Would you consider lexus a status symbol
11-28-05, 09:20 PM
#46
Guest
Posts: n/a
Back to status and some numbers. The average new car is over $29,0000 dollars. Average.
Guess what.
Lexus, doesn't offer a car in that range. So like a proper status symbol, the new cars are more expensive than AVERAGE cars (as in price).
On top of that, you cannot just walk in and buy a new Lexus. Either you have serious cash or have good credit, a combo etc. Lexus is not desperate for sales, so they don't offer rebates and $199 a month lease deals. Nor do they sell cars to rental agencies.
BMW and Benz for the most part is the same. The cars are BLOODY EXPENSIVE. And they know BECAUSE of status, they can afford to sell it for more.
Props to them as a business. If people are willing to pay more, so be it.
Won't be me
(well not yet).
Guess what.
Lexus, doesn't offer a car in that range. So like a proper status symbol, the new cars are more expensive than AVERAGE cars (as in price).
On top of that, you cannot just walk in and buy a new Lexus. Either you have serious cash or have good credit, a combo etc. Lexus is not desperate for sales, so they don't offer rebates and $199 a month lease deals. Nor do they sell cars to rental agencies.
BMW and Benz for the most part is the same. The cars are BLOODY EXPENSIVE. And they know BECAUSE of status, they can afford to sell it for more.
Props to them as a business. If people are willing to pay more, so be it.
Won't be me
(well not yet).
11-28-05, 09:29 PM
#47
Guest
Posts: n/a
Finally, Lexus is still new to this luxury game. So it takes dedicated lexus maniacs like me to straighten things up and throw some facts around. Like...
1. Lexus was the first luxury car maker to put some SERIOUS effort in stereo systems. Before Lexus, your car sounded no better than a small radio. Lexus first with Nakimichi, then with Mark Levinson ELEVATED this part of the game. Now other companies have incredible systems of their own.
2. THose double hinged doors on the $120,000 Benz CL. Yeah, you saw them before. Lexus debuted them on the SC 300/400 in 1992
. The reason being, engineers wanted to minimize door dings and make parkiing easier, thus the doubled hindged doors. Just get out a 2-door Ford Thunderbird in comparison, when you hit the crap out the car next to you when you swing the door out.
3. Aerodynamics. Yes Luxury car makers did put the car in wind tunnels but not to the analness of Lexus engineers. I want you all to think THE HUGE LEXUS LS 430 IS ONE OF THE MOST AERODYNAMIC CARS IN THE WORLD, and was the most aerodynamic until the hybrids.
4. You see all those car based SUVS other car makers have. The Toyota Rav-4 was the first SUV to be built like this. THe RX 300 the first luxury SUV (a GIANT risk at the time). Guess waht, the Benz ML built in Alabama, is now car based, no longer truck based. I don't have enough space to write down all the car makers that followed.
5. Those Electrolumicent gauges in the S class, Q45, Acura RL, etc etc, yup, Lexus was the first with those too. Lets not forget that.
6. Altezzas, NUFF SAID!!!
Off the top of my head, these are Lexus innovations. Do ya'll remember, LUXURY CARS HAD BLACK BUMPERS BEFORE LEXUS came on the scene!! Lexus brought flush bumpers, aerodynamic headlights and other small details others have copied.
Has Lexus coped. HELL YES!!! All car makers do but as a Lexus owner, be proud and aware, Lexus is just as innovative as the competition.
1. Lexus was the first luxury car maker to put some SERIOUS effort in stereo systems. Before Lexus, your car sounded no better than a small radio. Lexus first with Nakimichi, then with Mark Levinson ELEVATED this part of the game. Now other companies have incredible systems of their own.
2. THose double hinged doors on the $120,000 Benz CL. Yeah, you saw them before. Lexus debuted them on the SC 300/400 in 1992
. The reason being, engineers wanted to minimize door dings and make parkiing easier, thus the doubled hindged doors. Just get out a 2-door Ford Thunderbird in comparison, when you hit the crap out the car next to you when you swing the door out.3. Aerodynamics. Yes Luxury car makers did put the car in wind tunnels but not to the analness of Lexus engineers. I want you all to think THE HUGE LEXUS LS 430 IS ONE OF THE MOST AERODYNAMIC CARS IN THE WORLD, and was the most aerodynamic until the hybrids.
4. You see all those car based SUVS other car makers have. The Toyota Rav-4 was the first SUV to be built like this. THe RX 300 the first luxury SUV (a GIANT risk at the time). Guess waht, the Benz ML built in Alabama, is now car based, no longer truck based. I don't have enough space to write down all the car makers that followed.
