Having dinner conversation with some friends and cars became a topic. Primarily comparing various brands such as the Germans, Lexus ,etc and the overwhelming consensus of those in attendance was an old Lexus such as a GS400 (I mentioned I had one years ago), LS400, etc do not hold the same appeal as the German rivals have of the same years.
"A Mercedes is a Mercedes, but an old Lexus is just old " was pretty much getting tossed at me from various angles.

I threw out the typical responses expected of someone defending the marque but must add that there is a bit of truth in there. An older S class still has some presence whereas a GS or LS have none these days unless fixed up. We won't even get into what was said about the IS and ES.

I would not say they were hating on Lexus, just saying that the style of their cars come and go and not as timeless as the typical German car. . I'd still take a GS4 over any German rival of that era if I was looking for a sub 8k car, but curious what others run into out there.

 

I honstly thought about it to and honestly, the same can be said for some german cars. The s class, 7 series, and 5 series are the only old cars that still get me, well the 5 series with the dual headlights anyways. For lexus, the sc and gs will always be something that grabs my attention, thing is that maybe it is because we see a lot of older lexus' on the road, so when we see mercs and beamers, it is somewhat of a rarity. And you know why there are only see few left on the roads haha

 

I definitely don't agree with your friends. I think that at least the last three generations of LS all hold a pretty significant presence on the road. The 2GS is probably considered to be one of the best cars that Lexus ever built, and much the same can be said for the 1SC.

I still love the old 5s, Es, S, and 7...much the same as the GS and LS.

 

As long as you have the big L in your grill up fornt you are still driving a luxury car!! I doesnt matter if it is 90 or 09.....it is still a Lexus!! I would rather drive a old lexus than a new economy car!!

 

If the old Lexus was maintained in a mint condition, I still found it very appealing to me, especially the early generation LS. Of course, if the old Lexus has fading paint and some dents and scratches here and there then haha it is just an old car. That's the way I feel about it.

 

I think the LS series really does pass the test of time.

 

^


I think a well kept LS still looks amazing & has road presence.

 

Special? No. Nice to drive though since it is by far and away the quietest and most comfy of my fleet........... if that's the mood I am in.

 

i never felt special when i drove my gs400 old. it's old, period (talk about why we got the gs350)

but then again, even if today i am driving a 1998 e class? i would also say it's old

sterotypes? i gave up on them

 

Older SC and LS still appeal to me, that's why I alwasy have 1 or 2 SCXX in my stable.
My view is the opposite, Pre 2000 Merz and BMW to me are just OLD, specially the interiors.

 

I won't feel special driving ANY old car of ANY BRAND unless it's a real classic(and more likely pre-60's) in MINT condition, in the class of the mercedes gullwing for example ...

 

I take pride that I'm in a car that never gets pulled over by cops

I also take pride in owning a swirl-free ES as well. Not many can say that in my area >:]

 

i've seen about 4 other LS' so far.. the lexus title is good enough =)

 

Yep, agree, you know I was looking at a GS400/430 but ultimately decided it was too old and the tech was far dated for me even for a daily beater. Perhaps if the price on the IS-F drops further I will give it a gander. At least it has a unique style and they are already in the low 40s.

 

I drive a 96 1GS, its old but its still a hell of alot nicer than most new cars today,like Real Leather.

Anthony