Les Apt

She is looking at a 2001 GS300 and a 2003 Inifiniti GS35.

Both have about 14K miles and are about the same amount of money.

I prefer the inline six of the Toyota versus the V6 of the Datsun.

What's the better car, and why?

Thanks.

Lester

N2LEX2L

iTrader: (2)

Lexus or Infinity? This is a Lexus board so the opinions may be a bit skewed

Les Apt

I understand.

They're competing models, so some of you folks no doubt considered the Datsun before buying the Toyota.

Let's hear it.

Abear

iTrader: (1)

Although this is the first gen section...93-97 GS300. I will give you my opinion.

Both of these cars are great. The G35 is fast and sporty, its not quite as roomy as the GS300. Its practically a nissan, and as most of us know, japanese car companies are know for customer service. I like the G35 its an awesome car, would be a good choice for someone, but by the way your talking...datsun and what not, I'm guessing your not a young man and your wife probably isnt young either.

I'm not sitting here calling the GS300 a car for the old folks. When this car wants to, it can be fast. The GS300 is also sporty, but it doesnt drive the same as the G35. The G35 is factory tuned to be the way it is, where as the GS300 needs some help to handle like the datsun. If your looking for somethin that you can get the kids and the whole family in..comfortably, and have a little power while doing it, go with the GS300, but if your looking for that sports car you've always wanted and dont want to do any aftermarket, I would go with the G35.

My opinions are my own, and I realize that some of you guys may flame me for talking out my ***, so I'm sorry, but this is just how I feel

Jacob

Les Apt

Thanks, ABear.

Where should I repost my question? There is a "first generation" and a "2006+ third generation" forum, but no "second generation."

What am I missing?

mmarshall

The 2001 GS300 has the same RWD drivetrain as the 2001 IS300 I had. Just about bulletproof. Smooth, quiet, and seamless when warm. Slightly harsh transmission shifts when cold. A free factory update for the transmission's electronic shift control was issued in 2001 to correct some shifting quirks.....your car may or may not have had it.

merlin70

1st and 3rd gen forums are sub-forums of "GS 430/400/300 Models" forum, which is the second gen.

Figure out what you want. The G35 compared to GS300=way better handling, faster, much cheaper interior materials, much more road noise and engine noise, much smaller.

GS300=far more luxury, better ride, quiet, super smooth engine and trans, more room inside, car is much bigger, longer warranty (powertrain 6yr/70k miles).

Basically, do you want sport? G35
Do you want luxury? GS300

Les Apt

Thanks, gentlemen.

She drove the Infiniti the other day and today, we drove the Lexus. Well, she drove and I rode.

She ended up buying the Lexus, a 5 year old car, with 13,688 miles.....

The car is not my cup of tea, but I'm hoping she'll see 100,000 trouble free miles from it. At least that's what the Lexus-owning folks are all telling me. I guess I'll start feeding it some synthetic oil.

So, it looks like you may be hearing from me and my dumb questions here sometime in the future.

Thanks again for all of your help, folks.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Congrats (to your wife ) on the new GS, really low miles

Moved your post to the correct forum.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Well first of all sounds like two killer deals and a 5yr olds lexus with 13k miles thats unheard of... IMO i would think it would be up to your wife on what car she wants unless its for the both of you... Is she driving the car everyday? Few days a week? Do you have kids etc... Let the wife make the choice and what ever happens both cars are great IMO... The Gs is bigger i think than the G35... The G35 seems to boxy for a small family etc..

I think there's even a write up about both of these cars somewhere Good Luck with your choice...

T

Chpsk8

Datsun... thats funny. talk about a subtle slam to the Infinity!

I drove both. I drove the Infinity and literally ran as fast as I could to the Lexus dealer. The Infinity was a fairly sporty ride, but the ergonomics, and quality of the build was sub par. I thought the switch layout was done by Helen Keller on crack. The digital readouts were stolen from a 1983 Casio calculator. Headroom and seat adjustablity was about zero. I was pretty disappointed to say the least. The reviews of the Infinity that I read in magazines had me pumped to be looking at a high end sport sedan. The truth was far from it.
To me the Lexus is more luxury than sport, and thats fine with me. truth be told it's my wifes car. I just get to clean it and mod it!

So... whats' "you're cup of tea"?

LEXUS_KID

iTrader: (4)

My girlfreind has the same car (G 35) and let me be the first to tell you the car is only great to look at. The inside of the car is not the greatest thing in the world If you choose the GS then I think you have made the right choice

Les Apt

Well, yeah. I remember when they changed the name to "Nissan", in about 1982, in an attempt to thart the horrible reputation they had at the time and to avoid the label of "Rotsun". Then, they came out with "Infiniti" (misspelling and all), but we all knew that Infiniti was just a Datsun. Just like Lexus (a name stolen from a networking company) was just another Toyota. However, unlike Datsun and Mitsubishi, Toyota usually shared top quality billing with Honda since the mid 70s. I can recall my older cousin's brand new red 1975 Toyota Corolla two door, with a 4 speed and no air conditioning. She had that thing well into the mid 80s with over 150,000 and with no major incidents.

I'm 6'1", 248, all legs and drive a lot (highway) for my job, so smallish Japanese cars don't cut it for me. Especially, the ones with front wheel drive/no legroom.

I have a 1999 MB S420 that fits me well and the back seat has lots of room for two "under 10" kids.

Johnny Rad

I had a similar dilemma this summer: new '05 Inifiniti G35 6spd manual versus an '02 GS430 ML/nav CPO. I had been coveting the G for quite some time and the 298hp advertising really got to me. As you know, the 3rd generation GS launched around then and the local 2nd gen values dropped into the same price range as the G. I said, "Wow!" To make a long story short, the deal clincher for me was what car would I rather own in five years ... the GS or G? I voted Lexus. The G was great, but had more shortcomings. The GS was better for me, but also has some shortcomings in comparison.

I think you and your wife will be happier in 100K miles with the GS over the G.

P.S. Like many of us, my first car was the old family sedan. It was an '82 Datsun 810 Maxima. I think there was also a small Nissan badge on the trunk, but I forget. By the following year, the Datsun badging had been eliminated. That car talked! "Fuel level is low." "Door is adjar." Loved it!

Kharizma

iTrader: (6)

they're both fantastic cars, it's just personal opinion i guess... whichever car better suits the needs of your wife, is the one you should go with.

*coughLEXUScough* haha