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Doug Demuro reviews the 1990 Lexus LS 400, the Lexus that started it all. He also compares it to the modern 2018 Lexus LS 500. What do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree with his Doug scoring?

Och

iTrader: (3)

Interesting that he found one in pristine condition and with the very rare air suspension option. I never drove a LS400 with air suspension, and I'm surprised that he didn't find the ride to be very smooth. Cars of that era that had air suspension, such as certain Lincolns, Buicks, and Mercedes had a ridiculously soft ride.

praveenc

I don't think it deserves a 7 in quality, I was extremely surprised to hear that.

situman

I'm surprised about the poor ride quality and the quality of the interior materials that would have been considered cheap by today's standards. Just odd since all I hear today are cars being cheaply made. The interior and the leather looks pristine and remarkable for a 30yr old car. Let's see any of today's car interiors look this good even in 5 to 10 years.

JDR76

That LS belongs to my sales guy there at Lexus of Seattle. It's a beautiful car.

LeX2K

I now question his ability to judge the quality of a vehicle. The interior materials of the LS are very high quality a stark contrast to what we see in even high end luxury cars made today. I don't think I've ever seen a car with better quality overall. I get the feeling he is confusing interior styling and features with quality. Also he says the car drives like a Camry, having driven the original LS a few times just no. The LS is much quieter and the ride is eons more smooth. No comparison.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

If you're going to talk about a car from 1990. You need to compare it to other cars from that era. This guy

situman

I feel like he needs to stop and breath once in a while so he gets enough oxygen in his head to make correct judgements.

situman

Plus he failed to mention that today's car interiors are mostly pleather unless you get into the higher trim packages.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I owned a first gen LS, and the interior materials were crap. The leather was horrible, almost industrial grade. Wood cracked easily. Seats had saggy springs that weren't comfotable, and seats motors tended to burn out or become slow. Dashboard and plastics were soft but warped from heat and cold. The second generation LS (96+) was light years ahead in quality.

Toys4RJill

LeX2K

I recently did some work on a 1992 the interior had none of the issues you supposedly had. Still looked fantastic, the leather is excellent much thicker than what's being used now. The entire car oozes quality.

FrankReynoldsCPA

The interior in my 92 had largely deteriorated by the time I owned it. Some common issues on that gen were:

• LCD screen on the HVAC was completely blank. Same for the radio(on a related note, the power antenna was notorious for breaking)
• Fake wood trim that was falling off.
• Leather seats that weren't holding up.

Other issues with the car:

• AC compressors were known to not last very long
• Alternator located under a power steering pump which was known to leak/fail with regularity. Service records indicated my LS400 was on its' 3rd pump when I bought it(110,000 miles). The pump failed again during my first week of ownership and was on its way out yet again when I got rid of the car 3 years later.
• Air suspension was prone to failure and expensive to replace. Most just converted to normal shocks when the air suspension failed(mine had been converted when I bought it).

Granted, some of the issues I experienced were due to the age of the car when i bought it(2011). However, other issues were simply design faults that I later found out were occuring on the cars even when they were newer. Toyota made some questionable engineering decisions on the car(alternator under PS pump, starter under the intake manifold) that really sucks if you don't have a large repair budget. Also, my 4x4 V8 F-150 gets better MPG in the city.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Original leather in the LS was horrible - it was thick and hard, so not pleasant to the touch and very brittle. It deteriorated, discolored and cracked very fast. Just do some searched on ebay on 94 LS vs 95 LS and see how much better 2nd gen generally hold up.

Ditto for the GS, I owned both 1st and 2nd gen, and the quality of the 2nd gen was hell of a lot better.

Fizzboy7

2002 Hyundai Equus? Was such a car even available here at that time? Never heard of any Equus until five years ago.
Those chrome fender flares are absolutely atrocious. Not too many people went that route. Gold package is more common and forgivable.
Surprised he sent the car off dirty for the review. There is dust and water spots at locations.
One tailpipe hangs lower than the other.
He totally forgot to mention Acura was already doing what Lexus was doing. Acura was having huge success with it, starting in 1987. (How could he completely forget about the Acura Legend?)
The clean and uncluttered greenhouse is delightfully more attractive than the cluttered disaster of the new LS. Shown parked side by side really drives home the point.
The dash and central console of the originally LS is so much more pure and balanced than today's circus show dashes.
This guy could be related to Jay Leno.
Really appreciate the preservation of the old LS. The upholstery could have been redone, as the seats and leather look too perfect. Much respect to the owner.