GS to LS, RX?
01-29-24, 12:39 PM
#1
Rookie
Thread Starter
GS to LS, RX?
Posted something similar in the LS and RX forums...
Long time reader of this forum (since prior to purchasing a 2016 GS350 FSprot new) but never a poster. Unfortunately, my GS was in an accident and I fear it'll be totaled. With that, want to stay in the Lexus family and love the LS, but a bit out of price range unless go used/L Certified. Drove a 2022 LS and 2024 RX this weekend (Hybrid, but wouldn't buy a Hybrid). LS was nice as expected and fit and finish were top notch, RX was fine not exciting, but not bad.
Could buy a new RX Luxury for about the same price as a few year old LS. Anyone else here in a situation similar in the past? What did you ultimately decide?
Long time reader of this forum (since prior to purchasing a 2016 GS350 FSprot new) but never a poster. Unfortunately, my GS was in an accident and I fear it'll be totaled. With that, want to stay in the Lexus family and love the LS, but a bit out of price range unless go used/L Certified. Drove a 2022 LS and 2024 RX this weekend (Hybrid, but wouldn't buy a Hybrid). LS was nice as expected and fit and finish were top notch, RX was fine not exciting, but not bad.
Could buy a new RX Luxury for about the same price as a few year old LS. Anyone else here in a situation similar in the past? What did you ultimately decide?
01-29-24, 01:08 PM
#2
First off, glad you are alright after the accident.
Secondly, this will be a difficult question to answer. Reason is simple, they both are two totally different vehicles. RX is the mid tier in Lexus line-up, whereas LS is, well, LS. It plays with the big boys, tries, and in some cases matches, the luxury offered by S-Class and 7-Series. So the driving dynamics, comfort, fit-n-finish will be two very different experiences.
Allow me to ask you, which one did you feel more "homely" in? Was it the LS or RX? I have a 2016 GS Base, and I am pretty sure that most of us will agree that our GS is old. But, she is like your old blanket/comforter/sweater old. Like that old pair of jeans that still fits and feels quite comfortable to you. After all, it is over a decade old car. Whereas both LS and RX have Lexus brand new aesthetics and technologies. Now is the Lexus new technology in the cabin as good as the competition? That topic can be debated on another day.
Personally, if I were to replace my GS, which I am not planning on, but life happens, it will probably be replaced with the previous gen LS460, in Maroon, with brown/tan interior. But if I decide to go SUV route, RX will not be on my list. I will choose the 2023 GX.
Secondly, this will be a difficult question to answer. Reason is simple, they both are two totally different vehicles. RX is the mid tier in Lexus line-up, whereas LS is, well, LS. It plays with the big boys, tries, and in some cases matches, the luxury offered by S-Class and 7-Series. So the driving dynamics, comfort, fit-n-finish will be two very different experiences.
Allow me to ask you, which one did you feel more "homely" in? Was it the LS or RX? I have a 2016 GS Base, and I am pretty sure that most of us will agree that our GS is old. But, she is like your old blanket/comforter/sweater old. Like that old pair of jeans that still fits and feels quite comfortable to you. After all, it is over a decade old car. Whereas both LS and RX have Lexus brand new aesthetics and technologies. Now is the Lexus new technology in the cabin as good as the competition? That topic can be debated on another day.
Personally, if I were to replace my GS, which I am not planning on, but life happens, it will probably be replaced with the previous gen LS460, in Maroon, with brown/tan interior. But if I decide to go SUV route, RX will not be on my list. I will choose the 2023 GX.
01-29-24, 01:39 PM
#3
Rookie
Thread Starter
First off, glad you are alright after the accident.
Secondly, this will be a difficult question to answer. Reason is simple, they both are two totally different vehicles. RX is the mid tier in Lexus line-up, whereas LS is, well, LS. It plays with the big boys, tries, and in some cases matches, the luxury offered by S-Class and 7-Series. So the driving dynamics, comfort, fit-n-finish will be two very different experiences.
Allow me to ask you, which one did you feel more "homely" in? Was it the LS or RX? I have a 2016 GS Base, and I am pretty sure that most of us will agree that our GS is old. But, she is like your old blanket/comforter/sweater old. Like that old pair of jeans that still fits and feels quite comfortable to you. After all, it is over a decade old car. Whereas both LS and RX have Lexus brand new aesthetics and technologies. Now is the Lexus new technology in the cabin as good as the competition? That topic can be debated on another day.
