New to me anyway. I bought a 2007 GS 350. It's quite a car... I'm very happy for the most part, but I wanted to run a few things by you and get your take on it.

1.) More of a comment here -- The seat is downright painful to me after about 15 minutes. I've read a bunch of posts about this, and it only seems to affect some people, and differently. For me, my **** starts to hurt and goes numb. It's great for my back though.

I have an hour commute to work, so the main thing I was looking for was comfort. Had I known about this issue, it would've definitely been a deal-breaker. On the 10 minute test drive, it seemed very comfortable. Live and learn. I'm going to try to find an auto upholsterer to add some padding. I saw the guy's pics who did his Camry seat.

2.) When braking, the car pulls in the direction of the crown of the road. So it's not always pulling left or right -- it depends. My friend has a 300, and it doesn't do this. We think it may be the bigger brakes on the 350 that affect this. Anyone know if this is normal? It's not a big deal.

3.) It's too late now, and I wonder if this is related to #2, but when I negotiated the deal I got a really decent price. The one catch was the Lexus dealer just would not certify the car. They wanted me to take their warranty instead. The salesman kept telling me that since the car only had 20,000 miles on it and some remainder of the factory warranty, that they wouldn't certify it... because some customers wouldn't want to have to pay for that. Finally I told them sorry, but I want a Certified Pre-Owned car.

My feeling was they knew there was something expensive that needed to be done to get it certified. The next day, I took my wife to the dealer to show her the difference between an IS and a GS. As we were leaving, the salesman ran out and said, "I was mistaken last night -- my manager said that they will certify it, but you have to pay for it." OK, fine. $1500 for peace of mind and a warranty sounds fair to me.

I still couldn't understand why it would cost $1500 for a tech to inspect the car and certify it. Then I realized, well it IS a warranty, and I guess somebody has to pay for it. If the dealer certifies it, maybe it comes out of their pocket and in turn they have to sell the car for more. With the economy and all, maybe I see their point.

At the end of the deal, the finance director "overheard" my insistence regarding the certification, and asked if I would explain why it was so important to me. Then she said the dealership could offer me a 5 year/120,000 mile bumper-to-bumper (electronics included) for the same amount. She was just looking out for me, the customer, she said. And they had a reputation to uphold, she added.

In the end, I took their warranty. It's 2 years or 50,000 miles more than the CPO's bumper-to-bumper warranty. I figure if something IS wrong with the car, the warranty will cover it. Does anyone who knows about the Lexus CPO program think anything is sketchy here?

Well, except for the seat, I love the GS. The power is so impressive and fun... that was unexpected.

Curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

 

first of all welcome to clublexus and congrats on your new car!

1) honestly, i am also not a huge fan of the seats. surprisingly both my wife and i think the seats in our m3 is more comfortable. the 3gs seats have good lateral support, but like you said, somehow after an hour of driving my butt start to hurt. no idea why, but that's the case

2) are you sure it's the brakes not the tires? do you and your friend with gs300 have the same brand and size of tires? it sounds like the tires are tracking / tramming the groves on the road. have you tried on different road surfaces?

if still the case, maybe you can ask dealership to check on the brakes. demonstrate the brakes with your hands off the steering wheel and see what they can do.

3) 1500 to certify the car sounds about right, but if you are getting extended warranty (more) for the same price i guess it's not a bad deal at all

 

Thought I was having gluteus maximus problems...

If people are getting sore butts after short-ish rides, why aren't they fixing it with extra padding? My butt starts to feel it after 15-20 minutes, it's not fun. I guess I might have to take a trip to the upholster as well.

 

I have no issue driving the car for 5-6 hours to LA. I hope that doesn't change for me. Try to adjust you seat position and lumbar support

 

that's the weird part. when using my hand to push on the seat, it seems to have a lot of cushion in there. but somehow sitting for long and my butt starts to feel it. but for sure it's better than the seats in my 2gs already

 

Exactly. I can't feel anything in/under the seat either. I wonder if I actually do have a gluteus maximus issue (mild sciatica?), because I feel this numbess and squeezing down my right leg to my foot.

I may have never noticed it before when driving because my previous car's seat was basically a piece of big spongy foam. It was sort of comfortable, but not supportive. Good for the glutes but not so good for the back. Now I have the opposite problem. I am definitely going to find an upholsterer.

About the brakes, good point. You may be right about the tires. I need to drive another 350 to see how it handles on stops. It's nothing too dramatic, but it doesn't feel right.