New to the Club and new to Lexus. German car snob for most of my life, now in my late 50's. having owned 12 german cars previously:
A VW, a Porche, 3 Audi's, 4 Mercedes and 3 BMWs. Currently still own three. All under 60k mils.. The convertable with manual stays as does the wifes Audi Allroad but my 13' 535i MSport with 6spd MT gotta go. I have always been enthralled with big german sedans with Manual Trans. In the first Transporter Movie with Jason Stratham he drives a 740i with a Manual and thus my son nicknamed my 535i as its similar. Great Highway car, super comfortable and the build quality really quite good! Black on black, black ash trim with tinted windows, black grill but all else bone stock. Comfort seat is amazing.
"Isn't it great to have three German build cars?" Nope, pain in the **** and like having three teenage girls in private school. Always somthing and needing more!
So I won't keep droning on how I talked myself into a new car but one day I crunched numbers, figured out running costs to own over long time, looked up how other brands compared and saw Lexus on top and BMW on the bottom in rankings. The transporter was not returning enouth smiles to the mile. Even in Msport its all teutonic autobahn business and not much fun. Cost analysis did not past the muster. We recently had a $2500 repair they would not cover under warranty. Really should have. Cars have left and right similar parts and now a year later the other side is going to need it soon. Every ex BMW owner has its flash tempeture. I found mine. Isn't this how grampa left Mercedes and got to Lexus? Got mad over cost and felt "smart" about Lexus? Yikes", "Im grampa!!!!
Preachung to the choir about legendary Lexus quality will be lost on your ears. The style is either love or hate. My daughter laughed when I told her I was getting a lexus.. I explained: "I know, grampa had one years ago, and whats happeniung is Lexus is become "cooler" and Im getting older." It was bound to converge at some point. The bold grill style moved the timeline. Thought one day I'd wake up at 70 then get champaign beige metallic LS while able to brag to my friends about the gas mileage! Times have changed. Lexus makes two real truck SUV's, Thee Crossovers, and some dam fine coupes. Is this grampa's Lexus?
A week ago I would have laughed if you told me I would buyt one. ! I owned a few Sienna Vans we they served us very well. So for grins and giggles wife and I drove an RX350 as we considered replacing her Audi with somethiung bigger. Nice car for sure but she loves her Allroad. For those not in the know the allroad is with the A5 coupe suspension. Its wider and does not share any body panels with A4 Avant. Its raised for more clearence. Really great drive. There was an GS FSport on the lot (2020) and for some reason I asked to drive it. Grampa is long gone, but maybe he was with me last week? GS is about the size of my 535i but felt "Smaller", more nimble. The feedback was great with a solid quiet quality. Thet exhaust note was just right and the car was "FUN". Felt more like my 07' 328i coupe with inline 6 and sport package.Interior build quality on par with my BMW but seemingly more thoughful material softer touch on materials. Not sure its "better made" or more tactile satisfactoin? Anyway I put away my teutonic snobbery decided to get one. Thought it over and decided that given the car is unchanged since 16' I would find a low mileage used. I crunched all kind of numbers and did some reseasrch and instead found left over 19's new can be had with up to 17.5% discount which makes for all kinds possibilities. I will beat the numbers to death as I need to feel good about my car purchases as much as the car itself.

Today I put a deposit on Smokey Mica FSport/blackleather with AWD. Levinson, Triple LEDs, mats, and Lighted door sills few amung other goodies with an MSRP of $59,300 minus 17.5% no miles on odo.
The the life of me, this thing has a heated steering wheel! Grampa would approve of that.

 

Great first post. Welcome to the club! I have to tell you though.. pictures are mandatory!

 

Thank you for sharing your interesting story! Very well written... I hope you are going to enjoy years your new toy, it might take some time to love it as we all do here! I know it's not easy to switch from german to japanese vehicle for some people.

 

I'm in my late 20s and got the GS350, no regrets. Reliability and it's fun enough to make the boring commutes to work and back easier on you. Lexus isn't a Grandpa car, just people with bad stereotypes who don't even try driving them and make opinions.

 

Congrats! Sounds like your new ride is my car’s twin!

Hope you love it!

 

My first BMW's were all non turbo inline 6cyl and the cars as I ordered thenm with MT were juat a joy to drive. I don't require world class speed specs with a good dynmaic feel. By that, if your connected well you feel the speed and the curves. This current car does everything so well but you just don't feel it! Car has little roll on curves, it accelorates 0-50 in 5.5 sec. By contrast our litle two seater you sit just foward of the rear wheels and very close to the ground. Its very visceral and very fun!
The BMW is a joy to drive on the highway at high speeds not legal and not practical. She wants to go home to the autobahn where it belongs.
Being the "Teutonic snob" my take was: "BMW builds great cars that feel great to drive, Lexus builds a car to feel great in". The quality was never a question but the BMW's I have had had a "Soul". To keep up with technology demands the cars lost that soul. Turbos now make power with ease. The naturally aspired motors were my preference with Manual Trans as you had to engage the motor to get its power. Now its always there. Its like a video game. The cars are "better" but have lost something. Amenities sell cars and we like our creature comforts.
Lets be real, this is some first world **** we talking about and I am fortunate to have thee cars and two dirivers. We have the convertable two seater and will row my gears in that going foward.
I could have retracted back to the older bmw's but thats no fun is it?? LOL truth be told I did not test drive the ES Fsport. Perhaps I was put off by the lofty MSRP and front wheel drive orientation. Might take me a while to get that "Snobbery" exercised from me? The bones of that car are the Camry! Seems silly to even type this!!
But times are a changing. I really wanted an electric car truth be told and use the Audi for our long infrequent trips. Tesla dealers are about 100 miles away and the company itself is a bit volitile to say the least. Its ok to not have "soul" in the car. The Transporter was really just that. It did everything very well including keepiong its passangers and the driver at ease. I think the GS will do just fine and keep me engaged with feedback while I enjoy an ease of ownership of lower runniung costs.
Its always about the money!!! IF not, we'd all have far superior exotics in the driveway!!!! Cheers!!!

 

Congrats on your new ride, enjoy it in good health!

 

Sounds like you got a great deal overall especially with those options - Congrats and enjoy!

 

Sums up our reality nicely!

Fantastic price!! Only $26000USD cheaper than the drive away price at my local dealer!! The best part is that it will never age as they're probably not going to make another GS I didn't know they came with lit door sils from factory, did the dealer put those on?

 

Illuminated door sills is a $425 factory option which my 18 has.

 

I Think the Sills were a “Port option”.

 

Nice deal and car sounds sweet! Makes me think paying 45k for a 2018 with 8k miles was a rip!

 

Deal not done and there is a glitch. I’m not happy. Dealer trying to renege perhaps? Seems that way. I’ll keep ya posted.

 

Deal not done? Maybe the Lexus $3K cash (IIRC) has expired since they didn't close the deal by the expiration date of Jan 2, 2020?

So now you know you have to post the details, so we can see what deal they reneged on... I'm sure everyone here wants to know...

 

You can always check other dealers if this dealer doesn't work out. Keep us posted.