gs400998

My FWD vehicles are fine for the snowy MN winters and gets better gas mileage than 4WD SUVs and trucks. I have a family and happy with my 4-door FWD, and GS4. RX330 will be a great addition but I am not going to trade in my GS4 for a RX.

lexguynj

DGOT20s - Wife's car - HA! that's funny!

I think the RX is appealing to a lot of us car owners, because it now only gives us some sportiness, it also fulfills our rugged manly side, since it's also a truck.

ChrisFL

I like the RX330, never liked the original that much....but if I was getting something SUV like, it would HAVE TO BE the FX45. That thing is incredible, and I love the looks of it.

I'd take it over a Porsche Cayenne anyday.

LexFather

VVTi considered this too (going to a RX 330). Lexus MUST HAVE hit it on the head, RX 300 owners love it and if GS buyers want it, wow.The FX is an awesome vehicle but for 50k, I need a lil prestige, I don't have 20 minutes to spend with everyone explaining who and what Infiniti is and why it is spelled wrong.

Can't please everyone. We drive a GS with mods and purists will say we are posing cause we don't hae a manual.

lexguynj

One of the better photos of the new RX330. The Black Exterior Color looks even better.

Hey look there is actually a guy driving it off road and not a Soccer Mom as usual. We know Lexus wants this vehicle to appeal to a broader range and variety of people.

lexguynj

You're right that FX45 with the 20" rims looks great too. I think any vehicle with 20" rims is going to look great!

However as great as Inifiniti is doing these days (new models, etc...I love the G35 coupe), the same question still remains, who drives an INFINITI these days? What is an INFINITI quesions will be posed, as my fellow CL member 1SICKLEX noted above. Infiniti is better than Acura in regards to luxury name plates, but still not up quite to par with Lexus, although they are catching up.

LexFather

Common Everyday dialouge (your local Starbucks)

you: I want that new FX 45, it is hot
them: Is that the new Expresso maker?
you: uhh, no, the Infiniti, the SUV
them: SUV, yeah, I got one too, but I won't own mine for that long
you: uhh, no, the new Infintii FX45 (hell M45, Q45, G35, QX4, I30) SUV, it looks really great
them: ohhh, yeah, can u pass me some more sugar
you: have you ever seen it (passing sugar)
them: no, but have you seen the new Lexus

OR

you: I want that new RX 330, it is hot
them: I wanted a RX 300 but did not want to spend that much
you: they changed it for 2004
them: yeah, I seen the ads, I always wanted a Lexus

Nuff said. Not bagging in Infiniti, they make reliable high quality cars. It''s just no one knows what they are.

chaskim

lexguynj

Hello and welcome to the problem I had in 2000. My wife wanted a new car but really wanted an SUV. We shopped and looked at a Jeep GC limilted, but I wondered how much more a Lexus RX was, only about 2k cheaper so we got the RX. I loved it. Fast fordward about 2 months and I was looking for a new car. Always loved the GS and got a sweet trade in on my 95 Maxima and today we have two lexus' and 2 kids my son 2 and my angel at 5.

I guess if you are wondering what to do I'll tell you this. Family trips with two kids the GS just doesn't have the space, although 2 car seats fit fine as long as your baby's legs aren't too long. The RX is perfect with storage and 2 car seats.

If you can only chose one then an RX is perfect but are you ready to give up sportyness for your family.

You can always give up the GS430 for a new RX330 and get an used GS430 later, the new one is nly 2 years away.

chaskim

lexguynj

chaskim, thank you for your good advice!

Family always comes first and I can picture those family road trips in the RX being more practical and having more space for all those kid items. My current GS, has a ridiculously small trunk.

However I am still lucky enough to have another vehicle (not the GS) that will satisfy my sports sedan cravings, but what is killing me is giving up such a beautiful piece of machinery like a GS430, but on the other hand picking up the latest and greatest RX330.

You are also right about the next gen GS coming around soon, so maybe it is a good time to get rid of the current GS before the next gens come out and they old gen GS's drop in value more. Who's going to want it as bad, if it's the old body style.

lexguynj

1SICKLEX - Dude that account above was awesome!

I'd even go as far as saying that the INFINITY Audio / Speaker Brand is more recognizable than Infiniti vehicles. People start asking you if your Infiniti vehicle is a floor standing or bookshelf model and how many watts does it have.

Again, I have to reiterate, who drives an Infiniti these days, do you know of anyone that does?

LexFather

We got so many Maxima guys with a GS. It's a really great. Makes me feek the GS is really geared to enthusiests since so many Maxima owners are.Thanks, I try to make people laugh here. DR.RICK

Dude, please call me SICk, all that typing. U also may want to wait, cause the RX 330 HYBRID is confirmed, it's coming in 2004 as a 2005 model and 0-60 in 5.5 baby with the economy of the V-6. Cost should be in the low 40s I assume.

The next GS should have AWD as an option (as being a Hybrid).

Ohhh, the future, what about today.

al503

ChrisFL and the rest of y'all, don't buy an Infiniti. The new products, G35, FX45, etc., look great and have good numbers but they are pieces of crap. If you browse any of the G35 forums, you'll see people having brake problems, bad gas mileage, creaks and rattles that can't be fixed, a faulty suspension component, grease streaks on the windows, seats that rock back and forth, jiggling headlights, manual transmission replacements, noisy AC, foul smell from AC, thin/bad paint jobs, running out of breath here....

