When did YOU first fall for the Lexus name? Why? What happened? What were you driving BEFORE you had your first Lexus?

 

im only 18, first car was a 99 audi a6, 4 or 5 months after i got my car my brother started to work at lexus, and every sence then ive just loved em, he had me sit in a LS430, most comfortable car ever, so i traded in my audi 3 months later for a 2000 es300 but paid 8k on top of the audi, by 22 23 hopfully ill have the LS430

 

I first fell for Lexus in the early 90's. My parents all had Toyotas and I knew they were very reliable cars. My first vehicle was a 1985 Toyota pickup truck. My second vehicle was a 1993 Toyota 4Runner then I got my first Lexus which was a 1996 ES 300 and I still have it to this day. She's got over 290K miles on her and she still runs great. I want to sell it and upgrade to the newer ES 350 but I want to see how far I can take her. I also read all the problems with the new ES 350 so I'll wait a few more years till it's all ironed out...

 

1) Owned an S2000
2) Needed a backseat and 4 doors
3) Sold S2000
4) Bought IS250
[9 months pass]
5) Sold IS250 because the excessive rev hang, horrible throttle lag, and shuddering clutch made driving about as much fun as a freezing cold enema
6) Bought a Civic Si Sedan, and all is well with the world again

We also own an ES330, which, despite the list of problems we've had with it, is still a damn fine vehicle, and a bargain in its category. It's not fun to drive at all, but it's executed so well (well, let's not discuss the throttle response, transmission mappings, or fuel economy...) that I can't help but enjoy owning the car.

 

My car ownership history:

'89 Camry: my first car, in which I've owned since '96. That car is my "lucky" car; I used it for college and travelled across country in it. It currently has 245k miles, and has been a faithful addition in our family garage.

'04 Solara: my first brand new car purchase. I bought it without knowing anything about cars at the time, so I went for something simple with a little more room and sportiness. I would have kept it, until I found out about the upcoming...

'06 IS350: second brand new car purchase. I did a lot of research before getting this car, and actually Special Ordered it to my specifications. This is the perfect car for me for now. I love my IS.

'07 LS460L: so this was a splurge purchase. My biggest concern with the IS was size. It's a great car to thrash around as a daily commuter, but definately was too cramped for friends when travelling on the weekends. The LS was someone else's Special Order, but they changed their mind after a month of ownership (dunno why, but it worked for me), so I jumped on it when I found out that it was selling a little under invoice with only 800 miles on it.



Other than these cars, my sister owns an '04 GS300 and my brother owns a '07 ES350. I helped them in their decicion making when they were looking for a nice ride. Can you tell we all love Lexus?

 

My IS is my first car, and of course my first Lexus.

Prior to my purchase, I looked at its competitors such as the BMW 328i, Infiniti G35, and the Nissan 350Z.

However, after months of research, I found out many truths about these models.

The BMW, or should I say ALL BMW's seem to suffer a lack in reliability.

Plus, it lacked many technological features that their Japanese counterparts had.

Speaking of Japanese counterparts, Infiniti and Nissan had the fancy gizmos, but also had quality issues like their German counterparts.

Now, all that was left was the Lexus IS. It had everything I wanted.

In its class, it was the most luxurious, had the most gadgets, and it had decent performance.

Plus, at $33,300 OTD with all the stuff I got?

As Marlon Brando would say, it's was an offer that I couldn't refuse.

 

as a family we've had:
'88 Camry LE 4cyl (retired at 260k mi.) (learned to drive on this )
'91 Camry LE 4cyl (given away then sold with ~150k mi.)
'95 Lexus LS400 (destroyed by an '00 Tundra at 135k mi.) (mine )

and we currently have:
'99 Lexus LS400 (mine w/mods )
'00 Lexus LS400
'01 Toyota Sienna XLE V6

 

Another Toyota Family Here!
89 Camry v6
95 es300 ----> mines
97 Camry V6
99 Camry V6 XLE
2003 es300
2004 Tacoma Prerunner --> Mines
2006 Sienna

 

lets see..

'95 toyota camry coupe, it had quite a bit miles on it. sold after the timing belt snapped and replaced.

