Infiniti M35 vs Lexus GS 300
I have been lurking on these message boards for a long time, but instead of posting, I soon will be buying! The CPO warranty runs out on my Audi in November, so I will soon be negotiating in earnest. I've narrowed it down to the two vehicles above.
I'm looking for: a more comfortable cruisers than my 2000 A4 1.8T, but still able to throw it around once in awhile. All the newest goodies: Bluetooth, Voice command, etc.
The current contest:
Exterior: tie
Interior: GS- I like things a bit simpler but still luxurious. I would like to have the stone or ash interior in either car, but the M35 requires the sport and the GS has the ugly black birds-eye wood. I'll probably have to go with the black interior.
Handling/Power: M35
Quiet/Comfort: Lexus
Room: M35
Dealership: Lexus- they're opening a new dealership 5 minutes from my house. Infiniti is 35 minutes. Infiniti guys are cheese balls, Lexus guys are all business.
Price: tie, but I think there is more negotiation room on the Lexus.
I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I'm looking for: a more comfortable cruisers than my 2000 A4 1.8T, but still able to throw it around once in awhile. All the newest goodies: Bluetooth, Voice command, etc.
The current contest:
Exterior: tie
Interior: GS- I like things a bit simpler but still luxurious. I would like to have the stone or ash interior in either car, but the M35 requires the sport and the GS has the ugly black birds-eye wood. I'll probably have to go with the black interior.
Handling/Power: M35
Quiet/Comfort: Lexus
Room: M35
Dealership: Lexus- they're opening a new dealership 5 minutes from my house. Infiniti is 35 minutes. Infiniti guys are cheese balls, Lexus guys are all business.
Price: tie, but I think there is more negotiation room on the Lexus.
I'd like to hear your thoughts.
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Comments
BOTH, are nice cars!
I took a look at the specs today. The M has 1 inch more headroom, 2 inches more shoulder room and about an inch more leg room all around. An inch makes a difference!
Good luck. Really can't go wrong with any of these vehicles. I should be picking up my gs300 tomorrow!
It was a pretty good approximation.
I bought the Lexus.
I wanted to get 18" wheels, but they didn't have any in stock. Did you get with 18 inchers or the standard 17" run flats? I thought I read somewhere in these forums that the 18" wheels does help the ride a bit.
And for those with Verizon out there, the LG VX8100 seemed to connect to it quiet easily.
Also I much prefer the wood steering wheel and the light and graceful turning at slow speeds (such as parking lots) to the previous leather wheel and heavy feel at slow speeds of the old GS - and the new M35. A world of difference.
I absolutely love the refinement and feeling of pampering in the 06 GS, plenty enough to forgive it for smaller cabin space and trunk opening. Its a good time to not be a tall person or it might not have been such an easy fit.
Like many others on this board, I only thought I knew what a great car it was when I bought it. Within the first few days of driving I began to realize how fine it really was.
That said, the GS is quieter and softer. The interior isn't as bold.
I'll try to get 18" in the after market. Picking it up today at 11:30
What was Lexus thinking of when they chopped off 3 cubic feet of trunk room? Enough said. I'm really not that disappointed as the M is an excellent car, but I think the GS was such a narrow miss for me. This class of LPS vehicles is very competitive!!
Good luck with your M! Did you get the M35/x or M45?
The climate control system does what it wants, and not what I want, and takes far too many buttons to push to get anything done.
I selected the GS300 over the Infinit M35 because of superior gas mileage, and further apart reccomended service. But I was truly stupid to do so.
Every aspect of the Lexus GS300 is counter-intuitive -- from putting the side view mirror controls, parking sensors, odometer brightness, setting, and reset buttons (and many others) into a tiny fold away cluster -- which is UNSAFE TO OPERATE WHILE THE VEHICLE IS MOVING, to an erratic and unreliable bluetooth connection to a Nokia 6230B cell phone (sure the Moto flip phone does bluetooth fine, but has lousy reception, so what is the point?)
