JRT3

Thanks for posting this. I'm in the market and finally test driving tomorrow. Even if I could buy new, buying a 2 or 3 year old one just seems like a much better value. At least he has this to say...

Freds430

The GS is a great car that just never found it's niche. In 2019, the GS only sold 3,378 units which was the second lowest for Lexus with the LC being the lowest. Even worse sales were down 48% over 2018. I still think at 3,300 units they are not going to leave a production line open unless it has a major major update like Lexus's first EV or plug-in hybrid with 400 horsepower etc.

Nalod

U.S. Market is not the only one but no doubt the GS is at the end of its run.
My story is simple:
Buy used 2017-18 up to $40k price. I usually put half down. Sold my just out of CPO 2013 Paid for 535i that I really did like with 57k miles on it. Msport with 6spd manual. “The unicorn”. CPO was very disappointing which is another story all together. With Three German cars in the driveway I I wanted Legendary Lexus reliability. Value proposition was to be patient but finding what I wanted was not easy given the low volume of the car. I ended up with a 2020 at 49k on a car that was 59k and change MSRP. What else does 49k buy? If I read reviews I find my GS350 FSport lacks vs. A6, Eclass, or 5 series. What variant can I buy with 49k? Likely low mile CPO with balance of warranty. I want longer term ownership than that and not be terrorized by what CPO does NOT cover when new warranty is out. If buying new I’m really in decent 3, C, or A4 and 4cyl turbo high compression market . Infiniti and Acura have nothing vs. the GS worth writing about. I did not consider spending that kind of money on a Hyundai. I’m a blue blood Teutonic car snob now wanting a Toyota product. Maybe next time I look at Korean. Its not a knock on them but credence to my ignorance!!!
This is why the Review is not valid. It should be “What can a stale end of cycle bargain really offer in the real world?”
Other than the Front end the GS style is very Asian build generic and the interior design is not modern. In the real world if you don’t care about the latest and greatest or “competition” then perhaps having a car in its seventh year that has some very good (Not that it matters but it does) Consumer reports grades for reliability by a builder of cars known for such things I find that very appealing. The lack of Apple play and the mouse are not deal breakers. Having an oversized tablet modern dash is not an issue. I have had loaner cars that have all kinds of cool Led trim that can turn different colors. I end up putting them in white and lowering the intensity. I also lower the dash and display as they are too bright. I like the low key nature of tech of the car and prefer it. Tech is cool, who doesn’t love Star Wars buttons and dials, but its not why I buy a car. Its why I loved my BMW’s for years that it was About the the driving dynamic. I test drove a new 70k 5 series they would have discounted fairly well. Wonderful car and very smooth. LIke most newer cars they feel less substantial the the previous build and over engineer them so they have no soul. OK, this is the modern world and Nobbody putting a gun to my head and making me buy a new car. Sometimes you get in a car and say “I gotta have it”!!! Not so with the 5. The Eclass interior actually is wonderful but the exterior left me bland. I have an Audi and really they are wonderful, but I dont’t want two and the ones we have always have something needing fixing. Our 10 year old two seat Mercedes with a Manual Trans gets a pass. We only drive it 4K miles a year and its fun. A7, S5 Sedan, and BMW 6 series are “I gotta have it” but the price point was kinda not rooted in my reality. Just because I can don’t mean I do.
This is where I come from and why the review might be mostly true the discount and value quotient puts back a lot into it.
I really don’t mind paying for a premium car and the premium experience but if the superior to GS i this time always need work then it takes away from it. I’m in my late 50s and don’t want the hassle anymore. To me thats worth a lot. wheel gap, excess chrome does and the presence of Amber does not bother me. I’m not in that mode anymore. My mod will be tint and a nice air freshener.
Its also AWD. Rarely do I need it really and I’m being a total wuss. I have two cars I can take an not worry about who takes the Audi or not. Just want to get in the freaking cars and drive them when ever. Maybe next car will be an ES and I can be like a normal person. Naw!!!!

jtrue28

Writer is clearly a Tesla guy. What a douche.

JDR76

I wouldn't say it never found its niche. It sold very well for the first 5 years or so of this cycle, often hitting over 20k sales per year. It's just that Lexus has let it stagnate in the middle of a downturn for sedans. The result of that is easy to see.

imjohnphan

I think that is the problem with the GS. To other people who are trying to compare their options sees a 2020 model at 59K MSRP vs their competitors not a 49K MSRP optioned out GS350. Lexus still want's the GS350 to appear to compete with the 5 series and A6 by pricing to be in the same category but fail to show that they are pricing it way lower in reality at dealers to move cars.

UDel

Read that article, pretty dumb and shockingly inaccurate in the details. I liked Automobile mag but the quality has gone down and I can see why they are closing up shop.

No, actual owners complain about lack of buttons and everything being buried in annoying touchscreens. Auto journalists complained about too many buttons thinking they sounded clever and witty making jokes car interiors looking like jet cockpits so what did many automakers do, they over reacted, got rid of most buttons and put the functions in annoying touchscreens, buried them in menu screens which made something that was not really a issue to 99% drivers/owners now a big annoyance if not adding a level of danger to having to take your eyes off the road, take your gloves off, move a mouse cursor or tap through menu's to hope you are able to find the function you just want to quickly adjust, turn on, etc. Then the same auto journalists who complained about too many buttons, complain that automakers listened to them and put too many functions in annoying touchscreens/menu's. They now don't know what to do/suggest but most seem to love Tesla cars and their smartphones so they want all automakers to copy Tesla's ugly dull solution of the giant tablet/smartphone covering most of the dash with almost nothing else going on in the interiors.