With three months left on my IS lease I have begun thinking about a possible replacement since I have no desire to lease another Lexus. Lexus makes nothing interesting for the enthusiast outside of the real F cars. Couple that with lackluster fuel efficiency and archaic infotainment systems there is no reason to stay loyal. As such, I am contemplating leasing either the Genesis 3.3T, new G20 M Sport or the C class.


Regarding the Genesis 3.3T, the car is phenomenal. The engine is very responsive beyond anything you will ever experience in a Lexus outside of F cars. The torque is instantaneous, the torque slams you in the seat as soon as you apply the throttle. It was so impressive I didn’t even need to take it out on the highways. Instead I opt for some back-roads. The car is equipped with Brembo's and Michelin PSS. Ultra grip and excellent brakes. The Is cannot compare in any way except it appears our car has more rear leg room. That was the only disappointment I observed.

This specific genesis I drove had all the option boxes checked which is how I would order it. MSRP was under $53K and I believe they took like 2K off. The Genesis has all the Lexus safety tech and more. Features worth mentioning includes BSM with audible alert, which is awesome coupled with the heads up display. Car has apple car play and android auto too. Navi is easy to use and is touch screen with voice commands that actually works. This also has power folding mirrors, nice sounding exhaust, several settings for the front seats including lumbar support and a thigh extension which I had on my old series. Seats are also heated and cool which is a must for the Miami heat. In sport mode the side bolsters auto adjust and grips you in the seats. The car is one heck of a drivers car and they told me there is complementary maintenance for 3 years as well.

Next week I have an appointment to test drive the BMW. However if the G20 fails to wow me, I know the Genesis will make me more than happy if it ends up being the car I lease. Kudos to Hyundai for building this car, they have a winner. Too bad brand snobbery May impact sales.

 

Happy for you but I'd rather have something that is basically bulletproof in reliability with prestige with lower depreciation. Don't know what the fuss is on infotainment systems when you have an iPhone or Android which you can place above the heated/cooled seat function or even buy a CD / suction mount and angle it to the driver, to each their own.

 

It’s been a car I’m interested in as well, but no dealers here seem to have them. I read a comment that it’s the best car nobody can buy. I would like to drive one and appreciate the review.

 

Looks cheaply made.

 

Looks like a downgrade to me, honestly. That interior looks cheap.

I'd go with the BMW if your gonna lease.

 

Good looking car, can't go wrong with a 3.3T like you said you need to get F car to compare to that early torque.

 

I sat inside one of these at the auto show and the interior is rock solid. I’d say everything you immediately touch is on par with Lexus.

Considering eho who designed the driving dynamics, I have no doubt it’s better than everything out there. Maybe ever better than a G20 330i with M Sport suspension.

However, these are going to be a bad lease deal because they are undoubtedly going to depreciate like a brick until Genesis is in the game for a while. No one wants a Stinger or a G70 because... why would I get a Kia when I can have a BMW?

 

Obviously I would not buy this car for long term use, simply because I have not seen any metric claiming this car will be anywhere as reliable as a Lexus or even a BMW. However, i see no issue leasing this car. All my friends who lease German cars have no issues except the one that leased a Jag XE. The ones with BMW, Audi have cars that were simply flawless for the 36 month duration of their leases unlike my 3IS. Who knew, of course this forum is biased towards Lexus. There's hardly anything impressive about the 3IS anymore. If it weren't for me having an open mind, i would not have leased this Lexus since my prior brand of choice was BMW until the F30 came and was utter disappointment in driving dynamics.

Back then the 3IS was the better drivers car and so i took a leap of faith. Moving from a 3 series to a 3IS is viewed as a downgrade in some people's eyes but I don't care. These are all entry level cars and I wouldn't want my car to validate my financial position in life. How ironic a Lexus owner considers a Genesis 3.3T a downgrade when the guys that buys and leases German luxury cars feels the same way about a Lexus. If you visit German car forums you'd see how poorly our 3IS are viewed by the masses. Even the F30 guys looks down on the 3IS, again this i find ironic. People decry the 3IS styling when the F30 is just boring, boring drive, boring looks. At least nobody would label the 3IS looks as boring.

In the end, i have not settled on the Genesis, i still have to drive the G20 M Sport with track package as well as the C300. Once I have tested all three I will make my decision. Like i mentioned before the Genesis have poor rear leg room which is a crucial element for me. I am 5'10" and can fit in the back seat of my 3IS fine since I am on the smaller size; I couldn't even attempt to test the back seat of the Genesis, it's that bad. As one poster mentioned, the Genesis leases very poorly which is also another major strike against it. Again, I am leasing for either 30 to 36 months, after that I will buy a Lexus for the long term. Most likely a GSF unless Lexus debuts an ISF in the 4IS line-up.

