I'm average height and hit my head on the door getting in an LS500.

It is small inside and the last thing I would call it is spacious.

An LS430, the first thing you notice is how spacious it is. The first time I ever rode in an LS430 way before I bought one it was one of the first things I noticed, the room. There is MASSIVE front head and leg and knee and shoulder room in an LS430. Or it feels that way.

 

if the benz and minivan can be combined into a single vehicle, now there's an opening for the LC 500!

 

Lexus should get into the full size pickup truck segment.

 

Sadly I think Lexus makes most of their money from their cheap *** cars.

 

Wouldn't be an Escalade, but something like a Range Rover.

Its sitting up high, and utility. For example tomorrow I am headed to a cabin with some friends for the weekend, they're expecting snow and the cabin is very remote, I'm renting a Jeep Grand Cherokee for the trip, If I had a Range Rover I would just take that, but I'm concerned about taking the S580 on totally unplowed and untreated roads.

If I wanted to take a trip with the family I really can't take the S580, it just doesn't have enough cargo room for all of our stuff, with something like a Range Rover I could if I wanted to.

 

Once you use the 4x4 and realize you're in a basically invincible vehicle you'll never go back.

Range Rovers look killer and definitely have the cachet, and capability.

 

so does mercedes, we just don't hear about it since it's largely happening in other parts of the world

if people here saw what mercedes sold in europe, and what toyota sold in japan, i think there'd be largely different opinions on the two... but toyota knows how they're perceived here, hence why making lexus was such a smart move

otherwise you end up with something like the phaeton which is incredible but nobody cared lol

 

Infiniti QX80? You can get them cheap and you'll be the only with one in your neighborhood lol.

 

makes perfect sense. big sedans can be beautiful and smooth, but there's just no getting around the bigger practicality and seating position of an suv.
i've gone back and forth, lol. lexus gs400, explorer, jeep grand cherokee, genesis g90, hyundai santa fe, then detour to get the fun car (lc500) and now an ioniq 5 cuv for work which is a great all rounder for me... could be a bit bigger, but i like being able to maneuver and park it easily.

 

When I went to enterprise to pick up my insurance rental they were going to give me a Spark. I asked if they could give me a Camry or an Altima. The best they could do was a Malibu. I took it. Then I had call State Farm to get them to pay for the “full size” rental.

Really? In Memphis you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a QX80!

 

Surely MB makes some decent money over here selling the high end G-Wagens etc etc..? Right? It was a decade ago now but in Los Angeles Mercedes were like every other car there. And I mean EXPENSIVE ones.

But yes I agree, the brand is completely diluted and has been for decades... The A220 looks so ridiculously cheap.

 

the A220 looks like a Kia forte.

 

Drives like one too

 

And yet it’s priced more in line with a Lexus IS.

 

i would be curious to know how much the g-wagen actually contributes to the overall mercedes bottom line haha... but even aside from the brand dilution mercedes still has a HUGE commercial output with sprinter vans, buses, "lorries" (lol), and i've even seen mercedes garbage trucks in europe

toyota in japan meanwhile literally made a GS 300 with the 2JZ-GTE as a factory option! i wouldn't have needed to buy my W211 if i could easily get my hands on a left hand drive GS with a turbo 2JZ already installed by the manufacturer! stuff like the crown, crown majesta, and century are also all benz tier cars that almost nobody on this side of the pacific would know existed