SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

Yep, I bought mine. I never actually leased a car in my life

SW17LS

I don't think thats it, I see more LS460s and LX570s on the road than I do 4GS's, and they cost a lot more.

cbaldwin

I too very rarely see a 2013 GS350....have seen older models of them though and they still look great.

I've never seen another F Sport on the road....been wondering why myself. But it doesn't bother me in the least. Very weird though I must admit.

I do get long stares at the car.....my wife notices they are mainly younger people and all are guys and none of the opposite sex like I tell all my guy friends. :-)

NewSpace

even around here in northern california, 4GS F's are rare. about as rare as IS F's in fact. i see BMW 550s, Tesla Model S, just about everything else. It is kinda strange.

Trek

that's exactly what I'm getting at, I think. I see plenty of new LS on the road, so it's not an inability to afford or preference for German brands. Since the release of this generation, I have not seen this car -2013 GS 350- on the road anywhere in PA, NJ, or NYC. Not once. I would like to at least see what others are seeing when they see me. True, I don't want to trade for an Accord. EVERYBODY has an Accord. It's so common as to be laughable. I hate a "me too" kind of car. That's actually one reason why I did not go for the BMW 5 series. I see them everywhere. I've never liked buying what everybody else is driving. But to see none of these cars on the road in the 18 months since release is kinda crazy.

praetor

Perhaps it's also because the GS is that in between car, sort of like the red headed middle child, LOL

IS300, the sporty one.
ES350, the practical sedan
RX350, the soccer mom
LS460, the luxurious sedan
LX 570, luxury SUV

And then you have the GX and the GS. The in betweeners. Not super sporty and not super luxurious.

SW17LS

I think thats exactly what it is. The GS is in a tough spot, because Lexus essentially has two midsized luxury sedans...the GS and ES. When you look around at the people driving say a 528 or an E350, they aren't enthusiasts a lot of times. They buy those cars because they are the right size, and the brand they want, not because of any performance characteristics. That buyer walks into a Lexus dealer and buys the ES, not the GS. So, the GS is left for those who truly appreciate what makes it different from the ES, and there aren't a ton of those people lets just put it that way.

1111GS

Your second post agrees with my post, Steve. Both you and Trek read my post wrong. Can't really bring LS and LX into the argument to say people can afford the GS. That's not my point that they can or can not afford the GS. Of course they can but when the GS is brought up against the 5s, E, A6 and even 3s, 4s and Cs, many can not justify the cost of the GS. Car people like you know the GS's values. That's why we got the car and most of us here are happy with the decision. Others, like you stated, buy for different reasons. Thus they don't value the GS as we do.

SW17LS

I don't think cost relative to the competition is the issue, a lot of buyers out there don't really care about cost. They walk into the BMW dealer, say "I want to buy a car", the 3 series is too small so they buy the 5. Same at BMW...same at Audi.

At Lexus however, the ES isn't too small...so they buy that. They can't justify the GS's cost compared to the ES (i.e, why would I pay more for that GS, this ES is bigger), but the issue is not the GS' cost compared to the 5, E or A6. These buyers are just buying way more car than they need or really even want there to get the size they want, they understand why a 5 is more than a 3 because its bigger. They equate each model with its size, and since they don't care about driving...why would they spend more for the GS over the ES?

The whole "Lexus is a Toyota" thing is an enthusiast thing. Most buyers don't have an issue there at all.

I've sat there and watched them. 70 year old couple walks into the dealer while I was waiting on the GS to be prepped, they said "I want to buy a car". Salesman asks, "What kind of car are you looking for?" They respond "A red one". He showed them an ES...obviously. After they came back from their test drive in a red ES, they're sitting there and he's explaining the packages and such, navigation and blind spot monitoring and she's just looking at him blankly, she says to him "I want air conditioning". I'm not making this up, thats probably 50% of the market for these cars.

hypnotika

I've been spotting 4GS's a lot more frequently in Los Angeles now than when I first got my car at the end of 2012. This includes the F-sports. I've seen at least 5 different 4GSs to and from my "short" 12 mile work commute on the 405.

When I head up to meet up with friends in the San Gabriel Valley frequently, I'll see at least 1 or 2 in that area each time. I just saw another SP F sport last night in the same parking lot where I had dinner. It's definitely becoming a more common sight these days due to the model year end clearances (I can tell that most were bought within the last few months). Don't know what the scene is like elsewhere, but it is surprising to hear you guys aren't seeing many in the wild... I feel the only thing keeping me unique now are the few mods I've done.

NewSpace

This. So true. The vast majority of the public drives cars. But the vast majority of drivers see cars as appliances or worse, necessary evils (increasingly so for young people <25). Those of us that are on this forum are a tiny sliver of the market: Enthusiasts who appreciate what it means to have a sport suspension, for example.

It's hard for me to comprehend when a friend, co-worker, or family member says "I saw the coolest car today, you would have loved it because you're a car guy."

"Oh yeah! What was it?"

"It was red." End of story.

When one of US (CL members are a rare breed) walks into a dealership, we certainly know more about the car we're interested in than the salesperson does.

This is why the GS F Sport and the GS F need to be loudly supported. Lexus will continue to make ES's for the masses, but we, the few, the proud, need our F's.

Trek

Holy crap! Are people really like that? "A red one." II want air conditioning." Holy crap! A car is a necessity unless you live in Manhattan or downtown Chicago. How can people shop for something that is a necessity with so little information or knowledge about the different types? I'm not talking about hardcore knowledge like mods or engines. I'm talking about basic features. Would anyone buy a new refrigerator without studying up on refrigerators? What kind of world do we live in?

SW17LS

This is a true story too. Everybody at my office knows I know a lot about cars, so they all come talk to me before they buy cars (another reason why I know that people know *nothing* about cars). One of my coworkers recently bought a new Mini Cooper and I helped her choose what she wanted, etc. She texts me a picture last tuesday of a Ferrari she took on the beltway...her question was "Is this some sort of really bad *** car? It looks cool". She had no idea what a Ferrari was. No concept that such a thing even existed. It may as well have been a unicorn or something she had seen.

Its terrifying. Funny you mention refrigerators, I just bought a new refrigerator. Everybody made fun of me, including my wife, for shopping so much for the refrigerator, learning about brands, models, features, and finding the best price. I mean...I maybe spent a few hours for a couple of days on it...I just never buy something substantial without really researching what my options are first...

Apparently everybody else does! My wife was like "Its just a refrigerator" and I was like "Its $2,700! I want to be sure I'm getting the best product for that money, and the best price on it"...

NewSpace

Funny. We just bought a fridge as well, and I too became slightly obsessive about the research before pulling the trigger...

SW17LS

Glad I'm not the only "crazy" one...