So if you want an unsafe to drive car because you are constantly distracted by the non-intuitive controls, blinded by the setting sun reflecting off the side view mirrors, and almost hit the center divide while trying to get the side view mirrors tilted down (oh, they go down automatically when you enter reverse, just not when they are reflecting the sun into your eyes), lack of any polarization on the rear window, absolutely minimal front windshield tinting, and a stereo with lousy reception for remote stations, then please take my $45,000 luxuary car off my hands for a mere $36,622 -- which the dealer is happily offering me after 3 months and 2300 miles.
I have gone to Lexus Corporate and dicussed these (and several other issues with them), and they agree --- the GS300 is not for me, and they will NOT stand behind their vehicle to make it better, or take it back.
P.S. when you switch between AM/ FM, or FM and CD, you have to adjust the stereo volume substantially. Not too bright.
Better interior and exterior (completely subjective)
Quiter highway ride
Better dealership experience (for me)
M35:
More power
More room (my head brushes the top of the GS roof)
More storage
Better handling
Residual values on leases are higher for the M so resale value may actually be better for the M.
Both are great cars, it's a matter of taste. If the GS had a few inches more headroom, I would pick it. Right now, I'm leaning to the M but my mind changes literally every day. However, it keeps coming back to how annoyed I'd be when my head keeps brushing the top of the headliner during my commute in my GS ....
* Lexus was beautiful in terms of fit and finish and interior look/feel/quality, BUT it felt SO MUCH smaller inside. Although the differences in interior room are measured in 1-2" in each dimension, the M just felt like it had so much more space, like a Lexus LS or MB 5-series. We felt cramped sitting it the back seats of the GS. Just didn't feel right for a car in its class, especially since physically the two cars are so similar in size.
* The Lexus had some odd placements of some important controls -- that drop-down console below the left side of the steering column is awkward. All of the M's controls were easily accessible without having to take one's eyes off the road for more than a second or so. Also, the nav screen is up higher, meaning you can glance at it without having to take your eyes too far off the road.
* Tech Options: Both cars have really nice technology options, but I found the "multiple way of doing the same thing, pick what works for you" approach in the M to be more intuitive. If you don't like the computer interface, there are manual controls that do the same thing just like "in the old days" (pre-2003!).
* Now for the biggest difference: DRIVING. The GS, with its "electronic overlords" (as one of the big car mag reviews recently stated) insulates the driver too much from the road. The GS drives smooth and luxuriously, but I'm more of a rubber-meets-the-road driver and really loved the FEEL of the M...it feels like I'm connected to the car -- part of the machine -- whereas the GS made me feel like a passive observer in the driver's seat. The GS felt sluggish off the line, while the M just cranks across all levels of the power band. I also drove the M45 and that car is just a beast off the line...could get a lot of speeding tickets with that V8!
In the end, I guess the M just inspired passion in me, while the GS left me with "nice car, but for $50k I'll take the one that's more fun to drive." The GS was a nice ride and I probably would have picked it if the M didn't exist...but it does, and so parked in the driveway now is a new M35 Sport.
Both cars are much better than their expensive and unreliable German counterparts! I like to think of Lexus as having a focus on Mercedes-style luxury, while Infiniti is clearly going after BMW for performance.
Anyway, that's my $0.02!
I leased the M35 (with Journey and Tech). I've had it since March and find every excuse to drive. I actually like the interior (black) very much. The controls are very user friendly. I love the bluetooth, and voice controls. My phone is synched up to the system. I was surprised at how inaccessible the controls were in other cars, compared to the M35.
The M handles like a champ. It seems much more responsive and fast than the GS. I was a little bored driving the GS (and the ES ), but the GS was a bit quieter. I also noticed a big difference in interior size between the two cars, and I am only 5'3". The M35 is much roomier in the front AND back seats.
Based on my test driving and my experience with the M35, I would highly recommend the loaded, fun-to-drive, yet luxurious, Infiniti.
My BMW-driving friend (5 series) told me he was "shocked" at the great handling and features on the M35. He decided to buy one for his wife after driving mine.
