It's great to see the new lines of the GS compared to the LF-S and the similiarities of all the new Lexus concepts. It's about time they established their own style. I'm looking forward to see the GS at the Portland OR show at the end of the month. Does anyone know if you can actually order a Lexus configured more or less they way you want like you can with a Mercedes? My impression is that you have to take it with the one or two canned packages rather than with specific options.

 

you can always tailor your own lexus the way you want, it, no problem. but you might end up paying quite a bit more money and maybe even msrp for the car.

 

I wish I would have picked up your response earlier yesterday. I went to my local dealer to look at Flint Mica on the RX and it is gorgeous. I would have tried to find a Mercury Metallic LS if I had known. These 2 Lexus colors could clinch the GS over the Infiniti M for me. I am not that excited about any Infiniti colors and my decision now, before driving either, is close.

Those with little kids should appreciate this one: I had my 2 year old in the stroller in 25 degree weather yesterday searching the lot for Flint Mica. As we were both freezing our rears off I got excited when I saw the color. Then, he said "what we doing daddy." I told him we were looking at cars, to which he said: "Your car broke? This car go faster?"

In that one quote he brought up my excitement at getting a GS430 and how I will need to explain to my wife why I need a new car, since I am driving a 2003 Infiniti G35 coupe. Of course, the main reason is more room for our 2 kids!

 

Flip, excellent pics. this was worth the wait, appreciate you sharing them. Wish there were a few more interior ones. But I guess it's hard when it's on that turning platform.

The more I see this car the more I like it.

 

The only problem i have is the gap between the wheels and fender maybe the car had the avs and in was in high mode??? otherwise it looks great.

 

Are the last digits of the vin always the # which was it was produced? So the last digits of my 01 GS mean it was the _____ one built?

 

Cool story

 

I called 180025lexus...customer service in torrance california...they told me if the individual option is not offered to be added on in the vehicle..you canNOT just special order it....it doesnt work like that. he said many people have come across this confusion, only wanting a particular item instead of the whole package.

for example...if on the GS300 you just wanted the wood interior package on shifter and steering...and they only offer it in a package as an package option...u cannot special order the car with just wooden steering and shifter..

Now for example, if the dealer does not have a silver RWD 2006 GS300 with the package you want for wahtever reason.. (out of stock on current inventory) etc, he can check in his system to see which place has that exact car, and can see if it will be shipped over...(if it is inside the region scope),....if outside the region scope... then you can special order the car and lexus will send it within 2 months.


I told the guy of my situation and that i wanted a silver one base GS300 RWD with wood steering and wood shifter ****...with no other option in the car...no mark levinson or navigation or anythign else...and he said...

"Lets assume when the final details of the 06 GScomes out and they make it the same way as the canada website suggests where in order to get an 06GS300 RWD with wooden steering and shifter...u would have to buy the premium package. Well lets say the US had the exact same package offerings as lexus vehicles in canada. You cannot order thru lexus y special ordering tellign them you want just the wooden steering and shift ****...it doesnt come liek that... The only way to get the wooden package is by ordering the premium package. If the dealership doesnt have the color you want with that package in the vehicle..then he can see if he can locate a place that has it..within his region scope..if not then you can specaial order the car and they will ship it..but that special order car will have the WHOLE package with it.

In other words , if the particular option you want is not offered by itself alone with a cost, you cannot order it alone.

I was pissed off but this is what he said. Now, he also said the US packages and options are not announced yet...they may offer indivniual options to add on with this new redesign for the US market..we dont knwo yet..check back within a month - and youll knwo.

 

Both of those rims give me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

 

Yeah the lighting isn't great for photo purposes in addition to that turntable spinning, it was almost impossible to get a good focus on the interior. Most of them came out blurry. I'll resize them when i get a chance and see how it looks in smaller res.

 

Yes sequential production number.

 

Don't be shocked. Those guys at the customer care number are just regular people answering the phones with basic training to handle Lexus customer concerns. Just give it some time. You will probably get the packaging info here first if you're patient enough! Don't be alamed if you're not getting the answers you want. As far as most of us are concerned, the info you have now is more than most people care to know.

 

So my 01 430 is 6194. Made in 02/01. Does that mean there were that many 430s or is that all GSes of that model year?

 

I don't recall if Toyota/Lexus numbers their VIN in ascending/decending order or some particular sequence that they specifically assign. I know that these first off the line cars are in house Toyota/Lexus only cars are not sold to the public. Those vehicles are usually put together but dismantled after the full production vehicles are made, ends up at Toyota HQ in Torrance, ends up at Toyota vehicle services storage or even the Toyota vintage museum here in SoCal. My 04 IS300 was made in August of 2003 and it's sequential vin is in the 80k range.

 

question for you...why did you grey out the vin, when this car belongs to lexus?