jjscsix

It does not say where those conquest buyers come from does it? Read my post and I was pretty specific that I don't see them coming from like cars from Germany. No question I could be wrong, that's what forum discussions are all about. But let's give it some time to let the pent up demand pass and see what happens six months and a year down the road.

natnut

Let's see. The GS350 beats the Germans at their own handling game, is just as luxurious and is cheaper and more reliable to boot. Logic would dictate that some/large proportion of the conquest buyers would come from MB/BMW.

The only unknown would be the badge-snob factor which is very real.

spwolf

well 6 months from now, there will be GS450h to bring up the numbers, more stock means more discounts, so it bodes well for GS... we will see what happens in 3 years when new competitors arrive.

jjscsix

One conquest factor we have not discussed is how many current GS owners will defect? I will likely be one of them. I admit that my reasons are not straightforward, but as I've said in other threads, the lack of more power is a definite problem for me. If they offered a 400 hp engine as most direct competitors do, and at a reasonable upcharge from the 350 there is a fair chance I'd stay with the Lexus. Right now I'd give the odds of me getting a new one about 3%.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

as the cabin of the 4GS has been almost universally praised, can you say what you or your wife thought was nicer about the bmw/mb interiors?

haha, sure she wasn't sold on performance, vs. the interior? a loaded up E63 is probably what, 90k or more, so not exactly comparable.

well, lexus has really given NO indication there will be a gs-f and if there is one, i wouldn't expect to see it for a year or more.

i'd say that's speculation at best. the first month included 'pent up demand' but may also have been supply limited i don't know, so could go either way. hopefully up though!

dseag2

I guess I cross the lines between German and Japanese, so no particular loyalty there. I owned an Audi A6 in 2000, 5 Lexuses from 2001-2007, then hopped over to Infiniti for the perfomance and handling for a few years, then went to an '09 Audi A5 for the looks of it alone, followed by a '10 S5 Cab and now an '11 S5 Cab. I've come to really appreciate the German feel, and now that Lexus has introduced it in the GS, along with almost guaranteed reliability, I have the best of both worlds.

The Mercedes E-Class looks really don't appeal to me, and adding all the packages to a 535i makes it considerably more expensive than the GS. Since I was looking for something more practical, if anything I would have looked at an Audi A6, but I find it pretty boring inside and out.

That was my reason for choosing the GS F-Sport.

jdk9341

Just out of curiosity, what's not to like?

Standard with
Enform 2.0 (iHeart Radio, Pandora, Bing, Facebook, etc.)
Lexus 5th Gen. Navigation (XM App. suite standard for 3 months)
SOS Safety Connect
Bluetooth Phone and Audio
Blndspot Monitoring system
... and much more.

Available Rear Adaptive Stearing

That being said, where does E350 and 535i compare???

Neither of them come with all of this, not to mention the performance features that the GS has.
Having track experience... the GS is the way to go! Stop speculating... just go on a test drive.

natnut

For what it's worth, let me just quote fellow CL poster jman-is350 :

Keep in mind jman-is350 is talking about a $80K E63 AMG .

His post here :
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/7060243-post2.html

faifai83

After attending the GS Performance tour, the answer is pretty obvious: GS>5>E

rominl

iTrader: (4)

gen5 was 07-09
gen6 was 10-11

i don't know if the 2013 gs is gen6+ or gen7, but for sure not gen5

i do agree the new gs has a lot of cool features though. but as i always say, flip the coin, there are also bunch of stuff on the e and 5 that you can't get in the gs

neilsarkar

I am not too familiar with E-class (apart from the fact that standard MB-Tex does not feel or smell like leather; and does not belong to these class of cars), but 5er does have some gadgets you cannot get in 4GS:

1. Power folding mirror (very useful in my garage)
2. Soft-close door lock
3. Power trunk closer
4. Active front seat
5. Automatic parking assistant
6. Side and top view camera (really useful for parking in tight spot)
7. Rear-seat entertainment (who uses them in the age of iPads?)
8. Can combine M-sport package and luxury features (in 4GS, it's F-Sport or luxury package)

However, looking at packages and options of 5er, it's amazing (or perhaps not) to note that most of the extra-cost options (e.g. keyless entry, heated seat, XM radio) of 5er is standard in 4GS . If you add all the packages/options in 535i, you can easily cross $75k, whereas 4GS maxes out at $62k. And you'd get Lexus reliability thrown in for free .

Now only if Lexus would allow buyers to custom-order as easily as BMW does [wishful thinking].

neilsarkar

IMO, E-class was definitely a notch below the other two. Even my wife, who is not an enthusiast, noted that. I really liked the driving feel of GS and 5. Ironically, GS had a heavier steering compared to 5 (both were in normal/comfort mode), which I really liked. GS's interior was of higher quality. I do not know what will happen if you equip a 5 with nappa leather($1000) and ceramic control ($600). As they say, with BMW, you have to pay even if you want door handles in your car

Dryrunner

iTrader: (1)

No one has mentioned the "H" model. I test drove the Genesis R Spec. Faster, bigger, just as much Tech and much less $$. I haven't tested the GS yet.

spwolf

it is gen7.

finally. old Lexus multimedia systems could never compare... thankfully we have vaistech.

LexFather

Jman will be wanted for MURDER for making internet heads explode with this honest commentary