HOW COME?? Lexus Quality??

Because people dont come here to praise a product for most part. They come here to get advice on problems they have.

Well I had been thinking about an LS430. But my Greenville dealer doesn't keep them in stock so I have to drive to Charleston SC to test drive one. That is a real bummer. Then there is the brake problem on my wife's ES300 - they vibrate so bad it is pathetic and I called and they said I will have to pay for it or they can grind off the rough spots on the rotors. So obviously I might as well stay with Mercedes, but they are too bad and unreliable now. And the dealer here is just unbelievable! Estimated $8500 for what ended up costing less than $1000 at other places. So not sure what type to buy. Am thinking maybe of the new little Bently sports car type, but am not sure how to find a SC dealer. All the Jap and German and American dealers are just too bad to consider their products anymore.

Someone with more money than brains!

hmmm ... got no money - spent it all at the Mercedes garage ... and am saving up for the new brakes at 20,000 on the wife's ES300 ... know any banks that make loans on worthless cars ? That ole english sports car from Bently looks better and better ...

No, I would say more like someone in 7th grade.

like Ford and GM are any competition for them? Relatively speaking, Lexus far surpasses the American products, yet they still have a few of their own flaws.

The 2002 ES300 had a recall on the front brakes. Mine had that same symptom and they replaced the front rotors and pads under warranty for free.

Well, not a formal recall, but a TSB actually...

suggestion - find another Lexus dealership and tell them your whole story... I'd strongly believe that if Lexus-California new you had problems with brakes, need a brake job at 20,000 miles, they would take care of it. We have 4 dealerships here in Houston and they don't hesitate to take care of you in an instant since they know they could lose you to the competition.

I had a 2000 RX that the carpet separted from the door guard edge... I pushed the envelope and told them I felt Lexus quality had let me down and that they should replace all of the carpet, not just fix it. I picked the car up the next day with all new carpet - no questions asked and not a dime out of my pocket while it was in the shop.

Thanks for the laugh regarding the KIA(Korea's Inadequate Automobile) comparison! That was too funny. But it's like comparing Rosanne Barr to Angelina Jolie. One is obviously a lot more desirable than the other. Although they are *both* likely to be problematic for a man over the long haul. Cost of ownership will also vary. ;-)

Seriously though, Lexus continues to get the highest marks for quality because they are on *average* the most reliable vehicles made. Their initial build quality is second to none, and their downstream reliability is highly likely to exceed that of their competitors. The numbers simply do NOT lie. It's really hard for a lot of the diehard German and American automobile manufacturers' fans to accept these facts, but Toyota Motor Co. does make the best cars in the world as a general rule. Certainly not the prettiest or fanciest, but the tightest and most reliable titles are difficult to refute. And yes, they do have their share of problems too. No doubt about it. Just like anything else that contains a combination of mechanical and electrical components, they're subject to have failures. As consumers we have to accept another fact. NO car, SUV or pickup truck is going to be 100% flawless. Some vehicles will be produced that come really, really close to meeting our desire for perfection. But the overwhelming majority of the time we will encounter some sort of issue(s) with our rides. New or used. With that said, I'll take my chances on a product that is manufactured by Toyota Motor Co. The odds are more in my favor this way.

V.H.

Don't leave out the fact that Toyota has the best interior ergonomic design too. Take a look at the latest round of Nissans, with their futuristic pod controls that are so complicated, you'd drive into a tree trying to figure out how to change the radio station. Seems like Nissan has a group of young executives bent on change for the sake of change, not for the sake of improvement. I drove a Chrysler recently, and the steering column mounted gearshift knob obscured the radio controls. Amazing.