In the case of the senator, he fought for this country, earned the medals I listed, and is open that he was and is interested in Vietnamese culture (he's fluent in the language and was not before going to war). I bet he drives an American car, despite having a family that has a strong Vietnamese culture. Making this assumption is based on the fact that many vets prefer US made cars, not his personal and cultural interest, nor his race, nor his wife's or children.

edit guess what? I'm wrong. I googled and the first pic that came back shows him getting into a Volvo wagon. Point is, my assumption was based on his military service, not his race....and now that I think of it, our friend the airforce pilot/doctor has two Volvos, maybe Volvo is the car of choice today....

edit 2 I just reread the quote, maybe some others should too. It was the friend who basically made the statement about the car choice and wife's preference, not Mike.

 

You miss my point entirely.

 

I don't think it was racist one bit!

I think Mike may have casually shared part of the story about his discussions among his friends and himself and it came across "part-way."

Maybe, just maybe, prior his wife may have said, jokingly or not agmonst the three of them, "I'm absolutely getting the new Kia, etc. etc. Or i'll keep to my roots and support the Korean vehicles, etc." Who knows? And that's how it may have been, UNTIL she saw and feel in love with the White Pearl RX350. If true, then Mike is simply sharing that new found excitement of a new Lexus customer-fan.

Maybe it was that total 180 change of heart and just too much excitement from Mike about his friend's wife falling in love with the White Pearl RX350 and the fact his new car will be built tomorrow?


From what I know about Mike, he is totally-excitingly-passionate about Cars, Cars, Talking about cars and helping people to buy cars.

Also, when you get to know someone you get a good sense of whether there's any hint of an intended undertone of hateful comment(s).


If anything, Mike is guilty of rambling on too much and I do hope no one's feeling were hurt by this thread.

I just hope this thread does not turn his friend off from joining CL now?..


Mike, can you get your friend to send you some decent real pics of the new RX350 so you can share the real thing with the forum.

 

Uh...anyway...

I look forward to hearing how your friend likes the new RX. We had a '13 and loved it. I had a new one as a loaner when my GS was in for service and I felt like the way it drove and the interior were massive improvements over our '13. I'm still on the fence over the styling, though I saw a Nebula Gray F Sport yesterday and it looked pretty nice.

 

I think that is entirely plausible.

 

I agree, when one really gets down to it, literally, as opposed to what was inferred, the quote itself, was not in any way. It was retelling what the purchaser stated, that was the context.

Anyway, how embarrassing if the purchaser did join and reads all of this....why not give people the benefit of the doubt before responding in this manner.

 

Well to detract from the topic a little, I want say the new lexus with the spindle grill makes the car look more masculine and edgier.
The old RX was too jellybean-styled, round and soft. I was never into the RX until now that the style is much more masculine. I got the little brother, NX, however because it's perfect for our family size and need for zipping around town.

And congratulations to your friend on their new RX.

 

Had nothing to do with race. I've known her for years. She's owned vehicles with nameplates from several different countries....now Japan.

Thanks. Look at my avatar and signature. That tells the story.

Yeah.....I didn't get 64,000 posts overnight. You're right....I sometimes DO get a little long-winded, but that's just my nature, especially when talking about vehicles. Part of it comes from the type of work I used to do, of critical importance to flight procedures, landings, and charting. It HAD to be right..and thorough. If it wasn't, people could get hurt or killed.

 

I'm probably wading into shark-infested waters with this so here goes: there's a small minority of older Koreans (not Korean-Americans) who won't buy Japanese cars because of Japan's colonial occupation of Korea. They'd rather buy Korean or European cars. It's the same with some Chinese in northeast China, again because of Japan's wartime history.

As for me, my cultural background is from an area that was under European and Japanese colonial rule. I've got no beef with either, I just want a reliable car that looks good. To forget the past is to repeat the same mistakes; forgiving the past means moving on towards a better, more inclusive future.

 

I don't see how anything OP stated is racist. It does sound odd, but OP clearly has no malice in his heart.

Accusing people of racism has become an epidemic in this country.

 

I actually remember a friend's grandfather in his oldsmobile, and it had a bumper sticker, "Japan is #1 Liar." They were from Taiwan. As a young kid I had no idea what that meant. I do today. I think the 3 losers of wwII build the world's best cars today. There is a reason, and it had nothing to do with ethnicity, it's circumstance. Imho it gets old when people feel the need to see into everything and stir up controversy. All over a rx350 purchase. We have in laws from Munich. A younger cousin said I dunno how long we have to be made to feel this way, I wasnt even born yet. Someone yelled let's just say not nice things, at him while he was a tourist in Turkey.

 

From certain angles (rear three-quarter) and in certain darker colours, like the Nebula Gray, I agree that the new RX looks good.

 

Never did....never will. I talk cars.

+1

 

In terms of what you get for your money though, the Koreans are really designing a lot of excellent vehicles now. The main reason (besides previous exceptionally good service at the GM dealership) I chose a Lacrosse over the Kia Cadenza or Genesis G80 was that I thought the Lacrosse, with 18" ires, rode more comfortably. But, mechanically, the hardware used on the Korean vehicles seemed better and more solid....they are now built like a Swiss watch.

 

I am wondering how the friend with the new RX finds the new remote touch, especially coming from a Highlander.

As for the RX, the styling has really grown on me a lot. Still can't get over remote touch. But the rest of it works. I like how they have brought back AVS on some trim levels.