Hello CL,

My wife traded her 2018 RX450hL and got a 2025 TX350 Premium. The third row on the RXL was a joke. I can't believe how spacious the third row is on the TX350! We love it so far.

Too bad the TX hybrids only come with captain's chairs — we needed a 7-seater, so we went with the TX350 Premium with a good amount of options. I don't know why, but all the luxury trims we saw came with captain's chairs as well, making them 6-seaters.

It drives nicely and feels very comfortable. Glad we traded it in. She had the RX in Nightfall Mica with a black interior, and she wanted the exact same color combo.

Here are some photos.





Side-by-side comparison with my IS500. My IS looks tiny compared to my wife's TX, lol.

 

Looks sharp!

 

I have the same color.

 

WOW that is HOT! Congrats!


Side note, why did you get rid of the Z????

 

Thank you!

Good choice . We really love Nightfall Mica color!

Thank you! I needed a sedan since my first son was born at the time. I really wanted to keep the Z as a fun weekend/project car and buy another daily, but back then, I had no choice but to settle for just one car.

Since I needed a sedan, I traded it in for a Lexus sedan. I really missed the Z and the MT! I still can’t believe how wide you could go in the rear—305s fit easily on 10.5-inch-wide wheels, lol.

I see you have a Z, GT-R, and an NX. That’s such a perfect combo, haha! My plan is to keep the IS500 forever since it’s a V8, and then eventually add a second car—either something with a manual transmission or a more fun, track-focused car. The new Z comes to mind, and ofc a GT-R if I can make it happen, maybe even a Corvette or something similar.

 

I hear ya, life happens and you became a father. Kudos on keeping your priorities straight!

Not sure if you were part of the370z.com forum, but there's only a few people left there. I still log in from time to time, but seems like alot of the Z folks have moved on.

My car choices are a weird combo. The Z was out of commission for while due to the notorious CSC going out and recently put in the ZSpeed CMAK (it took almost a year for me to get the parts due to it being on backorder). I love the GTR, but she is a pain in the @$$ because of the paranoia she brings. The NX is by far my favorite to drive due to comfort and ease, and I've pretty much grounded the other 2 and will drive them once a month just to get the oil running.

I've always admired the IS500 and the IS-F. You don't see too many Japanese auto manufacturers putting in V8 engines into sports cars, and usually for larger SUV's/trucks. BTW, is your IS500 lowered? In the pictures, it looks like it barely comes up to the glass part of the windows and the TX being twice the height lol.

 

Haha, thanks! I was on the 370z.com forum too, but I wasn’t very active. My username was gumi4680. I had a 09 white Z with full Amuse body kit, full Amuse titanium cat-back, TE37SLs, and KW coilovers.

Thank God I never had a CSC issue — I was always paranoid that the clutch would just drop to the floor wherever I went, haha.

And yup, my IS500 is lowered with springs. Here’s a picture of it right before I took the wheels off.

The rims are currently disassembled (2-piece design) — I sent the barrels out to get some curb rash fixed and had them powder-coated in gloss black.

 

She is a beauty! I like your logic and thought process: Things change once kids come into the picture, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on modding cars! And holy smokes, your Z looked awesome! When you sold it, did you sell as-is or sell the aftermarket parts separately? Any chance you still have the Amuse bodykit and interested in selling? lol

For the CSC, I got really lucky in the sense that it didn't fully go out and got a warning. One day driving to work, the clutch felt really different (very spongy) out of nowhere. When I checked the fluid, it dropped to the halfway mark. I was able to drive the car back home, but the fluid was nearly empty by then. I ordered the CMAK Kit but it took 9 months for me to finally receive it. Luckily, the clutch pedal never dropped and I was able to drive her for about 4 miles roundtrip before the clutch fluid was nearly empty again (had to top this off before each drive). The clutch fluid never leaked to the ground and made me think it was leaking inside the tranny housing bell (which was confirmed once the tranny came off). After replacing the clutch/FW/CMC/CSC, it's nice to get her back on the road beyond 2 miles and being able to row through all the gears, but it feels different with the engagement point being alot lower than what I was used to.

Once we got the Lexus, for lack of better terms, I ended up losing "interest" in driving the GTR and Z because how comfortable the NX is, so both Nissans pretty much stay in the garage hooked up to battery tenders lol.

On a side note, with this being my first Lexus, I was shocked at the oil filter cartridge housing design when doing the first oil change.

 

Thank you! Hopefully i can start some big project weekend car when kids grow up more lol. I sold the parts separately, but I sold the car with the Amuse body kit included. The buyer wanted the Amuse kit, so I left it on. Ouch. 9 months to get the parts . The GTR has always been a legend to me—someday, lol! Yeah, but Lexus is very comfortable and doesn’t give you issues on a daily basis.

Yeah, I hear you, lol. Before I changed the oil filter on my first Lexus back in the 2000s, I was confused to see a cartridge type instead of the metal spin-on filters like other cars.