Lexus GS (L10) review: the sedan Lexus stopped making, and Bahrain buyers still want
3.9/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The L10 GS350 is the enthusiast's Lexus sedan: heavier steering, flatter cornering and a more engaged chassis than the ES it shares showrooms' worth of buyers with, and none of the reliability trade-off that usually comes with 'sportier'. Buy a post-2016 facelift for the Lexus Safety System+ suite and the mildly sharpened styling, avoid the earliest 2013 cars with higher-mileage histories, and accept you are buying a car Lexus no longer makes, so parts availability will only get tighter with time.
Pros
- Sharpest-handling, most engaging Lexus sedan chassis ever sold here
- Strong, smooth 311 hp V6 with an eight-speed automatic
- Discontinued nameplate means more stable used residuals
- Full Lexus reliability record, none of the usual 'sporty' trade-offs
Cons
- Discontinued in 2020 — dealer and parts attention will only shrink over time
- Rear seat and boot space are tighter than the ES that effectively replaced it
- Infotainment (pre-facelift) shows its age against newer Lexus screens
- Sits in an awkward gap between ES buyers and IS enthusiasts, so used demand is thinner
Lexus built four generations of GS chasing the same brief — a rear-wheel-drive mid-size sedan sharper than an ES, more affordable than an LS — and the L10 is the one where it finally nailed the handling side without giving up the comfort that made the nameplate a Gulf staple. The GS350's 3.5-litre V6 and eight-speed automatic are shared with the RC coupe, and the chassis tuning shows: this is the GS Lexus's own engineers wanted to build.
Then, in 2020, Lexus discontinued it. The ES grew larger and the IS grew sharper, and the segment the GS occupied simply stopped existing as a distinct product. For a Bahraini buyer that is unusual: most Lexus sedans can be replaced with a newer version of the same nameplate. A GS cannot.
Driving it in Bahrain
The chassis is the reason to want one specifically. Steering weight builds naturally off-centre in a way the ES does not attempt, body control over the expansion joints on the Bahrain–Saudi causeway stays flatter, and the 311 hp V6 has enough mid-range pull to make overtaking on the Budaiya Highway unstressful. It is not a BMW 5 Series rival in outright feel, but it is the closest Lexus has come.
Buying used, with eyes open
Because the GS is out of production, the used-market calculus is different from a current-generation Lexus: residuals are more stable since there is no newer model devaluing older stock every year, but dealer attention and parts stocking will keep shrinking. A pre-purchase inspection focused on the eight-speed transmission's service history and the air-conditioning system — the usual Bahrain heat-stress point on any car this age — matters more here than on a nameplate still in showrooms.