Review: Lexus GS450h

The care is mean and obscene

Toyota and the hybrid cars that it proliferates are now the first line of defense for the oil crisis that is upon us. Toyota/Lexus started the fight of economy cars in the last oil crisis and they are in a position now to finish off slow moving auto makers like GM.

Only people who can barely afford gas guzzling suvs and luxury cars will buy them. Some already have them and that can't be helped, but new purchasers of new vehicles will be looking at the mpg estimates very closely. You can bet that rich people will be buying these hybrids in droves and let the middle class and poor people throw money away at the pumps. How do you think they stay rich?

Toyota/Lexus makes better, cheaper, more reliable cars and will be the largest manufacturer in the world very shortly. Current BMW, Mercedes, and Audi purchasers will be very compelled to buy Lexus. They will think it is stupid to buy those cars for the perception that they perform so much better or carry a certain snobbish reputation and pay extra every time they fill up.

To those who say there will always be people that pay that extra money, wait until gas is $8 - $12 a gallon…

Damn this technology sucks.

Who are the boneheads buying these cars?

What in the world are you after? We already established that they are bad for the environment. They are definitely not for the racetrack.

I'm lost. Anybody have an answer?

Well it is well true that suv sales have made Lexota what it is today, but they are still in that position and that cannot be denied. I never said that they were the most fuel efficient car company. I said "Toyota/Lexus makes better, cheaper, more reliable cars and will be the largest manufacturer in the world very shortly." I will add to that and say they are currently the most successful.

The first rule of sales success it to "sell the sizzle, not the steak"

You can bet that there are car makers that have cars just as reliable and more fuel efficient, but Toyota is the best at selling on reputation.

I will admit Toyota has one hell of a marketing team. How else would they sell this crap?

I never denied it and you just confirmed that Toyota has one hell of a merketing team to be able to sell this crap to US consumers.

What is this particular car being advertised as?

I don't see the performance or the eco-friendliness.

On top of that it's really fugly. From the profile the rear looks like it got chopped off.

I saw the new Camry yesterday and couldn't believe how much it looked like a Lexus. If you’re in love with blandness and reliability why not just buy a Camry and save a bunch of money?

I am also very curious to know what you drive ,
you seem to be very angry at Toyota.

You are comparing apples to oranges.
The point that I was trying to make was if you are in love with the reliability/customer service and value (the only thing Lexus/Toyota have) why not buy the new Camry.

You get the same awesome reliability and customer service, same great value and pretty much the same car. Especially since the new Camry looks so much like something that should belong in the Lexus lineup.

You are right FLY, I'm angry at Toyota. You would be too if your Camry blew a transmission right after warranty.

So, I buy a manual Tacoma to avoid any problems with their ATs and then the differential goes out. A/C evaporator was changed 3 times during warranty, two times in the Camry. The whole front suspension is loose at 60k miles (ball joints, tie rods). The steering rack was leaking. You have any idea how much a steering rack costs? The geniuses at Toyota decided to sell the rack as an entire piece (no spare parts).

Not to mention the mess they left in my garage. When was the last time you saw a Toyota that doesn't leak oil?

I've never seen any reliability in my Toyotas, so I decided to stick with MB. My 16 year old Benz is more reliable than any Toyota/Lexus will ever be.

How many 16 year old Toyotas or Lexus' do you see on the road? Send me a picture if you ever see one.

Without any grounds?

OK buddy, whatever you say. Are you questioning my experience with Toyota? I'll be glad to share more details if you are familiar with a 94 Camry V6, 97 Toyota Tacoma.

Here is the proof for the Camry. If you know somebody that owns one or if you're good friends with a Toyota tech ask how the transmission cooling lines are attached to the radiator.

The answer: They are attached with cheap clips similar to the ones used for the coolant hoses.

That is just genius. Everybody knows that oil lines should be connected with proper hydraulic fittings.

Clips can be used on coolant hoses because there is a temp gauge in the car that monitors engine temp.

In my case, my mother was driving the car and one of the two hoses popped off. All the ATF got pumped out of the trans and the result was a fried trans.

On top of that, the V6 Camry is one of the most difficult cars to pull the transmission out of.

