ndk83

I had put a deposit down on a G35 sedan (second Gen) , cause the G37 wasnt out yet, all it took was a sit inside the IS300 (2nd Gen) to make me change my mind, yea its no where near as fast as the G, but a hell of alot more refined confortable luxurious and its quite fun to drive,
For me BMW are over done, everyone has one and not really pushing the edge anymore. Yes it handles really well and its fun to drive, but the interior quality isnt as nice as an IS. Also reliability played a huge role, i wanted to mod the car so i needed something that wouldnt be giving me a headache, and u cannot beat toyota reliabilty.

Plus springs and sway bar make he IS handle as good as and inifiniti, so performace and handling of the IS isnt that bad at all, so really was a no brainer. Lexus FTW

juice14

I had even a much larger list before i got my IS350. I chose the IS becasue the 335i was too expensive and my MAzda's interior was nicer. also BMWs are not necessarely reliable.
the G35 coupe is an awesome car, but i wanted a 4 door and i dont like the G35 sedan. I still chose the IS350 because its a lexus, interior is sick, the looks are great, its faster than the G35 on a striaght line.

Thunker

Thanks to everyone who replied. I very much appreciate it. It seems the most common reasons in the responses are 1) Best in class interior 2) Quality/reliability. It seems like people also see the G35/37 as second best - which doesn't surprise me given the glowing "professional" reviews. This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. I really think I've already ruled out the BMW 328. I'm reading (elsewhere) about quality issues and the cost of repairs which is a combo that really concerns me - I like to keep my cars for a long time so dependability is critical. The salesman gave me a printout of a J.D. Powers vehicle dependability study - Lexus was at the very top and had a fairly wide margin between # 2; Infiniti was smack dab in the middle. Hmmm I may have already made up my mind based on the test drive and this feedback! But for peace of mind I will drive a G37 Journey... thanks again to all who replied..

Fizzboy7

Styling was #1. Price was #2. Lexus had the best lease rates at the time (2008).

rscott22

1. reliability
2. customer service
3. fit and finish. 4
. best bang for your buck

These cars are beautiful and are backed very well by the dealership and for what little problems you may have the dealer never fights with you and says yes sir we will fix it. Try and do that with a BMW they will laugh in your face. The warrantys are much longer the BMW nad Infiniti also 50 bumper to bumper 70 on powertrain you cant be that for the luxury you get.

suicidesam

the g37 coupe was my first choice but i felt like i was buying back into the problems i had with my g35 coupe. it burned more oil then gas and i was getting tired of being a regular at the dealer. i didn't go with a 3 series because imho it is was way over priced. so i ended up with a 350 and don't regret a thing

tfz_hebe89

iTrader: (1)

Styling both exterior and interior hands down..when I was buying my IS350 back then I didn;t know that this beast can run 0-60 in 5secs...

Reliability.. so far no problem with the car except minor rattle and recall which are no biggie.. you don't want your car to be stuck in the dealership every here and there with a car of poor reliability..

Shoganai

iTrader: (3)

ditto for me... I also test drove the TL but it felt like a boat to me

AM1

iTrader: (6)

i really wanted an g37S, since what i really wanted was a coupe. in the end the dealer couldnt work out a good deal for the G37S. the 335i was too much more $$ then what i wanted to spend, plus they were very against working on price. in the end i got a killer deal on the IS and here i am.

weesped

iTrader: (8)

thats the best reason haha

Lets Drive

iTrader: (3)

For me, it was safety, reliability, style, features, comfort, performance/gas mileage, and cost; roughly in that order.

It quickly got narrowed down to the new IS (at the time), as it easily satisfied my safety requirements. From knee protection and the air bag design, to the pre-collision system, both active and passive features, it was an easy consideration (also considering my passenger). Reliability was an assumption on a first year car, but Lexus owns its reputation for fair reason (at worst, its better than a rotary )

The styling was completely subjective, but with everything else on the list, it has to appeal to me in order to own it…and the IS looked the part with the new L-finesse philosophy. It was sporty and sophisticated, both inside and out, with a look that wasn’t a complete detachment from the more sporty roots. As I also prefer a tighter feel to a cars cabin, it earned some comfort points, too…all of which was matched to an appropriate interior.

Performance wasn't as high a priority versus other criteria on the list, but it was still notable and stood out amongst other cars in the class, at the time. This is also due in part to the fact that my other car pretty handily moves in a straight line and around corners just fine, so the IS pretty much serves as a bit of in-between with its performance, while being more tolerable to drive every day. The fact that it made relatively good gas mileage numbers was a real boon.

Of the cars I’d consider today, I’d likely look at the 335i and a few others, but none existed at the time… In retrospect, I don’t regret the choice at all, anyway. The car may not do everything perfect, but it does a lot right…most of which I appreciated more, as I came to live with it in the weeks and subsequent months.

ChrISF

I looked into the best bang for my buck. My goal was to find thee best car; performance, styling, quality, reliability, MPG....the list goes on, for 30k. I didn't really have a preference to 2 door, 4 dorr, 5 door. I test drove the RX-8, 350Z, Mazdaspeed 6, g35, Audi A3, A4...just to name a few and of course, the Lexus. Every car has it's pros and cons, obviously, but it was ultimately between the RX-8 and the IS250 6speed.

After countless nights of contemplations, I landed on the Lexus because i truly asked myself, "What's worth more...a 30k Mazda or a 30k Lexus." the answer was simple based on that question. I wound up ordering my Lexus for $30,500 not OTT.

I'm happy.

mvlbr

Cuz I'm a Toyota guy

PMok

haha ditto...
I went from: '91 Tercel > '00 MR2 Spyder > '92 MR2 Turbo > '05 Scion tC > '06 IS350

I did test drive the G35 (coupe and sedan), the 330i sedan and the 335i coupe. For everyday driving/commute luxury the Lexus wins, and wasn't lacking in the performance or value categories either.

sestan

I just got my IS250 a couple of weeks ago after a few months of test driving and deciding what to get from a 30k - 35k range. It's interesting to see all the similiar choices everyone here had to make, especially deciding between a G37, 3 series, and the IS.

I eventually decided to go for the Lexus because personally, I thought the quality was the highest, the ride felt the best, and I thought the design of the car was the best out of the 3. Sure it may only have about 200hp, but its a comfortable yet sporty ride. That, and the wife loved it too heh. I was deciding between AWD, Navi and 350, but decided to go navi because i'm a gadget freak and the wife loves the navi too