Acura And Lexus At Top Of Luxury Brand Residual Value Rankings

You have to remember that in North America we don't get the A-Class, B-Class, Low-end 1-series, A1, etc.
If we did, than BMW and Mercedes ranking would be better because they sell many high-end models that also drop in value much more. They drop farther because they start off much higher. This explains why Acura is at the top, because their vehicles do not list anywhere near $50k
or higher.

Still I prefer Germans cars, that hurts too...my mind will change the day that I see japanese cars so powerful as AMGs or with the driving precision of BMW.....then might be. I have a Brand new Benz and one very old (1984), that turns on as soon as you show the key.....I would like to see how many Toyota Lexus or Honda Acura will be working as well after 25 years....then talk to me....or us...

"I would like to see how many Toyota Lexus or Honda Acura will be working as well after 25 years"

Is that a joke? Open your eyes and you'll see old Toyotas and Hondas everywhere. They were probably 1/4 the price of your Benz at the time, and still running.

I'm a German fan at heart but a friend of mine has the first generation LS and it runs just as good as my 07' LS460 and as good as my S550. I wouldn't call Lexus cars crap though, their very good value and that's why American's have come to embrace it as their own more than any other country in the world, even Japan, hence the Japanese-American brand since it started stateside.

Acura I might consider one day, but Lexus doesn't speak to me at all. Before buying my C230 I tested the Lexus IS250 and was not impressed with the engine and ride. Maybe the IS350 is better but the '250 is just a car that Lexus offers for the sake of gaining sales. There is nothing remotely sporty or appealing about it in my book.

Not surprising that a c230 "impressed" you.

Yes it did. Want to know why? It's a 2.5-l V6 with about the same horsepower output as the IS250. The engine is much livelier though, quite refined and felt more eager and more responsive than the IS250. I have the 6-speed manual transmission too. Oh, and my previous car was an Audi A4 1.8T so please don't label me as a "Benz fanboy". I drive what I like, be it Japanese, German, Korean etc.

umm when someone purchases a 250.. I dont think that they are necessarily looking at performance. Maybe the MPG would make a bit more sense. 350 buyers would probably be more obvious that they are looking for performance. And as far as appeals... I acually dont think that the IS looks all that bad... as a Mercedes fan.. I actually think that in the Lexus model line.. if I were ever to buy a Lexus I would most like take either the IS,ES, or the RX... other Lexus models i just consider to be not worth it, not worth it, and last but not least... not worth it

Willis, the engine in the Mercedes C230 is so much livelier, more refined and feels so much more eager and more responsive that the 7-speed automatic Mercedes C230 is slower and consumes more fuel than 6-speed automatic Lexus IS250: http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/vergleichstest/lexus-is-250-vs-mercedes-c-230-anspruchslenken-751743.html

Where do I talk about fuel economy in my previous post? I have the 6-speed manual and no 7-speed automatic and I am happy with the fuel economy I get in this thing. By the way, my C230 is not the W204 but the previous generation W203. Oh, and I know a bit of German too. Let's look at that review you posted. The average fuel consumption for the IS250 was 7.4 l / 100 km while the Benz got 7.6 l / 100 km. Considering that the Mercedes C230 weighs a little more than the IS250, that's perfectly fine. Now what do I see here, over land the Mercedes C230 requires 6.8 l / 100 km while the Lexus needs 7.0 l / 100 km. That's virtually no difference. In mixed driving both cars achieve 9.1 l / 100 km. I don't see any real fuel economy benefits for the IS250 in this test.

Residuals have a lot to do with market demand. On the used car market, I would think that reliability has a lot more influence than performance. Also factoring into the equation is repair expenses. Remember, this is for the average buyer and for the average buyer Lexus and Acura offer better value. Does that mean I would buy one over another make? Not necessarily, depends on what I'm looking for. Just because your favorite brand didn't make it to the top of this list doesn't mean you or your brand suck and the opposite is quite true as well.

