Would you buy a LFA?
11-19-09, 05:51 AM
#46
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I thought it was bad when I took my car to Nissan and the shop had a GTR in it surrounded by several Sentra's and Cube's, guess it was only a matter of time before a Lexus owner had the same problem
I want an LFA, but would it have been so bad if Lexus made the body out of aluminum and sold the car for half the price, then made the CF model later on.
I wonder how much body work is gonna cost with this thing
I want an LFA, but would it have been so bad if Lexus made the body out of aluminum and sold the car for half the price, then made the CF model later on.
I wonder how much body work is gonna cost with this thing
11-19-09, 06:33 AM
#47
Lexus Test Driver
VENOM, I was just thing the same thing. I wonder did Lexus make too big of a jump with the LFA. The next sport model down is the IS-F or the GS-h. Thats quite a jump going from a $60K or $70K car to a almost $400K car. As an old saying goes, one must learn to walk before they learn to run.
11-19-09, 07:05 AM
#49
Lexus Champion
VENOM, I was just thing the same thing. I wonder did Lexus make too big of a jump with the LFA. The next sport model down is the IS-F or the GS-h. Thats quite a jump going from a $60K or $70K car to a almost $400K car. As an old saying goes, one must learn to walk before they learn to run.
11-19-09, 07:42 AM
#51
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Would I own one, if I could? Maybe, maybe not. Would really depend on the circumstances.
If I could only ever have one $400k car in my lifetime? No, the LFA wouldn't even be on my radar. Just doesn't have the emotional appeal for me. I want a raw, visceral, animal of a car. Something 911 based, a Ford GT, or other hairy-chested gorilla of a car. Ideally though, for $400k, I'd go find an original 427 Cobra that was set up for vintage racing, and have the time of my life in it.
Now if, on the other hand, I was continually making big money, instead of winning the lottery, sure, I'd own one. Because I know that, even if I wasn't a collector per se', I'd still be buying, selling, or trading off the car every few years. Run a Ferrari for 2 or 3 years, trade it for a Spyker, then an LFA, then a Porsche, and on and on. It's what I do now with motorcycles and even my daily drivers. So I can't imagine I wouldn't do it with supercars if I was that wealthy. I could always say "ya, I had an LFA for a while, but now I have a..." and have some interesting story behind it.
For those that say Lexus has no pedigree, I pose a little counter-point. Toyota has a long racing history. Be it factory teams in F1, CART, and IRL, or offering manufacturers support to WRC, NASCAR, the Atlantic series, or various off-road series. So the company knows a little bit about building performance vehicles. Have they ever built a true, GT car for the road before? No, but neither had McLaren before the F1, Ford before the original GT-40 (though it was designed primarily for racing), or even (arguably) Dodge before the Viper.
So I would consider Lexus to have the heritage behind them. Just not the traditional one we equate with Ferrari, Porsche, or Lamborghini.
Just my 2 cents though.
If I could only ever have one $400k car in my lifetime? No, the LFA wouldn't even be on my radar. Just doesn't have the emotional appeal for me. I want a raw, visceral, animal of a car. Something 911 based, a Ford GT, or other hairy-chested gorilla of a car. Ideally though, for $400k, I'd go find an original 427 Cobra that was set up for vintage racing, and have the time of my life in it.
Now if, on the other hand, I was continually making big money, instead of winning the lottery, sure, I'd own one. Because I know that, even if I wasn't a collector per se', I'd still be buying, selling, or trading off the car every few years. Run a Ferrari for 2 or 3 years, trade it for a Spyker, then an LFA, then a Porsche, and on and on. It's what I do now with motorcycles and even my daily drivers. So I can't imagine I wouldn't do it with supercars if I was that wealthy. I could always say "ya, I had an LFA for a while, but now I have a..." and have some interesting story behind it.
For those that say Lexus has no pedigree, I pose a little counter-point. Toyota has a long racing history. Be it factory teams in F1, CART, and IRL, or offering manufacturers support to WRC, NASCAR, the Atlantic series, or various off-road series. So the company knows a little bit about building performance vehicles. Have they ever built a true, GT car for the road before? No, but neither had McLaren before the F1, Ford before the original GT-40 (though it was designed primarily for racing), or even (arguably) Dodge before the Viper.
So I would consider Lexus to have the heritage behind them. Just not the traditional one we equate with Ferrari, Porsche, or Lamborghini.
Just my 2 cents though.
