Ye Lexus used to have a full lineup like the LC.

In 90s / 2000s - you had IS, GS, LS, SC, LX, GX and even 1st gen RX was revolutionary for the time. All those models were some of the best built in their class and had certain features that were better than their German rivals.

Most Lexus today don’t even compete against the German cars anymore.
LC is the last one with a V8 and now most don’t even offer a V6.

 

LC is the exception for sure

 

Well, lets not go crazy lol. The ES, RX, IS, GS were never on the same level of build quality and solidity as the LC.

 

even most mercedes don't compete with their own cars from 25 - 30 years ago... pre daimlerchrysler they only made bangers! the C, E, S, SL, and G-wagen was all they sold at one point until the late 90s, not a FWD car in sight! lexus poaching their customer base no doubt contributed to them watering down the brand

 

they were however at least a notable step up from 'regular' toyotas, and the IS and GS weren't yet extremely outdated compared to the competition

 

of course it does i love the LC, but that level of quality is now a rare outlier situation whereas it used to be more consistent across the lineup

 

I think we all need to get past fighting the German cars and understand Lexus has found its niche and it’s working. They had a record sales year here and overseas and are 4th in global sales behind the Germans. As an enthusiast no I’m not enthused about the dropping of the V-8 etc but clearly there were not enough people buying them compared to the crossovers.

I wrote maybe 20 years ago Infiniti ans Acuras failures and shortcomings don’t help Lexus, it hurts them. Competition breeds the best. Leuxs today is so far ahead the other two. Meanwhile the German big 3 continue to duke it out and Porsche continues to expand.

 

We did, most of us drive German now. All because Lexus failed to offer something compelling

 

Yep, we did...but we're still salty about it.

 

Again they had a record sales year. Audi sales were down. 164,000 last year to Lexus 377,000 in the usa. Globally Lexus sold 882,000 vehicles to Audis 1.6 million. You can’t call either a failure. Audi doesn’t offer anymore coupes and has become a crossover,EV brand. Where is the outrage?

We can now just think of what could have been….

 

Make sense for them businesswise, I always say that...still our sour grapes are valid. LOTS of outrage about Audi actually all over their forums.

 

if you have any good therapeutic methods you'd recommend to help here i'm all ears! but idk how someone can see a lineup like this:



and be so blasé about the direction they're going... it's not like the tried and failed to fight the germans, they more or less actually won! it's sad to see such wasted potential

 

The change in direction probably hits me harder than anyone. I’m still coping and understanding and transitioning. But it is a business.

 

One thing that I am happy Lexus finally did a few short years ago, they finally came south of the border in Mexico. I remember when I lived there that my RX300 was an oddity and remember the Toyota dealers I would stop by always wanted to take a look at it. My uncle even does some very simple maintenance (for good reliability reasons) on some of them now and he remarks at the technology and construction and how far it has come from my RX300 and how it compares to many other brands sold there including Chinese and French brands we do not get here.

However, in my own history I remember the day my parents got me a slightly used 1990 BMW 325ic as a graduation gift from high school back in 1991. We had taken a look at some used vehicles at Lexus of Kendall in southern Miami and my father remarked as to just how many people had traded in BMWs, Mercedes, Cadillacs and Lincolns. Although he took a look on the side at the LS400 and the ES300 that had just came out, he could not wrap his head around it until much later when I got my used 1999 RX300 back in early 2002. A girl I knew at school had a brand new ES250 and I still remember so many kids at school asking her about it as it was the only one in the lot.

Now on my third Lexus and could not be happier.

 

It's a failure to me. They make nothing I want and are more than 10 years behind the Germans in the high end that I'm interested in.

Audi at least made cars that were halo level for years in years and gave so many options that are excellent to his day and greater than anything Lexus ever made. Their current direction is not great but at least you can still buy some high end models unlike Lexus who never even offered equivalents in the first place.

That's the difference. There is no Lexus equal to the RS car, the top SUVs or the R8 not to mention all the euro only stuff we never got. I'm also importing one of those landmark euro only cars, I would never bother to do that with any Lexus as there is nothing worth importing from them