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I like the handling of the 300 a little better. It's a wee bit more fun on the country roads thanks (I suppose) to less weight up front.
That and being all old and stoved up I definitely appreciate the extra room to work under the hood.
It goes 0-60 eventually but that's alright, I'm in no hurry yet it has plenty of giddy-up to pass on the interstate or get up to speed on a short/tight ramp where you merge with traffic going pretty fast.
I understand why the 400 is so popular, yet to me the 300 is pretty good too. You just have to give it the spirs a little harder sometimes.
I like the handling of the 300 a little better. It's a wee bit more fun on the country roads thanks (I suppose) to less weight up front. That and being all old and stoved up I definitely appreciate the extra room to work under the hood. It goes 0-60 eventually but that's alright, I'm in no hurry yet it has plenty of giddy-up to pass on the interstate or get up to speed on a short/tight ramp where you merge with traffic going pretty fast. I understand why the 400 is so popular, yet to me the 300 is pretty good too. You just have to give it the spirs a little harder sometimes.
2013+ GS350 I had for a year and sold it. While it’s a great car, handling is much better then the previous generations and the interior quality is amazing I didn’t like the transmission it scared me for keeping long term. Also I just missed the V8 and solid tank feel of the GS4 and I got tired of it fast. The newer GS is more sporty. If your coming from a GS300 you will love it though because it will feel faster, handle way better and the interior quality is solid. The 3rd gen GS had the worst interior quality ever made by Lexus.
I remember reading about the GS400 a long time ago and was surprised that it was the world's fastest sedan at the time. I figured the Aristo V300 or one of the !JZ-GTE JDM sedans would have been as fast, which is incredible. The GS was an amazing competitor to 5 Series and E Class back then.
I never knew that about the GS430. That's really interesting as the LS430 and SC430 felt slower than the GS400. The 400 is definitely a classic. They're so hard to find, along with the GS430. Hopefully I can find one in decent shape that doesn't cost a fortune. After driving the GS300 for a while, it made me wish I had bought one years ago when I was younger.
yea bro there were just two clean GS400’s by me that sold in two days on Facebook a few weeks ago. I am always checking. I almost wanted to buy another one because the value of these cars is going to go up. Best car ever for under 5k IMO. The GS400 or GS430 is actually the best sports sedan under 10k IMO. The quality is light years ahead of the competition. Now the 3rd gen GS is a different story, that’s when the quality went downhill. Clearly they realized that since the 2013 has some of the best interior quality ever which was the worst part of the previous generation.
The LEX BUBBLE... did you know that the 2001 Lexus GS300 is a cultural icon spoken about in several hip hop songs ?
2001 GS300 with 165,000 miles.
It was in superb condition until my son turned 16 and now it smells like a locker room, but it still DRIVES great. I still enjoy driving it and it still has great pick-up and handling. I've kept it completely original, but the radio head unit is starting to fade out so I may put a new system in it with a backup camera though.
What I've enjoyed with this car is the expansive windshield and easy all around views.
Sunroof has always been nice and it cruises very well at higher speeds in the 90 to 105 mph range.
Also very nice to switch it over to manual shifting when you need a bit of an extra push going through mountains or just passing a car on a two-lane road.
Last year I had a guy in the Home Depot parking lot offer me $8,000 for it.
It was tempting, but couldn't part with it.
Another few years and it will reach a different category and start climbing back towards its purchase price... lol
Enjoy it while you can. They don't make them like this one anymore.
Jonathan
hell yea bro I remember Jay Z had the first gen GS in the dead presidents video. Nostalgic. The quality of that late 90s era is legendary. $8000 for a GS300!!!’ You should’ve sold it bro that’s way above book value
The 3rd gen GS had the worst interior quality ever made by Lexus.
Honest question, can you elaborate more on this? I drove a GS460 once and rode in a GS450h at least a couple of times, but both were years ago and I don't remember paying attention to the interior quality any of those times.
