I'll be attending focus group this week in New York City with six other people, the company that will be holding this focus group is representing four large luxury car company's. What I'm looking for is input on peoples feels regarding the direction Lexus is taking, what they like and don't like, there feels behind the brand itself. I'm trying to gather as much feed back from my fellow Lexus owners as possible so I can get this information back to powers that be. I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone.

 

The reliability, styling, warranty service, and the ML sound system are big reasons why we have two Lexus' in the garage. The biggest problem I have with Lexus is the play it safe attitude. If they want to compete with BMW they should have a roadster. The IS line tries to compete with the 3 series but they don't have the ***** to go all in. Make an IS and an IS-F coupe, sedan, and convertible. Then offer a manual transmission across the board. Try offering some colors that pop, no reason that Ultra Sonic Blue isn't offered on all IS' and there should be a solid red too. I love Lexus but they really do earn their reputation as boring soccer mom rides.

 

i really like how Lexus is focusing much more on driving dynamics and sportiness now, as can be seen in the upgrades for the IS-F and the new GS. I love the F-Sport package offerings on the various models. I like the styling in general, especially with the F-Sport version, and i love the new GS interior!

As far as things I wish to see:
1) Lexus needs more coupes! And i mean fixed hard-top coupe, not convertible. The IS/IS-F definitely need this bad!
2) more interior color choice; two-tone interior color. e.g. the red interior for the new GS and IS-F, the two-tone seats for the special-edition IS-C are all great. Now they need to offer this for more models.
3) i want to see the 8-speed transmission in more of the line-up. the competitions are all moving ahead. oh and i hope the 3rd gen IS comes with real paddle shifters, not just gear limiter.
4) expand their F line.
5) hopefully Lexus has some new/upgraded (non-hybrid) engines planned for the near future (read: by 2014 or so model year), so the competitions won't get ahead. For now though, the Lexus offerings are still among the pack in general and quite competitive.

 

As a former Lexus owner, here are my three main recommendations:

1. Make more differentation between sport and non-sport-oriented models. In other words, keep the stiff underpinnings and high power on vehicles like the IS-F for those who want it, but also soften up the ride, suspension, and tires on vehicles like the ES and LS that aren't supposed to be stiff or sporty in the first place. The present-generation RX / ES / LS, with their firmer underpinnings and lower-profile tires, though not harsh, have clearly lost some of the ride-comfort they had in earlier models. Bring that ride-comfort back.

2. Go back to the higher-quality interiors and sheet-metal that were evident in the 1990s up till about 2005-2006. Too much body-solidness and interior-trim material-quality has been lost on a number of the newer Lexus products (mainly due to cost-cutting), though the ES, to its credit, did make some improvements to the interior trim for 2010 without redesigning the car.

3. Make more vehicles available without NAV systems for those people who don't want or need them. NAV systems, IMO, often make the controls with them so complex and distracting that it can be a major problem while driving and trying to keep your eyes on the road. To their credit, though, the Lexus NAV-integration systems, IMO, aren't as difficult or complex as the BMW I-Drive or Audi MMI.

Many people do not find a smooth ride, refinement, and quietness "boring" at all. In fact, that is what made Lexus famous in the first place, and contributed vastly to its successs. Lately, Lexus has been moving away from cushiness and refinement more towards firmness and sport-orientation, though not to the extent that Infiniti has.

 

thanks Colt my feeling as well.

Thanks for you comments

mmarshall great insight me being relatively new to Lexus and have only owned sport oriented Lexus's I did have clue regarding this aspect Lexus this is great information will pass on thanks

 

The products seem to be fine, as long as they keep the sporty cars separate from the luxury cars. I like "boring" cars.

However, they have a serious problem with their dealer network. It used to be the best by a wide margin and one of the major reasons people chose the brand. Now it is the opposite, and the dealers are driving people away. It's not limited to the dealers, either. The corporate attitude has completely changed in the last ten years. They could care less about customers anymore. After my dealer told me they were no longer interested in working on my car, which is in warranty, Lexus corporate had no response other than telling me to take my car to another dealership. Now I have to go 2 hours out of my way to have anything done on the car, and Lexus could care less. I don't know what my next car will be, but it won't be a Lexus. It's a real shame, since I love the cars and am on Lexus number 4 now, but there is no way I could even think of buying another one after this nonsense.

 

I think Lexus is doing a better job at trying create more passion for the driver while behind the wheel. The ISF sparked some nice things. I hope that they continue down this road. They should expand the F sport line and parts for all of their vehicles, including the SUVs. I would love a set of Lexus springs and thicker sway bars for my LS. We love luxury and reliability, but some added smiles from behind the wheel would be very welcome. My GS350 and my LS460 inspire me to simply cruise. They don't inspire confidence in the corners and dont seem as balanced as they should. I know they have improved the dynamics and performance of the new GS. I hope the 5LS will have some AMG type performance and driving dynamics. Mercedes seems to be able to offer it all in the S class. World class luxury, leading technology, as well as the ability to inspire confidence and passion in the driver in a way the Japanese have not managed to recreate in their vehicles. Luxury and technology Lexus has. If they can add enhanced handling and maintain a significantly lower price than the German they will sell cars like crazy.

As far as styling I think they are designing beautiful cars that are very comfortable and can seat taller people like myself. I would like to see some of the added performance in the corners to be balanced with some slightly more aggressive designs, availability of sport packages, and F sport accessory parts. This way Lexus will be able to offer the sportiness for those who want it . And for those who decide after owning the car that it could use a little added performance the F sport parts will be available

 

We love our CT200h. It is the best Lexus we have driven thus far, superior to the SUV we had in the late 90s. . I think if you were to tell the focus group some info, it should be that Lexus needs more hybrids powertrains across the line.

 

Lexus please build a proper luxury coupe to compete with the G37 coupe. That is all...