5. Those Electrolumicent gauges in the S class, Q45, Acura RL, etc etc, yup, Lexus was the first with those too. Lets not forget that.
6. Altezzas, NUFF SAID!!!
Off the top of my head, these are Lexus innovations. Do ya'll remember, LUXURY CARS HAD BLACK BUMPERS BEFORE LEXUS came on the scene!! Lexus brought flush bumpers, aerodynamic headlights and other small details others have copied.
Has Lexus coped. HELL YES!!! All car makers do but as a Lexus owner, be proud and aware, Lexus is just as innovative as the competition.
11-28-05, 09:31 PM
#48
Guest
Posts: n/a
Bottom line, we've had this thread before and yes, Lexus is CLEARLY a Status symbol as its Benz and BMW counterparts. It may not be as high on the totem pole but outside of exotics and super luxury (RR, Bentley), Lexus is right under those Germans.
Good day everyone!
Good day everyone!
Nice posts !!
11-29-05, 08:27 AM
#50
Moderator
Originally Posted by 1SICKLEX
I want people to READ and ABSORB this, as I was browsing and could not believe some of this thread.
Let me add some Lexus sanity to this thread.
First off, Lexus is a status symbol. To argue otherwise, either
1. Your Bill Gates (whoops, he does proclaim the SC 400 is his favorite car) or are a multi-millionaire where you are driven by chauffers and you don't drive.
2. You have been asleep in a coma the last 15 years.
Darlings, lets get to some numbers here.
In America, there are maybe 14-16 million vehicles sold a year. Just America. Lexus, even as the top selling luxury brand, only sells 300,000 cars a year here. So that is gulp, 2% of the total cars made a year.
That is right, 2% of new cars sold are a Lexus.
Now lets just add all luxury car makers. BMW and Benz more importantly, since some seem to think they are God's gift to earth. They sell over 220,000 cars a year. Lets add the other luxury makes and near luxury makes and the luxury market accounts for MAYBE 8-9% of total sales of ALL cars sold in America.
So going by numbers alone, looks like a status symbol to me. As part of status is rarity. Not BAD rarity, like your car is RARE b/c it doesn't sell, its not in demand.
So Benz, BMW, Lexus, all score here.
Let me add some Lexus sanity to this thread.
First off, Lexus is a status symbol. To argue otherwise, either
1. Your Bill Gates (whoops, he does proclaim the SC 400 is his favorite car) or are a multi-millionaire where you are driven by chauffers and you don't drive.
2. You have been asleep in a coma the last 15 years.
Darlings, lets get to some numbers here.
In America, there are maybe 14-16 million vehicles sold a year. Just America. Lexus, even as the top selling luxury brand, only sells 300,000 cars a year here. So that is gulp, 2% of the total cars made a year.
That is right, 2% of new cars sold are a Lexus.
Now lets just add all luxury car makers. BMW and Benz more importantly, since some seem to think they are God's gift to earth. They sell over 220,000 cars a year. Lets add the other luxury makes and near luxury makes and the luxury market accounts for MAYBE 8-9% of total sales of ALL cars sold in America.
So going by numbers alone, looks like a status symbol to me. As part of status is rarity. Not BAD rarity, like your car is RARE b/c it doesn't sell, its not in demand.
So Benz, BMW, Lexus, all score here.
11-29-05, 08:34 AM
#51
Moderator
Originally Posted by 1SICKLEX
Finally, Lexus is still new to this luxury game. So it takes dedicated lexus maniacs like me to straighten things up and throw some facts around. Like...
1. Lexus was the first luxury car maker to put some SERIOUS effort in stereo systems. Before Lexus, your car sounded no better than a small radio. Lexus first with Nakimichi, then with Mark Levinson ELEVATED this part of the game. Now other companies have incredible systems of their own.
2. THose double hinged doors on the $120,000 Benz CL. Yeah, you saw them before. Lexus debuted them on the SC 300/400 in 1992 . The reason being, engineers wanted to minimize door dings and make parkiing easier, thus the doubled hindged doors. Just get out a 2-door Ford Thunderbird in comparison, when you hit the crap out the car next to you when you swing the door out.
3. Aerodynamics. Yes Luxury car makers did put the car in wind tunnels but not to the analness of Lexus engineers. I want you all to think THE HUGE LEXUS LS 430 IS ONE OF THE MOST AERODYNAMIC CARS IN THE WORLD, and was the most aerodynamic until the hybrids.
