No bixenonin the GS? Whoa , guess I skipped over that little detail , thats totally unacceptable for that price range. Just another reason plus the older navi in the current GS's of why waiting for the 350 may be the best bet!

 

No, every Lexus is not as common as the 3 Series. The 3 Series, like the ES330 and soon to be IS250/350 are the volume sellers in the luxury car segment. Entry-Level Sport Sedans/Near-Luxury Sedans......whatever you want to call them, are much bigger sellers than their larger and more expensive brothers (i.e. 5 Series, E-Class, STS, GS, etc.) Fact of the matter is the GS doesn't even sell a third as many units as the 3 Series (same goes for the LS & SC). Also, the GS430 doesn't have an air suspension. The firmness/damping of the suspension is adjustable, but it is not an air suspension like on the RX330. As for interior room, I find it hard to believe anyone wouldn't be able to tell the difference in size between the GS & IS. While the difference in headroom is negligible, the leg and hip room is quite significant.

I hope you and your wife enjoy the IS. They are very nice vehicles. Heck, if I didn't have the need/desire to carry adult passengers in the back seat I would have probably picked up an IS350.

 

Keep in mind, it was his wife that didn't feel the GS was much roomier than the IS. However, at 5'4" and 115lbs, one wouldn't need much room anyways, no offense.


This was one, if not, the main reason I chose the GS over the IS. Besides, I did not want 2 cars in the same class.

 

No doubt. All the competitors in the IS's class have more room in the back. Words
cannot describe the unbelievable lameness of the IS's backseat.

For real backseat room, the Infiniti M's kill the GS. Unfortunately that car also
has plenty of other issues that made me go with the GS.

 

I looked at the Japanese website and it had the following data :

GS430 : 9.1km/l
GS350 : 10km/l
GS350AWD : 9.6km/l

Just doing a straight conversion (which is probably not the right thing to do, since the
test methodology is probably quite different)

GS430 : 21.4mpg
GS350 : 23.5mpg
GS350AWD : 22.58mpg

My GS300AWD is telling me I am doing 27mpg, in mostly higway driving.

I don't know. Maybe a 2.5mpg to 3mpg hit?

Significant if that is the case.

 

The GS is a completely different class of car (and I do mean "class"). The IS, though fun with a definitely better Nav, has more of a "Toyota" feel to it than the GS. However, the redesign of ths IS is a huge improvement over the prior model.

__________________
2006 GS 300
Mercury Metallic/Ash Interior
Mark Levinson / Navigation System

 

I don't know, that might have ben true with the 1st gen IS, but the new IS doesn't exude that "Toyota" feel anymore. For all intent and purposes, it's a baby GS.

One of the biggest gripes about the 1st gen IS was the racer-boy interior, which while sporty, didn't have that luxury feel. No such problems now. If I was in the market for a smaller car, the IS would be at the top of my list.

 

Agreed. I don't understand the "boy racer" or "Toyota" comments in regards to the new IS interior. Overall, I'd say it's 90-95% as nice as the GS w/ a few additional features I actually wish were in the GS (i.e. Better Nav, lighted door scuff plates, trim around the auto transmission shift **** area, etc.). Overall, the GS still has a slight edge in interior ambiance due to somewhat sturdier feeling plastics in certain areas, as well as leather trim on the sides of the center console and more wood trim.

 

yes, 3 series and IS are the "volume seller" for each respective brand and therefor are more common than their bigger brothers; but that hardly makes GS/LS or 5/7 series exclusive. Exclusive to me would be like a MB CL or BMW 6 series.
Our other 2 cars are RX330 and MDX, so to us both the GS and IS do not seem spacious (yes, there's more hip and leg room in the GS, but not enough to be the deciding factor, especially if the car usually carries only the driver). The GS is a good compromise between the sporty, driver-oriented IS, and the commodious, luxurious LS; although I was disappointed by the driving dynamics of the current GS (ever since I test drove a GS400 in 99 I told myself I was going to get a V-8 GS when the new one came out). It's still a great car, just didn't sweep me off my feet like the previous generation did (sorry). If one is looking for a car mainly for the driver, the IS is much more fun to drive, esp now that Lexus has wisely included all the luxury features and quality materials expected of a Lexus (things sorely missing from Infiniti G35).

As far as the comment about the IS feeling more "Toyota," that cannot be further from the truth. The new IS is leaps and bounds over the previous one, a design dating back to 97. Personally I think the IS has the best instrument display in the current Lexus lineup: detailed marking, and easy to read, day or night; as opposed to the avant-garde, metallic face of the GS that reflects sun light. Lexus also used a new, finer headliner for the IS (if you compare the headliner in the GS vs the LS, you will see that the GS's has a smoother, finer texture over the LS; Lexus has again found a more refined material for the new IS). It's good to know that Lexus continually upgrade the material in each successive model, as opposed to reserving quality material only for the more expensive models.