'?? mazda b2200 truck. that is where i learned how to drive manual.

'98 chrysler town & country awd 3.8L. That car was not fun to drive at all, and had quiet a bit of problems. nevertheless, the car made it to 300k miles and it is still running strong after i sold it to another guy.

'96 toyota camry sedan - bought from cousin after accident. repaired it, and sold it within 2-3 months to Paul Van Valkenburgh (famous auto racing engineer). He was nice enough to drive me back to my graduation after i helped him drive the car down to OC area. Last time I checked he sold the Stingray and is still driving the Camry.

'00 toyota corolla ve (3spd auto). that car was not fun to drive at all either. went through a lot of unfortunate dings and bumps from people all over the place, and it was also cursed. sold it after my 18th bday.

and now..

'01 lexus gs 300. it feels underpowered and unsporty sometimes, but overall it's a great daily driver.

 

91 Corolla (fun lil beater).. totalled.. some fat chick hit it..

92 Sc400 (hella fun beater.. ok not beater but yea..) still here =]

 

My dream first car was an IS300 when I was about 14 then the IS350 came and thats when I was able to drive legally. Tada.

 

I was driving my 01 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo (600rwhp) to a GMC dealership and saw a used 1993 Lexus GS300 on the lot (it was 4 years old). I test drove it and fell in love!.. I was surprised by how many people noticed the car, how smooth it drove, how good the OEM stereo sounded, and how comfy it was. I got a really good deal on it.

When I bought that car it had 62,000 miles on it. I traded it in 1.75 years later and it had 175,000 miles on it! Yeah, more than 100k in 1 year! You know how many problems I had with the car during that period?? NONE...not 1 single problem! Crazy huh? Once while I was driving the car out of town the tire blew when I hit something in the road. The car had 140k miles on it (almost 70k miles OUT OF WARRANTY). I used the Lexus Link phone in the car and it connected directly to Lexus Customer Service. They paid to have the car towed, tire AND wheel replaced, Hotel stay, AND sent a care package to my house when I returned home!

I was hooked!

I traded that car in for a 1995 Lexus SC400 that the Toyota dealership had. That car was awesome! it was fast, smooth, and VERY VERY reliable. The only issue that car had was the alternator went out at 120k miles and cost me $175 to replace. Once, I took it to my Parents house in Charlotte, NC (9 hours from my house at the time). Since owning the car I had never taken it to an actual Lexus dealership. While in Charlotte I decided to take it by and let them check it out. They were AWESOME! when we arrived they met me at the car and asked what I needed done. I told them to check the car out and do a basic service. The put me in a BRAND NEW Lexus Loaner for the WEEKEND!!! When I came back to pick up my car they had done over $900 worth of services to my car and charged me $40!...

WOW, I was blown away!

I traded that car in for that last Lexus I had, a 1997 Lexus SC300 (newer body style with OEM bodykit and nicer front and rear end). I bought the car with 67,000 miles. That was the best car I EVER owned! I had it for 4.5 years and sold it to a guy in LA last month with 123,000 miles NO service problems for $10,000.00.... I loved that car...


Back in August of 2006 I actually purchased a Chevy 2500HD Crewcab truck. It was nice but sucked gas like a hooker! I had to get rid of it. I happened to see the X-Type listed in the paper at the BMW dealership. They had it listed for $16,999. It was a nice car but hard to work from due to it being a 5spd. Plus, the rubbing problems I had after installing wheels DROVE ME CRAZY!!.. Oh yeah, when the passenger side door STOPPED opening from the outside, that REALLY pissed me off. I had to lube the hinge one a month to solve the problem. And I didn't want to spend anymore money upgrading the stereo just to sound as good as most cars factory systems.

Moving on though......

I went to the Mercedes dealership to see if I could trade the Jag in for a 2005 E500 Benz they had listed...To make a LONG story short, I will NEVER go to a MB dealership again after being treated so bad and the sales rep consistently trying to sell me into a car I didn’t want!

