Cannot be sold in Euro and Aussie markets due to the platform unable to meet safety standards but on the flipside the oldest platform in the stable comes with Teammate, Lexus's inhouse level 2 self driving for the Jdm.....smh

 

oh, man, this is a funny coincidence... I'm getting the yellow special edition 2025 IS 500 in for review tomorrow.

All the interior/tech/safety updates are welcome, but I'm not sold on the new front end. My first thought, like others have said, was "oh, look, the GR Corolla grille."

And I'm hoping the V8 will come back, maybe later in the run? I emailed Lexus PR for comment.

 

I was playing with a white IS500 on 270 yesterday, I assume it was using a stock exhaust and it sounded nice. Would suck if that option is gone IMO

New car front end looks like a basic Toyota grill

 

This kind of matches what the Lexus ppl at Pebble said that IS and LC will not be going away. Hoping the LC will get a refresh also.

I think V8 will be back as they are selling them with no issues.

 

I'm biased because I love how the current IS looks, so you'll have to excuse me for thinking the new design is not as nice. The interior update is good though.

 

So Lexus made all the big fuss about ceasing global production of the IS on their website, just so they could reintroduce the exact same vehicle with a different nose and tweaked infotainment. What on Earth is going on with the product planners lol.

What's wild is that even this facelift is still using the 6 speed auto from almost two decades ago for the AWD variant. They're not even pretending to spend money on it.

 

I don't think the exterior looks bad but the front does resemble some Toyotas. Interior looks decent for such an old platform. Sad to see the 500 no longer offered, happy to get mine just in time!

I wonder if this could be traced back to the 5GS project as the 4IS would have likely been built on the scalable TNGA GA-L platform. We should be on a 4th or even 5th gen IS by now. 2014-2020 3IS was ready for a full redesign but with no new platform they refreshed it instead for MY20201. They probably did plan on axing the IS after 2025 only to backtrack again and refreshed it due to market conditions and leaving a gap if they pulled the IS line?

LOL yeah that AWD hump continues to live.

 

GA-L is overweight, and realistically cant be scaled down. It could work in theory to serve as a century backbone or similar Lexus cuv...

Lexus is now essentially phoning it in, and as long as it maintains its lion shares of profits from the GA-K products its not going to do a single thing in any other segment or platform. This is not to say it is Lexus USA division's fault, as they seem to have to beg for project funding from hq, Ultimately I think Toyota is either purposely letting Lexus do what it can with limited resources, convert Lexus from a brand to moniker and bring it inhouse as a sub toyota moniker, or waiting for it become the oldsmobile of Toyota.

back to the IS, I do wonder if the v8 comes back?

 

Remember when Lexus cars had a tiny grille and they were beautiful? Yes you do since you own one.

 

True it is overweight. GA-L or not they didn't have anything new to underpin it. Yeah I feel ToMoCo doesn't give Lexus the support it needs to flourish but rather maintain, which is too bad because its still a great brand.

 

Lexus teased all these EV concepts from ~4 years ago, with the most prominent one being several variations of a sports sedan that resembled the IS. This was likely the original plan.



But aside from the FWD GA-K platform vehicles, none of these concepts have made it to production. Even the recent Lexus coupe EV concept is entirely different from above. And the proposed all-electric LFR has now become a hybrid TTV8 Toyota GT.

So the fact that we're getting this zombie refresh IS which will soldier on for at least another three years and in limited global markets (won't be sold in EU due to updated crash requirements and not in China for obvious reasons) is bizarre to say the least. It feels like another vehicle that Lexus US begged Lexus Japan to keep alive and they gave them scraps.

 

Yes and no and yes and no.. The Toyota GR GT was never the "proposed all-electric LFR" and has always been the V8 GT3-first, V8 street-second car since the GR GT3 concept was revealed one month after that Lexus lineup teaser. And Lexus has been pretty clear that the all-electric LFA-successor is going to be an "end of the decade/2030s" ordeal anyways, if it happens, with a chassis based on/evolved from that GR GT.

Also, Toyota's 2019 teaser of EVs also didn't materialize for the most part outside of the Chinese market, and certain models that were teased ended up just being ICE cars, like the Crown Sport SUV and the Tacoma and the CHR. I believe Toyota and Lexus quickly abandoned both of their roadmaps by end of 2022.

That same teaser with the Lexus's had a new ES in the back which was clearly a heavy refresh of the current ES (ala new Camry/Rav4), which got canned in favour of the ground-up new ES we got instead.

 

And on a side note, those were all design proposals from the CALTY team. I think Toyota is trying to reduce CALTY's involvement with Lexus design and focusing on the new technical development facility for majority of Lexus designs moving forward. I could be wrong but if they're trying to make more "global" designs that are slightly less appealing to American tastes and more to other nearby markets, it could explain some things.

 

That may have been the original plan but US Lexus dealers have been lobbying hard for the Toyota GT to be badged as a Lexus in the US ever since leaks were shown of the private US dealer meeting. Whatever all-EV plan they've been pushing for the vehicle, I highly doubt it comes to fruition unless they transferred that intent to the recently unveiled coupe concept, which is clearly also an EV but sits on a totally different platform.

 

I know you're not a fan of BestCar, but that recently revealed coupe concept does align with the rumours they published last year of the LC and RC being replaced by a singular model (Sport Concept.. SC?) shared with the A100 Supra. Disappointing if it comes as a full EV.