midknight

what is the average age of SC430 buyers here? I read a article where they said the demographic for the SC was 48 year olds with average of 170k income per year. Thought that was a strange statistic?

I'm 32, and my SC430 will be coming in at the end of the summer.

exsilio

yeah, I'm way off the demo...I'm 27. But then again I am modifying the car to my liking, nothing major..but making it feel a bit more sporty. Trust me if Porsche made a hard top convertible I would have been all over it like a monkey on a cupcake.

But I love my SC430...what a great car!

midknight

Exsilio, do you use the back seats a lot for passengers? Small kids etc?

I would imagine a Porsche hard-top if produced would only seat two. Same with the Mercedes SLK hard-top.

I think with all the Lexus reliability and build quality, the SC430 would still make for a top choice.

What color did you pick?

exsilio

I wouldn't stick my worst enemy in the back seat. :P

And you are 100% right. The build quality of the Lexus is second to none. Great detail and nice touched here and there make this a true luxury car. But it has a sporty side I just want to exploit.

I went with Silver on Black.

ToyotaFan

but couldn't. Sorry. Anyway, it bascially said that the mid to late 40's is the Lexus target for those who buy the car. I don't remember the income being as high as 170K in this partiucalr article, but it was considerably above 100K. They went on to say that with so many people leasing, rather than buying, the target data was probably quite a bit off on both age and income range. I'm not sure if I agree with all that they said, but thought some of you might find it interesting.

IMHO...Anyone who owns/drives a Lexus, regardless of age or personal situation (marital status, kids, etc) should be proud of their career/financial accomplishments.

daericks

I have the Lexus Training brochure that backs up what you heard regarding the demo.

I'm off the mark as well, I was 24 when I got my Sc430. 25 now. I know two other guys that have the SC and they are in the 35 range. The one thing I love about Lexus owners is most of them are pretty nice grounded folk. I'm guessing the Lexus demo has a lot to with that. IMO.

midknight

Yeah, I thought the 45 to 48 demo was high, considering it's such a fresh design. Thought it would attract the younger market more than the older. but I guess because of the expense of the car, puts it out of range for most younger buyers.

Exsilio @ 27, that's great! Wish I had I ride like that when I was that age! Where are you from?

IMHO - regardless of age, it's a great car!

TOPLEXS

Believe that long term Lexus demographics will be accurate, but for the first year those young guns who want to have the first one on the block will skew the results. Believe Lexus is going after the market that previously would have been attracted towards a Mercedes SL. New SL with improved folding hardtop due out soon. (Room for 2 sets of clubs in trunk.)
Bought my SC after selling my Viper GTS. Don't believe that Lexus expected that in their studies.
PS Dodge engineered in both room for clubs, and a spare tire.

midknight

Toplex, do you miss the Viper? I would imagine that you lost lots of performance, but gained ride quality and luxury with the SC purchase.

Trunk space doesn't bother me too much, that's what the back seats are for, right?

How easy would it be to modify the SC430 to increase performance?

TOPLEXS

Sure do miss the Viper. It was solid riding, but also quite comfortable. Preformance with 550hp and 600lbs torque is significantly outside normal Lexus parameters. Hope Lexus will offer a preformance package like AMG. TRD makes superchargers for some of their cars and trucks.
Trouble with using the back seat for storage is security, and ecru leather marks up easily. The SC430 is unique in the marketplace, and a delight to drive.
Took car to track (buttonwillow) to get familiar with handling, and was impressed. Although body roll was significant, the engine pulled strong, and the brakes were fantastic.

ToyotaFan

a couple of other times in here. What exactly do you mean by that? I assume you're referring to the fact that the SC430 has a back seat, and that it has the legendary Lexus/Toyota quality behind it. I hope nobody thinks the retractable hardtop is a unique feature, as the Mercedes SLK has had that since at least '97, and Peugot has a 2002 model with a retractable hardtop as well. Granted, the Peugot still requires some manual un-latching from what I've read, and its size/ performance may not even allow it to enter the US market.
Please bear with me. I'm very interested in Lexus, and this is a great forum for me to learn about the cars, the people who drive them, and the things folks do to upgrade an already great car.
I live on the East Coast,and I've never seen any of the performance mods you all talk about for the various Lexus models, so that's another area of interest for me. Also, in my admittedly limited experience, the average Lexus driver I've seen here is very close to the demo that started this thread.
Sorry for rambling... a bad habit I cannot break! :-)