39 Months Never went so Fast !

Guys,

The lease is up on my DD in May.

Started getting called to be pulled ahead into a new vehicle. So before I commit to another Infiniti and thought I would look around and what better place to start than here.

Anyone have experience with the Lexus GS350 AWD F Sport?

I`m hard pressed to find a car in the price range that meets all my needs. Drop dead reliable-I drive 18K per year, Good Local servie department, 4 door sports sedan, can haul 4 adults comfortably, Fun to drive, Looks good (subjective I know). All weather capable-its my DD and I go to work no matter what pretty much, good fit and finish, good Paint and in my price range.
Also, Decent fuel economy (right not I am at about 18.5 MPG with my heavy foot).

I love the sport package on my Q70 Infiniti but I bent another rim this week and although I have insurance through AIS Insurance for it the process but this company sucks. Anyone know a good company? All I want is to be able to fix/replace the wheel and or replace the tire where I want and get paid back. I may be done with low profile sport rims as its just such a PITA when one gets bent, they look awesome and I like the handling but I may be getting old when I start think about practicality over looks and performance.

Thanks

So any experience with the Lexus GS or anything in its class.

My in-laws owned a ~2012 GS350. Was very reliable, comfortable, quick. Visualization out of the rear glass really sucked, but that was probably just me not being used to it.

Excellent cars, if you take care of it you can’t kill them! Haven’t seen any issues with paint on the ones I’ve seen here. The F sport I like because it doesn’t feel like every other Lexus.

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Originally Posted by JSFM35X

..I love the sport package on my Q70 Infiniti but I bent another rim this week ... I may be done with low profile sport rims as its just such a PITA when one gets bent, they look awesome and I like the handling but I may be getting old when I start think about practicality over looks and performance..

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I`m glad you`re considering backing off a bit on the wheel/tire combo. IMO it`s gotten silly and roadhazard damage can do more than inconvenience you if things go very sideways.

IMO the actual objective performance diffs between ultra-low and "reasonably low" profile tires is a moot point on the street (I`ve run various sizes on the same car and typically drive hard enough to, uhm...analyze the diffs in breakaway behavior). There`s a very good reason why only one of our cars has 35-series tires and why we keep 55`s and steel wheels on the Crown Vic.."better take the Crown Vic if you`re driving in that area" comes up fairly often. Full-lane-width potholes/etc. can`t "just be avoided".

GS350 F Sport is a great car all around. I prefer it to the aging Q70 platform, however rumor has it the GS may also disappear entirely.

Recently ended 36 month lease on `15 RC 350 F Sport, which was a wonderful experience, back into an Infiniti - Q60 Red Sport 400.

Last years winter potholes were rough, and i bent all 4 rims on the NJ Garden State Parkway. Ended up finding a nice local shop for very reasonable money - Crimson Wheel Repair & Powder Coating.

That was with 19 inch 40 series tires. This Q60 has 20 inch 35 series and has me worried like hell but the car actually rides and handles better than the F Sport so cross fingers.

Hmmm, maybe i need to add a Tacoma to my driveway for this stuff. (Raptor out of my $$ range right now :(

The GS will be the most reliable and least expensive to maintain compared to its German counterparts. I`d give the Genesis G80 a look, I`d actually pick it over its German counterparts with money being an object. The Genesis G80 won`t have the refinement that the GS350 has, but it is pretty good considering what a Hyundai vehicle was like 10 years ago.

If I were you and looking at the GS350 F-Sport, I`d ask the dealer what OEM Lexus 17" or 18" wheel fits the car and throw it on with a higher profile tire. Out of the research that I have done, the 2017+ GS300 17" base wheel does not the the GS350 F-Sport due to the F-Sport having bigger brakes.

Also look into maintenance cost if your leasing. BMW covered maintenance when I was looking for my sister. Lexus didn’t. Made the choice easy for bmw. If your buying and keeping long term then it’s up to what you like better. I’m a JDM guy myself.


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TheMeanGreen- Yeah, we can`t run the A8 wheels on the S8 due to the bigger brakes, pays to consider what`ll work in the off-season when shopping.

Those newer Kia/Genesis cars are pretty impressive IMO; they`d be on my short-list if I were gonna do the "just lease it and don`t drive myself nuts caring for it" thing.

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Originally Posted by mg031

Hmmm, maybe i need to add a Tacoma to my driveway for this stuff. (Raptor out of my $$ range right now :(

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That`s why we keep something like the Tahoe in the stable. Having always had AWD station wagons/sedans, I disparaged trucks/SUVs/etc. for ages until I got one and discovered the diffs between good AWD and decent 4WD (with ground clearance and the right wheels) in truly bad winter weather and on really awful roads. As the saying goes, "different horses for different courses".