The 300 can't be found with the smart cruise control and pre crash sensors, so says the dealership. And I may have to wait on the 18 in spider wheels. Most don't have nav or ML audio.
The M35 S can't be found with a DVD player, although the m35 with the premium package has DVD, just not the sport.
Dealerships are maddening. Honda/Acura is the only carmaker to figure out that you make everything standard except what a dealer can add themselves. Too bad I don't like the RL.
Have you guys had any luck finding these options?
I am still torn between the 300 and M35.
I got an M35 because I didn't like the RL either. One of the primary reasons is that Acura chose for me what I'd like or not like on the car. Unfortunately they chose wrong :sick: You see, I did not want OnStar or NavTraffic. I did however want a RearView Camera and Birdseye View Navi. Acura found out the hard way (with very poor sales figures, at least until they started giving it away under invoice
M35 is more fun to drive (of course, a M45 would be more fun)
GS300 is very nice inside
GS is a Lexus (read ego)
M has better technology package or the salesman was better
Near neighbor has exactly the same GS my wife wants....
Wife wants white and GS comes with that black wood stuff
I think the M is winning.
'Course, all the analysis was for naught when emotion and color choice rule.
Did take a DVD video/audio and listened & watched the DVD play on the navigation system. Pretty slick and the ML sounded great.
Thank you, Thank you and Thank you. After reading your review of the M35 vs. Lexus etc. you made me feel better for buying the M35 loaded w/o premium recently.
I looked at the Acura TL & BMW 5 series and after I signed the contract I was bummed I didn't purchase the BMW 5 series price was about the same for a loaded BMW plus the 4 ur service but I thought the M35 had some better features then tyhe BMW.
Also what Bluetooth phone are you using with your M35? I need to purchase a new phone with Bluetooth for my new car PU Thursday can not wait.
andy
Why don't you stop by the ongoing Infiniti M35/M45 2006+ discussion? You'll find a lot of enthusiastic owners there and all kinds of conversation, both past and present. It's probably the best place for specific M35 questions.
Oh, and welcome to our Forums!!
Thanks.
I will also have a problem with son-in-law but he will have to live with it or fight my wife for her spot in front which isn't much better.....
Others have complained about a pulling to the side when braking. Mine stops perfectly straight (I've even tested it without hands on the wheel--in a safe place, of course).
Handling and performance are great. The trade-off is mileage. I've had to replace one tire (a piece of metal went through the side-wall). It was pricey.
Thank you for this message board and comments. Really helped me in making decision between GS 300 and M35.
They are both great cars; can't go wrong either way.
But, having driven both cars multiple times, I must say M35 beats GS 300 in terms of fun to drive and cool factor. M is better in every area, particularly acceleration and handling.
Purchased new M35 sport liquid platinum yesterday, and it is a dream. Solicited bids on both cars. Best deal was on the GS 300, dealer out of south FL. Will sell car for 40K new (MSRP 46,174) and would ship to my front door for 40,500. M pricing is not as flexible. M appears to be hotter car and could not find it in Southeast for less than 288 dollars over invoice: m35 sport non-jouney, splash guards, full size spare and trunk mat: 41,288 and 41,487 actual price quotes in south. Invoice was roughly 41K.
Regards.
BTW as a multiple previous Lexus owner I agree with your assessment.
Good luck with the new ride.
3300 miles with zero problems. Although the M is a new US model it debuted in Japan a year ago so it is not a new Nissan/Infiniti model. :shades:
One flaw - passenger seat. Not nearly as comfortable as the driver's seat.
I bought the M45 and am very happy with my purchase.
Welcome!
Not sure what you mean by a "manual override option". There is no "key" for the M, except for unlocking the doors/trunk in the event that the battery in the key fob fails. If that happens, there is a slot on the lower left corner of the dash where you can insert the fob, similar to inserting a key. At that point, you can press the starter button and the M will start.
I like the M35X but i just cannot get past those tail lights.