Lexus body styles

With the exception of the RX330 and the IS300, I don't think that Lexus brand vehicles' body styles have been all that hot over the years. Even through the 2003 MY. Although I do own a Lexus and love it dearly, I personally feel as though the company seriously needs to address their exterior styling. The same goes for the Toyota brand vehicles as well. I think that as a general rule Asian vehicles have better overall initial quality and downstream reliability than both German and American cars. But to me, the German and American car companies' automobiles have superior body styling on average. There are certainly exceptions to this statement. That is true. But for a company that designs and manufactures such expensive cars and SUVs, Lexus could and SHOULD do a whole lot better with their body styles. They have the quality thing down. I am convinced of that. But they are going to start losing even more sedan sales than they already have if they don't come out with some extremely awesome-looking cars pretty soon. It seems as though the company is relying too heavily on SUV sales at the moment.

R.M.

Reply to
R.M.
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I agree-- they (along with Toyota Mazda, Nissan/Infiniti, etc) all tend to look like they were designed by the same bunch of people who grew up watching Anime cartoons. When it comes to understated elegance, grace and flair it's hard to beat European designs like BMW, etc.

Why the Japanese don't just bite the bullet and hire a European design team is a mytery to me.

Reply to
Mark Klebanoff

Because all the European designers work at Ikea.

Reply to
Dan J. S.

While I would agree BMW styling is attractive not all European cars hit this mark . Mercedes has to be the most expensive butt ugly car on the market with only so so quality. I have never seen an automobile ride on its laurels for so long. If BMW does not improve quality, especially on the 3 series they will be in the same boat as well. If you don't believe this pick up Consumer Report.

Reply to
Ice

While I would agree BMW styling is attractive not all European cars hit this mark . Mercedes has to be the most expensive butt ugly car on the market with only so so quality. I have never seen an automobile ride on its laurels for so long. If BMW does not improve quality, especially on the 3 series they will be in the same boat as well. If you don't believe this pick up Consumer Report.

Reply to
Ice

While I would agree BMW styling is attractive not all European cars hit this mark . Mercedes has to be the most expensive butt ugly car on the market with only so so quality. I have never seen an automobile ride on its laurels for so long. If BMW does not improve quality, especially on the 3 series they will be in the same boat as well. If you don't believe this pick up Consumer Report.

Reply to
Ice

Previously in alt.autos.lexus, "Ice" proclaimed :

we know. We got it the first time you posted. ;-)

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Reply to
wideglide01diespammers
3 Series? Isn't that the more reliable ones? Heard about the problems with the new 7 Series. I'm sure 5 series isn't too far behind. Just read the reviews on MSN autos from people that own them.
Reply to
Roger

I work with a guy that bought a brand new 3 Series ride about a year and a half ago. He has had nothing but trouble out of his, and made this statement to several of us engineers in the office last week:

"I will never, EVER buy another BMW the longest day that I live. My car is a total POS!!!"

Reply to
R.M.

You've got to be kidding, right?

The first through N-1 (where N is current) generation LS were all very tasteful in design. They still look very good and always will. I am not saying they were beautiful, but they were very tasteful and handsome. (If you want to know what tasteless is, look at recent Bangle Bimmers, for example. And it's not just me. Autoweek says the new 5-series is not making its projected sales numbers.). And yes, I know that they (Toyota/Lexus) borrowed a lot from M-B for the LS, but they still looked good wherever the inspiration came from. The front on the new LS (and all the other Lexi, pretty much) has too much Power Rangers swept-back look for my taste, on the other hand.

The original GS was by Giorgetto Giugiaro's Ital Design (that ain't in Japan, friends) and was absolutely not a Japanese design. I personally did not care for it much.

And then there was the original SC coupes. These things were just drop-dead gorgeous inside and out. As you put it, grace, elegance, and flair were present in abundance. The new SC is a travesty, on the other hand. That fact that it sells well at $75,000 can only mean that taste and depth of pocket-book are inversely related for a lot of people. Yuck.

You cannot be serious about the terms grace, elegance, and flair in referring to recent Bimmers. It is not possible to use those terms in relation to most recent BMW designs. And they were all penned by an American, Chris Bangle, not a European, by the way.

There are numerous other Japanese designs that are extremely nice. The Acura TL is universally regarded so. The new Mazda 6's and 3's are fresh and handsome designs. The new M45 coming from Infiniti looks very promising. Just a few examples.

- GRL

"It's good to want th>

Reply to
GRL

The 3-series had trouble last year according to CR. The 5-series held up OK and are the best of the Bimmers. Not as good as the better Japanese stuff, though. Not quite as good as Buick, either.

Reply to
GRL

I agree with you on the 5 and 7 series but have you seen the pics of the new 6 series coming out? They put it together with that one. I have always loved the 6's and this one keeps the reputation alive.

Reply to
Bob Muse

All the BMWs look pretty good to my eye, including the new 6. But I don't understand why the pricing has gotten so out-of-hand with this new model. While the base price of a 545i is about $55K (pretty steep to begin with given that a GS430 bases at $48K), the base of the new 6 is $70K and most will go for about $75K-$80K. Why $15K for two fewer doors? At this price level, I think it will follow in the path of the 8-series as a nice personal coupe, but oveweight and overpriced.

- Mark

Reply to
markjen

I suspect that BMW is not making the profit margins they are used to in the U.S. because of the dollar vs. Euro weirdness. There is something like a near 50% swing that has occurred since the bottom of the Euro value a few years back. They were fat and happy then. Less so now. They can't raise prices of the 3 and 5 series enough to compensate (or the market will just dry up in the U.S.), but they can charge a lot for non-mainstream models like the M's and the 6-Series. These are toys and people will pay more for toys than for daily driver cars.

Nevertheless, if the exchange rate does not correct itself, all the German manufacturers are in big trouble in the US.

Reply to
GRL

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