that coin was a 1 faced coin made in Germany I'm sure

 

Audi IMHO

 

Yiks! 14 bottles? LOL . Good piont on the Lexus. It does seem more like a feamle car. I'd go Audi. Can't beat the German styling.

 

I think it's telling that you'll find more audi drivers on this forum than lexus drivers.

 

The IS is utter crap with the base 2.5 liter engine. I think you will find the Audi much better and also it's a more expensive car for the same payment. The 2.0 FSI will give you more performance and better gas mileage.

 

hopefully this'll help your decision

 

I would look at the residual numbers at the end of three years. That may give you some interesting information. I'd also ask for an extended demo of both where you spend about an hour in traffic with each car as you would and see how you feel after that. I'm a believer in testing a car as you'd actually use it. I think both are good brands, the Audi seems a little more sophisticated, less entry level, but I do like Lexus service and the car will have lots and lots of gadgets. Hard decision.

 

The Lexus will win in long term reliability. However being that you are leasing, it will not matter. I was not impressed with the IS350 after spending a week driving one, and after driving the IS250 turned back around a got a different demo!

 

Yea, I went with a friend who was considering one and while it had lots of nice features I wasn't expecting at that price point, I wasn't thrilled either. I think if you were looking for a long term hold, and a car where you'd rack up a lot of miles, it would make some sense, and it's a solid car, it's not not as thrilling to drive and I'd expect, given the target market.

 

The 3 series is really the king of that segment as far as driving goes. The only car that impresses me other than that was the fully loaded CTS I had. Wow great handling, great power , amazing interior. I had an 05 CTS and this car makes that car look like a heap of junk! Plus other than NVH issues the G37 sedan is hard to beat for the money.

 

We drove the 3 Series that same day and it was more fun to drive but extremely thin on the features for the money. We also drove the C class Mercedes and that did absolutely nothing for me in any way shape or form. It looked nice on the exterior, but way too much hard plastic inside and it was far from quiet inside. We never drove the Audi so I have no idea how it compares.

 

Yeah the C class has always been pretty pathetic, and your right you have to pay the very close to $55k to get all of the options into a 335i. I just did this search with a friend and he chose the G37. He doesn't mind the NVH and was close to buying a CTS but its a huge cost difference and he didn't need the extra room or comfort.

 

Ok we've solved all of life's problems now

What's your decision?

 

I am staying within the Toyota family.

Yesterday I took both for an extended drive. Love the instant power of the new A4 2.0T, definitely the best part of this car. The exterior looks are second to none. The LED's make the front end of the car. I just couldn't get over the fit and finish of the interior. Truly not what I expected. I don't know what happened because the B7 interior was great. The handling left a lot to be desired. Hopefully he isn't on here, but the Audi sales guy here in Portland was a deuche (sp). He scraped the front skirt on a brand new A4. Brian at University Audi up in Seattle was great, I would recommend him to anyone looking in PacNW area.

Given I worked for Toyota and they new it, but the Lexus guys treated me well, and although underpowered I chose the Lexus. I will be adding a few F Sport performance mods to help improve the performance (a little) and Five:AD wheels (Designed by Troy Sumitomo of Five Axis).

I can't tell you how grateful I am for everyone's input. It was a very difficult decision. I am sorry if I let the Audi purests down. Maybe down the road I can afford an S5.

 

Enjoy the Lex. I'm sure it'll make a great DD.