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How I ended with 2015 Lexus GS 350 AWD F Sport (Nebula/Cabernet)
First off, Thank you to the Club Lexus community - the GS Fourth Gen. I’ve been a passive user for a while now. I went through a lot of threads and it’s a good knowledge source by the community members.
How did it unfold...
Decided to replace my 2011 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Premium ever since the first month I bought it.
4 years of hunting and found this GS
Not interested in BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 or Benz C Class or Lexus IS
Usage: I do take long summer road trips.. sometimes 1000 Miles a day. Kids growing into teenagers so needed a mid size sedan and I needed the power when I needed to pass and merge which was awful and totally unacceptable with the Impreza. AWD for those few days because I live in MN.
I wanted to own this car for 7-10 years and not interested in leasing
Features needed are - at least 300 HP/250+ torque, 4 door sedan, mid size, leather interior, good noise insulation, ergonomic comfort
Other cars considered - Audi A6, A7, Benz E350, E550 BMW 335, 535, 550, Genesis, Infinity M37 (Q70). I sat on some of these cars and got out right away and didn’t even bother to take it for a test drive. For ex: Audi A6 front seats are pathetic for a car of that size, Benz is so squarish like building blocks, didn’t like the roughness and ride on BMW
For the first time, I went to the dealer in Nov 2014 just before Thanks Giving to pick one from the lot for a bargain and fortunately they didn’t have one. This is all while I was getting some updates from the community about the 2015 GS features. Ended up placing an order for 2015 GS 350 AWD F Sport with Nebula/Cabernet, Navigation Package, BSM, One-Touch power trunk, IPA, Cold weather package, Accessory package. I wanted a fully loaded with all bells and whistles but it appeared that would take 4 months. So placed an order for the one that was on ship headed to the States and can be delivered in 3 weeks. I picked it on Dec 5th.
Color choice - Exterior: didn't want Red, Blue, Black and White that left me with Platinum, Nebula and Atomic. Atomic had brown tone so NO.. Platinum is too shiny.. I wanted something stealth and less attention so Nebula was the choice. Interior: No second thoughts. Love the Cabernet.
I should not forget to mention the sales and delivery experience with the dealer was walk in the park
My advice to you since you're going to keep it a long time, drive it on trips, and obviously you live where it snows...is invest in a full hood/fenders/bumper clear bra application. Do it right away so you can lock in the factory newness, the paint does chip very easily.
Nebula Grey is a really sharp paint job - pictures don't really do it justice. I avoided it because I didn't think it looked dark enough, but in the real world it looks a lot darker (which is a good thing!)