She's gone... but a little worse for wear
 

Hi everyone,

I've been in the process of trading my '11 S5 Cab for a '13 Lexus GS F Sport. I put my deposit down in late February and have been waiting for the car to arrive. My S5 has been babied, waxed, hand washed and doesn't even have a rock chip on the front end. It is perfect. It has less than 8,000 miles after 14 months.

That was until Friday. Unfortunately, a wire shelf in our garage fell Friday night, dropping everything including crates of CDs on the rear passenger fender. After so much time of babying my car it has scratches and dents all over the rear quarter panel. I can only say I was sick at the sight.

I went back to the Lexus dealership to have it re-appraised. They did take the car in, with $1,000 less on the trade-in value, and hopefully they can use paintless dent removal because Daytona Gray will not be an easy color to match.

I don't have my new GS F Sport yet, but they did make my day by gving me a brand new '13 GS350 to drive until it arrives. Very nice on Lexus' part, and it has really given me time to acclimate to the car. For a large sedan, the GS is a very nice car that can really hold its own. I know I'm going to love it.

For anyone who is considering the S5 or S5 Cab, I LOVED that car and had to trade it because of the need for something more practical. IMO, it is the best blend of luxury and sport in the market today. When I push the button on the GS I miss the sporty exhaust sound of the S5. When I put my foot on the pedal I miss the immediacy of power the S5 has. The S5 Cab is a GREAT car and I will miss it. I travel every other week and just got tired of trying to fit my luggage into the trunk. My 79 year-old mother was also having a hard time getting in and out of it.

I have just moved into the next chapter of my life where I need a sedan and the GS will be just fine. It is a great car as well and I'm sure it will serve me well for a good, long time.

So, I will say my goodbyes for now, but I will still be lurking around this forum. Audi is on a roll with fantastic cars, and Audiworld is a great forum with supportive members. Who knows? I may be back sometime soon. In the mean time, thanks for all the support and advice!

Take car, brother. See ya in a few years when the Audi itch comes back :)

The Lexus is a nice car. I was just wondering why not the A6 and A7 for bigger trunk space? I suppose you save a couple of $$$$ on the Lexus ?

Certainly no downgrade there with the new GS. It's a fine car and getting great reviews. Enjoy!

The A6 doesn't really do it for me. I much prefer the A7's styling to the GS350, but I've kept up with the comments in the forum and there seem to be lots of complaints about rattles, road noise and the substandard Bose sound system. Upgrading to B&O costs over $6k. There are guys on the Lexus forum who already have 5k on their new GS's and have no rattles. Also, the Mark Levinson sound system is hard to beat. I've been driving around my GS350 loaner car since Saturday, and even the base model really is outstanding.