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Reading forums is an art.
Im gathering super happy people rarely repeat their joys while complaints are more constant.
“The good old days”. Yes, the older LS models catered to an older buyer whom the stole from Mercedes and built on that. My uncle did this very thing. Sold me his low mile 1989 420SEL (we nicknamed it “The Bismark”) so he could buy a Lexus in 1994!
Lexus built its business model going after german build with reliable high quality facsimile cars that last a long time.
This 5th generation they stand up and say “Japanese craftmanship” and no longer aim to Teutonic gods of Europe.
Things are changing. The chinese market loves german build marque brand. They eat up long versions of A6, Eclass and 5 BMW. This category is not as popular here in the USA market and its why the GS350 was not replaced. It never sold big in Europe and Chinese market does not take to Japanese imports for obvious reasons (if not obvious, then read up on their invasion of china).
With large SUV’s now the uber lux land cruisers of choice and a generation of LS buyers dying off they had to go a different route with the LS. Of course not all are happy.
Im 60 and like my sporty sedans still. I currently own a 2020 GS350 fsport awd. Prior to 2020 I drove an 2013 535i M sport with MT, and before that a 2007 335i coupe with sport package and also MT. Those days are gone. Wife and I now have a small convertable german 2 seater with MT when we want to row our own gears.
That I am considering an LS is a joke to my wife as we laughed at the old men who got angry with german build repairs and fell in love with the new “Caddy” of a generation. Big comfort sedans that were easy to drive and not complicate with Tech. My uncle (of blessed memory) would hate the new LS and its buttons! He’d hate the more sporty drive.
Lexus built this car for me. Im upgrading. Runflats and all. I might change them, but thats for another day.
I’ll be driving two examples this weekend and likely choose one. One with Luxury package with 27k miles and another with 34k mile Exec package. That one seems excessive. Both about $56-58k. Im leaning to the lower mile one as I like the colors better.
What got me was not its comparison to the big german ships but the very different organic shapes inside. I did not get it at first. It was very weird and different than anything I ever sat in. Sat in a few LC’s while getting service and it grew on me. Then sat in a LS and the bell went off.
I not an early adaptor to most style or tech and this took a few years. My GS grew on me as I began to understand the Lexus philosophy rather than the BMW one. The attention to how design feels vs how it performs. Im not going to elaborate but there something to Japanese high end design/Kanso (think fung shui). Thats where Lexus went with the LS500. Fact is not everyone likes it.
Wife Drives an A4 allroad and we still dig our german built car. I love the look of the A7 fastback design. I don’t want three german cars in my drive way. I don’t want an SUV. Wifes next car might be that but the Allroad only has 55k miles, paid for and loves it. The LS500 5th generation design low roof design and more road feel is now in my wheel house and appeals to me. That they went in this direction and now puts its own unique design that clearly says “Japanese engineering” is appealing. Lexus has earned this right to try this over along successful history. Progress is rarely universally accepted. The Lexus LS is clearly not aiming to the wide audience it had before.
I’ll post my impressions and decision soon.
They say it don’t happen unless you post pictures!
Atomic silver with Black interior…..my first choice. maganese would be second. Some very interesting interior colors. Mostly black and and the Tan with Burgandy. The two tones really show off the interior lines.
Ride is for sure different. More serine and isolated interior and less road feel. Its nearly 1 second quicker on paper but you don't really feel it.
Both of mine are AWD and the GS took the twisties really nice. LS corners nice and flat but you don't get the visceral experience. Not that the GS is hard by any stretch.
The GS won't message my back and buttocks. THE LS had me at hello! LOL..............
No surprises here. Both are very heavy. Too bad the LS motor was not in the GS, that would have been awesome! Shame it was discontinued.
LS and ES are facsimiles of each other. The IS and GS were more daring. A new GS in the mold of the IS would have been great. Perhaps a new IS will be bigger.
Last IS was just a refresh and new body. Seems Lexus is taking a cautious approach.
They say it don’t happen unless you post pictures!
Atomic silver with Black interior…..my first choice. maganese would be second. Some very interesting interior colors. Mostly black and and the Tan with Burgandy. The two tones really show off the interior lines.
She’s beautiful. If my wife and I get one, we’ve decided that we want it in Manganese Luster with Black leather and Artwood Organic Gloss trim. Eminent White Pearl and Atomic Silver would be alternate choices.
She’s beautiful. If my wife and I get one, we’ve decided that we want it in Manganese Luster with Black leather and Artwood Organic Gloss trim. Eminent White Pearl and Atomic Silver would be alternate choices.
