scottgolf

I was just curious about this, my dad road in my car today for the first time and he asked me if it was. I know the steering wheel is, but what about the rest of it. Thank you for any help!

Jabberwock

yep its real wood covered in enough clear polyurethane to make it look like real plastic : )

svlexus

My avalon has been parked since the day i got the ls. But i looked in it today and noticed the wood panel on the door lock was cracking. On that car its real wood laminate underneath an approx 2 mm sheet of plastic. The plastic broke and I saw the wood.

CarGuy89

It's funny that you say that b/c my sister commented the other day that the wood looked really fake. I believe that the wood is real, but layered with some sort of preservative (isn't every wood trim?) so that it feels smooth (almost like plastic) and you don't get actual splinters from the real wood. I personally think it looks great. However, after hearing my sister's comment, I do think the wood itself was enhanced (I've never seen a tree so colorful). Idk, I personally think it's a nice touch. I get complements on the interior every time someone rides in the car with me.

Jabberwock

I remember early Jaguars had some amazing great looking real wood trim interiors that were not plasticy - but after a few years the wood started to fade and splinter - basically had to be replaced.

So I don't think there is a good solution for making real wood trim in a car last for very long except coating it with thick plastic. There is a point where there is so much plastic coating on the wood that you begin to lose the aesthetic value of the real wood and the LS is pretty darn close to that line.

Griff48

The wood is extremely thin, almost wafer-like. It is glued to bright orange plastic which shows through the thin sheet of wood. This is what makes it look so bright like it almost glows. Then the surface gets coated with a clear finish.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

it's real wood. you can sand it and restain it.

do a search. there's a couple of thread on this subject and some with videos

AlexusAnja

My wife's '85 BMW 735i had the lightly stained wood panels and after awhile the stain would be gone and you'd be resting your arms on a park bench....

Yes, the LS is real wood that looks fake, but hey... supposedly the same company that does the Yamaha pianos does the Lexus wood too.

RomanTPA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuaakvyH6qU


hope that helps

svlexus

Id hate to be the "craftsman" who throws the wood in a jig and grinds at it 10 hours a day. If they were using craftsmen it would not take 3 of them to build wood panels. Craftsmen arent assembly line workers like Lexus uses on our cars.

jac430

Yes, you are right there.
And with handwork the consistency would be another problem.
The hand grinding and finishing must have been just for the prototypes or models.

Rolls-Royce / Bentley (used to) do this kind of thing by hand, but Lexus build a whole lot more cars, so I cannot imagine that it would be done by hand.
They will select the grain in the veneer by hand (or eye...), but we may hope for the craftsmen that the rest is done by machines.

Nice and durable finish though.

Jac

sojah

iTrader: (1)

"on our most premium lexus models...." i wonder which are the most premium and get this treatment¿¿¿

sea01ul

Lexus had yamaha to do all the woodwork. They use the same wood from there pianos.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

my mother has a yamaha piano from like the early 90's and it has a very very similar look as the inside of our 430's, or mine at least.

Twix

I went once to the dealer and in the waiting room I saw a Lexus magazine (I think a sales brochure but with like 20-30 pages)...
Yamaha wood is all around...in the magazine there are Yamaha piano and violine commercials and then Lexus says same wood inside...

I think these two companies work quite close together...