people know theres an impending engine change and lexus slowed production so they wont be stuck with GS300/430 on the lot, you cant sell what you dont have

 

with the last shipments coming in this month and then it's on to the GS350's. The change will be dramatic but only time will tell if Lexus takes market share from the Germans and some good Japanese competition. The new GS in RWD guise with factory 18's and 303 horsepower will romp to 60 in 5.7 seconds which is over a second better than the GS300. A second in a race to 60 is an eternity and should make the magazines eager to verify its prowess. The GS350 will keep up with most V8's. Beefier brakes up front will haul it down if you need to in a hurry for that next tight corner...The new Gen. 5 Nav will be the best in the marketplace and offer many enhancements. Voice commands are more user friendly too. The sharkfin antenna will tell you it's an '07 and that might be the last thing you get a glimpse of as it pulls away....For those that want it all they can now get performance and AWD. Most Lexus fans have known for some time that the GS350 will be more dynamic and we'll see if the value is perceived. It will list for slightly less than the GS300 similarly equipped. There will have to be some advertising support to establish the new moniker so I'm very happy about the timing. Lexus will garner attention with the New LS460's in October and then its the LS600hL in the Spring and the much anticipated GS460.

BTW, did you know that 3.5 Liters is only 210 cu. inches? That's a lot of power for a normally aspirated V6....

Rock

 

It will list for less than the 300?

I hope your source (guess?) is right.

 

why you think its overpriced? isnt the GS cheaper compare to the 5series and E-class?

 

I will post the new 2007 Lexus model additions and changes as soon as the August 15 embargo passes.

Please be patient guys.

 

You're such a tease

 

If I remember correctly, the 2nd generation GS300 base started at $37K. The 3rd generation starts at $41K. That's a big price jump and it's a big jump over the psychological "40K" barrier. It reminds me of other cars that did not price accordingly: Acura RL, Volkswagon Phaeton, Cadillac XLR (v). Personally, I think they are good cars but they don't have the brand nor the technologies to warrant the premium price. They don't have many stand-out features for the "ubiquitous-consumption" consummer to brag about. This is also a major problem for Audi.

Take the Acura RL for example, it doesn't look like a $50K car. "Acura" is a $20K to $40K brand because most of the cars/suvs they sold are in that price range. CarsDirect says you can get the RL for $42K. Obviously, Acura marketing department missed something

 

First of all Dollars in 1998 were worth about 20% (estimated) more than they are today due to inflation. Then you have the currency markets of the Dollar, Euro, and Yen. Right now Lexus is benefitting from a strong Dollar against the Yen. The Germans are facing a problem with the relatively strong Euro against the Dollar. You also have a competitive manufacturers pricing strategy that conveys value vs. the other brands. Lexus has historically been less than the German makes comparably equipped. BMW and Mercedes dealers in our area have been unusally aggressive as of late and dealer lots and the ports have been trying to work off the glut they have imported. Our dealership has a relatively lean supply for this time of year. Our sedan sales have never been better. The ES350 and IS250 are very active. The LS and GS are awaiting new versions so they can be expected to be sluggish and will ramp up with the new '07 introductions. Lexus has momentum and they make a profit. The parent company Toyota is number 2 worldwide in volume but by far number one in Company value and earnings. The '07 Lexus lineup does not have any real weak spots and it should be a record year for sales. Toyota is attracting the top engineering talent and hiring at an all time pace. They are not just taking the top of the graduate class but are hiring experienced engineers at mid career to have a good balance of veterans to promising youth. As a backdrop to all of this the overall US economy has to be healthy too. I am relieved that the FED didn't raise rates again this week as that just makes everyone's car payment increase.

The 1st Gen.GS300 was priced at $52,000 without Navigation, a 4 speed tranny, an iron inline 6 without variable valve timing but a nice looking Italian designed body. We sold one or two a month. At that time you could buy an LS400 for about $56,000 or less. In a long term perspective the relative pricing of the GS has gone down and content has virtually exploded. 2007 will continue that trend...

Rock

 

I was referring to the price for both 2nd gs300 and 3rd gs300 at the time when the 3rd gen was introduced. But interesting data on inflation nonetheless ...

 

salesman told me today that they will run about $800-$1500, depending on the dealer...JM Lex said they'll definitely have them for around $800 more

 

I wonder if the 350 will come with more standard features than the 300?

 

There will not be much changeover from the 300 to the 350 other than a few key updates.

 

I custom ordered mine the end of July... I wonder if mine will arrive with the first few allocations?! Does anyone have any experience of when I might get mine?

 

Believe me I know the feeling...I feel like I've been waiting for ever. I drove by a couple of local Lexus dealers this weekend and they still have a ton of GS300s in stock although only two with NAVs and none with the ML package. Most have the rear camera backup packages and no NAV which I find to be a strange combination. According to Lexus.com you can't even get that combo in this region, but at the end of a run I guess a dealer gets what it gets.

Interestingly I saw only 1 GS430 where a couple of months back I saw 4 or 5 in inventory at each dealer. It would seem that the GS350 will essentially kill most GS430 sales...at least locally. I know St. Louis is a smaller market, but the market seems to be similar to elsewhere...although my neighbor couldn't find a base GS300 (no options) within 300 miles.

 

gs430 was under special order only for quite some time now from what I heard, probably for the past 6 months special order only, they need to get rid of as much 300/430 before 07 comes out