OUGrad05

I am beginning to inch a little closer towards a GSF. I recently had a BMW 540i as my loaner car and that was a tremendous car. Much better than I anticipated, steering response was good, there was some actual feedback through the wheel (though not much) and it weighted up well so you knew what the front end was doing.

However, if I’m going to spend 50k on a car (buying used), I want something that’s rare/special not some run of the mill 540i M Sport. That has me pointed back in the Audi S6 or Lexus GSF direction or perhaps a CTS V Sport. Another consideration is to just buy a 2018 Accord to replace my 335i, I’d have great rear space for the kids, reasonably well built cabin and a solid and cheap reliable car. That’s not completely off the table…

But, I know I’d rather have something with some power and room. While the GSF doesn’t offer much, if any, more rear seat room over my 335i, the cabin overall is larger, wider and provides amenities my 335i doesn’t have. Additionally, it’s a somewhat analog car in a digital world. I really enjoyed the soundtrack from the V8, the steering is good in the Lexus and the interior is very well built (despite the lack of organic materials).

I will be one of the few that actually takes their vehicle to the track and it’s hard for me to believe that anything will be as solid and reliable doubling as a DD and track car as the GSF. The automatic transmission could be better, it’s slow to downshift even with the paddles and slow to upshift…but I believe the second one I drove was better than the first one I drove and I’m pretty sure I read something about an ECU update that changed some of the shift logic?

I also believe we’ll see another 6 or 9 months of fairly rapid depreciation at which point it’ll start to flatten out. I suspect, like the ISF that the GSF will wind up being worth 40k even when its 5 or 6 years old if it’s well maintained. My goal is to pickup a CPO car perhaps in the spring for somewhere around $50,000 with less than 25k miles. From what I can tell this should be realistic. I’m seeing CPO cars already in the high 50s and low 60s, that’s asking price, I suspect you could squeeze 7 or 10% off those CPO asking prices.

Are there any significant changes between the 2016, 2017 and 2018 cars that I should be aware? Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

Shelly40

The CTS V Sport is a real good car... fun to drive, good handling, and has power.....

But I am in a position to say that the GS F is the overall better car between the two....at least in my opinion.....
But I really did like the Vsport.....
But the deal I got on My GS F was a no brainer to get it......

They wouldn't deal as much on the Vsport..... I did look into getting another one at lease end.....

I had a V Sport lease for 3 years right before I purchased my GS F....

As far as the BMW.... just doesn't do it for me....
Nice car, but not the car for me....
I looked at and drove the M4, and the 540......

Gotta run out now to play some hockey.....
If you have questions on either car, I can probably help.....

Shelly

OUGrad05

Thoughts on the back seats? I'm concerned the GSF backseat won't be much bigger than my 335i which for its class of car is surprisingly roomy. I've only driven a couple CTSs and I wasn't concerned about rear seat because I wasn't test driving for ownership. I've read its tighter than the GS/GSF and that would be a big concern.

The GSF supposedly has a touch more room than the GS350 due to the GSF seats, or so I've been told...I need the local dealer to get another so I can take for an extended drive.

edit: one more question do all GSFs have the ability to configure my own drive mode? For example, I want the transmission shift speed of sport or sport+ with normal throttle response and steering, or quicker shifts and sport+ steering but everything else "normal" etc?

TrevorR

iTrader: (2)

Never driven any of the cars so can't compare. Additionally, I'm 5'11 and I if I sit in the back I probably have an inch of knee room, if that, so yeah the backseat is kind of cramped for full sized adults.

As far as the drive modes, I've never customized the settings but there is a customizable setting to make your own drive mode.

The difference between the 2016 and 2017 is the adaptive variable suspension that's was added to the 2017. If you track the car regularly, the 2017 may benefit you. The 2018 is different than the 2017, in that it has 10 year Lexus Enform subscription and it has the all speed cruise control instead of high speed cruise control. All speed cruise control is pretty awesome in stop and go traffic, but if you live in an area where there isn't much traffic, you'll probably never use the all speed cruise control. I live in the DC area and deal with stop and go traffic every single day. I wished my 2017 had the all speed cruise control.

designo

iTrader: (6)

In my case, I found 3 cars that fall within the price range of 80k brand new.

Was offered a brand new fully loaded BMW 540 M kit. What a car filled with cute features.
Then the Audi S5 Sedan with the least number of features as the BMW or Lexus.

The GSF just looked like best value for money in terms of drive experience and performance.

OUGrad05

I'm 6'6 so unless the car is a full size car there's almost always rear seat issues, the question is how significant are they and can we (or my kids) live with them.