the-oneil

Dear members

I am new to the whole Lexus experience and to the forum and I am also a UK resident. I am posting here for two reasons:
1- The Lexus UK forum is not very active due to very low membership volume compared to the US forum, which reflects the fact that Lexus' sales in Europe is well below its US sales.
2- I think I will get objective responses here in the forums.

I am looking to buy a (nearly new) mid-size Luxury sedan and have limited my choices to 2 cars BMW 530i & Lexus GS430.

FYI these two cars sell for circa the same price (nearly new) here in the UK at around £33,000. Their price new is £37000 for the BMW and £47000 for the Lexus. Which tells another story about their depreciation - that the Lexus depreciate much faster here in Europe than the BMW - Which in turn tells another fact, that BMW is perceived as a much more premium product than Lexus.

BUT, this is probably not the case in the US market, and therefore I am posting here.

1- Depreciation will not be a factor for me, because I keep my cars for many years, and because I am buying nealy new cars (with 5000 miles or less on them) so the previous owner would have suffered the biggest depreciation hit.
2- My main concern in the car I want to buy is Reliability (Lexus wins here) & build quality (I am not sure about this one).
3-Lexus GS430 in the UK comes standard with EVERY THING, there is NOTHING on the option list except what colour. Sunroof, Sat Nav, variable steering, Adaptive suspention, Adaptive Cruise Control, ....everything is standar - By Contrast - BMW comes with very low specifications, even the Hi-Fi audio is £400 option and the L7 audio is £900 option, the advanced climate control is £700 option...etc. (I believe all these are standard in the USA).


The Lexus shortfalls are mainly 3 things:
1-Space (trunk & rear head & legroom) 2-perceived image in Europe (A bumped up Toyota) 3-Fuel consumption compared to the 530i

But it is spacious enough for me, I am not a badge snob, I can swallow the fuel consumption if I can satisfy myself that the car is built to withstand time as well as the Mercedes & BMW equivalent.

I am leaning towards the Lexus with all its listed kit, but I am concerned about its built quality and that it would last me for a good 8 years.


Your advice and input would be greatly appreciated.

HotShotEng

If you are looking for durability and reliability, the GS430 would definitely be my pick over the BMW330i. The GS430 is actually more on a par with the BMW550i, but when it comes down to it, the BMW's are noted for their performance and handling and the Lexus is noted for its luxury and reliability.

This might help you with your decision.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...30+reliability

Bottom line, depending on your driving preference (performance vs luxury), you can not go wrong with either car.

Jace7

The Lexus is my choice over the 530 BMW.
I owned a 545 (06) BMW and had several vanos issues. I had on order the BMW M5, which is a beast of a car, but several SMG issues and others as well. I now own the 550i BMW (07) and the GS 450h (07). I drive my Lexus more often and I like it even more.
In my opinion the BMW is for people with (new money) just to show off in a way. The Lexus is for people with(old money) - because they know what's best.
In my mind the Lexus is a far more reliable car and you will have almost NO issues with the car. The BMW will have issues over time and in my mind is the worse choice of the two.
The only plus I would give BMW is the new confort active seats with the articulated back support. Besides that LEXUS is a far superior car in almost every category.
I hope this helps.
Jason<<<

GS430X6

Ditto..

Luder94

Having owned a BMW (and putting considerable mileage on that car) prior to the current GS430 we have, I whole heartedly have become a Lexus loyalist for life (so long as Lexus keeps its build quality and reliability in its cars as they do now).

I doubt very much that I'll ever buy another BMW. When our BMW was under warranty, that car was a tank that couldn't be shot down. The moment we went 10 miles over the warranty expiration, every little thing started breaking and failing.

If you need further convincing, find out what marquee the new CEO of Ford drives and why.

Luder94

Here....I'll help you get the answer quicker by just giving you the link:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/09/...rives-a-lexus/

the-oneil

Thank you every one for the great responces. I am now more confident in the Lexus brand than ever.

As I said, I always keep my cars for a long period of time, so a quality car with strong build as well as reliabiltiy is of the utmost priority for me.

I do not want to confuse reliability with built quality.

Is it true that BMWs are better built & engineered cars than Lexus, albeit less reliable?

That was the putpose of my question. Here in the UK, I could judge by looking at a 10 year old BMW and see it still looks like new , alas we do not have that many 10 year old Lexus to check them out

SGT

Ford's new CEO Alan Mulally drives a Lexus LS 430, and he says he made the purchase because "it's the finest car in the world." Detroit Free Press columnist Tom Walsh says the fact alone "tells us a lot about Alan Mulally." Mulally, according to Walsh, is a realist who "knows Lexus cars are better than anything currently in Ford's lineup, and he doesn't care if Ford employees or the media hear him say it out loud."

I LOVE it!

spwolf

well, if it is more reliable, isnt it engineered better? :-).

sbrown02

Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing.

rainforest

Hey Jace. Can you be a bit more specific? Why do you prefer your Lexus over the BMW? Why do you say it is superior in so many ways?

LexFather

Welcome here. We have quite a few active U.K members.
I am a subscriber to EVO/CAR and Top Gear so I am very aware of Euro likes. The amazing thing about Lexus is the USED cars are what is really spreading the words on the car. Sales have always been slow for Lexus in Europe until this year. The used cars are great deals and one by one people are learning how incredibly well built and reliable these cars are.

Lexus is the #1 reliable brand in America and in Europe according to the Top Gear Survey with over 56,000 answers. They have been #1 for the past 4 years of that survey.

The GS 430 is built in the top rated auto plant in the world, Tahara, Japan.

the-oneil

Not necessarily

Lexus cars are more reliable in terms of their (electrics mechanic & electronic parts) but built quality is different. I know Mercedes cars are built like tanks to withstand time. Don't know about Lexus, as I said in my post, there is not much 10 years old Lexus in the UK to check out, as this would give the best indication of BUILD quality.

rainforest

I don't understand the differentiation. If Lexus are of good quality, they will last 10 years easily. My last Lexus lasted 10 years and still had no problems when I traded it in.

Khiladi

iTrader: (1)

Correction... Mercedes USED TO be built like tanks and withstand time. Do you know how Mercedes has fared in almost every single Consumer/Reliability/Quality Survey in the last 8 years? At the BOTTOM third of all manufacturers. Mercedes themselves have acknowledged their quality failures, and their new CEO came in (that you see on TV) to revamp everything, from manufacturing to design and testing techniques, to get the right ENGINEERING on par with what today's most reliable car (Lexus) achieves. Its not even a debate when the manufacturer themselves admits that they built **** in the recent years.