Does anyone have experience with the Lexus IS350 or the Infiniti G35?

Everything else
41

Because I can hold on for four more years, consider a used one, and save lots more money! :)

(Big ticket purchases such as cars are emotional purchases, and while I’m satisfied buying used cars, I recognize that many others feel differently. I’m not poo-poo-ing anyone who does.)

edit: Ugh, est. sticker for the 2009 GT-R is $75,000. Even if it dropped to 50% after 4 years, it’s still out of my pay grade unless I start one of those Internet sites that say “donate $10 and help me buy my next car!” Enduro, you big tease.

42

Maybe you should start your car search by making a prioritized list of features you want. Not specific features per se, but qualities like highly reliable, passenger room, storage room, cost, handling, acceleration, etc. You may have some specific features you really do want, like a sun roof, a manual, or AWD. If you are not quite sure about features but know someone who has a vehicle you might like, ask them to let you drive it (or at least to get a ride). I did this when I was thinking about a WRX and had a blast (didn’t buy a WRX, but it was close).

I say that because you started with 2 luxury sports sedans, but now you mention crossovers. Crossovers are fine, but they are not sporty in the way a G35 is.

43

You have valid points. I’ve owned an 810 and a Maxima, and I like a sporty sedan. For the traffic I’ll be driving in, a manual is not practical. Nor is a coupe, since I’ll be transporting my 3 kids for short distances.

I’m thinking luxury because I’m thinking about leasing this time (as well as my previously discussed hearing issues and a vague desire to have a more professional car than an Xterra), and a high residual would help affordability. I can’t say I’m really interested in going much over about $450/mo. But, none of the websites I’ve visited will give up the info without handing over personal contact information, and I’m not becoming someone’s sales lead just yet. Edmunds.com’s forums are useless for this info.

44

for general lease info, look at http://www.leaseguide.com/

Here is a general car lease estimator http://www.smartmoney.com/autos/leasing/index.cfm?story=cc

Edmunds car reviews are quite worthwhile. The Consumer Reports car guide is also very good, specifically for reliability data.

45

I’m looking at both these cars now as well. I like the Infiniti as it seems like a good value as opposed to a BMW. It is a bunch cheaper for similar performance then the BMW. The Lexus is nice as well, but it just doesn’t have nearly the same performance, and the options add up really fast.

The G35 has an AWD version as well. I’m guessing you can get a much better ‘deal’ on an Infiniti then either a Lexus or BMW as well.

In the end, I’ll probably get a much cheaper Subaru Impreza WRX wagon. It’ll probably outperform the above cars, but won’t be quite as fancy.

46

Definitely. I got a great deal on my G35 (end-of-model-year clearance), which is why I always do a double-take when people compare it to the 3-series. I’m like, “but the 3-series is like 10000 more than the G35!” Which, of course, is not true, when you look at the MSRP. I just keep forgetting.

In the end, I’ll probably get a much cheaper Subaru Impreza WRX wagon. It’ll probably outperform the above cars, but won’t be quite as fancy.

I have a friend with one, and it is certainly fun. But he’s had some maintenance trouble with his, so better go online and do some research on its maintenance record. Well, check out the history of the other cars, too.

47

Those were two cars I considered when I went from my '05 4Runner (V8 AWD Limited) to a Prius and then to something not a Prius (wife hated it).

The IS is what I went with. The first week I had it I took it on a road trip to TX (from CA), and it’s easily my favorite car ever. I got the IS 250 / luxury package, and I was hitting mid to high 30s in MPG on the highway (which after giving up the Prius I felt was pretty fantastic). It’s a more substantial-feeling car than the G was when I was test driving, handles similarly, with notably better reliability and resale values over time according to Consumer Reports. There is no equivalent Toyota for this model, unlike the G. I think it’s the first US-available Lexus to be sold only as a Lexus everywhere (including Japan), and it’s much better than the previous generation version.

There is a fair amount of negotiating room at the dealer as well (check the IS forums at Club Lexus for deal histories).

Whatever you do, get a front-end clear bra the day you drive it off the lot. “Green”, Earth-friendly paint is not chip resistant. I learned that with the Prius in less than a week, so this car had it on day one.

48

In most cases the IS 350 outperforms the BMW 3-series. The primary significant ding – and it’s a big one (so much so that the performance-oriented magazines would give the nod to the BMW despite the Lexus being better all around in their own tests) – is that the steering does not have the same feel you get in a BMW. BMW uses a standard hydraulic assist, and you get an outstanding feel for the road – the car does a great job of telling you what it’s doing over every inch of pavement. The Lexus steering is fully electric, so there is no full-time parasitic load (meaning better power, mileage, and reliability). The trade-off is that it does not communicate the feel of the road like the BMW – it’s more isolated. It really reflects a different focus between the priorities of the two makes. If BMW could make as reliable a car as Lexus I would have more seriously considered it (despite the vast number of asshole drivers in BMWs in my neck of the woods).

49

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/autos/0702/gallery.consumer_reports_top_picks/4.html

Consumer Reports - Best Cars of 2007
Inifiniti G35 Sedan

The G35 “really blows the BMW 3-series away at its own game,” said David Champion, head of auto testing for Consumer Reports. “It’s extremely fast - 306 horsepower, zero-to-60 in 5.4 seconds - really agile handling, great steering, reasonable amount of room inside and really easy to live with on a day-to-day basis.”

