bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

an 'escalade coming at you' feels a bit like a freight train approaching too. I guess presence just means absurdly huge with ridiculously unnecessarily high front hoods.

very sorry you're sick... get well soon.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

the lexus 300 was fwd and a huge seller from the get go.

I don't understand this.

nothing has really changed. they still have an LS, have more SUVs/CUVs than ever, the RX/ES are still the top sellers... the GS is gone unfortunately, but in hindsight I think lexus was right to end it because trying to compete in a dying marketing didn't make sense.

I've maintained for decades that lexus isn't a "tier 1" luxury maker because they've never had the kind of high end features and customization of other brands. they also have been wildly inconsistent in their marketing, and as we all know, they've had several half-hearted 'sport' sub-brands (l-tuned, trd, 'f', etc). that's not knocking lexus. they've always gone their own way and have been hard to compare to anyone else, which is smart on their part to have their niches. lexus was an is never going to "out-mercedes" mercedes.

my biggest complaint with lexus is how slowly they move/change.

back to the topic, to be positive, this new RX is a MASSIVE step forward in interior... let's praise that.

the exterior is evolutionary and i guess we'll get used to the new schnozz, and it won't look as bad in dark colors. the rx was already roomy inside (5 seater) and now it should be even roomier, so that's all good.

703

watch till the end. Some cool collection.

SW17LS

Yes it was...and? I'm not begrudging the existance of this car, its the lack of existance of many other cars I begrudge.

Don't see how you can't understand having been a Lexus customer for so long. In the 90s, they could have gone the route of building cheaper rebadged Toyota FWD vehicles vs developing real premium RWD cars but they didn't do that, they developed the RWD cars and competed with the established Germans. Building RWD crossovers today is the same thing, because the RWD crossover is the RWD sedan of the 90s.

THIS I don't understand. How could you have been an original owner of the 2GS and think Lexus today has not changed from Lexus of 1998?

Ending the GS was fine, but they should be competing with the X5/GLE/X7/GLS and they aren't. If they had given us a competitor in those markets I wouldn't have this complaint.

Toys4RJill

Toyota had a number of rwd vehicles in the US before Lexus.

Cressida
Supra
MR2
Land Cruiser
Truck
and in Celica in the 1980s

SW17LS

Totally agree, but they have all but abandoned that today except for trucks.

peteharvey

True.
Lexus is now sort of turning into Acura with corny styling combined with FWD-based platforms, but at least Lexus is still selling well unlike Acura.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

we're not understanding one another.

you wrote: SUVs/CUVs werent a thing when Lexus was really competing.

and my point was when lexus was really competing they have the rx which was selling like hot cakes, so they were definitely a 'thing'. small cuvs weren't though, sure.

no, no, i LITERALLY did not understand what you wrote. i have no idea what you were trying to say with this:



what do you mean? how is it 'akin'? i guess this is the clarification.

that's a funny recasting of history. you've stated they did the LS for the u.s. market even though it was sold as a toyota also. fine. and maybe the (fwd) es too. the gs was a toyota aristo, the sc was a toyota soarer, the lx a land cruiser variation, the gx a toyota prado elsewhere, etc.

of course there's changes, but nothing really dramatic, imo. the nx/ux are just line extension products. the lfa was a wild 'blip' for one model year, and the lc is kind of a follow-on cost-reduced GT version. the hs and ct were hybrid duds.

exactly, they haven't changed.

SW17LS

I really don't have the energy to make you understand lol. Others get it, ask them.

The Aristo and Soarer were simply the JDM names for the GS and SC. They were designed to be Lexus vehicles. Lexus didn't exist in Japan. Just like Celsior was the JDM name for the LS.

Then why don't most of us own Lexus vehicles any longer, since there hasn't been a change? We should be able to just go buy a Lexus that competes with what we have...we can't, thats the point.

AJT123

Lexus isn't even close to what they were, as noted they had premium RWD developed products for us and they were all over the place. Remember life before SUVS? LS400s, Infiniti J30s, Lexus SCs, Lexus GSs all over the place. I still think Lexus has plenty of cred but not like it once did. It's Infiniti that is basically Buick at best now, luxury cachet wise.

SW17LS

Watching some videos of the new RX, it’s growing on me some.

703

The RX is just using all the left over sheet metal cuts from the GS Fs smashed in bonnet.

Or the designer took a sledge hammer to the GS bumper and then it bulged up the top.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

very funny. well i'll spend the energy since you don't understand my point.

not a valid point... many of us don't have lexuses any longer because there was no models to move up to. lexus didn't build bridges from one level to another, they basically kept it where it was plus built DOWN market models to capitalize on the cuv market. although i finally got a lexus again because i found the LC something way more sophisticated and special than the 2GS i had 16 years ago, and it's unique. sure i could have spent a lot more on an amg type coupe, but i don't trust the reliability, care for the maintenance costs (which you've experienced), and don't prefer the aesthetics really, although they're definitely awesome cars.

but feel free to laugh off my explanation.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

this ignores the fact that lexus' competition (mb, bmw, audi, etc) all moved MASSIVELY in response to the upstart lexus. the competition impacted lexus and they chose not to spend massive money to keep up the gs/sc and instead go with safer bets like ux/nx.

Toys4RJill

Which GS did you have? And I did not know you had it for 16 years