Personally, if I were to replace my GS, which I am not planning on, but life happens, it will probably be replaced with the previous gen LS460, in Maroon, with brown/tan interior. But if I decide to go SUV route, RX will not be on my list. I will choose the 2023 GX.
Secondly, this will be a difficult question to answer. Reason is simple, they both are two totally different vehicles. RX is the mid tier in Lexus line-up, whereas LS is, well, LS. It plays with the big boys, tries, and in some cases matches, the luxury offered by S-Class and 7-Series. So the driving dynamics, comfort, fit-n-finish will be two very different experiences.
Allow me to ask you, which one did you feel more "homely" in? Was it the LS or RX? I have a 2016 GS Base, and I am pretty sure that most of us will agree that our GS is old. But, she is like your old blanket/comforter/sweater old. Like that old pair of jeans that still fits and feels quite comfortable to you. After all, it is over a decade old car. Whereas both LS and RX have Lexus brand new aesthetics and technologies. Now is the Lexus new technology in the cabin as good as the competition? That topic can be debated on another day.
Personally, if I were to replace my GS, which I am not planning on, but life happens, it will probably be replaced with the previous gen LS460, in Maroon, with brown/tan interior. But if I decide to go SUV route, RX will not be on my list. I will choose the 2023 GX.
01-29-24, 02:00 PM
#4
Lead Lap
iTrader: (1)
I had an RX for quite a few years and loved it. Very suitable for a family with the ability to haul larger items compared to any sedan. To me it does a bit of everything in comfort. Comfortable enough for a daily driver. If you frequently drive long distances, it's hard to beat the LS. With IL winters, both are available in AWD but the RX has a higher ground clearance. I was in FL and we would get street flooding with tropical storms. The RX extra ground clearance was nice.
01-29-24, 02:33 PM
#5
Rookie
Thread Starter
I had an RX for quite a few years and loved it. Very suitable for a family with the ability to haul larger items compared to any sedan. To me it does a bit of everything in comfort. Comfortable enough for a daily driver. If you frequently drive long distances, it's hard to beat the LS. With IL winters, both are available in AWD but the RX has a higher ground clearance. I was in FL and we would get street flooding with tropical storms. The RX extra ground clearance wasnice.
01-29-24, 04:14 PM
#6
Lead Lap
Glad you're ok from the accident.
Some original 4GS owners moved/commented on their experience with the LS (bigblack06, signdetres, Nalod and PGA71 most recently). There are some good comments here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...yed-w-lex.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post10842538
If someone gave me the choice of RX or LS from my current GS, I'd take the LS500 AWD with Luxury package like @PGA71
I've driven the newer iterations of the ES, RX and even NX (but not the 2018+ LS500). All of the these have stepped up in different ways compared to their outgoing generation. I think its important to decide if you'd want a sedan vs an SUV.
I understand the appeal of the RX, but its really a completely different experience from a GS. Me personally, I think going from a GS to an LS is a more natural progression with the tradeoffs being the LS's added size and some sportiness factor compared to the 4GS.
Any chance your potentially totaled GS leads to you buying another GS? Maybe a 2020?
Some original 4GS owners moved/commented on their experience with the LS (bigblack06, signdetres, Nalod and PGA71 most recently). There are some good comments here:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...yed-w-lex.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post10842538
If someone gave me the choice of RX or LS from my current GS, I'd take the LS500 AWD with Luxury package like @PGA71
I've driven the newer iterations of the ES, RX and even NX (but not the 2018+ LS500). All of the these have stepped up in different ways compared to their outgoing generation. I think its important to decide if you'd want a sedan vs an SUV.
I understand the appeal of the RX, but its really a completely different experience from a GS. Me personally, I think going from a GS to an LS is a more natural progression with the tradeoffs being the LS's added size and some sportiness factor compared to the 4GS.
Any chance your potentially totaled GS leads to you buying another GS? Maybe a 2020?
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01-30-24, 09:08 AM
#8
Curious whether anyone has ever owned the older hybrid LS models (around 2009).
Those things seem to be built like tanks, with fuel consumption of around 9L/100km.
I know that generation LS has some very costly suspension components. Not sure whether anything else is a problem.
Those things seem to be built like tanks, with fuel consumption of around 9L/100km.
