tin369

I have not been on the forum for a while and had lurked a while back. I am not interested in the brand. about 5 years ago drove the RX350, felt sluggish, heavy, feminine. The new design language is a bit too much for me, but the F sport grill looks good, in some colors and cars.
I do like the ES350 2019 f sport, but I think the GS350 is a better car, correct me if I am wrong.
I have a Q7 and a RAV4 and want to add a third car that is reliable, comfortable,spacious and somewhat fun to drive.

Also important to me are newest tech, which I am reading is that lexus is behind on.
To keep cost down, is a GS f sport 2015-2016 a good choice? what prices can i expect to pay?
If the RX350 fsport, than I guess it has to be newer right?

Does the 2015-2016 come with adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist etc. most important is adaptive cruise control for highway driving and apple careplay for streaming music and using google/apple map etc.

BrettKA7

Lexus is straight-up behind on technology. My 2 month old IS 300 lacks CarPlay. Someone else on this forum can comment on driving aids as I'm not super certain about year-to-year changes.

You're comparing the RWD GS to the FWD ES and FWD SUV RX. Personally, I drove the latest gen RX a few times and while it drives luxuriously, it is the numbest car I've ever driven. I'd never want one of those.

The ES isn't nearly as numb as the RX, but it's definitely far floatier and will never handle as well as the GS.

The GS has the sportiest driving dynamics (especially in F Sport configuration) and is RWD. Plenty of interior space for you. To me, the interior feels the most upscale of all 3.

I have had 2 FWD Acuras and a FWD Lexus. Once I got a RWD BMW, FWD cars became totally irrelevant to me. I don't think you'll like the RX based off your desires from the original post but I'd recommend driving an ES and GS back-to-back. The GS is designed to be the car that ES and IS drivers eventually upgrade to.

HontoKuro

Get a GS F-Sport RWD or (AWD if in snow prone areas) and will meet all your needs as noted above and exceed them, except for the overall rear sitting space area but good enough since you already have family haulers this shouldn't be an issue. In terms of adaptive cruise control, LKA and other safety features these were optional in 2013-2015 GS models so would have to look around when shopping but became standard features in 2016+ GS versions.

Good luck and test drive a GS F-Sport and you wont be disappointed.

KAH

charley95

18 GS & 14 RX here. GS is more exciting to drive but, RX has its purpose. I'd drive both and decide from there.

AJLex19

If you want a "reliable, comfortable, spacious and somewhat fun to drive Lexus," the GS fits that bill the best out of all of Lexus's sedan offerings. I can't see the RX even touching the performance feel of a GS, especially a GS F-Sport. Go for a 2016 GS F-Sport which you should be able to snag for $35k-$40k CPO.

No apple car play support on any GS - the other safety features will be more available in 2016+ models that have the Lexus Safety System+ optional package (which actually became standard in 2017 I believe).

JDR76

I like both the GS and the RX. I used to own a 3rd gen RX and really liked it. We replaced it with a Highlander Hybrid to gain 3rd row seating.

My GS is currently in for service and I'm driving a brand new 19 RX loaner. I like it and I think it's really nice and smooth, but yes, I am counting down the minutes until I can go pick up my GS afternoon and get back into that car. If I didn't actually need the space of the RX, I would for sure get the GS.

gordonyz

Get X3 M40i. I have it, Totally blows all Lexus SUVs away, and much punchier than my GS

tin369

HontoKuro

As someone who has and currently own BMW's over the last 20+ years, yes the X3 M40i is a solid vehicle to drive and blows out the RX in just about every category you can think of. That being said, unless you are going to lease one, they are junk vehicles to own long term and the most unreliable cars outside of Chrysler/Fiat. They give you all the bells and whistles, technology, the driving dynamics on most of these cars/SUVs are great to drive but anything coming out of BMW camp over say the last 10 years especially since they went exclusively with turbo engines are unreliable junk and the electronics are even worse. Just go check out any BMW forum page and look at all the constant issues that pop whether they are engine or electric related including the new vehicles over the last couple of years. For those reasons, I finally woke up and now jumped on the Lexus bandwagon and although its a huge difference and several compromises made coming from German vehicles, the headache, stress, money pit and constant service shop visits plus high maintenance costs was enough for me to leave BMW.

viperr

iTrader: (1)

Lol...yup, that is the straight direct truth right there! Eventually I ended up with both...

signdetres

The RX is pretty "boring" but a better way of putting it is that it's so relaxing to drive that it's not "exciting" or won't get your heart rate going. That said, depending on who you are and what kind of driving you do, relaxing can be exciting. I've had them as loaners every time I take my GS in for service and I really enjoy driving them to the point that I always think about one day getting one as an additional car for driving around town and what not. All the passengers I've had in them also fell in love with them as have the couple friends/family I let drive them. Everyone loves the RX, not sure what it is about it but there's a certain charm there. That said, I wouldn't ever trade my GS in for one, but I would definitely own one in addition to my GS.

If you try to drive it pretty aggressively, it'll disappoint a bit, but that said, I've never driven an F-Sport RX so I don't know how much better those handle. The RX450h is pretty quick and responsive and is pretty fun to hoon around in and mess with other cars in though Feels like a beast at freeway speeds with that instantaneous torque.

My pick would be the RX450h F-Sport.

charley95

It's good to have both I guess. I let the RX take all the winter abuse so I can keep my GS out of the salt. Haven't been able to wash it in weeks due to our wonderful weather. I'll take my boring RX over most all other SUV's because the 4 years I've had it, nothing except one thing has been fixed. How many other brands have that reliability?!

jdpdata

OP you already have two SUVs so why add another boring SUV to the stable? My vote is for a fun to drive sports sedan. Whether itsi a 2016+ GS or 2019 ES, you can't go wrong with either one. The GS is tighter on rear seats space, so if you need the extra room in the back get the ES. Driving dynamics of the GS of course it's much better than FWD ES.

When my wife has settled on getting a MDX, I knew I wanted a sport sedan, so I went out shopping for the GS. We already have another SUV, the 4Runner so I didn't want to add a third SUV. Plus everyone is on the SUV bandwagon now so you will probably get a better deal on a sedan.

gs350lex

[QUOTE=tin369;10422631]

GS350 F-Sport awd (as a poster above has suggested). Drive one and you will see there are no words that will do it justice. I would grab a 2013-2015 if I were you as they are a quicker than the newer ones and the 13-15's still have everything the newer ones have aside from the new headlights/LFA cluster and a few other small things that i'm probably missing.You can also get a good deal on one and they will last you for many years without any serious issues.