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It's happened to friends of mine. One guy had a wheel ripped off his (high mileage) Mercedes by a pothole on a Philadelphia street. It was actually a good thing, as it turned out the suspension was worn out and he could have lost steering on the highway.
I've seen many flats due to potholes, and last winter there was a Honda Odyssey with its front wheel buried to the axle in a local pothole.
The worst is when we have enough rain or snow to fill the damn potholes, because unless you know where they are, you can't see them to avoid them. I'm sure the towing industry lobbies against road repairs around here
Yep so glad I just went with 18's instead of 19's. Got a flat a week after getting my GS getting onto exit 12 of the Turnpike. As nice as the 19's look, and they do look awesome, it is not fun to be stranded on the side of the road, with the whole family, in a suit , on a hot day .... I think the 19's would be that much susceptible to the potholes.
Honestly, I barley see any with the Luxury package. I wished I could test out a GS with that package. lol I have the the f sport package....I remember you can only pick the f sport or the luc package?
You are correct. Either one or the other. I wish you could combine the Luxury and F Sport packages.
I'd love to have the front bumper of the F Sport along with the interior amenities and intelligent headlights of the Luxury Package. Would obviously be more expensive though.
Erik
^^Here is my 2013 with Luxury package and flaxen interior.
I test drove several F-Sports, but was still hesitant at times if the car was for me...but I had the serious intention to get the F-Sport if i went GS350 route. Then I saw a listing for the Lux Pkg...the feature list got me as well as the right color. Test drove it the next day, walked away knowing i was going the Lux Pkg route. The fact that it includes the AVS, just like the F-sport, is what sold me. It just felt like the perfect combination of features and performance. At first i was hesitant about the wheels, but now they have grown on me as well. They are not fun to clean however. In person, I became more and more impressed with the subdued yet still aggressive nature of the non-Fsport bumper. I am actually starting to enjoy the horizontal grille on this model.
I am was fortunate to get the ML on mine, along with the HUD, which is probably my favorite feature (guess that's not confined to Luxury package however). No cold-weather pkg, but I expected that from a southern car. My only gripe? I have a '13, so no power mirrors for me....but honestly other than that, this is a whole lot of car for the money.
^^Here is my 2013 with Luxury package and flaxen interior.
I test drove several F-Sports, but was still hesitant at times if the car was for me...but I had the serious intention to get the F-Sport if i went GS350 route. Then I saw a listing for the Lux Pkg...the feature list got me as well as the right color. Test drove it the next day, walked away knowing i was going the Lux Pkg route. The fact that it includes the AVS, just like the F-sport, is what sold me. It just felt like the perfect combination of features and performance. At first i was hesitant about the wheels, but now they have grown on me as well. They are not fun to clean however. In person, I became more and more impressed with the subdued yet still aggressive nature of the non-Fsport bumper. I am actually starting to enjoy the horizontal grille on this model.
I am was fortunate to get the ML on mine, along with the HUD, which is probably my favorite feature (guess that's not confined to Luxury package however). No cold-weather pkg, but I expected that from a southern car. My only gripe? I have a '13, so no power mirrors for me....but honestly other than that, this is a whole lot of car for the money.
Very nice! The HUD would be a nice option to get, but I haven't seen it on any of the LP cars I've found so far.
I am was fortunate to get the ML on mine, along with the HUD, which is probably my favorite feature (guess that's not confined to Luxury package however). No cold-weather pkg, but I expected that from a southern car. My only gripe? I have a '13, so no power mirrors for me....but honestly other than that, this is a whole lot of car for the money.
Can you take a pic of the left side of the steering wheel? I assume you can identify if it has HUD by the controls on that side?
The HUD controls are under the ODO controls. Many times when looking online, that photo is the only way to tell if it has a HUD. HUD is the one thing I wish my car had, but buying used I was limited in availability. My experience is it's fairly rare.
I didn't realize the 19" rims were an option...I was only expecting to see those on the F-Sports. I would also prefer 18s for a better ride, especially with the crappy roads around here.
I see that all the LP cars I found were '13s and '14s, so it's possible that the ML system came with '15 and up. I must keep an eye out for it.
Did you know that the 19's are called quiet wheels? There is an air chamber in the bead of the wheel that helps to dampen noise and vibration. I have them on mine and like both the look and feel but cannot comment on weather they are actually quieter than any others. I have the Brigdestone tires and they are much quieter than I thought they would be. When I purchased my car the dealer took $850 off the sales price because I wanted Michelins and they did not have any in stock. I was going to use that to buy a set of Michelin's but after driving the car for a while it's quiet enough so I pocketed the extra money.
Great looking ride Atrac7!
Here's my LP '14 Lux. Since these pics, I've added a rear spoiler and illuminated door sills.
Sorry for the crappy pics. My New Years resolution will be to improve my photography skills!
If the LS is in your price range and interest, it's certainly worth a good look as well.
I'll list out my loves of the Lux package:
+ adaptive front lighting and still HID at least for the '14
+ 18-way front seats, both of 'em, super comfy
+ tan headliner (at least with Flaxen leather), I find the black of F-sport makes the car too dark
Things my car has that I also love:
+ ML sound (not standard on Lux)
+ BSM w/RCTA and power-folding mirrors
+ IPA
Things I wish my car had, but weren't deal breakers:
+ HUD
+ rear heated seats
+ VGRS, only on the F-sport RWD
+ LDH, only available on the F-sport?
+ Easier to wash wheels, OMG these 18-spoke chome wheels take too much time! (note, this can/will be fixed someday...)
My experience searching is not all of them list the Luxury Package, so pay attention to the wood steering wheel as an easy give-away that it has the package. Good luck!
Agreed, I found one the other day while shopping when my daughter jumped in the back seat and pulled down the armrest. I said: "Oh, this one has the controls in the back too!"
I had to look it up. It wasn't listed on the net for that car and the only give away which I hadn't noticed was the wood steering wheel.
I bought my 2016 GS 350 new in March with the Luxury package. I did not like several things about the F-Sport including the seats, the grill, etc. The Luxury package includes the Sport mode and Sport + so I get a lot of the 'sport' settings with a more comfortable seat. I love the ML stereo and the seats. The side and rear sun shades are nice as well when parked in the sun. Mine has the Safety System Plus as well. The bind side warnings and beeps are awesome helps when changing lanes or backing out of parking spaces. I also got the one touch power trunk which I use a lot.
WHOA! The Luxury Package has Sport+? Is there such a thing as an AWD LP?
Yes, the Luxury Package has AVS with Sport S+, and yes, it's available on AWD.. It's just not as aggressive as the F Sport, but I don't think most people can tell much difference between Sport S+ in the Luxury Package vs F Sport package.