I know that generation LS has some very costly suspension components. Not sure whether anything else is a problem.
01-30-24, 10:44 PM
#9
LS = real deal Lexus. Big boy pants.
GS/RX etc = fake imitations of Lexus.
The choice is obvious when there’s no budget limit.
With a budget limit the others are still pretty nice but nowhere close of course.
But it seems like you weren’t sold on the RX so obviously you shouldn’t buy one.
GS/RX etc = fake imitations of Lexus.
The choice is obvious when there’s no budget limit.
With a budget limit the others are still pretty nice but nowhere close of course.
But it seems like you weren’t sold on the RX so obviously you shouldn’t buy one.
01-31-24, 08:06 PM
#10
Lexus Champion
LS = real deal Lexus. Big boy pants.
GS/RX etc = fake imitations of Lexus.
The choice is obvious when there’s no budget limit.
With a budget limit the others are still pretty nice but nowhere close of course.
But it seems like you weren’t sold on the RX so obviously you shouldn’t buy one.
GS/RX etc = fake imitations of Lexus.
The choice is obvious when there’s no budget limit.
With a budget limit the others are still pretty nice but nowhere close of course.
But it seems like you weren’t sold on the RX so obviously you shouldn’t buy one.
02-01-24, 05:45 AM
#12
Intermediate
Also just an opinion but I would put the GS right up against the LS as both "real" Lexus. Made in Japan, passionate teams behind them, cost cutting not really present. Despite being less luxurious, the GS still has wonderful features like double-pane windows, which is just unnecessary but evidence they were not f'ing around with quality. GS is just made to different tastes, of course, more like an A5/6 than an A8.
I'll probably be burned for this but when SUV/crossovers join your mind, don't be afraid to cross shop Acura. My other car is an MDX, and it is a lot of fun, too. Dead reliable and easy to care for, just like Lexus. SH-AWD is a must.
Edit: the MDX has about the footprint of the GS, but has 3 rows of passenger room, all the same luxury touches as a mid-level GS, supremely comfortable, especially for 2nd row, excellent engine (mine is a 2011 with nearly 200k, still runs as good as my GS and sounds almost the same.) I would not hesitate to consider another one.
I'll probably be burned for this but when SUV/crossovers join your mind, don't be afraid to cross shop Acura. My other car is an MDX, and it is a lot of fun, too. Dead reliable and easy to care for, just like Lexus. SH-AWD is a must.
Edit: the MDX has about the footprint of the GS, but has 3 rows of passenger room, all the same luxury touches as a mid-level GS, supremely comfortable, especially for 2nd row, excellent engine (mine is a 2011 with nearly 200k, still runs as good as my GS and sounds almost the same.) I would not hesitate to consider another one.
Last edited by Lanson; 02-01-24 at 06:57 AM.
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02-01-24, 07:33 AM
#14
Intermediate
02-01-24, 11:56 AM
#15
Rookie
Thread Starter
Also just an opinion but I would put the GS right up against the LS as both "real" Lexus. Made in Japan, passionate teams behind them, cost cutting not really present. Despite being less luxurious, the GS still has wonderful features like double-pane windows, which is just unnecessary but evidence they were not f'ing around with quality. GS is just made to different tastes, of course, more like an A5/6 than an A8.
I'll probably be burned for this but when SUV/crossovers join your mind, don't be afraid to cross shop Acura. My other car is an MDX, and it is a lot of fun, too. Dead reliable and easy to care for, just like Lexus. SH-AWD is a must.
Edit: the MDX has about the footprint of the GS, but has 3 rows of passenger room, all the same luxury touches as a mid-level GS, supremely comfortable, especially for 2nd row, excellent engine (mine is a 2011 with nearly 200k, still runs as good as my GS and sounds almost the same.) I would not hesitate to consider another one.
I'll probably be burned for this but when SUV/crossovers join your mind, don't be afraid to cross shop Acura. My other car is an MDX, and it is a lot of fun, too. Dead reliable and easy to care for, just like Lexus. SH-AWD is a must.
Edit: the MDX has about the footprint of the GS, but has 3 rows of passenger room, all the same luxury touches as a mid-level GS, supremely comfortable, especially for 2nd row, excellent engine (mine is a 2011 with nearly 200k, still runs as good as my GS and sounds almost the same.) I would not hesitate to consider another one.