couldn't justify keeping the car. Yes it drove like no other car, but it needed more maintenance than any other car. Carbon Buildup, HPFP failures, electric waterpump failure, electric waterpump failure...though I hear BMW reverted by to a mechanical waterpump on the current 6cyl turbo model. Plus, I couldn't get over the fact the BMW nickel and dimes your certain options which come standard on Lexus GS..such as HID Lights, Navigation System, Heated/Cooled Seats, Comfort Access, and having a spare tire...Yes, BMW's no longer have spare tires and currently run expensive to replace run flats. They are great driver cars, but reliability is not a BMW trait.

RyanC

iTrader: (1)

I leased the BMW for the very reason that reliability was suspect. I'm actually replacing the run flat tires on the car, will put them back on when I turn in the lease.

You can also code the car using a laptop to disable the auto-stop/start functionality, so it only comes on if you press the button to turn it on. I think there is also a way using a laptop or an app on your phone to register a new battery yourself too - but I agree it seems overkill to require this, and charge $500 for a battery replacement when most other cars, you can go to Walmart and get it replaced for ~$100-150.

So far only 1 week into ownership, no problems *knocks on wood* - but we'll see. I'm not expecting Lexus reliability out of the car though.

I do agree - BMW nickle and dimes you way more than Lexus does. I wanted BSM because my GS had it and I like the feature, but BMW forces you to get their Driver Assist Plus package which has a bunch of other features that I don't really want like surround view cameras, speed limit info .. when most car manufacturers are now including a lot of these safety features on their cars standard now, BMW forces you to buy packages full of crap you don't really want for thousands to get 1 feature you do want.

I didn't want to write a comparison between the two cars because I haven't had the 340 long enough yet but the 340i xDrive is really fast compared with the GS. 0-60 time is measured by some at 4.1 seconds, and I have the factory M-tune on it which gives an extra 35hp and 39 lb-ft. I find myself driving faster just because what used to feel like 60mph to me in the GS, is about 70 mph in the 340. But I gave up a lot of luxury from the GS. The GS-F would probably have made me happy (best of both worlds?), but it is also way out of my price range.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

You are spot on! BTW, I had two BMW 5 series just prior to the GS. Both were coded...it's the only way to go.

Afrosheen

Most of your gripes are thanks to the AWD system. Car sits high, feels heavy, leans a bit in turns, etc. These are all symptoms of the AWD model. RWD fixes all these and the car is much better in this configuration. Guess due to your region it's either impractical or a bad idea though.

I do agree with the driver's side footwell, and the passenger side for that matter. That 8" rise next to the door sucks, you can't just pivot out of the seat, your feet always have to clear that wall on the way out so something inevitably gets scuffed. Also agree that the car could use more power out of the box. 5.5-5.7s to 60 is pretty quick but the chassis convinces you it's a joke and it could do it much better with more power up front. That's how the GSF feels, like more of the potential is unlocked but it retains stability and balance.

6 speed tranny is fine on my RWD, sport+ will hold gears much longer than you expect after you floor it to pass, which is fun. I've heard the 8 speed spends more time hunting and that's also a gripe on the F, sluggish shifts where you'd expect them to be razor sharp and instant.

Thin paint, totally agree. On a black hood, every chip is a white circle, and it stands out like a zit on the nose of the prom queen. I hate it; paint protection should be mandatory on forward facing surfaces. Buying new, go ahead and get the option for 2-300 bucks or whatever the dealer is charging and roll it into the price.

All in all, a damned fine car that, niggles aside, does everything very well and has a lot of nice touches (soft touch surfaces, hidden interior lighting everywhere) that you just appreciate more over time. It's hard to get away from, that's for sure.