I have the majority of those problems. My dealer has not been able to fix any of them. Not one. My G35 Sedan will be my first and last Infiniti. Here's a typical visit.

Me: I have 2 rattles in the dash, the driver's side window creaks over bumps, it still pulls to the right, and the brakes squeek.
Them: OK. Why don't you take it out for a test ride with a Tech and replicate the problems (translation: we don't believe you)
Me: OK
So we take it out on a test ride and I replicate all of the problems except one of the dash rattles, which is intermittent.
Them: We've got a lot of work to do. Can you leave it overnight?
Me: sure
Next Day:
Them: your car is ready.
Me: great. I go down to pick it up and ask if they fixed the problems.
Them: We fixed the pull to the right but didn't work on the rattles.
Me: why not?
Them: we couldn't replicate the rattles today. We did notice another one and we can work on it the next time you come in but If we can't replicate them immediately before working on them, we don't have a fighting chance.
Me: what's the point of wasting our time with the test drive then?
Them: the just repeated the "no fighting chance."
Me: whatever.

I take the car home and notice immediately that the car still pulls to the right. I call them up and they say that the tire pressure was off and that fixed it. I say that it still pulls to the right. Of course the tire pressure was exactly the same as it was before I took it in.

Next visit, same deal. Can't replicate, can't even take a look at it even though the problem is so widespread that a TSB has been issued. I tell them that the tech heard/noticed the problems last time. They repeat their mantra of can't replicate before working on it, don't have a fighting chance. The service manager tells me that this is why Infiniti likes that dealership so much. Other dealerships will actually take a look when the customer has a problem but they follow Infiniti guidelines to the letter.

Sorry for the rant. It helps to vent a little.

I've enjoyed the Lexus ownership experience in the past and strayed when I saw the G35. It had good styling, powerful engine, great price, a taut chassis, and you get a car the same size as a GS or 5 series. I figure I'll keep this POS until the new GS has been out for 6 to 8 months. Hopefully some of the bugs (if any) will have been worked out and I'll be able to get it for something less than MSRP.

DrewGS4

Sick,

Rx330 Hybrid is 5.5 seconds on a 0-60mph sprint? Is that confirmed or just rumored?
That would eat all of us GS4 owners for breakfast? Kind of embrassing to get beat by one of its own Lexus SUV's

LexFather

Toyota to add hybrids in U.S.
3 light trucks are expected to join the Prius for 2005


LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Motor Corp., already the industry leader in hybrid-electric vehicles with three in production, is poised to add three more to its U.S. lineup for the '05 model year. It also is studying the feasibility of a V-8 hybrid for its Lexus Division.

The automaker is preparing to add hybrid versions of the Highlander sport wagon and Sienna minivan to the U.S. lineup, Toyota sources said at a media event here last week.

The two vehicles would join the redesigned Prius sedan, to go on sale in October, and a previously announced hybrid Lexus RX 330, to be called the RX 400H when it goes on sale next spring as a 2005 model.

In a June interview in Tokyo, Toyota President Fujio Cho said the automaker was preparing to double its hybrid-vehicle lineup to six by 2006 by adding SUVs. In addition to the Prius, which has sold 140,000 units worldwide since its 1997 launch, Toyota sells hybrid versions of the Estima minivan and Crown luxury car only in Japan.

The redesigned Prius is priced at $20,480, including destination, unchanged from the old model. A five-door hatchback that has the interior space of a mid-sized sedan, it is expected to average combined city and highway fuel economy of about 55 mpg, up from 48 mpg for the current version.

Toyota expects to sell 36,000 Priuses a year in the U.S. market and 12,000 RX 400Hs. Sales of the current Prius for the six months through June are off 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 9,865.

Dave Hermance, executive engineer for environmental engineering for the Toyota Technical Center, also said here that the Camry, the best- selling car in the United States, could get a hybrid powerplant.

The RX 330, Highlander and Sienna share architecture that is based on the Camry's platform, although the sedan's packaging is different from that of the larger vehicles.

Eventually, all models

The possibility of a hybrid Camry, Toyota's bread-and-butter sedan, dovetails with suggestions by senior executives that the automaker eventually could offer hybrids as a powertrain option on all of its mainstream models.

"It's all a question of resources," Hermance said. "Every time you want to make a hybrid, you have to pull engineers away from other projects."

Toyota also is researching the feasibility of mating hybrid technology with a V-8, said Shinichi Matsumoto, project general manager for Toyota's electric and hybrid powertrain development group.

A hybrid V-8 powertrain would give Lexus a powerful alternative to the V-12s used by BMW and Mercedes-Benz without the V-12's gas-guzzling consequences, Matsumoto said.

"The direction of hybrid technology is to improve performance while improving the eco-factor," said Masao Inoue, chief engineer for the redesigned Prius. "You can apply it to a compact, a midsize, or a sports car. Any engine can be hooked up."These are the fastest times Lexus has gotten with the Hybrid in testing. So production should be close. Even 0-60 in 6 sec is very, very respectable for a SUV.

rogers2

That SUV still looks like a soccer mom suv. The FX is more manly looking. If your riding on name why don't you purchase a X5 or ML. IMO **** prestige
Name one person that don't know infiniti is a luxury car maker?

1SICKLEX - you bash Infiniti but your on the opposite end when your on the mb board. Which one is it?

Test drive the FX & RX