SecPole14

Amen. x985478887632


No. They're trying to make it sound like the JDM Toyotas are worlds better due to better NAV systems, etc. Not better body structure. Not better materials. Not better craftsmanship. THOSE are the things that make a difference.

Can we help it that our government has a strangle-hold on consumers that makes a real hassle for companies to import engines like the 2JZ-GTE? It's great and dandy that Indionesia doesn't have such stumbling blocks in its way...No need to cut down on US Toyotas/Lexus.

Yes, the Crowns are great cars. However, if you tool around the Japanese website, you'll find they are designed by the same engineers using the same materials and, in most instances, the same components and sub-systems as "lesser" Toyotas. Made in the same factories, too.

Lexus owners, I think, can be entitled to having elitist views when talking about a company like Acura or Infiniti, but having this attitude of, "Oh, we get something better...YOUR Toyotas aren't as good as OUR Toyotas" is really more than annoying...we're well aware other places get nicer goodies than the US...no need to bring it up over and over...Intra-clan elitism is not good, and it's really quite sad.

Just so you know, in case you don't, Crown models are made in the same factories as RAV4s.

THE_CEO

hey man i think that was Jordan's best ever commercial!

CEO

LexFather

I got the poster too Great commercial. I also like the one about "tell me I am older, etc"

LexFather

In 1997, the greatest basketball player ever admitted in a Nike commercial that he wouldn't be where he is today without all of his mistakes. Jordan, in his walk through the crowd and security guards to get to the locker room before a game, recounts all his errors. "I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."

http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/...6/1509936.html

mmarshall

We are talking about here in the U.S., not Japan. Obviously we Americans cannot control what Toyota / Lexus sells in their home country, but here in the U.S. there ARE significant differences in the two makes. That is not an opinion....that is a fact. See my first posting on this subject listing some of the major differences. You are correct, however, that a lot of Lexus quality (and Scion's, for that matter) stem from their being Toyota divisions..........same as with Honda / Acura and Nissan / Infiniti. But look at the major quality and reliability ratings from the major organizations.....( J.D. Power, Consumer Reports, Edmunds.com, etc.....) Almost without exception, Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti dominate the top 3 positions, even more so than their less-expensive corporate cousins.....though Hyundai has made enormous strides lately and is seriously challenging the better Japanese makes now.

gmac1337

Hell all the guys know my car is a glorified camry but it doesnt bother me. I mean it doesn't make the car any worse. But girls dont know that, all they see is LEXUS and there all over you. I know i know, if you need a car to pick up girls, you dont have any game, but hey it just makes life easier for me.

mmarshall

Depends on what you mean by "glorified". (See my earlier posts). An ES330, at the very least, is a VERY glorified Camry, if that's the way you want to put it. It's like comparing a Cadillac Escalade with a Chevy Tahoe or Suburban.

THE_CEO

Hey i knew i had good taste..thanks for confirming that...hehe!

CEO

LexFather

I agree.Well this is where LEXUS has made tremendous strides compared to competitors. The ES maybe built off the Camry but THEY SHARE ALMOST NOTHING YOU SEE!. The exteriors are all different and more importantly the INTERIORS.
In comparison, look at the DISCONTINUED I35 and Maxima. Hardly anything changed.For both generations.
The ES has seperated itself from the Camry GREATLY.

LexFather

I agree, the name "Lexus" does this.

SupraCoup3

Then why no Lexus until this past year?

Americans wanted to be pampered by a different brand name, better treatment... but not a better car. Cold hard fact: A lexus here is a toyota there.

Yes there is a logistical side, but look at scion -- very often it's just a corner of a Toyota dealership's showroom. It's a label, it's special treatment... it's not the car.

Oh yea, and why did Toyota roll out that sludge engine program for both Lexus & Toyota if they treat their customers so differently?

As far as features go, Soarers YEARS ago had backup cameras, active suspensions, TVs in car, Hydraulic suspension, and so on. The Q45 created a stir by having a backup cam in its 02 model.

I don't see why this bothers people.

This one townie said to me once "nice toyota!"
I replied, "I know! Isn't it!?"

