kalvano

There will be a GS-F, within 2-3 years.

LF-A will be closer to $300K, I hear.

bondman2

This is my first Lexus and I bought it because I researched and found that most lexus owners absolutely loved there cars inside and out and other than one problem at a dealership service department I've loved every min and mile in my IS 350. They may have not lost their way but everyone has a different opinion

@lpher

This might actually be one extra factor to Lexus' disadvantages in Europe...the exterior is a little to subtle to show of anything

KINGLEX

yeah they need to step up, because the 2 best looking models are the es and ls, which shouldn't be the case. they sell too many cars to be so plain. Audi is gaining credibility by getting away from being boring.

-King Bimmer

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

Lexus just has to address the young professional & driving enthusiast markets more with upcoming products. I am both of the above in real life & there is nothing in the Lexus showroom that will pull me in at present

Sal Collaziano

This about sums up my issues with Lexus. The prices of the vehicles have gone up and the quality has gone down. It's simply greed. When they get over themselves, the old Lexus will be back.

SilverBull

I agree with DASHOCKER. The current Lexus lineup has no soul. There are comfy, reliable cars in there but nothing really stirs me up to go back there until I decide I don't want to have fun anymore and I just want to be driven. When that day comes I will get a GS350 or something.

BMW may have the biggest A-holes driving their cars and selling them but they sure have something different than Acura and Lexus don't. There is no cool coupe or convertible in the Lexus lineup. The new IS-C looks awful. It just doesn't fly with me. The ISX cars are meant to be sedans.

I love the 3 series coupes. There just isn't something like that besides the new Audi A5/S5 cars.

ffpowerLN

iTrader: (1)

Young professional & driving enthusiast?

I am an aerospace/systems engineer working for one of the top defense contractors so I guess I am qualified as a young professional. I also tracked my car and according to my sig I would assume that I can be categorized as a driving enthusiast, I think...

Personally I think Lexus is on the right track to win over more buyers at younger age. Before the new generation L-Finesse (which A LOT of the old Lexus enthusiasts hate...) cars, especially the 2IS, I hated Lexus with a passion. I think they are ugly, have old-people styling and do not look sporty at all, however the IS350 completely changed my view toward Lexus. Back in summer 2006 when I was in the market for an entry lux sports sedan right after graduating from grad school, there was not a close competitor to the IS350 in my opinion. It was the best looking, most technologically advanced and most powerful candidate in that market so it was a no brainer for me to choose that over the 330i/G35/TL.

Granted that the competitors have caught up and some of 2IS' advantages no longer exist but in my opinion this car has aged well. The consistent sales figure month after month speaks for itself: Lexus has successfully created a true fighter in the entry lux sports sedan segment with the 2IS (unlike the 1IS disaster...) and has captured new and younger customer base with it.

One step at a time and Lexus is on the right track. Now all it has to do is not to mess up the 3IS...

rominl

iTrader: (4)

in terms of capturing younger owners, i think lexus is moving in the right direction but there are still quite some room to improve. as ffpower stated, the new l-finesse designs are much younger than before. the 2is does quite a magical work imho

however, at the same time, the improvement is far from complete. coupe is still not at dealerships (and it seems to be pretty ugly), more variety of coupes and convertibles.

and then they need to address the gs platform. they need to have another higher class coupe in that segment (the is-c just won't cut it for some young people), together with an even more dynamic gs.

UDel

I just test drove a used black IS350 today and unfortunately the interior does not seem like it was built to last and it had aged poorly and not the same quality as older Lexus models. The leather was worn off and fading bad in several areas, it had large panel gaps especially the center dash that had obviously got bigger after a few years of ownership, when pressing buttons on the center console it made that cheap creaking sound of plastic coming loose, the paint from the silver/gray trim around the dash was fading and even peeling off in some areas, the big sliver of "wood" on the center console where the shifter was had all kinds of ugly scratches, the tactile feel of the buttons and switches were not that impressive to me and did not feel as good as the 09 TL I test drove, much of the black plastic and trim and leatehr around the car appeared to be fading, and worst of all the cheap silver painted plastic on the doors was scratched, fading, and many areas were peeled off with black plastic underneath. The door also felt kind of light and not as solid feeling as my GS, and the 08 and 09 TLs I drove. I was pretty disappointed with the interior quality and how it held up and was possibly considering this car if I could get a great deal on it.

I must say it is still a very good looking car exterior wise and a very nice design, I really liked the gauges on the car and how they danced when you started it, the V6 had plenty of pep and was very satisfying to get on, it drove pretty well but I was not wowed by the handling or steering, visibility was not that good when trying to merge into traffic trying to look what was around me and in back, the car felt pretty small and a bit cramped but I could still deal with it.

Overall I still liked many things about the IS350 but was very disappointed by the interior quality and how poorly it held up but maybe could look past that if I found a great deal on one with a better interior but that pathetic useless rear seat is very hard to get over.

My 01 GS430 interior has held up much better then this much newer IS350 and almost looks new with the original owner of my GS having owned the car in Florida with the constant pounding of the hot sun and humidity, and the next owner had two small children who frequently rode in the back in a car seat yet the interior has held up well. My parents 99TL and 03CL interiors held up much better then this much newer with less mileage IS350 and don't have any fading, peeling, creaking parts and trim like this newer IS had. I hope the used IS that I tried was not typical of how most are wearing because it clearly showed quality is nowhere near as good now at Lexus then in the past or at least with the IS.

ffpowerLN

iTrader: (1)

Maybe the previous owner of that IS350 didn't take care of it as you did for your GS430?

You need to take a look at some of CL member's 2006 IS350s (including mine). Many of my friends who are not into cars are all surprised that mine is pushing 3-year-old...

LexFather

Exactly. Comparing a 3 year old car vs a new car. I hope the new car is better possibly.

Amazing, the IS 300 had the LOWEST AGE of any buyer from a luxury brand and the IS 250/350 clearly attracts young and old alike.

The 2nd thing is people need to realize Lexus CLEARLY, CLEARLY, CLEARLY does very well at being LEXUS.


No other brand can mix the ES/IS at the same price for example and sell well. Lexus has stated before, they want to venture new places AND keep loyal customers satisfied.

500k sold with a very limited lineup yearly with nothing under 30k is a huge accomplishment.