When I found that Lexus of San Antonio had several LS430s for sale I inquired online. To make this story short they gave me $5000 MORE than Mercedes was willing to. They reduced the price of the LS by $3000. They DELIVERED THE CAR 2.5 hours and picked up the Jag (sight UNSEEN) AT NO CHARGE!!!!

PLUS they gave me a bottle of wine and a care package!! ALL THIS FOR PURCHASING A PRE-OWNED CAR!!! WOW!

 

I needed a replacement car because my previous car was totaled. I bought into the lexus reliability hype. Unfortunately, the car left me stranded 2 weeks after. Not to mention, I had to do plenty of repairs to keep the car running. Mind you the car was maintained by the dealer throughout its life. My first and last lexus

 

What year was the car? What kind of miles did it have? Did you know how all the previous owns drove the car?

It could have been maintained by Lexus BUT that doesn't mean that the previous owned actually repaired anything BEFORE the parts broke.

What I'm trying to say is that the only way to have a truely problem free experience is to do preventative maintainance. Taking it to a Lexus dealership to get parts repaired do not prevent old parts from breaking.

It's not "Lexus reliability HYPE" it's "Lexus's are truely reliable but owners may take that saying TOO far".

I’m not going to lie, my 95 SC400 I had gave me some VERY strange and VERY expensive problems. It broke down on me 3 or 4 times. BUT I didn’t blame Lexus or the Car, I blame the previous owner for not doing preventative maintenance when needed.

If you are talking about your ES300, you must also relize that this car is the most "Toyota" based Lexus made (other than the LX470). It is a very reliable car but based very much off of the Camry platform. Not a bad thing, actually a good thing because Camrys have always been known for their quality.

I think you just got a hard driven car that didn't have all it's preventative work done.

 

1990 Toyota Corolla LE - Super White 040 - The vehicle that was passed down to me, my first pride and joy. A vehicle I literally grew up in. Was purchased new by my family in 1990 in the Bay Area. I remember the day we went to Concord Toyota to pick it out. We spent most of the day test driving other cars and we couldn't exactly pin point this exact color combination, White with Gray. After hours of walking the lot, low and behold, this was hidden in the back. I learned how to drive in this car and kept it all the way through college. I miss this car especially the gas mileage!

1995 Toyota Avalon XLS - Diamond White Pearl 051 - Another vehicle that was passed down to me, lots of power, great on gas, drove it cross country to Texas and numerous trips to NorCal, San Diego and Las Vegas. Too many of my friends always made me drive due to the great interior size and comfort. I was tired of driving an old man's car, especially during my college years.




1999 Toyota Solara SE V6 - Diamond White Pearl 051 - One of my favorite cars, rare v6 5 speed manual w/leather, was inspired by the original TRD Solara package and TRD Solara Pace cars once used in the PPG Cart Series. This was a purchase from a good friend who had to move out of the country. It was spur of the moment. I loved to drive it around and modded it to set it apart from the common. Got tired of driving manual in my commute. This car took me through the remainder of my undergrad studies into my first real fulltime job. Like the Avalon, this car appealed to an older demographic. Regardless I enjoyed driving it.




2004 Lexus IS300 - Millenium Silver Metallic 1C0 - First new car purchase (Longo Lexus 9/17/03) just a year after graduating college on top of being my first Lexus purchase. I opted w/the E-shift version...but originally wanted Crystal White w/Black interior. Since the last 3 cars were white, I was in a pickle between choosing a different color, either MSM and GGP. After over an hour of debating, I went with the MSM being a lighter color, easier to maintain. I currently have over 100k miles and has been through 3 different looks since I bought it. I loved this car when it first came into existence in early 1999-2000. At time time of the purchase I wanted a GS originally but I still wanted to have fun driving car. The Solara despite the suspension mods was not as fun to drive. With many of my friends that already had this car (this is some but not limited to r.maestas, silveraltezza and ggp4me), they were big influences in making my decision to purchase it. I've loved the Lexus brand since it's inception in 1989 with the first LS400 and ES250. Don't get me wrong, I love this car, but it's about time to move onto something different.



0???? Hmmmmm.

Coming from a history of Toyotas...all of them have been trouble free since day one. None of these cars have ever left me stranded. All have been taken over 100k miles without a hitch.