Among the following lineup, which particular one would you vote for the best Lexus vehicle(or the most successful or the one that could represent Lexus the best)? Please vote.

hmm... i would have to say either the RX300/330 or the ES300/330... i see them on the road everywhere.... but i think the ES is a bit more common than the RX.. so i guess my vote goes to the ES.

but in my personal taste.. i like the GS, GX, IS, and LS

The Lexus flagship :thumbup: The LS430 is the model that makes the Lexus name more than any of the others.
The RX is a close second though, it's the best selling Lexus, & it revolutionized the SUV market being the first car-based SUV, & had all competitors following it's path.

The Lexus flagship :thumbup: The LS430 is the model that makes the Lexus name more than any of the others.
The RX is a close second though, it's the best selling Lexus, & it revolutionized the SUV market being the first car-based SUV, & had all competitors following it's path.
I am with you. I voted LS 430 but the LS 400 is the most succesful Lexus vehicle and one of the most successful ever created.
1. It was THE car to change the luxury field. It won every comparo, it was universal from the motoring press this was one of the grandest cars ever created.
2. Even Road and Track picked the LS as one of the 100 most important cars ever created. Mind you the only other one from the 90s was the Mclaren F-1, most every choice was something from the "old" days.
3. It was avant garde with technology. Those electrolumicent gauges were a first, now many other companies use them.
4. It had an optional Nakamichi sound system, which blew everything else away. Lexus was the first car company to be SERIOUS about acoustics.
5. It had the lowest CD in class. Every Lexus car/SUV has some of the lowest drag in class. Other car makers too their tech and used it to make their cars slippier in the wind.
6. Smallest panel gaps. Only Infintii was close to how precise the car was built.
7. Top marketing. It stated the trend of top Lexus marketing. Remember the wine glasses stacked in a running LS? Today we have the ad of the LS 430 doing 100mph in reverse between 2 18-wheelers as the driver looks through the rearview camera.
8. A new quality experience. Only the SC 430 is now a better built car (which is a Lexus). The LS 400 brought a new wave of quality in luxury. Something SORELY missing in class.
9. How to do a re-call!! Lexus did a voluntary recall with the LS. Previously, the industry blamed OWNERS for any problems. This was the first time a company admitted fault and fixed the problem no questions asked. It won over repeat customers with a mistake!
10. Quiet! The LS was the quiestest car in class.
11. Weight. The LS has always been near or the lightest weight in class.
12. Performance. Outside the Q45, the LS was near tops in performance.
13. Top Fuel Economy. The LS had top fuel economy in class, no one was close.
14. Classic looks. It was not avant-garde and took some styling cues from Benz, but you have a car that does not look "old". Back then, luxury cars had BLACK BUMPERS!!!
15. True value. You didn't get a "lesser" car with a cheaper price. You got a better or at least equivilent car for a cheaper price.

Lexus has always done a great job like the Germans with the fact its FLAGSHIP was with no arguement the best car in the brand. The LS trickles down to all the other cars.

I agree the RX is 2nd. This is a vehicle no one else thought of, the car-based SUV. Lexus saw where the luxury market was going, people wanted SUVs. Today every car-maker has one or wants one. Benz's new ML is now car based instead of a uni-body. The RX has many of the firsts for a SUV that the LS has for the sedan.

But the LS DEFINES Lexus. The SC is the "pearl" of Lexus now. Lexus always wanted a convertible and the SC 430 is it.

I agree with you guys on the LS400 / 430 engineering, but if you define success (as most sources do) by numbers in the marketplace, it's gotta go to either the ES or the RX.

I don't think that's the right way to look at it just by sales #'s. :rolleyes:
The cheaper, low end models always sell more than the flagship for every brand.

I don't think that's the right way to look at it just by sales #'s. :rolleyes:
The cheaper, low end models always sell more than the flagship for every brand.

Generally true, but Infiniti was an exception.....neither the low-end G20 nor the flagship Q45 sold very well. One has been dropped.....twice.....and the other may be very soon.

Anyhow, the way you are defining success, I agree...the LS was probably a more significant car from an introductory standpoint.....but the ES and RX brought in the money. So it depends on how you define success. In fact, from a pure supply-and-demand standpoint, the RX400H is probably the most successful Lexus product yet, demand-wise.

I would have to say

1) LS
2nd belongs to the GS.
3rd is IS

Why I chose that, like most facts stated about the LS, there's no doubt why its so important. a GS in another hand changes the image of Lexus into a sportier minded crowd, I remember reading Road & Track back in 1998, I still have their first test with a blue GS400, back then I was so impress as a teenager I say "damn, that's one quick car that looks superb". So now I have one :D , it shows Lexus can do just as good and better than BMW.

the IS in another hand brings the newer Lexus image to the younger crowd, the affordability and the performance really increase Lexus's profile in car crowd.

that's my opinion.

"Which one could represent Lexus the best?"

There's a reason why the LS is called the Lexus flagship model. Enough said.:p

"Which one could represent Lexus the best?"

There's a reason why the LS is called the Lexus flagship model. Enough said.:p

I'll second that... :thumbup:

When people think Lexus and don't say a model... they are usually refering to a LS (in my experience)

So ya... LS =D Can't go wrong w/ the flagship that everyone loves :D

... the best Lexus vehicle
... or the most successful
... or the one that could represent Lexus the best)?

I think those are 3 different questions. :D

1) LS (easy)
2) ES and RX (makes Lexus dumpsters of money)
3) LS

The question is misleading. I thought you meant which car does Lexus sell the most of, and I would guess that is the ES. The LS obviously is the top dog.

.Today we have the ad of the LS 430 doing 100mph in reverse between 2 18-wheelers as the driver looks through the rearview camera.



you think that commercial is real? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I'm asking.