I had the mica grey on my GS which was a bit darker than the Maganese which would have been my second choice.. Mostly ran into tan with the burgundy trim in that color.
We have the black interior with the artwood trim. The Atomic silver was our first choice. Was not interested in the exec package. Upgraded seat package, ML and no Air suspension was my wish list. I got a decent price on it but when you factor color, equipment, miles, condition and that there are only but so many of these things on the road it was a fortunate I found one only 100 miles away!
Funny, there was a deposit on the car. Another, near by was as I described with the Maganese with all the extra equip. Car was priced the same as the one I got. Did have 10k more miles on it. Dealer for some strange reason did not detail car before posting pictures and it was nasty. Wheels were scraped up, interior dirty, and carfax was clean but lacked any details. I read lexus doe not always report service. The car had incredible cheap brand of tire on it. This from a lexus dealership and they assured me the car had been properly restored for resale.
Got a call the Atomic silver one was back on the market as the buyer really wanted Panoramic roof and the fancy rear seat controls, etc. I wanted to test drive both and see what the difference in ride quality was with the Air suspension but when I called that car was "sold".
Personally I could not have been happier! I cannot buy a car that I thought was abused. End of story was I got the combo I wanted.
About only think im not crazy about is the bling level of the wheels. Love the design though! The finish on the Fsport wheels would be great.
This thread has been super insightful! I am looking at some IS500's ATM and my only reservation is I am down-sizing from a mid-size car.
You and I both. I really really really want a new NA V8 and too bad only the IS carries this engine new in a sedan format. I'm coming from a G30 540i so it's bit a squeeze for me getting in/out of the IS500. We also tried out a CPO LS500 and it's super tempting and more comfortable than even my 540i, but the road isolation might be just a tad too much. It's also another forced induction motor. If it had the same motor as the IS500, I would've already bought it.
I had the mica grey on my GS which was a bit darker than the Maganese which would have been my second choice.. Mostly ran into tan with the burgundy trim in that color.
We have the black interior with the artwood trim. The Atomic silver was our first choice. Was not interested in the exec package. Upgraded seat package, ML and no Air suspension was my wish list. I got a decent price on it but when you factor color, equipment, miles, condition and that there are only but so many of these things on the road it was a fortunate I found one only 100 miles away!
Funny, there was a deposit on the car. Another, near by was as I described with the Maganese with all the extra equip. Car was priced the same as the one I got. Did have 10k more miles on it. Dealer for some strange reason did not detail car before posting pictures and it was nasty. Wheels were scraped up, interior dirty, and carfax was clean but lacked any details. I read lexus doe not always report service. The car had incredible cheap brand of tire on it. This from a lexus dealership and they assured me the car had been properly restored for resale.
Got a call the Atomic silver one was back on the market as the buyer really wanted Panoramic roof and the fancy rear seat controls, etc. I wanted to test drive both and see what the difference in ride quality was with the Air suspension but when I called that car was "sold".
Personally I could not have been happier! I cannot buy a car that I thought was abused. End of story was I got the combo I wanted.
About only think im not crazy about is the bling level of the wheels. Love the design though! The finish on the Fsport wheels would be great.
We pulled the trigger and got a 2023 LS in Atomic Silver with the Black leather and Artwood Organic Gloss trim. We got it new with only 12 miles on it. It has the main features that I wanted:
23-Speaker Mark Levinson Surround Sound, Interior Upgrade Pkg, Head-Up Display, Wood & Leather Heated Steering Wheel and Panoramic View Monitor.
Nowadays they load them up from the factory so it came with the Panorama Glass Roof which I don’t care about and the Adaptive Variable Air Suspension.
I’m really liking the 20" Split 10-Spoke Alloy Wheels with Vapor Chrome Finish.
I’m so in love with it. The ride, comfort, oh man!
We pulled the trigger and got a 2023 LS in Atomic Silver with the Black leather and Artwood Organic Gloss trim. We got it new with only 12 miles on it. It has the main features that I wanted:
23-Speaker Mark Levinson Surround Sound, Interior Upgrade Pkg, Head-Up Display, Wood & Leather Heated Steering Wheel and Panoramic View Monitor.
Nowadays they load them up from the factory so it came with the Panorama Glass Roof which I don’t care about and the Adaptive Variable Air Suspension.
I’m really liking the 20" Split 10-Spoke Alloy Wheels with Vapor Chrome Finish.
I’m so in love with it. The ride, comfort, oh man!
12-30-22, 06:11 AM
potential newbie
