Best Value Motoring

If there’s one thing to say about Lexus, they sure are relentless. I can imagine the Lexus people sitting around a boardroom table asking how they can compete with the likes of Mercedes and BMW. Surely customers demand reliability and comfort. Surely they want gadgets and value. We have given them all that, what else can we do?

In truth, Lexus has surpassed their competition in many areas. Most famously would be their number one ranking on the J.D. Powers initial customer satisfaction ratings. Lexus never had the pedigree lineage of Mercedes or BMW, so they had to win customers over from the head and not so much the heart. Lexus has an impeachable reliability record and as a buyer looking for value, reliability will always rank high up there on the priority list.

Lexus has come up with this car after 2 previous iterations of tackling the 5 Series and the E Class. And with each passing generation, they’re getting that little bit closer. Lexus owners are a loyal bunch and this newly designed GS would definitely be taking some conquest sales out of the Germans. The exterior is now much sportier than before, the lines are more cohesive with a sporty side profile.

This particular 2005 GS is the base model Sports, but it still comes with almost everything you want. Equipment missing from the Sports Luxury model are Sat Nav and the sunroof. You still get leather, keyless start, 10 airbags, reversing camera, bluetooth and a 10 speaker audio. The drive is not particularly exciting, but it suits the poorly surfaced Australian roads. The low levels of NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) adds to the calm you’ll feel when on the road. The interior is a mix n’ match of materials that isn’t quite up to the standards of the German trio. That is not to say that the quality is any worse. The seats are very supportive and the leather is baby’s bum soft. What you lose in the perception of design quality, you get in the peace of mind of Lexus build quality and knowing that the chances of anything failing is close to nil.

For the asking price of $40,000 and having only done 45,000kms, there’s a lot of life left in this luxury sedan. Only question left is whether you’ll choose with your head or your heart.

Pros: Reliability, running cost, comfort

Cons: Does not have the badge appeal of the Germans

Via Carsales