1998 Lexus GS

Like most kids I got my license at 16. Unlike most kids I spent the next two years looking for my car. Living next door to my grandpa, I soaked up his love of cars. Only more so, I've attended the Chicago Auto Show every year since 1998. I kept a car brochure collection of some 350 current models until I graduated high school in '05.

Oddly, having most of my brain devoted to the automobile made my car purchase no easier. I really wanted a pure driver's car. BMW M3 would've been perfect. But no. Ended up in a Lexus, possibly the most boring name in curving roads, but I don't regret it. Very much.

When people ask me why I bought a Lexus, I respond, "economics." Once I graduate, like many college kids I've managed to extend 4-yrs into 6, I'll be able to sell my car for more than any other brand. In this economy, I don't see what could matter more.

JD Power and Associates is right on giving Lexus top honors since the brand was launched. I have only replaced brake pads, spark plugs, filters, fluids, tires, and a brake caliper the winter muck ruined as my lazy self didn't wash it. Considering I've added 60000 miles to the 104k I started with, I only wish oil changes were cheaper.

Now about the car: ignoring the icky green lights glowing in the main instrument panel like some top secret chemical laboratory, the interior is a wonderful place. Seats are super supportive. Controls are of top secret laboratory quality without being top secret complicated. Almost annoyingly, friends riding for the first time don't hesitate to change anything to their liking. Speaking of liking, the sound system rocks, Literally. Tire (Yokohama) roar is the loudest outside noise until highway speeds. The trunk is plenty big; and I'm constantly amazed at how Lexus weighted the trunk lid to close at the lightest pull. There's a first aid kit stuck in the trunk too, nice touch.

Now for the not so nice bits: anyone over 6 feet will find the back seats tight. Fitting 3 in the back more than a combined 450 lbs for more than 30 minutes is not recommended. If an iPod goes everywhere with you, bring a FM transmitter (those tapes sound awful). Lexus wasn't Apple smart back then. From my research, a direct iPod connection is impossible. And that is all of the minor niggles. My main one is driving. Epic fail. The new GS ('98) was Japan finally facing up to the Germans. It all appeared there. The engine is super smooth. The 5-speed auto, it's funny they bothered putting 8 in the IS-F. Ride is fantastic, controlled and soft. The brakes, my favorite, so deceptively secure, subtle, seriously strong, some of the new American stuff still cannot compare.

And on and on it goes.. getting so close to the gold. The burned out light bulb alert, sport and winter settings, the mechanical opera above 5000 rpm, and it is still an epic fail. Why? Like I said: driving. Specifically: curves. Somehow Lexus has never gotten outside of the original LS, their crown isolation chamber. Trying to push the GS a little, even around boringly curved Indiana back-roads, isn't much better then taking my mom's Nissan Quest.

No surprise the average Lexus buyer is mid 60s. Basically, this car falls into two categories: 1. Aging gentlemen asking for transportation isolation but still wanting to appear somewhat sporting. 2. A college student majoring in finance.

In ending: anyone who is tight on cash, why give up $20k for a new Accord with a four banger? I got my GS for $10,400. Sure 21mpg in mostly city driving isn't economical but neither is another $10 grand. Lexus really is about economics.

PS. Of course my soul wants to graduate and look up a German soul mate; but I don't mind waiting, since I'm in the black.