Thinking of switching from IS250AWD to GS350AWD
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First off I know this is going to spark a lot of "defend the IS above all else" feelings with some of you. I'm more looking for pros and cons regarding the switch. I believe the GS is larger and obviously going to be heavier than the IS but more specific info from an experienced GS'er would be appreciated. I've never been in or driven a GS of any generation and I know we have members on here who own or have owned both a GS and an IS.
I really want to stick with AWD and have been craving the 350AWD setup for some time now. Obviously if I want to stick with the IS I would have to get a 2011 which is not a realistic financial possibility ATM. The 3rd gen GS styling has grown on me in the past year and I'm thinking of switching since 07-09 used GS350 AWDs seem to be reasonably priced these days.
Any advice from those of you with experience driving a GS, especially 3rd gen, would be greatly appreciated.
I have an 06 IS250AWD and am looking at 07-09 GS350 AWDs.
How about this one with the dealer buyback for the front seatbelts? Seems like the resale would be much lower with a dealer buyback on record
but that asking price is schweet!
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false
Please let me know, I'm going to check that one out this weekend just to get my feet wet. I live in Denver but I'll be visiting family in Phoenix anyways so why not?! Thanks in advance!
-Fisher
I really want to stick with AWD and have been craving the 350AWD setup for some time now. Obviously if I want to stick with the IS I would have to get a 2011 which is not a realistic financial possibility ATM. The 3rd gen GS styling has grown on me in the past year and I'm thinking of switching since 07-09 used GS350 AWDs seem to be reasonably priced these days.
Any advice from those of you with experience driving a GS, especially 3rd gen, would be greatly appreciated.
I have an 06 IS250AWD and am looking at 07-09 GS350 AWDs.
How about this one with the dealer buyback for the front seatbelts? Seems like the resale would be much lower with a dealer buyback on record
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http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false
Please let me know, I'm going to check that one out this weekend just to get my feet wet. I live in Denver but I'll be visiting family in Phoenix anyways so why not?! Thanks in advance!
-Fisher
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I've put a few hundred miles on an 07 GS350. My daily driver is an 06 IS350. The GS has a MUCH nicer ride. The one I drove had lots of options, where as my IS is pretty plain, so that was a nice point on the IS. My step mom has put about 120k miles on the GS in 3 years with nothing but a few sets of tires and 1 set of new brakes. No other problems at all. The car looks perfect inside and out. The GS is not nearly as fast or responsive as the IS, but is very nice to drive. It is probably a bit faster than the 250 (don't know numbers), but probably wouldn't handle quite as well. The GS did not have paddle shifters, if you cared about that. Not sure it was an option or not. Since you wouldn't really be giving up speed, and would think you would be very happy with the GS.
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I've put a few hundred miles on an 07 GS350. My daily driver is an 06 IS350. The GS has a MUCH nicer ride. The one I drove had lots of options, where as my IS is pretty plain, so that was a nice point on the IS. My step mom has put about 120k miles on the GS in 3 years with nothing but a few sets of tires and 1 set of new brakes. No other problems at all. The car looks perfect inside and out. The GS is not nearly as fast or responsive as the IS, but is very nice to drive. It is probably a bit faster than the 250 (don't know numbers), but probably wouldn't handle quite as well. The GS did not have paddle shifters, if you cared about that. Not sure it was an option or not. Since you wouldn't really be giving up speed, and would think you would be very happy with the GS.
Last edited by Kurtz; 12-16-10 at 06:35 AM.
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Replacing the entire seatbelt mechanism on both driver and front passenger positions only takes about an hour or two -- as many of us with early 2006 2IS cars know. We had our cars recalled for this very problem under special service campaign 6LC.
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when i had drop off my uncle at the airport, we took his GS350. when i drove it home, it felt like i was driving a bus after driving an IS for so long. i would hate to think how it'd be if i drove an LS
But it definitely felt like it had a smoother ride with a quiet and roomy interior. the GS is a ballin car. if you do make the switch, congrats!
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Am I the only one that finds the claim that Lexus did a vehicle buyback for a car with nothing more than a stuck seatbelt just a little suspicious?
Replacing the entire seatbelt mechanism on both driver and front passenger positions only takes about an hour or two -- as many of us with early 2006 2IS cars know. We had our cars recalled for this very problem under special service campaign 6LC.
Replacing the entire seatbelt mechanism on both driver and front passenger positions only takes about an hour or two -- as many of us with early 2006 2IS cars know. We had our cars recalled for this very problem under special service campaign 6LC.
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I'm flying out to AZ in the morning and I'm going to try to hit up that dealership tomorrow, I'll let you guys know what happens...
I greatly appreciate all the responses, thanks gents
-Fisher
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The GS350 is much quicker than the IS250... and only a little bit slower than the IS350. It's the same engine IS350 and GS350 (though tune is slightly different, meaning the GS makes 3 less peak hp and 3 less peak tq, but it makes both at lower rpms), just the GS is about 300 lbs heavier and geared less aggressively (3.73 rear in the GS vs 4.08 in the IS... transmission gears are the same).