 

The IS has nothing but reliability to it. It’s literally average after that. I love my IS because I don’t really worry about whether my car will stop working after 50k miles. I also still love the look of the 3IS especially after the facelift. If anyone here in these forums says that this car is still relevant when it comes to performance and technology they are obviously blinded even if they have the 350. I personally wouldn’t buy anything that isn’t Japanese but that’s just me.

 

^
I hear you, my car had issues, but I would still get another Lexus just not a 3IS or any current non F car. Also, remember I am leasing, not buying. Big difference. I forgot to also mention that with Genesis, one can't use MSD's so that's another strike against it. Since there's no way to get a good lease deal on this car unless corporate wise up and begin to offer big discounts.

This is also one of the things holding the Genesis back because for the lease payment on the 3.3T one could get the 2019 C43AMG , G20 340i or AUDI S4 which all have MSRP's significantly higher than that of the Genesis 3.3T. Regardless, it's one heck of a car, 3IS drivers owe it to themselves to go test drive one.

 

I would never lease a Genesis. Their lease rates aren't worth it. I'd just pay for it and get a longer warranty. I want to see how the car holds up after a year though. I'm tempted just to get a low mileage GSF because having a large V8 is on my bucket list.

 

Take this anecdote with a grain of salt, but I rented a nearly 60,000-mile Genesis G80 through Turo, and it felt very solid. And, about half of those miles were spent as a rental, according to its current owner. I don't know why people are screaming "Oh my gosh, Genesis is unreliable" when the Germans have a lot more issues despite their tenure in the luxury car market.

I can't really comment on the interior, having only seen it through the window, but I will say in basically every video of it, it looks premium. The quilted seats are a nice touch.

If I was interested in buying or leasing a brand-new car, the G70 would be the first one I'd look at, no doubt about it. The value proposition is hard to ignore, and I expect build quality to be very high, as it typical with the other Genesis cars. I'm a bit of a Lexus fan, I will admit, but I also am open to trying out this Genesis in particular.

Having driven basically the top-of-line pre-refresh F30, a 2014 335i RWD with the Dynamic Handling Package, I can say those guys are wrong to look down on us. I liked the BMW; don't get me wrong. It had lots of power (and a good sound to its engine), a comfortable driver's seat, and overall a nice, clean look to the interior and exterior. It seemed like a car that would be very relaxing to daily, but could be fun to go WOT down the on-ramp from time to time. However, I felt it lacked any sort of engagement, which even my fairly basic IS 300 AWD F Sport has. The steering response was immediate, but it had no more feel than the 2019 ES 350 I had as a loaner three weeks ago. I don't doubt the car is super capable - and it was tough to stay ahead of it on the twisties of MO-76, but I don't think it would be exciting to drive fast, apart from the raw power it has.

Coming back, most journalists decry the BMW's numb steering. Yet, those same journalists praise the G70's steering. If I can do the math, I'd expect the G70 to be more of a driver's car compared to the BMW, just like the IS is more of a driver's car. The difference is that the G70 actually has the horsepower to compete. I don't see why you guys wouldn't find the idea of this vehicle interesting.

 

BMW G20 is a solid car. I just test drove M340i today since dealers are starting to have them on the lot, this is actually second time I test drove M340i. It’s a blast to drive and exhaust note is amazing, lots of popping noise and burble. Cabin is very quiet wish I can hear more of the exhaust note from interior.

I haven’t driven any BMW since early years of F30 but when you test one out make sure to switch to Sport or Sport+ mode because unlike Lexus BMW default starts in comfort which I didn’t know earlier. I thought the car didn’t pull hard as I expected until I switched to Sport. I actually didn’t know Sport+ turned off traction and back end came loose fortunately I was able to correct it.

 

G70s are awesome! Great review/comments!

 

Agree on all points, used to be a BMW fanboy, not anymore, it's the antithesis of being a car enthusiast.

Thanks for the tip....
Indeed, thanks, rumor has it, corp may have no choice but to offer big incentives later this year to get these cars moving which is good news for me since my lease don't end until late August. There's a part of me that would feel more comfortable getting the Genesis vs the G20. Rooting for the underdog as they say, besides soon everybody and their mother will have a new G20 which will make owning the Genesis even more special.