Five-year Update: Your Author's 2015 Lexus GS 350

Time flies, doesn’t it? Seems just a year or two ago your author took a troubled and stressful trip to Austin to pick up a lightly used GS 350. But that was a full five years ago now, prior to pandemic times! We last spoke about the GS in April of 2021 at the two-year mark. Three years on, this is the longest I’ve ever kept a single automobile.

While five years is still a short-ish amount of time to own a vehicle, most every other vehicle in my ownership never made it that far. Whether some aspect of ownership became tedious, life necessitated a vehicular change, a big mechanical problem was on the horizon, boredom set in, or someone crashed into it, a resale always happened in under five years. Happily, I can report none of those things have occurred with the GS. 

Pursuant to the above, during these five years of GS ownership the secondary car that sat in the driveway changed three times. In July of 2020 I ditched the green over ivory 2012 Subaru Outback because it was terrible to drive with its wallowy unsettled suspension and lousy CVT. The buyers had large dogs to cart around, and were all too happy with the enormous cargo space the Outback provided. 

A few months later in December 2020 the Outback’s replacement was purchased, the white over tan 2019 Golf Sportwagen. Subsequent quality control issues like a defective headliner from the factory, and then waterlogged headliner(s) due to faulty sunroof drains really ruined the vibe of the otherwise excellent and efficient wagon. Fortunately, timing with Covid price gouging after I bought the Golf meant I happily sold it back to the dealer (July 2021) to end the headache and didn’t lose money.

After an extended search for something less practical, February 2023 saw the purchase of the white over tan 2010 BMW Z4 with which you may be familiar. We covered the one-year update on that a couple months ago. It’s been a stark and welcome contrast to former cars in the back catalog.

Through it all, the GS has served as the “in the garage” vehicle, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. I consider on occasion how the GS is no longer produced as Lexus shies away from sedans in general (ugly, soft ES, ancient IS, dated LS), and it’s not directly replaceable. The nearest current product to the GS is a large Genesis, which may come with engine issues down the line (not convinced H/K has this issue under control).

Miles added to the GS remain low, and at nine years old it’s probably one of the lowest mileage pre-refresh examples in existence. In April of 2019 at purchase the odometer read 39,339 per the CarFax report. Two years later in 2021, that figure was 44,750. While the Cincinnati-based job I held at the time never returned to the office, I switched to a fully remote role with a new employer in early 2022. As of this writing the odometer reads 53,561, or 2,844 miles a year. 

The low usage means the GS needs its 17.4-gallon tank refilled only every two or three months (but up to five). I’m still on the fill-up from prior to Christmas 2023. Of the past six tanks on mixed driving, a warm weather one last year netted 27.5 mpg, while the worst tanks in the winter averaged around 24 miles per gallon. It’s possible to net 29 mpg from a tank if it’s all highway driving during warm weather. 

The car has been in for two services in the past five years. In August 2021 it had a tire rotation and oil change at 45,934 miles at the dealer. In August 2023 at 52,885 miles, I took it to a local indie mechanic for another oil change and a coolant service. At home I swapped out the cabin filter and air filter, both parts were of course cheap and readily available. Nothing has broken whatsoever.

As far as other maintenance concerns, the tires still have good tread but technically are past their use by date (4017, manufactured October 2, 2017). I don’t plan on replacing those any time soon. At 60,000 miles I’ll have a brake fluid service done, and probably a transmission drain and refill. 

The GS is still great to drive, and does not show its years. Minor complaints are two: There’s a very faint creaking sound on occasion from the glove box lid rubbing against the glove box itself, which I plan to address with some sound insulation tape. The other issue is the wheels, which have a dark alloy coating that’s subject to peeling once the wheel endures the slightest nick or scrape. It’s minor for now, but with age I suspect it will increase to a noticeable level.

Less of a complaint but more fact of life are the pock marks the lower valance receives from small road debris. The large surface area of painted plastic is black underneath, which makes all damage very visible. I’ve done some touch up with a two-step painting kit, but it’s impossible to match the pearl coat correctly. Photos here are from last week, when I gave it a wash and wax.

At the five-year mark, do I really need the GS? Not really, I could sell it on and use the BMW for all driving duties. It serves much better than the GS for spirited driving occasions given its smaller size and narrower shape. But the “can’t replace this” factor means I’ll hold onto it. Maybe I’m becoming car-sentimental in my middle age.

[Images © Corey Lewis/TTAC.com]

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