11-19-09, 12:31 PM
#53
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11-19-09, 12:32 PM
#54
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Probably not. If I have $400k to spend on cars then I have to spit the money into several cars instead of one. If I could only spend that much money on one single car, then it might be Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano.
11-19-09, 12:42 PM
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11-19-09, 03:37 PM
#56
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I think Bill Gates drove a Windstar for a while there.
The owner of my company drove his Lambo to one of the stores. Doesn't look good when you have hundreds of employees at that location starting at min. wage and there you are in your 6 figure automobile.
The owner of my company drove his Lambo to one of the stores. Doesn't look good when you have hundreds of employees at that location starting at min. wage and there you are in your 6 figure automobile.
11-19-09, 06:19 PM
#58
Lexus Fanatic
Also for all of those who will say that the car has the same type of chassis design elements as an Ferrari Enzo , and the Ferrari cost 650k when it was released. Well remember that the Ferrari Enzo was first released the better part of a decade ago when carbon fiber technology was way more expensive than it is today ( although its still extremely expensive ). In the end, as a fan of Japanese cars I am very proud of the LF-A but they are a bit high to think that people will be lining up to drop 400K on a first generation car from a manufacturer that builds solid luxury cars in the 35-80k range. Kind of like the ISF. The car is solid but most are still going to want the real deal M3 if they are going to shell out that kind of money. M3 is in its like 6th or 5th generation. They learn a thing or two when they do this
Last edited by I8ABMR; 11-19-09 at 06:23 PM.
11-19-09, 07:07 PM
#59
I may agree that Ferrari has been able to get away with charging home prices for their cars....which are very sweet btw but I do not believe their cars are superior to Lexus. They perform much better than anything Lexus has made to date but superior, no way. I've been inside several Ferrari and i don't feel their interiors are better nor the build quality. In fact, imo Lexus is better. Now that the LFA is nearly here, the performance equalizer is born. History and pedigree...smedibee. Ferrari's are no where near as reliable and drivable as a Lexus. Now we will have a reliable, drivable supercar built from the history of Toyota racing and Lexus luxury.
No car is worth 400K to me but if a Ferrari can command that price, so can a Lexus supercar.
I do believe Lexus should have started out cheaper though but too much money was spent developing this car. Plus, many people believe that if something is cheaper, it ain't worth nothing. Psychology is also at play here.
No car is worth 400K to me but if a Ferrari can command that price, so can a Lexus supercar.
I do believe Lexus should have started out cheaper though but too much money was spent developing this car. Plus, many people believe that if something is cheaper, it ain't worth nothing. Psychology is also at play here.
11-19-09, 07:18 PM
#60
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yah but those cars were all from manufacturers that have actually designed a supercar before. Its like buying a million dollar home with an agent who is doing his very best on his first sale. The effort is appreciated but there will always be something that will happen that is non ideal. To us the buyer we get screwed but the agent gets to "learn" . Ferrari can easily ask for 400k for a car because we all know they know what they are doing . Its not their first shot. For Lexus to ask 400k for this car is just risky imho......for the buyer and for Lexus to be honest.
Also for all of those who will say that the car has the same type of chassis design elements as an Ferrari Enzo , and the Ferrari cost 650k when it was released. Well remember that the Ferrari Enzo was first released the better part of a decade ago when carbon fiber technology was way more expensive than it is today ( although its still extremely expensive ). In the end, as a fan of Japanese cars I am very proud of the LF-A but they are a bit high to think that people will be lining up to drop 400K on a first generation car from a manufacturer that builds solid luxury cars in the 35-80k range. Kind of like the ISF. The car is solid but most are still going to want the real deal M3 if they are going to shell out that kind of money. M3 is in its like 6th or 5th generation. They learn a thing or two when they do this
Also for all of those who will say that the car has the same type of chassis design elements as an Ferrari Enzo , and the Ferrari cost 650k when it was released. Well remember that the Ferrari Enzo was first released the better part of a decade ago when carbon fiber technology was way more expensive than it is today ( although its still extremely expensive ). In the end, as a fan of Japanese cars I am very proud of the LF-A but they are a bit high to think that people will be lining up to drop 400K on a first generation car from a manufacturer that builds solid luxury cars in the 35-80k range. Kind of like the ISF. The car is solid but most are still going to want the real deal M3 if they are going to shell out that kind of money. M3 is in its like 6th or 5th generation. They learn a thing or two when they do this