That LS400 was one of the first cars with a wood wheel, other than the V12 W140 if I'm right. I clearly remember years ago and all the LS400s around, you could see how nice and glowing (in the right way) the wood was just from passing by in another car. Lexus does wood right.

 

when i said panels i was referring to interior panels like doors or dash.

it's very hard. i basically had to use detergent type of alkaline solution and fine tooth brush to scrub them off, and then apply leather / dash conditioning

 

Shimamoku wood is cheap wood like pine wood in North American. The process of putting it together for the grain appearance is laborious, and Lexus is proud of it. Unfortunately, Lexus' pursuit of perfection is not so perfect for the 16' LX steering wheel wood, the HUD, and few other obvious things. I think the woods in the LX and LS is no better than the ones in the BMW and Mercedes if you are comparing high end models. Get an opinion from an expert wood mill worker and you will quickly know which wood grain appearance is costlier. Beauty is subjective of course.

 

Yeah I'm going to disagree with that. I have seen Lexus as old as 1993 in my shop and never have I seen even one with wood that is falling apart, faded, or otherwise showing wear or time. They also never have any cracking that I've seen on the long sections, that's a big difference vs everyone else.

BMW on the other hand.......I have yet to see one older than 7-10 years that's not falling apart, cracked badly enough it's flaking apart, falling off it's backing, faded completely, etc.

Mercedes is little different, the S, SL, and G wagons do fine but the lower end models have the same issue as BMW.

Old/true Jags have fantastic wood but it tends to crack, sometimes very badly on the "plank" and doors.

RR has very high quality wood but like jag sometimes cracks on the longer sections. However this has only been on the very old ones I've worked on or the one with an owner who.....well let's say probably shouldn't own one since it's always a discussion of how cheaply can I get the car moving again.

Audi is well.....Audi. The wood is like plastic anyway so it doesn't really even compare against the others. I'm not biased btw, I love my D4 4.0 but refinement is not why you buy an Audi, you buy it to go stupid fast.

 

Yep. Lexus is the best with the wood other than RR/Bentley, I've always thought that. I still get stunned by all the detail and marks and matching grain in my LS430. They used the same tree on each car, that's pretty impressive.

The SC430 had such nice wood it almost seemed as luxurious as a Bentley, especially with the much lighter wood it offered that Bentleys have much of the time.

 

my car has been exclusively garage kept and there are *tiny* little cracks in the wood running from back to front but honestly nothing you'd even notice unless you were looking... if you lightly run your nails across the wood for instance you can feel them

 

There are literally none on mine. My buddy who sold me my LX and flips cars for a living flips LS430s left and right. He kept a CL one as his DD.. I tried tell him about an LS430 literally a decade ago when I bought it (Jan 2012) but he was a Lexus hater then. To say he poo pood it is an understatement. Would barely even look at it. He understands Lexus LS430 now and loves it. I will NEVERRRR let him live that down. Ever, EVERRRRRR lmao. Anyway, his custom luxury LS is amazing but the steering wheel is bad. Mine has not one hairline crack, he's jealous lol. (We have been friends since 1998.)

Edit: I can't believe I've had my LS a decade!!! A door lock actuator and front control arm bushings, that's it for repairs. Absolutely amazing automobile.

 

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My LC500 is tiny inside of course so i put some take out pizza, etc in the trunk. Maybe because it's tiny or maybe because it's sealed so well but i had to keep the trunk lid open for 24 hours to get some of the smell out.

 

What car do you have and what cracked? I have a 230k mile 02 430 and 209k 99 RX and nothing is cracked in them, same with the lower mile 07 and the super low mile 06.......

 

That would drive me nuts in an LC! Probably a combination of those factors, try some light ozone?

 

My 2008 GX470 with only 50k miles developed a long crack that went down the entire driver’s side door trim but I never got it fixed. You couldn’t see it much until the sunlight hit it and then it was noticeable. You couldn’t really feel it unless you really used your finger nails.

 

Wow, that's weird. I've never personally seen that on a Lexus yet

 

Striker, now you've seen fracturing like a glass on an 2005 LS430. I don't doubt the quality of some Lexus parts and definitely not Lexus engineering for reliability. Some finishes from BMW/MB are much higher quality than Lexus (flagship to flagship).

 

Additionally, I have 2 BMWs, 15+ years, and the other one is going on 9 years. Both wood interiors (no wood on steering) are almost the same condition the day I bought them new with the exception of the 5er. When you shine a flash light on it, you can see more swirl marks on the clearcoat over the years. These manufacturers have their good days and bad days (some finishes are better than others). How the owner(s) take care of their cars is also a big factor for aging cars and materials. Overall, Lexus does a decent job on their wood.

Just don't get me started on their melting door and dash panels on their LS. But to Lexus' reputation, they took responsibility and made it right for those long term and persistent owners.

 

Interesting, my LS430 wood looks brand spanking new and I'd GLADLY put it side to side with any BMW. It's absolutely gorgeous. LS430 wood was praised as gorgeous by professionals. They used the same tree on each car.