LexusPride

so wait, if you were to actually saw the piece in half, actually any piece of "wood" in the car, it's 100% fake?? It's not even a thin sheet of wood overlayed onto plastic, it's just a simulation?? So the ES is fake, what about the rest of the lineup? Why does an Avalon describe theirs as "Wood-grain-style interior trim", but Lexus says"walnut interior trim"? Wouldn't there have to be actual walnut wood somewhere for them to say this??

koreanpers

its not real

LexusPride

well, I know that most Acuras (not sure about RL) use fake wood, to the point it's kinda embarrassing to look at, and that actually turned me off from them when buying a so-called luxury car. Aren't there legal ramifications if one was to buy a vehicle assuming that it's materials, since not otherwise stated, are the real thing? I can see not having the entire interior swathed in leather (say, the door inserts are vinyl), but if there is wood in the car, and it's not "simulated" or otherwise, how can they say it's walnut, or burl, or maple, if it's really not??

Neo

iTrader: (3)

This is kind of sad to see since there was a time when everyone put down Acuras for having plood and that Lexus used real wood. So the truth comes out.

BTW, I'm not comparing any other issues between Lexus and Acura, just the "wood" comparison.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the key word is trim. you also read that ALL lexus has leather TRIM right? that means not every seat in the car is leather. in fact most of them are not leather i believe. same with the wood. i still think the shift **** and the steering wheel could be wood (makes sense), but the door pieces, forget it. at least i am 100% sure the GS isn't wood. the piece, if you take it off, it's so thin already. if lexus really go through the trouble of making a THIN wood in between, i just can't justify the cost

and yeah, neo said it so true. some people cashed acura so bad in the past saying they dont use real wood, blah blah blah.... honestly i don't see much difference in our lexus from this point of view.

in fact, the cl600, sl600, and the s600 are the only cars out there (from what i know, maybe the 760il i am not sure) has FULL leather

ciderman

OK, wait a minute here. No disrespect to you all but I've got an 01' GS3 and from the looks of it, the trim in the car is real wood - on the doors and in the center console. I also have a 98' 4Runner with the factory simulated wood trim and the differences are obvious. The trim in my Lexus has dimension to it, where under direct sunlight you can actually see into the grain. There's wood there folks - I'm not sure how thick it is or how it's put together, but it's there, at least in mine. With my 4Runner, there's no grain to mention and under close inspection, it sort of looks painted. As for the leather, I'm no expert but honestly, you can feel the difference between vinyl and leather. Usually, when you get leather in a car, it's the seating surfaces that are leather. Basically where you sit, lean back, and rest your dome. Between my GS and 4Runner, there's very little noticeable vinyl in the GS seats - I think just the sides of the headrests and behind the front seats there's this hard backing that's obviously not covered in leather. Whereas in the 4Runner, the sides of the headrests and seats are typically vinyl as well as the material behind the front driver and passenger seats. Going back to the wood issue, I hope someone from Lexus is reading this and can officially clear this up. Most of the folks on this forum are generally well informed and if they believe the wood in their cars is fake, then there's something really wrong going on here.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

I'm with ciderman, I think there is at least a thin veneer of wood there.

HKGS300

Please proof that yours is real wood

Also, most of the Japanese versions of the Lexus, do not come standard with leather. Leather is scarce in Japan.

And welcome to Japanese world of cars, ... where manufacturers need to reinvent material (like fake wood) since the real material is either scarce or of low quality.

nthach

My LS400 is all wood, California Walnut.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

no disrespect, it's good discussion. but what i need is that you prove us that it's wood. did you try to take off the trim by taking off the door panel? did you try to pick up the piece by itself and knock on it, etc? or did you try to send down the surface clear and see if it's wood inside?

i mean, i would be really happy to see if there is SOME wood to it, coz' that's quality work. but as soon as i took out the piece, considering how LIGHT it weigh, and the thickness of that piece (it's nothing more than 3mm), i think it would cost lexus a lot to make this half wood half plastic trim then.

again the shift **** and the wood steering wheel i dont' doubt if they are wood. i have seen the oem steering wheel taken apart with the wood sand down and that's wood. and i have seen the sc430 shift **** sanded down and it looked a lot like wood to me. but the center console piece and the 4 doors? i would really want to see real proof that they are wood, then i am convinced

rominl

iTrader: (4)

btw, if you think just by knocking on the trims on the door and it sounds really solid, don't get tricked. that little piece on the door, it has SIX (6) screws holding it from the back on the door, that's why it's so damn solid. for comparison, the door panel, the whole thing, has 8 screws to hold it in in the front and 5 screws for the back. it's worth it to think about why lexus needs so much screws just for this little piece when they don't haev much screws for other stuff

FutureGS400

A quote from my window sticker "Genuine Walnut Wood Interior Trim"
In every description I have read (spent some spare time tonight searching on the internet) the interior of the GS is praised for it's WOOD interior.
Just one example from consumerguide.com: "Cabins are trimmed in supple leather and gorgeous wood. "
I could provide more quotes, but I really doubt that Lexus would put their reputation on the line by lying about whether or not they use real wood. It is NOT a thick piece of solid walnut of course, but a veneer over a plastic backing for strength and mounting purposes.
Anyone want to cut a piece of their door trim in half to settle this issue once and for all?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Henry, this is one case when I disagree with you. Just because it's thin or light doesn't mean there's no wood. I grant you we're not talking solid wood pieces, I believe it's a thin wood veneer on top of a plastic backing.

gs400998

The Editors of major car magazines usually criticize luxury or near luxury vehicles for fake wood. Here are some quotes from a couple of the magazines when they tested the 98 GS400:

Octorber 97 Road & Track:
"Inside, the GS 400 is pure Lexus. A tasteful presentation of wood on the doors and center console give the interior a high level of opulence...."

November 97 Motor Trend:
"Although performance plays a major role in the recasting of the GS, there's been no loss of luxury. If anything, the all -new interior, with its yards of supple leather and bountiful WALNUT accent trim, displays even more of an upscale LS 400 character....."

I don't expect 1/2 inch thick solid walnut from Lexus but there are wood inside the GS besides the shift **** and steering wheel. I have fake wood in my TL Type-S and previous Toyota Avalon and one can tell they are fake immediately.

squarehat

I vote that it's real, it's just not some solid panel of wood like you'd see in a piece of fine furniture. From what I've read from researching aftermarket wood supplement kits for my ES, the wood veneers in cars are basically a couple of millimeters of wood sliced just thick enough to show depth of grain, mounted onto a plastic or metal backing, and sealed in with a very thick coating of lacquer (agreeing with Bitkahuna's post above )

As long as that's the case, I couldn't care less if the wood on the doors (or the shift console of my ES) was 12 inches thick or 1.2 mm thick, as long as it was real wood and showed depth of grain in sunlight (which it does). I've never been in a 98-04 GS, but the wood in the 99 LS I've been in shows the same depth of grain in bright sunlight as my older ES. Depth of grain is very, very difficult to simulate via a photoprint process (like the wood in an Acura TL).

On to the leather...I agree with what's been said. On cars that are below $80K, you're going to find synthetic material on the backs/sides of seats and door panels. Somebody on the RX forum was trying to argue that the RX's competition (X5, ML class, Lincoln Aviator, Infiniti FX) was using full leather everywhere. Balderdash--SUV's in the $35-50K price bracket are not going to have full leather. Maybe a $75K Range Rover 4.6HSE or a Mercedes G500, but not an ML350 or FX35, and certainly not an Aviator.