Side-by-side spec comparos available here:
http://autos.msn.com/compare/choose....2=10030&pt=new

But a couple test drives'll have him buying the Lex!

 

Thanks for the link. I'm going to send that over to him. I think the reason he's wanting the FWD so much is because of lots of snow here in New York and rain all year long.. It's not very dry here.. Especially now with all the snow...

Thanks again!

 

With all that was said in this thread we all have different opinions about the Avalon vs the GS300 which is all well & good. I honestly think the Avalon will better suit this fella and his family very well. I've been paying a liitle more attention to them the past few days and they don't look bad at all. The only thing I don't like is the '03 model with the bicycle tires sitting like a 4x4, now that's ugly. We all should respect this guys decision and stop saying bad things, its not that he has bad taste, its what he likes and not you. He and his family are the ones that will benefit not us. Besides its still a Toyota and we all know he will have reliability and comfort. So good luck to your friend and his fam..

 

Thanks.. The way I see it is, atleast he has respect for Toyota (a good company with maybe not such a great name such as Cadillac) and will never say anything bad about his big brother's (Lexuses) if he opts for the Avalon...

 

I’ve driven both and imo the Avalon doesn’t handle good it’s comfy and meant for older people to cruise around town or good for road trips if you want to remain comfy… The GS300 has the 2JZ also a reliable platform tons of aftermarket support it’s rear wheel drive, handling is far superior compared to the Avalon because it’s rear wheel drive tight steering and can take corners like no other, it’s solid everything is smooth as butter even after 26 years and 160k miles an I just took it on a 2000 mile road trip through the Blue Ridge Pkwy Mountains and it took it like a champ tons of ascending into mountains and descending and my v6 Camry didn’t like the mountains in NY State at all and this Lexus took these mountains like they were non existent and they were much more steep big mountains than I camped out of my Lexus along the Blue Ridge and I was comfortable enough to lean my driver seat back and sleep 8 hours straight every night and than drive home 800 miles cruising at 80mph with cold AC blowing on my face… All in a 1998 Lexus in the year 2024… I bought it from the original owner on Feb 1st 2024 for $1500 got it for a steal it needed work had oil leaks and the AC didn’t work but fixed all that before the trip and I’ve wanted one of these GS300s since 2015 when I first drove one and didn’t want to pay $10,000 for one back than even now they’re like $4000 cheapest and $6500 plus for a great condition one and I just got lucky and I didn’t need a daily either when I bought it but couldn’t pass up on this steal of a deal and sold my other daily and used the money to fix everything in my Lexus myself and go on the road trip for its maiden voyage to prove its reliability to me… I would trade my V6 Camry Solora, my Avalon and 1992 ES300 all at the same time for my GS300 everytime they’re so much better IMO tho…