The IS250 handles really well, has a pretty comfortable ride, but it's slow. Even for it's size and weight I think it is slower than it should be. The IS350 on the other hand is a beast. It's as fast as a BMW 335, but with much more consistent acceleration.

You fell to mention how the IS 250 gets the best gas milage i it's class.

What are you talking about? Every road test has the 335i faster the IS350. More consistent acceleration? wrong again BMW has a reaches it maximum torque of 300 fp at 1400 rpms and is flat to 5400, while the IS take 4800 rpms to 277 fp of torque. You need to drive these cars before you comment on them.

The Lexus IS250 Rear Wheel Drive gets 21 City 29 Hwy which still makes it the best MPG than anything in it's class.....

1. Lexus IS 250 21/29
2. Audi A4 21/27
3. BMW 3-Series 19/28
4. Mercedes C-Class 18/25
5. Cadillac CTS 17/26

The IS does not have a comfortable ride unless your a female weighing a buck five. I'm only 5'7 - 5'8" at most and I found the car really tight. The rear's even worse. Sorry perhaps I've got so accustomed to my S and LS but i've driven and sat in the 3 series and C-Class and their much better. For similar pricing go buy yourself an ES, it's your best bet and it rides very comfortably, very quiet as well.

No surprise here. Who would want some use German POS crap that stays in the show 364 days a year....Maybe if you have no life and hang at the dealer all day and talk about cars like BMW poser's do...

*shop all year

Yeah, you Lexus fans know all about reliability...yawn. Maybe you should get out of your Lexus cave and wake up. I drive a German car currently and have owned numerous European and Japanese vehicles in the past without any big problems. In fact the car that gave me the most trouble was my '95 Corolla. Transmission failure (automatic) twice within four months. Ironic, huh?

Lexus owners think they own a Maybach or Rolls Royce haha ... ain't that worse? Lexus aren't posers oh no, their pretenders. LS is a wannabee of S Class. Actually the whole brand was based on wanting to be a benz, hate it or love it that's TRUE.

I think the overall message here is that the relative residual worth of a particular car or car brand is relative to values of the majority of the people in whatever country they may be living in. In the case of Americans who tend to value reliability, name brand and 0-60 times over other factors like fuel economy or handling it's really not too surprising that Japanese brands fall in the top two positions. What's really surprising is that VW falls in 3rd place ahead of brands like Toyota, Nissan and Mazda.

People still place a premium on German engineering.

id never buy a used luxury car at all

Never buy a used german car

If its based on reliability how did Land Rover beat BMW n Merc? I am not a german fanboy I love LR but they arent tht reliable

Kudos to Lexus and Acura for their hardwork... when it comes to this article... i would probably base my opinion that it is talking about the American Market. Because in Europe... that would be where I think mostly Lexus should work on because the resale value for a Lex there is just horrible. Dont mention how many europeans would actually consider lexus as a "true" luxury brand. But they sure caught the eyes in the American Market. Europe is a place for Mercs, BMWs.. as well as maybe audi. On a second thought, I dont really know why Lexus isnt considered that much of a luxury brand anyways. Could it be that there are many other luxury makers in Europe?... or are they just buying their own cars?

How bout u take your own advice and STFU!

0to60, here here! Crappy bites.

Just like your comments.

I agree with StarSearch.

Residual = Secondary Market Value. If you truly don't care what this number is then you are either in denial, or in a car you intend to drive into the ground. Otherwise, you should have a vested interest in the number. Why does it matter? Because if the number is waaay off, wither the captive lenders get buried, or the full circle deealers get buried, and neither one can really afford it right now.

Regardless of the looks, Honda/Acura both won in their respective categories. Maybe they have that "magical" combination of value, features, and reliabitlity cause face it, no one wants a car that stays in the shop or is overpriced to repair.

I guess everybody is wanting those used TLs now.

The TSX isn't bad-looking, it's just boring. The grille doesn't really add much visual impact. The TL is the ugly one.

there is nothing funnier and sadder at the same time than a bunch of gm driving euronazi fanboys. you cant afford asian or german cars yet you show up every week spouting your ignorance. go back to mcdonalds and get your fries ready.