Fan Rant Makes A Point - Why Is Lexus The Rodney Dangerfield Of The Industry?

Every once in a while you see a rant out there and it makes you stop and think.

While cruising Club Lexus the yesterday I ran across just one of those so called rants. But this one I just couldn't let go of.  At first it would be quite easy to toss this young man's diatribe aside and list it as just another fan boy speaking his mind.  But the more I thought of it the more he made sense.

CL reader 1SICKLEX just had simply had enough.  Enough of what? Well, in this case the shear number of people out there that have an utter disregard for Lexus and it's accomplishments.

Read CL post here

Think about their track record and what was said by the critics at the time:


1989-no one will buy a 40k Lexus period
1992-no one will buy a Lexus coupe
1995-no one will buy a 50k Lexus sedan
1997-no one will buy a 55k Lexus SUV
1998-no one will buy a Lexus to battle the 5 series or a car based SUV
2001-no one will buy an IS over a 3 series
2002-no one will buy a 60k convertible Lexus
2006- no one will buy a Lexus hybrid
2007- no one will buy a 100k Lexus hybrid
2008- no one will buy a 60k Lexus to battle the M3 or 85k SUV
2010-no one will buy a HS (they were right on this one!)
2011-no one will buy a 375k Lexus exotic


You know Lexus didn't make it to where it was by accident.  It was by offering what the people WANTED versus an arbitrary mantra set by the manufacturer.  Lexus got to where it is by LISTENING and DELIVERING regardless if the press said it was doomed to fail. They chose to believe when we didn't.

In many ways he is right. When surveying the landscape it is far easier to find people that do not like Lexus vs those that do.  So given all of the obvious dislike out there just why is easier to hate on Lexus than to simply accept them for what they are? The most successful luxury automaker of the last decade?



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Joe_Limon - 6/1/2011 4:25:59 PM

-11 Boost

2011-no one will buy a 375k Lexus exotic

hehe this one is true too. only leases!

Agent009 - 6/1/2011 4:28:54 PM

+1 Boost

LOL point taken.. but they will "lease" every one of them.

Baby - 6/2/2011 12:25:56 AM

+3 Boost

Hopefully you guys are joking because you can buy an LFA outright...

Joe_Limon - 6/2/2011 9:38:45 AM

-6 Boost

No, no you can't. You have to be a celebrity, and even then you are limited to leasing it.

JRobUSC - 6/1/2011 5:40:24 PM

-8 Boost

They were right about sales of the $100k hybrid and the M3 competitor too.

JRobUSC - 6/2/2011 11:22:06 AM

-5 Boost

ok, fine, the IS-F was "universally praised as being a good first effort". Let me ask you this -- when Toyota designed the IS-F, do you think that was their goal, "good for a first effort"? Because that "universal praise" also usually came as a backhanded compliment alongside "last place in every comparison test". And the LS600h, do you think when they dreamed that up and advertised it as "V12 performance and V6 fuel economy" their goal was to read "the regular LS460 offers the same performance and fuel economy for $32k less, and every other V8 competitor is better (not to mention the V12 competitors that blow it out of the water)" in every review?

Take off the Lexus blinders and be honest, do you really think those were the bars they had set for those vehicles? Because somehow I doubt it. I am going to give Toyota the benefit of the doubt that their goals weren't mediocrity and they just swung and missed, because if their goals WERE to be mediocre then they have a whole different (and much worse) set of problems.

JRobUSC - 6/2/2011 7:03:57 PM

-1 Boost

"So to restate, the IS-F is EXACTLY what Lexus set out to do"

Ok, then they should have set out to do better. Because if they "set out" to come in last place in every comparison test against the cars it was designed to compete with, then that was a pretty ignorant goal. That's a GM-style, beancounters making decisions goal. Again, I don't believe for a second Toyota "set out" to come in last place every time. They just ended up there.

BTW, I don't have "Lexus hating blinders". If anything I WANT them to make desirable cars, cars that put their competition on notice, because if they hit homeruns with IS-F's then it forces BMW, Audi, and Mercedes to make their cars better too. Competition forces improvement. Why do you think the whole industry chases the RX? Because Toyota figured out that market and did it right. Now they own it. Conversely the IS-F didn't make ANYONE go back to the drawing board and improve a damn thing. If the best you can get is "it was good for a first try, here's your pat on the back and last place trophy", then you need to try again. And everyone reading this knows it, including the fanboys deboosting me for telling the truth.

LexSucks - 6/1/2011 5:51:47 PM

-9 Boost

Lexus is the most respected car manufacturer in the world. Every other car manufacturer wishes they were them. Every vehicle that Lexus makes is the benchmark of their respective classes.