Personally I think the new 3-series BMW’s are fucking hideous. They look like they were designed by an Xtreme™ rice-racer hopped up on Mt. Dew. They have wings on the side of the car for fuck’s sake. Anyway, avoiding the marketing propaganda of the “ultimate driving machine” (which translates to the thirty-thousand-millionaire-preferred car here in DFW) the G35 and Lexus are both excellent cars with great reliability and damn nice lines.

50

After driving these both and doing price/feature comparison, I went with the over priced Honda (Acura TL), and I’m very happy with my decision.

I felt cramped in the Lexus and the backseat is next to worthless, and while I liked the G35, it started to soar out of my price range when I had to add things like AWD. Being in chicago, I’m not going to willingly buy a RWD car unless it absolutely blows me away. A friend turned me onto the Acura, and I’ve been very pleased with the decision.

51

After driving these both and doing price/feature comparison, I went with the over priced Honda (Acura TL), and I’m very happy with my decision.

My main problem with the Acura’s though, is that they are just Accords it seems. They are very, very nice Accords, but then the Accord is pretty damn nice on its own. I don’t see many reasons for getting the TL or TSX. They are a bit faster, but looking at reviews, they really don’t seem to handle as well as other luxury cars (IS, G35, etc)

Definitely. I got a great deal on my G35 (end-of-model-year clearance), which is why I always do a double-take when people compare it to the 3-series. I’m like, “but the 3-series is like 10000 more than the G35!” Which, of course, is not true, when you look at the MSRP. I just keep forgetting.

Yeah, it seems like the G35 will be by far the best value out of these cars, especially with negotiating room. The IS might be too, but an IS250 just doesn’t perform anywhere close to the G35 it appears, especially the AWD versions.

I have a friend with one, and it is certainly fun. But he’s had some maintenance trouble with his, so better go online and do some research on its maintenance record. Well, check out the history of the other cars, too.

Subaru really worse then an Infiniti though? Seems similar to me, and I know people that have both. Supposedly the Impreza WRX can outperform the G35s, IS’s, etc., but for a lot less. Granted you give up a lot of ‘luxury’, but it is a pretty big price difference.

I’m pretty damn torn at this point. If I could see myself being happy in a Prius or Civic, I’d get it, but I really like accelerating off the highway ramp and moving right over to the left most lane and going. I need speed :).

52

Thanks for the input, gentlemen.

I went to the closest Infiniti dealer (Crest in Plano) with my family to look at the G35. I don’t know if it was the fact that I had my wife & kids along, or how I was dressed, or whether I looked too ethnic, but not one employee of that dealership approached me. Only one employee spoke to us without breaking stride on his way somewhere else, commenting that the QX56 had a Playstation in it. Other than that, no salesperson even made eye contact.

Fortunately, I was able to sit in the G35 and realize that it was too cramped and low for me, as much as I liked the idea of a sporty sedan. Not that I would have bought a damn thing from Crest anyway. I’m not going to beg for service or announce my annual income just to impress a car salesman enough to talk to me.

I ended up leasing a Pathfinder LE. Which, ironically, cost about as much as a G35.

53

Rick, did you go to the Dallas Auto Show last weekend? All kinds of nice stuff there (and of course you could have sat in all the new Infinitis).

— Alan

54

This is totally unrelated to the car in question, but I get this all the time at car dealerships. Just because I’m 25 and look like I should probably be buying a skateboard and not an Audi, I have plenty of salesmen look at me, then look away. When I do end up going to buy a new car (once the loan on my current set of wheels is paid, later this year), I won’t be shy about telling them they’ve lost a sale just because they felt some sort of age/image prejudice. Don’t want my money? Fine. I just ask for a bit of respect.

55

I was just at an auto show and saw the 2008 Altima Coupe, which is pretty much a FWD version of the G35 (info). For folks like me for whom RWD is a problem due to cold climate this is a nice alternative. (But my current thinking is I’m going to damn the torpedoes, and the ice, and get a new Miata to replace my old Miata.)

56

My worst car crash in snowy condition was made in a Front Wheel Drive car, and it happened shortly after I switched to it from driving Rear Wheel Drive for many many years. I wasn’t prepared for how FWD cars skid…it goes straight forward when it’s out of control, and you have to steer & gun the GAS to pull it away. Totally unintuitive!

57

An interesting way of comparing car performance is to see where the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) places them in classes for racing. Cars in the same class are expected to perform relatively the same so driver skill takes precedence. I looked up a few cars for the autocross “stock” classes.

SS (Superstock)
Corvette
Lotus Elise and Exige
Porsche 911

A (really fast)
BMW M3
WRX STi
Lancer EVO
Mustang GT500
Porsche Boxter
Honda S2000

F (fast)
BMW 335
G35 coupe
Mustang Cobra

D (a bit slower)
BMW 328/330
G35 Sedan
IS350
WRX (not STi)
Nissan Maxima

H (regular cars)
Camry
Corolla
Accord (I-4)
Civic
all Hyundai’s

58

I had the “why are you here?” experience when I was looking at Mini Coopers. Ah well.

59

I was pretty enthused about the Mini until I sat in one and had a good close look at the frickin’ unbelievably ugly, cheap, 1950s sci-fi, plastic disaster of a dashboard.

60

I don’t get that - you’d have to look like you just lived under a rock to get that kind of treatment, considering the Minis and their price.

— Alan