larry91403

Just some observations... My wife and I went to Lexus today to testdrive the IS250. We both agreed it was much more refined than the G35 (or the 325i that we drove afterwards) but there where some things that bothered us. On top of the list was that the dealer had decided that they would but $4000.00 worth of special wheels on all the IS's on the lot and that they had no intention of removing them and putting the stock ones back on. I'm not one to nickle and dime but I thought the first rule of sales was to give the customer what they want? This brought the loaded IS250 up to nearly $42k which in my mind is way too much for a car this small. So I brought this up with the salesman who's only response was "well it's a Lexus". That is just plain ridiculous! So next was the BMW 325i. My wife absolutley loved the handling (best out of the three according to her) and the price was reasonable - loaded at $37k before negotiation! I just would need to get over my dislike for German cars and the documented poor reliability. Then we went to Infiniti for a test drive in the G35. The interiror was nothing to sneeze at and the handling while not as good as the BMW was certainly better than the IS. Without negotiating the sales manager offered us a loaded G35 for $35k and I would imagine that if we had pushed we could have done better. I honestly don't know what the better choice would be and I don't know what my wife will decide. I really appreciate everyone's input!

I don't know how the G35 will fare in terms of resale and I agree that Lexus has the better track record there. As to the service, only time will tell with my M35 but at this point I am very happy with the service I am receiving so far. I don't know where you live but the Lexus dealers around here aren't all that pleasant to deal with. This probably comes from having a product that just sells itself. If I was to choose just the dealer experience I would have picked Infiniti. I suppose I should try to see what the next G35 would look like. I would hate for a new model to come out right after I buy one. The new IS is beautiful! I absolutely love the M35! I never ever considered Infiniti till I saw it. My parents had been driving Lexus for a long time and I had always planned on getting the GS300. If my dad had not raved soo much about his M35 and Lexus had not changed the GS so radically I would probably have gotten one.

This is correct - I don't care soo much about the horsepower.

My wife is interested in the Infiniti G35 and IS250. Does anyone have any input on the the IS that would help us make a decision beyond "The IS is the best car ever" or "Infiniti sucks". I am looking for current IS owner experiences and opinons that will help us make a decision. If you have owned both that is even better! Having just purchased an Infiniti M35 buying the G35 from the same dealer has its advantages but we are still undecided. Please help!