It sure strikes me as silly when I see other SUVs running huge wheels and rubberband tires, especially when there are tiny little rotors peaking through the spokes in those fancy wheels. Some of the "hot trucks" like the Raptor might not be all that easy to live with in the winter depending on the wheels/tires...well, I`m assuming most don`t run winter wheels/tires on their trucks, I`m the only person I know IRL who does.

coatings=crack- My best friend just leased a BMW X1. She utterly loves it and/but initially bought it because the numbers worked out so well. I gather they have some pretty decent lease deals when you consider the maintenance/etc. I can`t talk her into winter tires (gather her husband has something to do with that :rolleyes: ) but she seems to get around OK (knock on wood).

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Originally Posted by Accumulator

coatings=crack- My best friend just leased a BMW X1. She utterly loves it and/but initially bought it because the numbers worked out so well. I gather they have some pretty decent lease deals when you consider the maintenance/etc. I can`t talk her into winter tires (gather her husband has something to do with that :rolleyes: ) but she seems to get around OK (knock on wood).

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Yeah you gotta look at all the costs of ownership. Crazy thing is BMW has an awesome owner loyalty program if she continues to lease.... she’ll probably always be in a Bimmer


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Accumulator

It sure strikes me as silly when I see other SUVs running huge wheels and rubberband tires, especially when there are tiny little rotors peaking through the spokes in those fancy wheels. Some of the "hot trucks" like the Raptor might not be all that easy to live with in the winter depending on the wheels/tires...well, I`m assuming most don`t run winter wheels/tires on their trucks, I`m the only person I know IRL who does.

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The Raptor tires are like monster truck types compared to a sport rim/ tire plus that off-road fox suspension.

I laugh also when seeing SUVs with huge rims / low profile tires, like what’s the point.

Alternatively, leasing /buying a Hyundai-Kia doesn’t sound too bad either.



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I say get a Model S.

Coatings=Crack- Glad to hear that about BMW, she really likes the X1 and I`m all in favor of whatever makes her vehicular experience easy on her. Given her husband`s, uhm...sensibilities...I suspect she`ll be in leases for the foreseeable future.

mg031- Ah, thanks for schooling me about the Raptor`s wheel/tire setup. What I know about Trucks (my Tahoe notwithstanding ;) ) could fit on the head of a pin.

And IMO a whole lot of the bias against Japanese/Korean sedans involves a, uhm...image factor. I gather some people don`t want to park a Hyundai in the drive if their neighbor has a Benz in his. The PO of my `93 Audi (who can buy whatever she likes...could buy the whole dealership for cash) readily admits that she likes her old Lexus ES300 (vacation home car) just as much as her E class Benz (and she liked the `93 better than any of `em when it came to how it actually drove).

JSFM36X- It just now occurred to me that, *IIRC*, your area isn`t exactly known for terrible road-surface conditions. And I know that you know how to drive. Sounds like more evidence that the low-profile tire on Daily Drivers has gone a bit far.

JSFM35X:
The want of leasing of a AWD sports sedan pretty much narrows your choices down. Also, your need for better gas mileage than what you are getting now does not leave much choice, either. And your criteria for hauling 4 people comfortably means you need a bigger vehicle.


I think your choice for the Lexus is spot-on, EXCEPT for the gas mileage. Their build-quality is second-to-none, as is their reliability and resale.

One other factor you may not have thought of is how desirable a vehicle is to be stolen by car thieves. Depending on where you live and work and park your vehicle, that may need to be taken into account. Most individuals never give this a thought. The most stolen vehicle in American is...the Honda Accord.

Because you live on Long Island, I am not sure how much bad winter-weather you drive in. Living here in Northeast Wisconsin with 5-months of winter (or so it feels like 5-months!) almost necessitates having some vehicle with AWD or 4WD, which is why AWD SUVs, 4x4 trucks, and Subaru`s (Lots of Subaru`s, like Colorado!) are the most popular vehicles on Wisconsin roads. My wife drives a certified pre-owned (CPO) `15 Taurus AWD SEL because it fit her driving criteria like yours and our purchasing budget. I HATE HATE HATE the gas mileage it gets (similar to what you are getting now in the winter, even WORSE in city-driving!). My point is there are pro`s and con`s to ANY vehicle you are going to lease, but if getting to work is THE most important criteria, having AWD or 4WD in bad weather should outweigh the gas mileage concern.