Luder94

Hey guys...this is my first post on CL.com. I've been lurking for a month or two, and just registered earlier tonight.

In anycase, here's a quick introduction:

Me = 31 years old.
Cars = S2000, Integra, BMW 325Xi. All of them modded (see pics following).
Modding since '91 with my first car...got into import modding in '94 with a Prelude.

Reason I'm on CL.com. The Bimmer is my wife's daily driver and is now time to retire it. Theres 88,000 miles on it, and little things are starting to fail on it. I am fixing everything, but it's got to come to a stop....the Euro-car was GREAT while under warranty, but after that, it turned into an OK car. I need to get her back into a Japanese mark that I can work on and moreso depend on (especially seeing that she'll be having my first baby in 3 more months).

I narrowed the replacement down to an Acura RL, Acura TL (6-spd), new body 330i, last generation 540i, '00 or '01 ES300, or a 2nd gen GS300.

I absolutely love the drive of the new body RL, the ergonomics, everything. The bad is that it doesn't come in a manual transmission, and for some reason Honda cannot make a reliable, confidence inspiring automatic transmissions for the 6+ cylinder cars.

The TL has become the car that past Civic-tuners have grown into. Also, annoyingly, the rear seats don't fold down to expand the trunk area. 6spd was only considered...automanuals were not.

The BMW 330i and the 540i are out. I think the current BMW will be our first and last German car. They can be GREAT cars and are completely solid in terms of safety....but there's something lacking in my ownership experience with it.

That leaves the ES300 or the GS300. I like the fact that the ES is front wheel drive for our Winters and the wife will be daily driving it. Plus they can be had cheap (more mod money)! I don't like the two-tone body paneling though...easily fixed with a trip to HQ Kustoms over at AMS.

The GS300, on the other hand, looks great, sounds great, is large and roomy, is safe, can be had at very moderate costs right now, and has great aftermarket support. This is what I should have gotten four years ago instead of the BMW. In anycase, I'm pretty set on getting a GS300 for the wife. For winters, is there anything I need to be worried about her driving a large RWD car? She's driven the S2000 in adverse situations before, so I'm confident with her ability....however, I just need a little reassurance knowing that there'll be a baby seat in the back that she may have a little more attention on at any given moment.

Here's where I need some help. Is there a particular year of GS300 that I need to stay away from? What particular things do I need to look at when looking at used GS300's? What are the major service markers in terms of mileage (I'm looking at cars with 60k miles or less)? Would anyone be willing to come "shake down" a GS300 if I find one (what I'm looking for is if someone that knows and/or owns the car can take the car for a drive with me, and give it a thorough eye-ing).

I think I've found 5 or 6 cars that I'm seriously considering. If anyone knows any others....I'm looking for either Midnight Blue, Black, White, Cinnabar, or Black Cherry. The majority of cars I've found are either in Downer's Grove, Franklin Park area, and Glenview area.

Ok...enough of my novel...sorry for the long first post...I promise each post I make after this will be much shorter. Hope to meet some of you guys soon.

aliti19

It seems like you're pretty much leaning towards the GS. I think it's your best choice. As long as you put on a good set of winter tires, you should be just fine. Just a minor sidenote... you should probably go with a 400/430 because the mileage is almost identical & you can't beat the V8 power.

Luder94

The cars:

Wife's Daily Driver that's getting replaced, BMW 325Xi 5spd:





My daily driver/Winter beater, the Integra:

Luder94

The cars (con't):

Current weekend fun car, the S2000:




Long gone....1994 Prelude 4WS,



(there's also a pic of the 5spd CRV the wife and I used to own in the background).

neurocity

iTrader: (17)

I think I saw your S2000, are you up in the NW burbs, like Algonquin/CL/LITH area?

Luder94

Yes, that'd be me.

Luder94

Of all the GS300/400/430, I was leaning towards the GS300 because of modability and reliability. I'm under the assumption that the Lexus inline 6 is Toyota's bread-and-butter reliable powerplant that is used cross platforms much like the BMW's 2.5L I6.

It's their bulletproof block with a lot in common with the Supra motor. Yes? No?

Also from reading on this site, I've gathered that the GS400 is only as comparable with mpg when driven gingerly, however, when you get the "lead foot-itis", the best people can muster is 15mpg around town. Unfortunately, my wife is much like me. She doesn't look down at the speedomoter too much. I'd hate for the toque to come on in the 400/430 during winter when she not paying attention through a corner.....I'll be driving a couple of them tonight.

I may end up leaning towards the 400 after the drive, we'll see.

DIrEctQL

I was going to say.... these houses look like something next to my neighboorhood in Algonquin.

Chris

DIrEctQL

The 400/430 makes decent power. The 300 is slow but can be turboed easly. It's really upto you. You can surely make both look great:

itsme4g63

no ****, Irnn represent!

An 01 es300 can be had for a decent price, and is very well equipped, the gs300 of the same year has 10 more hp (non turbo supra motor) and is very well refined as well. I still have bmw at heart though and if at your position would purchase a nice 01 740il, they are in the 20's range, or the lexus equivalent, the 2000 ls (2001 switched to new chassis) which can be had from the teens.

DIrEctQL

I drove a 740IL for about 6 months. Not very reliabile. Not worth it without warranty... and even expect anoying dealer vists.

Chris

Luder94

Hehehe.....I'm more of an S2Ki/S2kca guy. IRNN is more of a foster home.

In anycase, I did consider the LS series cars for a quick minute. However, the LS and the 7-series scream 45+ year old, upper middleclass Schaumburg/Naperville resident. I'm just not there at this point in my life.

The GS3 still fits my "sporty" needs.

BtW here's what I found so far that I'm considering:

MY2000 GS300 Cinnabar (with a dirty Ivory/tan interior), 62k miles, asking $13.9k
MY2002 GS300 Midnight Blue (with black interior), 37.5k miles, asking $21.9k
MY2002 GS300 Black Onyx (black interior, I think), 60k miles, asking $19.8k

Any thoughts?

neurocity

iTrader: (17)

I'll take a midnight blue GS300 for $22k, Bob!

Black as I'm sure you know...SUCKS TO CLEAN!!!
At least the blue wont be as bad, plus if its a dealer, you can always act like you like black alot and tell the salesperson about the other $19k GS to get the price down because you'd have to settle for the blue...getting my drift here.
Plus it has lower miles.....The Cinnabar/Red looks to Soccer Mom-ish to me.

itsme4g63

the midnight blue one sounds great to me, pics of said car?

Luder94

Oh...I'm a fan of black the most (I don't know if you could tell from my cars or not ). The midnight blue would be my second pick. However, the Cinnabar being too Soccer-mom-ish...that'd fit my wife for sure.

BTW, once I'm done with it, no color would look soccer-mom-ish, not even the emerald green that I rarely see.

First order of business with any car I buy would be some 19" or 20" wheels with a drop. Then I'd be looking for either a lip kit or some aftermarket bumper cover for at least the front bumper.

Seeing this is the wife's daily grinder, I'll probably go no further than a header, exhaust, and intake (if there's an ECU flash, maybe that as well). I'd like to keep this one clean, much like her current BMW.