4. You see all those car based SUVS other car makers have. The Toyota Rav-4 was the first SUV to be built like this. THe RX 300 the first luxury SUV (a GIANT risk at the time). Guess waht, the Benz ML built in Alabama, is now car based, no longer truck based. I don't have enough space to write down all the car makers that followed.
5. Those Electrolumicent gauges in the S class, Q45, Acura RL, etc etc, yup, Lexus was the first with those too. Lets not forget that.
6. Altezzas, NUFF SAID!!!
Off the top of my head, these are Lexus innovations. Do ya'll remember, LUXURY CARS HAD BLACK BUMPERS BEFORE LEXUS came on the scene!! Lexus brought flush bumpers, aerodynamic headlights and other small details others have copied.
Has Lexus coped. HELL YES!!! All car makers do but as a Lexus owner, be proud and aware, Lexus is just as innovative as the competition.
1. Lexus was the first luxury car maker to put some SERIOUS effort in stereo systems. Before Lexus, your car sounded no better than a small radio. Lexus first with Nakimichi, then with Mark Levinson ELEVATED this part of the game. Now other companies have incredible systems of their own.
2. THose double hinged doors on the $120,000 Benz CL. Yeah, you saw them before. Lexus debuted them on the SC 300/400 in 1992
. The reason being, engineers wanted to minimize door dings and make parkiing easier, thus the doubled hindged doors. Just get out a 2-door Ford Thunderbird in comparison, when you hit the crap out the car next to you when you swing the door out.3. Aerodynamics. Yes Luxury car makers did put the car in wind tunnels but not to the analness of Lexus engineers. I want you all to think THE HUGE LEXUS LS 430 IS ONE OF THE MOST AERODYNAMIC CARS IN THE WORLD, and was the most aerodynamic until the hybrids.
4. You see all those car based SUVS other car makers have. The Toyota Rav-4 was the first SUV to be built like this. THe RX 300 the first luxury SUV (a GIANT risk at the time). Guess waht, the Benz ML built in Alabama, is now car based, no longer truck based. I don't have enough space to write down all the car makers that followed.
5. Those Electrolumicent gauges in the S class, Q45, Acura RL, etc etc, yup, Lexus was the first with those too. Lets not forget that.
6. Altezzas, NUFF SAID!!!
Off the top of my head, these are Lexus innovations. Do ya'll remember, LUXURY CARS HAD BLACK BUMPERS BEFORE LEXUS came on the scene!! Lexus brought flush bumpers, aerodynamic headlights and other small details others have copied.
Has Lexus coped. HELL YES!!! All car makers do but as a Lexus owner, be proud and aware, Lexus is just as innovative as the competition.
11-29-05, 10:47 AM
#53
Lexus Test Driver
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Talking status among consumer luxury here:
In the US, 1. MB, 2. BMW, 3. Lexus. Based on heritage, I'd place Jaguar = 4.
In Europe, I'm not as sure of the order anymore since things seem to be a bit in flux lately, but I believe it's still 1. MB, 2. BMW, 3. Audi.
That was consumer luxury.
Real luxury I'd have to say 1. RR, 2. Bentley (Maybach isn't quite there yet, their super high prices notwithstanding, due to heritage, and Bentley's still up there, their current <$200k offerings notwithstanding, again due to heritage).
Exotic/sports car is 1. Ferrari, 2. Lambo, 3. Aston Martin, 4. Maserati. Not sure where Porsche falls on the list. They'd probably be higher if not for the Boxster and cheaper Carreras.
In the US, 1. MB, 2. BMW, 3. Lexus. Based on heritage, I'd place Jaguar = 4.
In Europe, I'm not as sure of the order anymore since things seem to be a bit in flux lately, but I believe it's still 1. MB, 2. BMW, 3. Audi.
That was consumer luxury.
Real luxury I'd have to say 1. RR, 2. Bentley (Maybach isn't quite there yet, their super high prices notwithstanding, due to heritage, and Bentley's still up there, their current <$200k offerings notwithstanding, again due to heritage).
Exotic/sports car is 1. Ferrari, 2. Lambo, 3. Aston Martin, 4. Maserati. Not sure where Porsche falls on the list. They'd probably be higher if not for the Boxster and cheaper Carreras.
11-29-05, 01:47 PM
#54
Super Moderator
South of the border...Mercedes is still the big status symbol...though other marks are slowly gaining ground. Audi is a big one (bigger in status than in the states).
People give my Lexus some funny looks...but people who talk to me know of it and respect it...and seem to be very well aware of the high quality of these cars along with Acura (just opened in December 2004).
People give my Lexus some funny looks...but people who talk to me know of it and respect it...and seem to be very well aware of the high quality of these cars along with Acura (just opened in December 2004).
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