BLK13X

Maybe we should reply with "well your Benz is nothing more than a fancy German taxi" lol

Thank you SupraCoup3! This was exactly my views on it. The only way I see how Lexus differs from Toyota is from the perks and priveliges that Lexus owners recieve (mostly all the ritzy features that come with the Lexus Encore program, you guys get that in America yeah?), everything else is still the same. Even Toyota technicians service Lexus cars (at the dealership where mum brings her Previa).

The only things that differ a Toyota from a Lexus are some minute features and the badges (I mean yeah fold back mirrors are handy, but you can always push them in yourself!). Someone mentioned the differences between a Landcruiser and an LX470. Remember, the LX470 is known as a Landcruiser Cygnus in Japan, with much more fruit as well. Soarers have always been a hot topic when it comes to the Toyota vs. Lexus badgewar (over here any way) and put simply... if the car was ever exported to Australia as a mass import then it would be badged as a Lexus, however as it was a grey import (low volume import) it's known as a Toyota. Besides, it's fun seeing someone bragging about their Lexus (for example) and we rock up in a Toyota that has more fruit. It doesn't matter what badges are on the car as they're both built at the same factories, and they are all built under Toyota's quality control.

You guys will most likely know that we don't have the Acura brand here in Australia, everything is badged as a Honda (I'm not sure on the names of Acuras over there) but here the only cars I've seen with Acura badges are Civics lol Infinity was sold here for a while but then they ditched that.. they jsut started selling more S15 200SX's (Silvias) hehe.

Lexus isn't a better car than a Toyota, they're all Toyotas, the only thing that might elevate the Lexus brand higher than Toyota is the customer service that's offered to Lexus owners. You should see how Toyota dealerships react when a grey import Toyota comes in! You'd think that Lexus dealers would be snobby if a normal Toyota came in!

Jose

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I agree. It is all the same. The way I see it my Lexus was built by Toyota by Toyota employee's. It is nothing more than a Toyota with an upscale Lexus badge. I would have bought the my RX330 and SC400 regardless if it was under the Toyota or Lexus name. I just like what the cars had to offer. Same with my Acura cars. They were good cars so I bought it. I try and remove all my badging for a cleaner look anyway so the name definately means nothing to me. For me, I like the car and am happy with the car, not the name on it.

BigVIPness

I wish it wasn't 7 in the morning so I could be more articulate but here it goes anyway:

First off, the ES is not a camry. Its a ES.When you buy a ES you don't just get diffrent badging, you get more options, you get diffrent styling both outside and in, you get diffrent perks at the dealership, and yes; you get the name. In the begging it may have been very very simalar but the ES has distanced itself greatly from the Camry. With the new headlight and taillight change on the ES and the Camry the 2 have grown even farther apart. Saying "ya its just a camry" is only reenforcing what alot of people think about Toyota. My buddys QX4 is not a pathfinder, its a QX4 and its very obvious its diffrent.

In the USA you can't get a Toyota Aristo, or a Celsior, or a Harrier, or a Soarer, Altezza in the US. But you can get a Lexus GS, LS, RX, SC, IS. The body style the options and the name make it a Lexus. Same with any other brand like that.

Also, after getting out of a 2 and a half year realationship and being single again I think its safe for me to say... that to girls, its not just a rebadged Toyota, its a Lexus

And to all the Mercedes drivers shooting there mouths off and calling Lexus's just Toyota's... They can lick the sweatiest part of my *****. If I wanted a car with bland styling, horrid reliabitly, and a brand image thats synonymous with rich stuck up ******, then I would've bought a CLK instead of a GS.

mmarshall

What some of you guys keep forgetting ( and I see that this thread has generated a lot of discussion ) is that while Toyota and Lexus products are based on the same platforms and often share drivetrains, in most cases there are significant differences in luxury and convienence features, ride, trim, sound insulaton, warranty, and customer service. I've already touched on some of these in earlier posts, like the Shift-Shock Control. With the possible exception of the Toyota Avalon, which was really designed to be a Lexus to start with when management then decided to make it the Toyota flagship, if I was driving blindfolded, I could tell the average Toyota from the average Lexus just from the feel, ride, transmission shifting, noise level, trim feel, etc.... and several other factors.