Its not that they dropped quality, its that the new one is so

I still love the old one though, but after sitting in the new one...

I feel you on not wanting to take that depreciation hit, but the generation you like is still selling in the high 20-30's (i see 2011's going for 30k+

) even with the new one out. Lexus has the highest resale value for a luxury brand too, so if you get in at 30-35k for the new joint where it sells for $47k new (base) you already saved bread plus its not really gonna drop drastically below what you paid. Current gen just started w/ the 2013 model so it isn't changing shape for the next 5-6 years (probably a little refresh in 2-3 years)