Facts about hybrids:

1. It takes a lot more energy and pollution to manufacture one than it does to produce a conventional car.

2. MPG advantage is only in city driving

3. Questionable battery lifespan

4. Questionable long term pollution

5. Questionable battery recycling

6. More expensive than conventional car

There are a lot more negative than positives and thus my conclusion that it sucks (at present) and people are being suckered into buying this technology.

No matter how hard the car is driven it does not excuse connecting hydraulic lines with cheap clips.

It's funny how much you are defending a technology that you know nothing about just because you own a few Toyota products.

Anybody with some common sense could tell you that today's Hybrids are a scam. Go read the new 2-year study that came out from the company in Oregon. I posted here a few times, but I guess you never bothered to read it.

10 years 100k mi a then what? Can we send the batteries back to Japan for disposal? I would hate to know what this car would be worth at 50-100k mi

The average person will put 120k mi in 10 years
Personally, I would have at least 200k mi in 10 years.

Lets calculate how much fuel you will save per year. There are a lot of reports that the EPA rating is about 40-50% off compared to real world driving. In which case Hybrids have no fuel economy advantage.
We can ignore that and assume that a Hybrid gets 25-30% better fuel economy.
If you spend $1500 on gas each year with a conventional car with a Hybrid you would spend $1050-$1125.
We can just round it off to $400 a year for easy calculation x 10 years for a total savings of $4000.

WOW $4000. Where do I sign up?

The MSRP difference is bigger than that.

If the average person keeps their car for 5 years your savings will be even less @ $2000.

So, in summary we have a car that creates a lot more energy and pollution at the assembly plant, has no real advantage in fuel economy, costs a lot more, will depreciate faster than a fat woman jumping off the Empire State building, has a questionable long term environmental impact, and we still don't know what to do with the batteries.

Way to go Toyota…keep suckering them in.

Toyota marketing lies is second to none.

Give me a break with the reliability. How do you define reliability? The number of times an anal owner takes his car into service?
I've taken one of my cars in at least 10-15 times for something that had nothing to do with the reliability of the car.

Maybe we should do a survey for most major recalls since these are real.

Last time I checked, MB’s major recall was an $80 harmonic balancer (pulley) for the 98-00 V6/V8 engines, which can be replaced in 20 min.

Nothing compared to replacing your whole transmission or your whole engine. Like the 94-00 (not sure of the exact year) V6 Toyota engine block recall.

A good friend of mine is a Toyota tech and told me stories how he got so good at changing three engines per day.

No, it doesn't justify it. Have you read anything I wrote?
Do you realize how much fuel you are saving by buying a hybrid? None.
Do you realize how much an RX400h will depreciate? A lot.
Do you realize we still don't know the long term reliability of the hybrid?
Do you realize we still don't know the long term impact a hybrid will have on the environment?

You like to purchase questionable technology that does more harm to environment with horrible resale value and no advantages in fuel economy go ahead be my guest.
Most people don't have money to throw away.

LOL...I have the same problem at every traffic light when a Lexus/Infiniti owner pulls up next to me.
They can't stop staring.
I doubt any MB owner would be jealous of a car MB designed back in the early '90s.

In high demand because there are a lot of suckers out there. How suckers bought a Prius because Leonardo DiCaprio did a show on Oprah.
I know guy that bought one so he can commute using the carpool lane.
These people can't even do simple math.

Anybody have sales figures for Japan?

If you are trading a conventional car to buy a hybrid in order to save money at the pump you are clueless.

Time will tell the truth.

I think you are the only person that would rather have a recall on something that can potentially save your life than on something that can potentially leave you stranded.

Do you remember what happened to Dale Earnhardt?

Nope, it was the seatbelt. It just shows how important it is even if you are wearing a helmet.

There is nothing more effective during an accident.

You don't have to drive like a racecar driver. You ever heard of g forces? It doesn't require too much speed. Traveling in one direction at 30mph and somebody in the opposite at 30mph is the equivalent of driving 60mph into a wall. You want to try doing that without a seatbelt.
Seatbelt is the fundamental part. Everything else is an aid (crumple zones, air bags, etc.)

It depends on the problem. If it is electrical as part of the sensor for the SRS system that is OK. However, if it is mechanical NO NO NO NO.

I care more about remaining in my seat during an accident than my engine blowing up.