I think the only things I remember about driving the GS460 were that I really didn't like the wood steering wheel, the car felt heavy and didn't handle particularly great, and I probably made the Taste of Lexus event workers a little uneasy with how I was flinging it around their parking lot road course.
You know, come to think of it, me being at that Taste of Lexus event kind of played out like this:
Honest question, can you elaborate more on this? I drove a GS460 once and rode in a GS450h at least a couple of times, but both were years ago and I don't remember paying attention to the interior quality any of those times.
I think the only things I remember about driving the GS460 were that I really didn't like the wood steering wheel, the car felt heavy and didn't handle particularly great, and I probably made the Taste of Lexus event workers a little uneasy with how I was flinging it around their parking lot road course.
You know, come to think of it, me being at that Taste of Lexus event kind of played out like this:
But hey, at least I didn't bulldoze a few orange cones and get warned like my friend did.
lol I love that Lexus commercial.
just the quality of the materials inside the plastics the leather the dashboard everything about it screams cheap compared to the previous generation or the one after (2013). Many threads of people complaining about it when comparing a 2nd gen. When I had my GS430 I went to test drive a 2006 GS430 thinking it would be a nice upgrade same car but newer style. That car had so many creeks and rattles and my leather was better quality and better condition with double the mileage that had. Any button I touched inside just felt like cheap plastics compare to the 2nd gen
just the quality of the materials inside the plastics the leather the dashboard everything about it screams cheap compared to the previous generation or the one after (2013). Many threads of people complaining about it when comparing a 2nd gen. When I had my GS430 I went to test drive a 2006 GS430 thinking it would be a nice upgrade same car but newer style. That car had so many creeks and rattles and my leather was better quality and better condition with double the mileage that had. Any button I touched inside just felt like cheap plastics compare to the 2nd gen
I see. Yeah, I don't think I fiddled with any of the dashboard buttons or controls when I drove the 3GS. Even then, back in those days before I got my GS400, my only expectation was that the finish on the buttons shouldn't chip or flake off over time like those on GM cars since the late-'90s. Since the GS460 I drove was new, I couldn't say anything about how the leather wore either.
I am impressed with how my factory seat leather has held up though. Aside from gaining an additional crack or two in the seat piping like almost every 2GS, the driver seat is in pretty much the same condition today as it was when I bought the car in late-2011. If I weren't replacing it all for aesthetics/customization, it wouldn't be much effort to have it looking like new again with one of those leather refinishing kits.
I see. Yeah, I don't think I fiddled with any of the dashboard buttons or controls when I drove the 3GS. Even then, back in those days before I got my GS400, my only expectation was that the finish on the buttons shouldn't chip or flake off over time like those on GM cars since the late-'90s. Since the GS460 I drove was new, I couldn't say anything about how the leather wore either.
I am impressed with how my factory seat leather has held up though. Aside from gaining an additional crack or two in the seat piping like almost every 2GS, the driver seat is in pretty much the same condition today as it was when I bought the car in late-2011. If I weren't replacing it all for aesthetics/customization, it wouldn't be much effort to have it looking like new again with one of those leather refinishing kits.
yea bro the leather in the 2GS is legendary. Such high quality. GS460 is a little better I think that was 2011 right? After 2011 the interior improved a little but not much. The 2006-2010 are the worst.
yea bro the leather in the 2GS is legendary. Such high quality. GS460 is a little better I think that was 2011 right? After 2011 the interior improved a little but not much. The 2006-2010 are the worst.
Lexus discontinued the Taste of Lexus events in 2008, so I recall this was probably September-October 2007, by which point they had already started selling the 2008 model year cars. I remember it was the first year of the GS460. The IS F had just debuted as well and they had it on display for us to sit inside, but it was not available for test driving.
I haven't been here in ages, I was searching info on a DIY armrest replacement on the GS400 and I noticed this thread. I was able to replace the new armrest see the photos below.
We are proud owners of our 99" GS400. We purchased it with 75K miles back in 2006. Now it has 218K miles and still going strong. Until there's something better we're keeping it until it dies. Enjoy
06-25-21 | 03:29 PM
