I've been shopping for about a month and have it narrowed down to TWO cars:
I put about 25-30K a year mainly Hwy/Interstate miles, mixture of PA/NJ-MD/Carolinas

2014 ES350 W/ Nav & Leather package MSRP $44500.00
Nebula Grey/Grey Interior

2013 GS 350 w/Luxury Package MSRP New $57,000.00 ..8,500K miles
Nebula Grey/Grey Interior.

I'm 65 so don't go there with the "F" Sport Package

GS350 pros:
interior cabin awesome, RWD, 12 Nav, Handling ,Rear seat controls& Window Shades. QUICK!!!
more Quiet than ES ,Better quality parts
Cons:
rear seat smaller that ES350, CPO 3yr 100,000 warranty.

ES350 Pros
Price, more space, New Car warranty , Mileage
Cons:
little lower on quality level, little more cabin noise, FWD

Pricing w/o TTL:
2014 ES 350.....$39,750.00
2013 GS 350....$43,000.00

so the real choice is do I spend the Extra $3000-$3250 for the GS?

Which Way should I go?

 

I'm 62 and have had 2 ES350's and went with a '13 GS w/luxury pkg and love it.
You should be able to get a leftover '13 GS for $10K+ off list.That's the deals in my area.
Both are great cars.

 

A few random thoughts related to your choice.

First, I'm struck by how one person's "pros" can be another person's "cons". When I was in my 20s and 30s, I would not have wanted any vehicle that was not rear-wheel drive because I would not have wanted to sacrifice the handling advantages that come with rear-wheel drive. Now, I, like you, am in my 60s, I would not give even a moment's consideration to a rear-wheel drive vehicle unless I lived in Florida, Southern California, or some other area where having to drive on slick winter roads was very unlikely. While I'm sure that I would enjoy driving an all-wheel drive GS, I'm not willing to pay the price in fuel economy that comes with all-wheel drive, and, for me, a rear-wheel drive vehicle provides a nice compromise between added security when driving on slick roads and maintaining good fuel economy. I wish that that the luxury car manufacturers would would include more front-wheel drive vehicles in their line-ups at somewhere above the entry level. For me, the perfect vehicle would be an ES with some of the interior elements of the GS, even if it was priced somewhat higher than the ES.

I also wonder about your statement about the GS being quieter than the ES. During the several times that I have driven GSs, the first thing that struck me is how much louder the GS cabin was because of more aggressive tuning of its exhaust. Again, that more throaty exhaust is something that would have appealed to me 30 years ago, but, now, I consider it to be an intrusion on the quiet of the cabin, and I appreciate that, with the ES, any engine noise that can be heard in the cabin is barely perceptible.

With regard to your long-term cost, in a couple of years, the ES will likely have depreciated a bit more than the CPO GS because the GS has already taken its first major hit in value between the time that it was originally driven out of the showroom and the time that its original owner traded it in. On the other hand, gas mileage for the ES and maintenance costs for the ES should be, at least, marginally lower than those for the GS.

All of that said, assuming that the CPO GS is in virtually brand new condition, your priorities, even though they are different than mine, seem to be more in line with those that would lead you to buy the CPO GS.

 

Tough choice. I prefer new to preowned, but a low mileage GS for about $3k more would be tempting. Good luck.

 

Strictly your choice bro...

 

FYI - the 3 year CPO warranty can be extended for a reasonable price for an additional 3 years.

 

We just had the same dilemma and chose the ES because my wife will be the primary driver and the ES is more of a cruiser than the GS. However, it was a close call.

 

That's like asking if you want sushi or steak. They are two completely different vehicles. You are comparing essentially based on pricing and new or CPO. You drive 30k miles per year so whatever you get is going to be worthless by the time you are a couple years in anyway.

My take is you gotta ask yourself what you really want. I don't like the GS because I am too tall and hit my head on the roof. I chose the ES simply because I didn't want to hit my head or grind it into the headliner all the time.

It's a kind of personal choice.

 

:-) It would be easier for us strangers here on the forum if you told us which one you preferred. THEN, you would get a bunch of replies either confirming or lambasting you over your choice. You're making the payments so get what you want, either is a good choice.

 

When I wrote my earlier response to the OP, I suspected, from reading between the lines, that his heart is with purchasing the CPO GS, and, regardless of whether that is the direction in which I or others would go, if that is the case, my suggestion would be for him to buy the GS.

 

Drove a gs this weekend and the GS is definitely louder than the ES. As far as quickness. I believe the GS 0-60 is about 5.7 seconds and the ES is about 6. The GS may feel faster because of the louder exhaust and the launch of the RWD but the difference is very small.

 

In Consumer Reports testing the GS did 0-60 in 6.2 seconds and the ES did 6.7 seconds. Their Road Test scores were 84 points for the GS and 80 for the ES350.

 

Yea the 5.7 for the GS from the Lexus website is probably in optimal conditions.

 

Lexus has the GS at 5.7.Car & Driver 5.6 and Motor Trend,Autoblog at 5.5.AWD another.1/.2.
The ES may be quicker too.

 

In most of the tests that I've read, the GS (IS too) is noticeably quicker than the ES350.