Would you buy a Lexus, Acura or Infiniti if you could?

**AG4** · March 4th, 2006 05:54 AM

Originally Posted by stelvio

There's no car out there that says you've arrived better than MB or BMW.

BMW, yes... MB, not anymore....

Originally Posted by theveed

Coz it's the same? hehe... rebadge lang.

Some things you have to know...
Old Lexus models were rebadged "Luxury Toyotas"(JDM Luxury range), this means that the old Lexus models that were sold as Toyotas in Japan are true luxury models.
Now with the introduction of the Lexus brand in Japan, the all-new Lexus models will be exclusive to Lexus with no Toyota version.

Originally Posted by mazdamazda

Lexus = overpriced Toyota

read the explanation above.

Originally Posted by BlueBimmer

no...i'd buy the 300C instead

I wouldn't mind having a 300C(if I could afford one), looks cool and is one of the best selling large sedans in North America...

**empy** · March 4th, 2006 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by AG4

BMW, yes... MB, not anymore....

really? on what planet? MB is selling more $100k+ vehicles than ever before.

Originally Posted by AG4

Some things you have to know...
Old Lexus models were rebadged "Luxury Toyotas"(JDM Luxury range), this means that the old Lexus models that were sold as Toyotas in Japan are true luxury models.

the toyota camry/ES300? the IS300? the Landcruiser/LX470?

there's maybe 10% differentiation between the Toyota and Lexus models of those cars.

**kimpOy** · March 4th, 2006 02:32 PM

i'll take the Toyota Landcruiser 105 over its Lexus counterpart anytime baby...

**AG4** · March 4th, 2006 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by M54 Powered

really? on what planet? MB is selling more $100k+ vehicles than ever before.

Qualtiy issues... didn't BMW overtake them already.

Originally Posted by M54 Powered

the toyota camry/ES300? the IS300? the Landcruiser/LX470?

Lexus' entry level luxury sedan, the ES300/ES330 is a rebadged Toyota Windom, the Windom is Toyota's Premium mid-size sedan based on the Camry platform.
The new Lexus ES350 is now a Lexus exclusive model.

Lexus' entry level luxury sports sedan, the IS200/IS300 is rebadged Toyota Altezza which was the premium RWD sports sedan of Toyota.
The all-new IS (IS250, IS350) is now a Lexus exclusive model.

The LX470 is based on the luxury model of the Landcruiser called the Cygnus. Its replacement will most likely be a Lexus exclusive vehicle, the Cygnus is currently sold as a Toyota in Japan and is not part of the new gen Lexus models released in Japan.

**niky** · March 4th, 2006 03:38 PM

In sales, too, actually... BMW is selling tons more cars than MB in the US, and has overtaken them as the best-selling luxury brand... don't know if that's US only, or international, but I believe that might be international.

And that's not including the Mini.

MB's quality snafus of the past decade, their Chrysler merger, the Mitsubishi debacle and subsequent split, as well as their unsuccessful attempt at creating a brand with SMART has left them smarting... it'll take a while for them to rebuild their good name.

The problem with Lexus in Japan is that, yes, they're all new cars without a base, pedestrian Toyota underneath... but try convincing the Japanese market of that.

**empy** · March 4th, 2006 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by AG4

Qualtiy issues... didn't BMW overtake them already.

Lexus' entry level luxury sedan, the ES300/ES330 is a rebadged Toyota Windom, the Windom is Toyota's Premium mid-size sedan based on the Camry platform.
The new Lexus ES350 is now a Lexus exclusive model.

Lexus' entry level luxury sports sedan, the IS200/IS300 is rebadged Toyota Altezza which was the premium RWD sports sedan of Toyota.
The all-new IS (IS250, IS350) is now a Lexus exclusive model.

The LX470 is based on the luxury model of the Landcruiser called the Cygnus. Its replacement will most likely be a Lexus exclusive vehicle, the Cygnus is currently sold as a Toyota in Japan and is not part of the new gen Lexus models released in Japan.

ah, ganun ba. i didn't realize that quality was the barometer of whether a car was considered luxury or not. i guess Bentley, Jaguar and Rolls Royce, who have some of the worst quality issues in the industry, cannot be considered luxury by that definition

and i know about the slight platform differences...that's why i said 90% and not 100%. there are some differences in suspension tuning and features (like the famous Lexus Mark Levinson audio systems) but i don't care to list them all. is it worth the $15-30k difference? that's up to the guy writing the check.

**AG4** · March 4th, 2006 10:19 PM

Originally Posted by M54 Powered

ah, ganun ba. i didn't realize that quality was the barometer of whether a car was considered luxury or not. i guess Bentley, Jaguar and Rolls Royce, who have some of the worst quality issues in the industry, cannot be considered luxury by that definition

Update: that was the case during the 80's and early 90's.
Jaguar has improved a lot since the 80's...
...the same can be said about Rolls Royce, which is now under BMW and Bentley now under VW.

2006 Rolls Royce Phantom

The new Rolls Royce has inherited the high quality of BMW...

The Phantom is packed with high technology and outstanding build quality - everything from the hand-stitched leather to the umbrella stored inside the rear-door says class.

-verdictoncars

If there's anyone grabbing attention now(the wrong way) its Mercedes.

Last December...

Stuttgart, Germany -- AFTER A YEAR of quality trouble, job cuts and management turnover, DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz division is set to suffer another indignity: losing the title of the world's best-selling premium brand.

With less than three weeks left in 2005, the auto maker is on track to cede its global premium-brand sales crown to archrival BMW AG's core BMW brand, in what would be the first year BMW has outsold Mercedes on an annual basis since 1993. In the first 11 months of 2005, Mercedes-Benz has sold 961,600 vehicles world-wide, compared with 1,020,156 for BMW-branded vehicles, according to the companies.

- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

**empy** · March 5th, 2006 04:53 AM

AG4, you are missing my point. we're discussing the following quote by stelvio:

"There's no car out there that says you've arrived better than MB or BMW."

you said MB is no longer that kind of status symbol. you are wrong. a brand does not have to have extremely high quality to be viewed as a status symbol or carry a premium, no matter how many articles you Google up.

stelvio's comment will no longer be true when consumers stop paying a premium to drive the 3-pointed star, and that hasn't happened yet.

if you are looking to prove that BMW is a higher quality or "better" brand than MB, you'll get no argument from me. i'm a bimmer owner

**Flagg** · March 5th, 2006 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by theveed

Coz it's the same? hehe... rebadge lang.

That's why I said it that way.

**Flagg** · March 5th, 2006 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by mazdamazda

I'd rather buy a Bimmer.

Lexus = overpriced Toyota
Acura = overpriced Honda
Infiniti = overpriced Nissan

:bwahaha:

Actually, there's a big diff between the Lexus ES & the Camry in interior appointments & ride quality. Of course, sa LS and Celsior there is no diff except where the steering wheel is.

Yung talagang rebadge e yung LX470.