For one thing, with the G90, one has the issue of exclusivity. Just to see one, period, is unusual...you aren't going to find them crowded into parking lots like Accords or Camrys.

 

Lexus isn't in the same tier as a Merc or BMW but it's kinda the next tier. I don't see any VPs really driving around in a Lexus but the next level down, it's a popular brand. I think people know it's expensive and reliable and it's perfect for people that require no passion in their cars. The perfect appliance for the most part.

 

Check out Consumer Reports (CR) 2019 reliability data. Hyundai/Kia does fine the first two or three years and then falls off. Lexus/Toyota, on the other hand, starts out great and continues with the best reliabliliy throughout the 8 years of data collection. These numbers come from surveying CR members, not from bias companies like JDP.

My "doomed to repeat history" comment was not aimed at 20-year-old Korean vehicles, it's aimed at models over the past eight years. Mike728 implied I was stuck in the past. I was simply pointing out that we can learn by looking at the past. I wasn't referring to the "poisoned well" resulting from the poor reliability of Korean vehicles 20 years ago.

 

I drive clients around, and I almost always get comments on my Lexus, and that includes when I used to drive less expensive ones, and even older ones. It also looks the part parked around S Classes and Range Rovers etc. My most recent story was I was visiting my brother and sister in law, and we went out for the evening and my sister in law was our DD. She took a selfie with my LS and posted on FB "the good part about being the DD is I get to drive a Lexus around all night!", there is definitely a prestige. I have many many stories like that over the 22 years Ive had these.

Theres also a credibility that comes with driving up in a car like this too. Ive noticed when Ive shown up to appointments being driven by one of my agents who has a cheaper car, you absolutely sense a difference when trying to establish credibility vs when we pull up in the Lexus. One of my guys got his first Lexus, an ES, after many years of driving Accords and he and I were talking about that the other day too, hes noticed it for sure. When meeting someone for the first time now we always take the Lexus.

Its funny watching it change over the time I've been a Lexus owner. Back in 98, that prestige was there too but some people still had to be told what it was. Nowadays nobody has to be told what it is. That would be how it would be in a Genesis too, lots of explaining what it is.

Im a VP and I drive a Lexus. My Dad was a VP and he drove a Lexus. I know lots of people in upper management of companies and officers in companies, CEOs etc who drive Lexus cars. Certainly an MB or BMW is on another level above that, but for a lot of people thats not necessarily a plus. I like that the Lexus has some prestige, makes you look legit, but its not ostentatious and I never feel uncomfortable or conspicuous in it anywhere, where I would in say an S Class.

 

That's nice. Most of the VPs i know are in tech with million dollar salaries. They drive an S class and switch to their Porsches on Friday. People under a million per year drive poor cars like Lexus and Land Rover Upper mgmt all have Ferrari's and Mclarens. Tech people make way too much.

 

I know several people who make 7 figure incomes who drive Lexus cars. Certainly if you are into prestige and flash as a thing these dont get it done, but if you are in a more conservative industry many highly paid people drive Lexus vehicles.

I also know people who have much flashier cars and also drive a Lexus every day and to work, etc and use their better cars when its more appropriate to do so.

I say it all the time, a Lexus is the perfect car for my industry. It projects success but also sensibility and never offends anybody.

 

I guess tech isn't so conservative. Honestly, most engineers I know now drive Teslas. Lexus actually isn't that popular where I work. BMW, Mercedes, Porsche's and Teslas tend to rule the garage here. Not that surprising give my location though.

 

No, nothing conservative about tech lol

 

There are numerous demographic studies that have show that Lexus has the same household income levels as BMW as well as Tesla. I am sure people from all walks of life and different income levels within each brand demographics drive Lexus or Tesla models.

 

But don't you agree that even WITHIN MB and BMW, there is the top tier and bottom tier (and everything in between)?

 

It is 2-3K cheaper to get into the Mercedes brand than it is to get into the Lincoln brand, people just want to argue (and hate Lexus) on this forum for some strange reason. There is a top and bottom tier to both MB, Lexus, Audi and BMW, the Lexus top is not as high...the Lincoln bottom is definitely not as low.

 

They drive Mercedes, Porche and upper end BMR’s. In comparison, Lexus is a little low rent, but works for me.

That being said Toyota/ Lexus does not make a single vehicle I would want to purchase brand new, at least not at this point in time.

 

Of course there are tiers. The Germans just have wider band. From a brand perception, they are just a higher tier. The pricing reflects this too. Lexus products in the same class are priced a little lower because they have to be. It's still the value play compared to BMW and Mercedes. Genesis is a value play compared to Lexus.

 

Bloomberg had a LS430 until it was stolen.

I think as long time owners and drivers of certain brands or certain level of car, people become desensitized to it. And also, as a long time Lexus driver, one does feel and see that the brand has not progressed as far and as quickly as its German competitors and can lead to the sense of lost prestige. What feels normal or outdated to us might feel special to an Accord driver.

 

That is a sad truth and they found that out with the LC500 and LX570. The reality is Lexus' portfolio of cars and SUVs are woefully underwhelming in their respective segments and neglected by management. The exception would be the ES, which they got right. Their newest engine is stuck in purgatory hell also known as the LS500 for the last 3 yrs. It is just a mess and of course Lexus would lose prestige the way it is managed.