nortrack

Hi everyone.

First off yes I am in the UK, but you guys have the best board & info I can find anyplace dedicated to Lexus! So here I am after lurking around for a few days.

Current car is GS300 SE 1999 Silver.

On order: GS300 SE-L in "Caspian Sky" with Ivory interior. Due to collect 18/04/05

So there's the rub, you are all saying what the hell colour is Caspian Sky??!
Well so am I! - If you check the colours on the European Lexus site:-

http://www.lexus-europe.com/lexus_ca...ur_chooser.asp

The "Glacier Blue" is the supposed colour, but we haven't even seen it yet in the UK - GS launches April 15th here. Looking at US colours I reckon it must be Glacier Frost Mica but I have yet to see some good outdoor daylight pictures of this colour so can anyone help out!!?

If you could post any pics of this colour I'd be grateful - put me out my misery - I can't bear another 3 week wait to see what the car looks like!!

On another note you folks are lucky when it comes to paying for the GS, here in the Uk My GS300 SE-L with ML,DVD Nav, 18", spoiler, rear shade - full loaded is costing me $72,500 at todays exchange rate

Local dealers got a Black GS in the showroom yesterday so we finally got to look at the car close up! Awesome! I can't wait!

Reading this board is the only thing keeping me going for th enext 3 weeks!

Cheers! Andy

lexuslover

hi nortrack - congrats on your upcoming purchase!

i have the glacier frost mica. it is a hard color to describe, but basically it looks like pearl white-white in the sun, and then a bluish-white in the shade. it is a white with blue metallic flakes in the paint, and it is very sparkly. on overcast days, it is possible you might think it looks like a very, very light blue. but it does not come close to light blues you see on other cars. in fact, there really is no other color out there that looks close (it is more silver than blue on these days, in my opinion). and you are right, pictures do not do it justice ordinarily. anyway, here are two pics in the sun/shade of similar position/location - you can see the contrast under different lighting.






here is the last pic in full blown sun, you can see the blue iridescence pretty well:




PS - i recently got my windows tinted all around, but they are still in the process of drying. if you want to see those, i can send them to you later this week after the films have set in. hope this helps!

nortrack

Hi Lexuslover,

Thanks for those pics!

3 weeks is gonna seem so slow.......... The UK dealers are all going to Barcelona next week for the official "press" & dealer launch of the GS, then we should get some more detail through about the actual cars, however I think I already know more than them having trawled these boards now for a few days!

I'd love to see your tint pics when you get them.

Thanks. Andy

encore888

I am so envious of you guys with the sexy new GS!!!! Ah well at least I can look at pictures of this sculpted beauty.

Xtrem

Nortrack: Can i ask a few questions about the UK market?
I've read that there will be GS-s with fabric seats, i mean that leather is an optional equipment.
How is loaded the SE version, and what is the SE-L giving besides the SE?
By the way, great choice on your new GS.
I'm waiting for the Hungarian sales, still no news about the new GS here...

Alex K

Yes, the base GS300 model has fabric seats.

Here's my original list of the various UK spec levels...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=151668

enigma354: I can't be certain, but I think that shot is silver, not Glacier Frost.

owm

Saw those pics and was more or less settled on the combination of Glacier Frost/Ash. Confirmed the choice when I saw it in person. The iridescence of the paint really looks great under sunlight and artificial lighting.

Xtrem

Thank you for the information.
As written, the SE seems the best choice, but those £2100 sounds reasonable for an ML system, 18 inch wheels, rear spoiler and sunroof included in the SE-L.

Alex K

I think the SE will be the big seller - £35k compares favourably to the competition, especially when you add options to the rivals to bring them up to the same spec. I ran through the options lists for BMW, Mercedes and Audi. An equivalent spec on the BMW 530i comes in at £41,480, a Mercedes E320 at £44,230 and an Audi A6 3.2 at £45,400! It's not possible to completely match the specs, however - for instance, none of the competition have rear-view cameras, and the BMW can't have ventilated *and* heated seats.

£37,995 is probably too close to £40k for many people, but I agree that an extra £2,100 for Mark Levinson, the superb 18" wheels, rear spoiler and sunroof is a very good deal. The wheels and tyres alone would probably cost more than that over the counter at your local dealer.

Xtrem

Yes, you are right. Just one set of those wheels would cost already more than the SE-L package.
The only problem here in Hungary are the roads, i mean we have a terrible road-structure. We are a tranzit country for those huge trucks crossing from the East to the West, and because of our road structure, all those monsters have to cross the capital, so we really have bad roads here. And those 18 inch wheels on 245-s, i would not give them 2-3 years, and i would need to replace them already, or the alloys would have some damage. But they really look nice, and anyways a 17 inch set of alloys would also be needed for the winter tyres.
I'm really interested, i've read that there are tax free sales too, but i guess i only could order a right hand drive GS. Do those tax free prices refer to the "basic" prices?

Alex K

I don't know how the tax free sales work. The UK website says to qualify you must be: An accredited diplomat, A serving member of a visiting Military Force based in the UK, A member of British Forces serving overseas, A resident or visitor to the UK with a contact address in this country, or Intending to take delivery outside the European Union.

LexFather

Wecome and congrats! I am a follower of CAR, EVO and Top Gear, trying to learn more of the Euro market. Can you share with some insights of what people might be saying about the GS in the U.K?

nortrack

At present it all seems a bit quiet here in the UK, the actual launch is scheduled for April 15th so the Uk trade press is not carrying anything about the car as yet. Some billboard ads have started to appear and I guess it will start to pick up in the next week or so as launch date gets nearer.

Some UK dealers have just got hold of their "showroom" models but there seems to be an embargo on test drives until nearer launch, I've had a good nosey round at our dealers Black/Black model but no chance of a drive yet!

No sign either of any literature/brochures or colour samples in our local dealers, our sales guys are in Barcelona this week checking out the new models and hopefully returning with more information/pictures and tales of test drives!

Until then we just wait........... Oh and hope that Caspian Sky (aka Glacier Frost Mica) is really blue..... not grey....!!!

lexuslover

hi nortrack - yes, it's funny you mention the color not being grey, because i remember getting the keys with the little key tag (w/ stock #, vin #, etc) and the tag said GREY as exterior color. if anything, it's closer to white or silver than it is to grey!

in any case, here are the tint pictures - AFTER vs. BEFORE pics. sorry the car is not cleaner, i haven't had a chance to wash the poor thing and the wheels/tires are dirty.

ps - i used Suntek Carbon film, absolutely no metallic whatsoever and lifetime warranty against fading, peeling, etc. i wanted a non-reflective glare since the car is sparkly white i thought a reflective glare would be just too much. i had a bad experience with a previous GS using non-metallic tint on back and minimal metallic on sides (that's what the guy recommended), and the reception was SO bad. keep in mind that although the wires may be built into the *back* glass, metallic interference anywhere affects the reception sometimes. and NO, the tint is not that dark! my camera sucks and it is blazing sunny here today, so the contrast against the white car makes it look like a limo tint from that angle. it's actually a medium tint all around and you can see through it normally (in fact, if i had parked against the white wall as i did previously, the tint would have appeared much lighter).



TINTED:


NO TINT:




TINTED:


NO TINT:



pps - either my camera is really bad or it is impossible to take pictures of glacier frost that makes the color look the same every time! or maybe that's just how it is! different from every angle and in every different % of light.

flipside909

It's nearly impossible for a camera to pick up what the naked eye can see.