That is why you should go for AMG only models for your next Mercedes , i.e. even the 63 and 65 models won’t do

 

Lexus is the new Acura while Acura is just Honda with AWD option.

Just look at new LS launch - what a disappointment and Supra news are even worse.

 

Look, at Bingo last night, we talked about the latest Lexus and we find them to be pretty darn sporty. And Consumer Cellular is giving an additional $100 gift card if you own a Lexus!

BMW sold out maybe 7 years ago. The X1 loaner I had on Monday had a transverse mounted motor.

Are these going to be real M's, the ones whose extended warranties cost over $7k? Or will these be badges and floor mats? Will they be like iPhone 8's (rebates already?), or the so-called F sport badges?

The M2 was on the right track, but try to get one. Most of us are ok that it doesn't have a S powerplant, and that the seat is off center. Because it's still about the drive (no car with 10+" wide rims in the rear is a joke, not usually)...will these cars be about bluetooth and connected cars, or driving?

 

Not that I'm in the market, but the little details disappoint, such as say the carbon fiber driveshaft going away on M3's. At the LS level, did they invite any current customers to a soiré? Does Toyota motor get the idea of a pipeline? I still remember these words when we went to a high end reception way back when, "There are those of you in this room that own a 7. Then there are those of you who will." The F01 was under a car cover, while the guests drank alcohol and ate prime beef and shrimp (I heard someone say this is lame, no lobstah hahahahaha). I don't think Toyota gets this part. They just want checkbooks to open in excess of $85k. I know I never got an invite to the LS launch.

 

AMG has a proud history, which is why I don't believe they should hand out badges the way everyone today on a 4 y.o.'s soccer team wins for participation and no score is tracked. C430 AMG and the like needs to stop imho. Just like M sport. Otherwise, it's like the 4 y.o.'s, they don't care if they win the game or not.

This partner retired 2 years ago, and I said, "Hey Joe, you have a 911, right? I drove the 997 GTS at an event, and I just got done telling a client, if one doesn't have one, there's no reason to live."

He laughed and said, "It took me 30 years to get one. You've got a lot of time left."

In life, nothing worthwhile comes easily, like the C430 AMG's and M235's of the world do.

 

I just did PCD delivery on my 2018 M3 CompPack.
I was planning to get it in May but bec of the CF driveshaft and the fuel economy changes - I ordered it in Sept and was produced in October before this change went in effect.
Definitely sucks especially considering the new M3/4CS models will still have it.

 

Sweet, my understanding is you won't be using your car down there, right, just picking it up? How do you get it home, just vary the speed all along? Do you guys still track the ship? I got a kick out of that back in Nov 2006. It was amazing how we all knew exactly where the ship and our cars were. But once it reached Jersey City, all bets were off and only the dealership knew.....in some way I'm still determined to get an M, a real one, but it's soooooooooooooo far away

 

I’ve been invited to an LS launch event at my dealer as a current LS customer.

No offense, but I’m not surprised used customers and customers of very old cars weren’t invited. For one, how do they know who you are, and for two you’re not likely to buy one.

Dont assume Lexus doesn’t do events like this, they absolutely do.

 

I agree, but having the engines doesn't make the cars. At least Lexus are doing a bang-up job on the handling dynamics of their cars. Most critics agree that while they aren't at the top of either acceleration or handling in terms of limits, they are pleasing to drive and predictable.

Besides, I just might be the "younger demographic" they are going for. I got my IS at 27. I got it over the A4 and 3-series because of a few things, namely the styling, the seats - by far the best seats at the price point, and the steering feel. BMW and Audi had much lighter steering, and I preferred the size of and leather that wrapped the Lexus's steering wheel. They obviously care about having driver-focused cars in their line up, or this one, an entry-level model likely to attract non-entusiasts, would not exist.

Again, I do agree on the engines. Especially from a fuel economy standpoint.

 

BMW (sailing around Liberty Island to celebrate the then new 7?) and Porsche are at the factory level, not the dealership level. If I'm unlikely to buy a new LS, which I am, how unlikely would I have been to buy the 991 GTS that I drove at an event following a professional instructor? This is exactly what I mean, I don't think Toyota Motor thinks about a pipeline and almost grooming people to buy their products. BMW recently had autocross events at the old Giants Stadium and Citi Field.

edit p.s. I got a chuckle when you said "very old cars," reminds me of the verbiage from Thomas and Friends, which my son is watching all the time...(really useful engines)

p.p.s. dang I can hear the narrator...."People who drove, very old cars, were excluded from the dealership sales event, and did not get to taste the free donuts and coffee that were offered as salesmen signed leases left and right. Sir Topham Hatt insisted that the doors be locked barring entry, as these people were like diesels, and he didn't know who they were. But Thomas and Percy...."

 

I think Lexus lost its way, some is the industry of course, but it wasn't all that long ago they had a RWD car with an inline 6. Now it's FWD, 4 cyl., V6, etc. They were super obsessed with cd. And of course that's not the big picture, kind of like advertising HP at some ungodly rpm, and a torque number far less. But they got that number super low, .26? .25 with an air suspension? This means almost nothing when your car is going 95 mph. But they wanted to do it because they could. Look at the cd on a GS.

 

Lexus does these factory level events too. I've never been to one, but I've been invited to them. In fact I know a guy who was at a Lexus driving event just as you describe a few weeks ago in CA with the RC-F, GS-F and the LC.

Remember, it wasn't until very recently Lexus even had any sort of vehicle like that to have that sort of event for, and its all about being on the right lists at the right time, For instance the events you were invited to I wasn't invited to, doesn't mean the events didn't exist.

What?! Lexus has always had a few FWD models. They've also released multiple new RWD models, in fact more RWD models than FWD models. BMW has been more guilty than anybody of putting 4cyl power into its entry cars, remember MB has been selling a 4cyl ONLY essentially E Class for a year and a half. Why is an inline 6 the only viable motor? Mercedes is coming out with an inline 6 for the first time in what, 30 years? 20 years?. Had Mercedes "lost its way"?

The issue is BMW and Mercedes get a pass for certain things where Lexus gets hammered for the same things. Thats always been the way.

 

I went to a Lexus event at Belmont Raceway in summer 2005. This is how I knew there was no interest in the 2006 LS430, there were lines to drive every vehicle (not so much the ES), but there was literally nobody who wanted to drive the LS. So I took 2 turns in it, and actually I said not for me, this is a boat, but I could envision being stuck on the LIE and actually feeling comfortable in this car.

I was there because I knew they were bringing the 2006 BMW 330i--the lines to drive that thing were longer than they were for even the SC. But I waited, and waited. This was actually foolish marketing--why would you want to bring a competitors car when

a) it was brand new--July 2005

b) it is better than your equivalent, the IS?

It's like you're marketing for the competition!

 

Well, that was 13 years ago... I might try one of their modern events before I pass judgement

 

It was a great event, my then g/f thought that was cool to get Lexus golf shirts (haha cotton back then, not the poly blend). Of course, until we got BMW golf shirts later that fall and drove the 330i at a BMW event. It was a well run event that Lexus put on, for pete's sake it was at a raceway, so they had substantial resources to put it on, let alone bring BMWs with them. But the marketing was flawed, you're supposed to bring the competition along when it falls short. BMW routinely brought FWD A4's and Infiniti G35s back then, and then had you drive a RWD 330i around a track. Of course the 330i trounced the other two. One is a FWD car whose motor is far forward of the axle, and the other is a RWD car with a V6....