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Months in service: 4
Miles to date: 10,668

The current-generation GS has been on the market for six years, an eternity in the world of premium cars. So when I drove it last night and asked myself the inevitable question, why would anyone buy this over its many much newer competitors, I said, well, Lexus must offer some killer lease deals on the GS. So I went to the Lexus Web site expecting to find these killer lease deals with, like, headlines blaring, "Drive a Lexus GS350 for only $599 a month, no money down!!!" I didn't find anything of the sort, but I did come across a Lexus-provided comparison of the GS with three principal competitors: the Mercedes-Benz E350, the Infiniti M37, and the BMW 535i. Lexus claims that, in order to get models equipped as well as the GS350 is for its $48,925 base price, you'd have to spend $55,075 for the Infiniti, $58,345 for the Mercedes, and a whopping $63,575 for the BMW. I didn't double-check their specification charts and math, but I have no reason to think they are stretching the truth. All four sedans are available with either rear- or all-wheel drive, all of them are comfortable and luxurious and have powerful six-cylinder engines, and all four of them should prevent you from being snubbed by your country-club valets, even if they aren't parked in the front circle drive.