GS Sedan Isn’t a Good Fit for Mom, Kids

2009 Lexus GS 460

model as tested $58,005

Test Drove 2/20/09– 2/27/09
reviewed by Lori Hindman

The 2009 Lexus GS 460 and I never understood each other. From our first meeting to our final goodbye, both of us felt rather put-upon, to use some Thomas the Tank Engine lingo. The experience made me realize the GS 460 isn’t a good fit for my mommy lifestyle.

Lexus offers the GS as a sport sedan, and the 460 is the baddest of the bunch. It has an old-school muscle-car feel to it. A massive V-8 engine under the hood delivered a lot more power than I needed, and thanks to a sport setting that I never managed to turn off, it leapt forward at the slightest caress of the gas pedal.

That same supersized engine is super thirsty, too. The GS 460 gets an EPA-estimated 17/24 mpg city/highway, but I averaged only 12.6 mpg during my test week. That’s a lot lower than the EPA’s estimate for the GS 460, but I can explain the discrepancy. I admit that I have a lead foot, especially in sporty cars, but I also live on the side of a mountain, so I’m always zipping around twisty, hilly roads, which seems to negatively affect the mileage in most of the cars I drive.

The GS 460’s ride is firm and sporty but not too hard. While it’s low to the ground, it’s not too low to handle speed bumps and driveways without much difficulty, but I had to stretch to reach the drive-through window.

I never figured out the GS 460, which is probably fine with Lexus given this mama clearly isn’t the target audience for this sport sedan. I’m pretty sure the GS is intended for older men, and I’ll go so far as to say that the GS 460 could be part of an older man’s attempt to recapture his youth. This mama felt out of place just sitting in it.

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