threepete

I am a first time member on Club Lexus. I have been a Lexus fan for years. I am considering buying a used car and not sure if I should get a 2007-2008 Lexus ES350 or a 2006 GS300 AWD (the redesigned GS year). What are your thoughts?

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

Stay away from the 2006 GS. LOTS of problems with them. This was told to me by more than a few lexus techs that I know.

threepete

I heard something about that with the GS. I heard stuff with burning oil and such. I see you have/had a 07 ES. How did your ES perform?

MDames2

iTrader: (1)

I had a 2007 ES350 from new for 6 years. It was an outstanding car in every respect. I had minimal issues with it. It drove very well

SW17LS

If you look at a GS, look for a 2007 or newer GS350.

rx300mm

Go for ES350, as long as you check if the car has been in accidents, etc. You will enjoy a solid built car. I am still driving my 2007 ES and enjoying it.

xanderES

iTrader: (8)

The ES was great for me, although I spent an exorbitant amount of time at the dealership dealing with the flare, fixing squeaks, rattles, and other little things. Mostly attributed to 1st model year fit and finish issues. If it wasnt for the crazy subwoofer I ran I doubt others would even notice the issues. I purchased the ES back in Dec of 06 and they had yet to issue any real fix for the flare other than replacing the transmission. The dash squeak is just due to the material shrinkage when its cold.
Overall the car was great for a comfy cruiser but it is about as mod friendly as a smart car. Nothing really went wrong with it for the 80k miles I owned it. Id probably get back into one but the oil pan is just too low on the car for modifying it to what I would like.

MadMax96

My recommendation is to go with as new as you can afford. As you know 2006 was the first year for that generation GS and 2007 was the first year for the ES350.

I had both a 2007 and a 2008 ES350 and I have to say the 2008 just seems a little tighter. Granted - both purchased used and I only had the 2007 for a year before I wrecked it. FWIW - the 2007 had around 30k when I got it and was a non CPO car although it had a clean history.

The 2008 had closer to 40k miles when I got it and was a CPO car. Now with 98,500 miles it still seems pretty solid.

I really wanted the GS myself but the ES just made more sense for me - better mileage, bigger backseat for kids, shared parts with Camry (i.e. cheaper to maintain).

The 2006 GS seems to be the red-headed stepchild. New body style but with a carry over, somewhat weak engine. The 3.5 is such a nice improvement in power with essentially the same economy - it's foolish to not just wait for the right 2007 GS to come along.

Good luck.

threepete

Thanks for the tips...a lot of insight I never knew.