I have my doubts on that one. What did they do, make a special trans that does 100mph in reverse? :uh:

The question is misleading. I thought you meant which car does Lexus sell the most of, and I would guess that is the ES . . .
No, it's the RX, unless you make the silly argument that RX is a SUV, not a car ;)

The question is misleading. I thought you meant which car does Lexus sell the most of, and I would guess that is the ES. The LS obviously is the top dog.
Yeah I should rephrase the question. Asking about the best and the best selling Lexus models are pointless, of course the flagship should be the best and the best selling are RX and ES. What I meant was which one would pop up to your brain the first second when a person mentions Lexus.

. . . What I meant was which one would pop up to your brain the first second when a person mentions Lexus.
It's still the LS ;) :cool:

you think that commercial is real? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I'm asking.

I have my doubts on that one. What did they do, make a special trans that does 100mph in reverse? :uh:
I believe its AMCI that does the same tests that are in ads to make sure claims are true. Lexus wouldn't risk getting caught. That company tested the lexus ads in the early 90s with the wine glasses and rolling ball in the panel gaps b/c it could not believe it was true. They got the same results buying the LS and ES off a dealer lot.

They caught Volvo though, supposedly in an ad, Bigfoot ran over a Volvo and it was unscathed, when they did it, the car got crushed. Come to find out the volvo in the ad was super reinforced.

to me it's the ls430 hands down. it's definitely the status. es and rx are common but they are not what gives lexus the status now

Although the LS is the Lexus 'Flagship' vehicle, the most popular by far would have to be their 'bread & butter' vehicles which are the ES & RX. :cool: :thumbup:

I'd have to say the RX for overall sales. They're all over the place now!?!

yea i agree, question messed up, i voted es330, bc that was lexus best seller a few times...

if you say what represents lexus the best, then definitely the ls430...

there's no other option for that
LS was the original

i voted for LS.

it started it all in the late 80s early 90s with Lexus beginning their research in the hills of Los Angeles to "study" the tastes of the affluent.

then came the LS. value, quality, and longevity rolled into one nice package.


my dad really wanted one of those original early 90s models...but we persuaded him to buy a minivan to haul us on roadtrips.

my dad really wanted one of those original early 90s models...but we persuaded him to buy a minivan to haul us on roadtrips.:thumbup: to your dad but shame on you...:p

Best selling Lexus right now is the RX. We can't keep the RX long enough in our lots people just buy it like crazy. Forget about the RX400H it's sold before it even gets to port. The Lexus RX is the fastest selling Lexus to reach the 100K unit mark. Last year Lexus sold more than 140K units of the RX first time ever a Lexus reach this milestone. But the best Lexus for me is the LS430 the options that this thing comes with is just unreal. I'm thinking of getting one but I don't have any use for it. Kids have thier own rides so it's just me and the wife. The only 2dr that Lexus offer is the SC and I hate the way it looks.

I agree with you here on both issues. First, I am not a fan either of the SC's Audi TT-look (or of the fact that Lexus still refuses to do an SC300 or 330 like in the 1990's). Second, you are correct that the RX has had tremendous appeal....for a reason. Up to now, it has been the only Lexus car-based product with AWD....the GX470 and LX470 are both based on off-road trucks and don't ride, handle, or steer anywhere near as well as the RX. The GX470 in particular is extremely high and narrow and somewhat tipsy in the turns.
However, now that we have an AWD GS300 and an upcoming AWD IS250, there is the potential for them to make a significant dent in the RX's sales.....unless, of course, people still want the RX's high ground clearance.

i have to say the very frist gen LS400 which totally reset the standard of luxuary cars and blew away everything in it's class at that time.

However, now that we have an AWD GS300 and an upcoming AWD IS250, there is the potential for them to make a significant dent in the RX's sales.....unless, of course, people still want the RX's high ground clearance.

My family didn't buy RX because of the ground clearance or AWD, in fact, we got a FWD RX330. Even the new GS300 and the upcoming IS250 have AWD option, they still lack the cargo room of a SUV's, so I don't think GS or IS would take away many of RX's sales.

I agree, I don't think you can compare an RX with a GS or the IS just because they all have awd as an option. They are all vastly different vehicles.

I agree, I don't think you can compare an RX with a GS or the IS just because they all have awd as an option. They are all vastly different vehicles.


true, but I think the RX is more of a station wagon/hatchback, than a truck. I've had a few as loaners and they are very car like.

true, but I think the RX is more of a station wagon/hatchback, than a truck. I've had a few as loaners and they are very car like.
I have heard people crosshopping some strange combinations of cars, like a Hummer & a SC430 :p , but generally, I don't believe a vast portion of people will cross shop a GS or IS with a RX just because they all have AWD options.

Well, getting back to the question, I agree the LS personifies Lexus. It's the car that started it all. Then came the ES250 then the SC400. The LS is the flagship, but my heart belongs to the SC 1st gen. I remember ads showing just the high and low beam headlights teasing the public. LS gets my respect, but the SC gets my blood pumping. When I think of Lexus, those 3 models come to mind, although I've taken less and less to the newer ES and SC.

The L...S..

Well, getting back to the question, I agree the LS personifies Lexus. It's the car that started it all. Then came the ES250 then the SC400. The LS is the flagship, but my heart belongs to the SC 1st gen. I remember ads showing just the high and low beam headlights teasing the public. LS gets my respect, but the SC gets my blood pumping. When I think of Lexus, those 3 models come to mind, although I've taken less and less to the newer ES and SC.

Lexus seriously needs a true successor to the original SC...

My vote goes to the LS for putting Lexus on the map in terms of being a luxury marque. Everyone is holding their breaths to see what the next gen will bring. In the meantime, the RX and ES remain the volume sellers that keep Lexus ahead in the sales numbers.