Is the upcoming LX a refresh or a redesign?

I guess it depends on the chassis...

 

The upcoming LX is another refresh.

 

I think you can call that, a very special middle point between both. That has to be at least USD $250 million, if not more in terms of investment.

Yep. It is quite similar, if not more than what your LS received. Besides those two, I cannot recall this level of changes in a Lexus within the same generation. The development expense must be staggering for such a low volume model. Mercedes-Benz did similar to the E-Class (W212) and it cost them a total of €1 billion ($1.32 billion USD in late 2012).

 

cmk1 - LX is far bigger change than E class or LS... look at rear quarter change in profile - they changed all of the sheet metal, and they completely changed the interior.

 

Not all of the sheet metal, the doors have not changed on the outside. Yes, it is bigger. If MB spent that much, then how much did Toyota then? I know that Toyota doesn't like to waste money anyhow, but it is very significant and must be more than what I quoted.

 

There are way too many variables to set a one-answer statement to your question. Everyone has their own opinions about each model and what fits them best. And each car is different, has it's own merits/demerits, each manufacturer is different, and some cars sell well enough to leave alone longer than what is typical. What I think it really comes down to is what your specific interests and priorities are for what you drive. For example, you may like a car's powertrain to be a certain way, but that does not mean that's right for someone else. Or you may like yours to have a certain feature, whereas your neighbor wouldn't care. In other words, you'll get a lot of different opinions the more you ask the same question. It's really subjective.

 

This new LX looks like a redesign.

 

No if you look at the doors, it's a refresh.

 

even doors look changed, although the doors are easier things to be changed... look at the bottom part of the door - old LX had glued on parts, while new one is stamped like that. Same goes for rear door... but most interesting is rear quarter panel which is different and most expensive to implement.

So to me it seems they are treating it as FMC.

p.s. Lets keep in mind that LX is better selling vehicle these days than LS due to middle east.

 

Middle section looks unchanged to me. I think you're just looking at the doors on the refresh without the molding.

 

I think a heavy refresh in lieu of a FMC cheapens a brand. for example, the previous Acura RL was left on the vine for so long, and many forget that when it first came out in 2006 it was actually competetive and class leading in some aspects. Same goes with the LS460. Now it's seen as long in the tooth and dated by many people.

 

Doors look slightly different to me as well. Not completely different but there looks like a small change.

 

Maybe that's how it looks like without the strip underneath.

 

i can see this happening more for hte more expensive lower volume vehicles. It would be very expensive to do a total redesign. I would think most consumers may not care between redesign vs heavy refresh. To them it still looks like a completely new vehicle

 

For sure, I agree with you. This new LX looks like they are going to take the existing platform and work around it to make a new vehicle. Its gotten to the point where a new design is a pretty darn good and improving things like the frame etc are less meaningful than in the past

I wonder if we are going to see a new engine for the LX?