LexSucks - 6/1/2011 5:53:59 PM

-12 Boost

Oh yeah... Lexus is also tops in europe. There isn't a single brand that europeans would pick over Lexus. Recognize!

geoff448 - 6/1/2011 9:39:38 PM

+11 Boost

LexSucks gets no respect, cause he makes up facts and talks out his A**

uaw_lax - 6/2/2011 12:38:02 AM

+3 Boost

lol

Lexus - 6/1/2011 7:44:41 PM

+10 Boost

It must be a really slow day here on autospies. Here agent009, I will post comment for you so you don't get fire. Come on dude.

I don't why anyone bitch and moan about Lexus. Thanks to Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honday/Acura the German has improve their cars as well to keep up with or beat the competitions out there.

And lastly, the last time I check isn't BMW or MB is having their cars built in China or in the future? IMAO...... I rather drive a Japanese cars that is build in Japan or U.S. than anything built in China any day.

enthusiastx11 - 6/1/2011 8:08:05 PM

-10 Boost

of course people will buy a well-made lexus. just not people who actually enjoy driving. and they certainly won't pay mercedes & bmw prices.

and you can counter every dollar amount on that rant with what a mercedes or bmw went for at the same time. for example, the 1990 LS had a base price of $35,000 while the 1989 560SEL had a base price of $58,000 (that's a 65% premium).

Lexus - 6/1/2011 8:32:28 PM

+8 Boost

How you driven a Toyota Supra, Lexus IS-F and LF-A? The last time check everyone that drive those cars praise how fun the car is. Toyota focus on mainly on making reliable and affordable cars but now slowly starting making cars that is fun to drive. Just give it time.

When how everyone laugh when Toyota first launch their Lexus brand? You got to start from some where.

enthusiastx11 - 6/2/2011 4:02:32 PM

-2 Boost

yes, i've driven plenty. my mom and her 70-something siblings love them. mobile sofas.

bfghemicuda - 6/1/2011 8:10:45 PM

+5 Boost

I sure miss Rodney. One of the last real comics

Joe_Limon - 6/2/2011 12:00:31 PM

+1 Boost

you're forgetting the plymouth neon

Hoorayforpeepee - 6/1/2011 8:59:49 PM

+5 Boost

Lexus and Toyota were innovators in this industry, let's not forget the first Lexus LS was full of technology that we didn't find on other cars, so is the LFA, when Lexus and Toyota are innovating, that's where people find the brands fascinating, currently too much of the current lineup is just plain old vanilla.

Hyundai is NOT innovative, it's not making reliable cars, it's not making quality car and it's NOT making you any favors price wise.

In french there is a term '' Feu de paille ''

0to60 - 6/1/2011 9:20:05 PM

+6 Boost

Toyota is only hated by so called car enthuiest that are short sighted. They do the exact thing they may critisize consumer reports for.

For example, Consumer reports looks at the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry as kinda the benchmark for all cars. If a car has better fuel economy, then they will say its great. If it has worst fuel economy, then it is bad. They dont really consider other factors. For example, take an SUV, it will have lower fuel economy in its class but will automatically score low. But in its class and all things considered (V8, etc...) it may actually fair well compared to the competition. So should it receive a low score for not being as efficient as a Camry? Probably not.

As enthusiests, we almost set sporty handling BMW as the benchmark. But should it really be the benchmark for everything? What if I want a soft cushy ride, or something that is extra smooth handling. Should that automatically be deboosted because it does not align to the BMW's feel?

I like a variety. I think there should be sporty vehicles, and there should be the exact opposite. Not everyone is in the market for the same thing.

Therfore, why bash a car company because it does not behave or feel like "our" benchmark. It serves another (IMPORTANT) purpose and priority that just happens to not be one of ours. And thats great for them. So although a Lexus would not be my 1st pick, I admire it for being the best for who it is designed and marketed for.

0to60 - 6/1/2011 9:24:12 PM

+5 Boost

Additionally, I have owned Lexus's and would venture to say that they are probably the single handed most reliable vehicles on the road. And if my plan were to buy a car and own that car forever without having to spend much maintaining it, I would get a Lexus.

WorldofLuxury - 6/2/2011 4:52:04 AM

+2 Boost

Lexus is building its prestige, and it's got the resume to show for it!

And about the HSh... That's one confusing car. It seems to have a nice stance sometimes, but other times, it seems as if it's a box tiptoeing on its [seemingly] proportionally small wheels. The live pictures seem to be more appealing than those photoshopped/computer-generated pictures released by Lexus. And finally, I always felt like the audience for the HSh was obvious, expecting it to sell well, and the high expectation simply jinxed the results or something.

Arsen89 - 6/2/2011 11:26:23 AM

+6 Boost

Just when you thought HyundaiSmoke was out for good, he become bored in his little Hyundai dealership and torments us once again.

Neverfollow - 6/2/2011 1:17:40 PM

0 Boost

Tempt a cunsumer with a cheaper alternative and they will fall for it in large numbers almost every time.