neoe60

I haven't test driven the GS but in the looks dept, I'd take the E60 anyday. But, I will say that the Lexus dealership here has a much friendlier, less snobby staff than BMW.

GS does look better than the A6, tho. Good luck w/your new ride!

neoe60

The Avalon is built entirely in Kentucky. No Lexus models are built in America.

neoe60

Yep and that somewhere is called Uzbekistan:

neoe60

+1, after all, there is a level of sophistication that comes with owning a 5

corgidog

I never smelled "German sweat" in any BMW I drove. Can you please describe what it smells like so I can be on the look out.

exx1976

Meh. A friend of mine got a brand new one, first year of the redesign (2008 maybe?) on a two-year lease as a company car. It's fully loaded, and it's the CTS4 (AWD). Has the little 3.6L V6 DI 300 HP engine.

When he first got it, I was rather impressed. The seats were on the comfortable side, seemed fairly well-made, lots of double-stitching all over the place (dash, seats, doors). Had the ambient lighting, and the "Sapelli wood interior (what a joke)".

Now that I have my 5 (4 MY older and 30k miles more than his CTS), I think his CTS is rather a pile. I had the unfortunate task of driving it for 10-12 miles a few weeks ago. The handling is not near the 5, the power is not near that of my 545 (haven't driven a 550, but I bet those are even faster). The "panoramic roof" is NOISY and COLD, and the "ambient lighting" is EXTREMELY distracting to the eye, since it's white light. The center stack is also quite distracting as there are literally probably 50 buttons/knobs. And that is in addition to having a touch-screen navi! Why all the buttons and shit if you have a touch-screen?!? Oh yeah. And the touch screen. It pops up into your field of view. Like 5" up. When using nav, it's pretty useless if the screen is down. And, it's touch-screen! Yeah, fine, gimmicky, but really - who wants to be reaching over and trying to touch a spot on the screen at the top of the center-stack while driving? Hit a bump, accidentally press the wrong thing. I'd rather leave my arm on the console and use the iDrive knob. Not to mention that the menus in the touch-screen are for shit. The iPod integration sounds pretty good, but the controls for it absolutely BLOW. And the mirrors are all funny-shaped, the whole car is way too angular. Back-seat room is also terrible.

It does have a nice sounding stereo (for stock).

All-in-all, if someone gave me a CTS, I'd sell it and buy the nearest CPO bimmer.


@ the OP - While I personally disagree with your assessment of Lexus > BMW (as do many on here), I am also in the minority by agreeing with those that have stated if you had that many issues, I cannot blame you for looking elsewhere. If it were me, I don't know that I would have gone to Lexus, I probably would have looked at MB or maybe Infiniti (I had thought about a G or an M before the e60). Lexus are just old-man cars, like Cadillac/Lincoln. Although, Lexus does have the ISf now.. What's that, like 416HP or something? That would have been a fairly respectable choice. Either way, good luck with your hybrid. Please, do come back in a year or two and be sure to tell us how much money you've spent repairing that. It seems (at least to me) that any higher-end luxury car is going to have a fair amount of issues, simply due to the complexity of it's technological systems. I mean, really. I do IT/IS for a living, and the more complex systems get, the more guys you hire to keep them running. I don't know how old you are, but if you ever owned a car from the early 70's that was carbeureted, and had an AM radio, and no catalytic converters, it didn't really take anything to keep that car running. There was no CD player, no heated seats, no rain sensing wipers (or even delay wipers, for that matter), no adaptive headlights, no electric fuel pump, no ABS, no power windows/locks, most likely not an automatic transmission, none of that. Just some seats, a steering wheel, tires, and an engine. Most any shade-tree mechanic could do anything necessary to repair/maintain those cars themselves. Now? Cars are so complex that dealerships/indi shops are not a luxury for the well-off that don't want to get dirty, they are a necessity because cars are so complex that the average "shade-tree mechanic" cannot even begin to figure out most of their systems.

Best of luck to you with the new purchase. BUT - just because you got a few bad apples, that doesn't mean Lexus > BMW. Remember, de gustibus non est disputandem.

sdg1871

Sorry to hear that your BMW experience was not a good one. Lexus is a totally different kind of car. Beautiful interior, electronics, nav and sound system and very reliable.

But the GS, as is the case with most Lexus models, drives like an old man's car -- numb steering, numb suspension and way too isolated from the road. It all depends on what one wants in a car. The closest Japanese analog to the 5 Series is the Infiniti M, which is much harder-edged as a driver's car than the GS. Still no 5 Series but much closer to one than a GS.

Best of luck with your GS. I do think it's a nice car -- just not the car for my tastes.

doug_999

Ok...
0-60 both the 550 and 535 are quicker....

The GS 450h is RWD not AWD

and

Something tells me this is an April fools joke......

PS - I too went from a 540 to a GS430 and it was like a bad dream. Glad to be back....

CWS530

At this point, who gives a sh*t.

mosso

I have driven the E class, the GS and the A6.....dude e60 rocks those rides.

The GS has no personality on the road.

With that being said...there is a car for everyone I guess.