toneman

It's the first luxury sedan of any kind I've ever owned, so my opinion of it would be a bit subjective since I don't have anything to compare against, as far as having driven any of the competition for any extended length of time. In any case, if I had to complain about it, it would be:

1) Wind noise--one would think that at freeway speeds, a Lexus should exhibit almost zero wind noise;
2) I guess in order to offer an entry-level Lexus at near entry-level prices, even Lexus had to go cheap in some areas--namely, not nearly as much wood in the door panels as I would like it to be, and no wood at all around the glovebox area.
3) Center console stack (radio/climate control area) creaks--not too excessively, BTW--except when you're driving in a straight line on smooth pavement. One of the "go cheap" things I refer to--the trim has quite a bit of plastic for a car of this caliber (the "cheap parts" you mentioned in your reply).
4) I've never driven any of the previous-gen ES class so I dunno how much more or less stiff the ES 350 suspension is...but since I have owned and driven a previous-gen Acura TL-S, I can offer that the ES 350 does not handle as "tightly" as the TL-S. Yes, this is apples-to-oranges, but it's the best way I could describe the ES 350 ride/handling.

All in all, I don't regret purchasing the ES 350...even though it somewhat pains me to discover that the upcoming '07 Infiniti G35 Sport sedan similarly equipped (give or take) to my ES 350 retails for around $4500 less (MSRP) than my ES.

wakaru8

iTrader: (1)

combfilter -- thanks, that helps greatly

I guess I will need to attend then.

93illini

Attended TOL this past Sat in Belmont. Was not registered - just showed up at 9am and they let us in.

Recieved email rebate today - 4 days after event.

Agreed to a deal on Oct 10 for a vehicle (2007 250 AWD) due in to port Oct 17. $4,275 off MSRP - $38,875 for $34,600 (Chose not to have Pref Acc Pkg installed - purchased weather mats & locks from Sewell online with CL discount).

Car has been sitting at dealer for a week while I've waited for TOL & rebate.

Picking up car this Sat with applying additonal $750 rebate and getting $500 "credit" on my Lexus Visa for purchasing car by Oct 31 - in essence, $5,025 off MSRP.

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

np wakaru8. Hey every penny counts when dealing with lexus on the is. Now I just wish we could get 4000 off is350's like everyone in california seems to be getting. The most I can get the dealers here in dallas to take off is 2500. They all say the same thing. "if you want the smokey granite, then you are pretty much screwed because that color is in demand".

I am going to try to get them to come off 3000 from msrp and then whip that 750.00 rebate out at the very end, so they don't try to pull any hijinx before hand.

wakaru8

iTrader: (1)

Yup, right on target Combfilter. I had to special order mine because of the lack of Starfire pearl 250 stick in my area. Dealer was nice in giving me a good price for my trade in and a decent $2500 of msrp on, but now another $750 will be awesome!

2SwiFt29

iTrader: (6)

so it works on any new 2006 or 2007 Lexus that already have been purchased too right?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

nop, technically it has to be cars that you WILL purchase between now and end of yr

wakaru8

iTrader: (1)

Did it work out for you?