When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The old full color model sales brochures were masters of this marketing-speak. Full color, beautiful photography and product descriptions that would make you feel really good about the car/model you were considering. No doubt they were expensive to produce but they were fun to read and take home. I think I have a few selected ones in the basement.
I have a ton of them. My dad was in the commercial printing paper industry, he sold paper to printers and magazines and stuff like that. He had several accounts with printers who printed these brochures. He also had an account with Lexus for some years, and that big hardcover “the Lexus Story” book with the metal black pearl emblem on the cover is printed on his paper.
The fact that they don’t make stuff like that anymore is why that industry is totally dead, he retired at the right time and his company he worked for which was once one of the largest paper merchants in the mid Atlantic filed BK shortly after he died.
When you considered a 7 series or S Class was $20-30,000 more it was still really cheap. $60k then is like $95k now, so they were like a LS500 or Genesis G90. Huge value.
E38 wasn't 20k more, my Dad had a $70,000 740iL. The problem with the 400 then was it lacked features that the others were coming out with or had, some simple like steering wheel audio controls. W220 was just around the corner and loaded with new tech. LS430 took care of all of that. Doesn't mean LS400 wasn't a fantastic automobile better than competition, but it did lack features others had by 2000.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
Lets think about that. How many wind tunnels do you think there are in Japan? Toyota booked time in the one that was used to design bullet trains. That’s all, then they can use that as a marketing puff “designed in the wind tunnel used to desig bullet trains” a wind tunnel is a wind tunnel. We don’t have trains here that go 200 MPH but that has nothing to do with aerodynamics. It’s because we don’t have the infrastructure, the space or the desire to make such trains and train travel here is nowhere near as desirable as it is there.
Right, thus we don't have the technology they have because we don't need it. Their wind tunnels are superior to ours. They sure did something because the 430 is a very tall car, yet it was the most aerodynamic car in production at the time.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
like the 12 takemi masters that made shimamoku wood trim that was in my 460s. They pretend that’s some huge honor and only so many masters were trained…when all they probably needed was 12 to be trained. How many years of training would they put in to people to design a wood trim option they only offered for 8 years or so and then abandoned? Makes no sense.
To be fair that was a really special steering wheel. That was one area the old 460 stood out. So you don't believe that the wheels took 21 days or whatever to make? Yes LS460 was a mass production car but they weren't exactly a dime a dozen. Why would Lexus perpetuate all this false advertising?
Originally Posted by SW17LS
Another example is spring water. Do you really think glacier water is drained from some glacier floating in the arctic sea? Do they go out to it in a boat and chip it off and melt it and put it into bottles? Of course not it’s bottled in a plant. Do you think they just gather up spring water for Evian water and bottle it? Of course not, its made in a plant like every other kind of bottled water.
Lol well no. But water is $1 a bottle, not a full fledged luxury car that was engineered to beat the world's best.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
This is all just puffery that is used to convince people that their product is special and unique and it’s really not. It’s excellent and well made and designed and engineered, but it’s just a mass produced product built to a price at the end of the day.
Sure, but that doesn't mean this is all false advertising. Maybe they exaggerate a bit but I have no doubt they did their research. Lexus spent a lot of time with the original figuring out the best way to use wood, and they picked Yamaha. Me personally I think Lexus does or did wood the best.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
So have I. No nicer than furniture you can buy for your house. It’s like furniture you would find in a Havertys home store and could buy with 0% financing. Why would Lexus designers look at that and not fine CARS like Rolls Royce’s and Bentleys? What does a table or a couch tell them?
This is really getting tit for tat but they went into all the penthouses, etc. etc.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
Exactly, and reviews at the time mentioned that. MotorWeek has a retro review of the 1990 LS400 on YouTube and they mention that..
I have a C&D article that explains how Lexus made the original LS400 smell like a Jaguar inside.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
By the time our 98 came out the leather was VERY nice. But, it didn’t smell like leather inside they designed it not to.
BTW, my S Class never smelled like leather either.
Again, my 20 year old LS430 still smells like leather. So does my friend's who has the upgrade.
Maybe their claims were exaggerated a bit, sure, but I just don't believe that was all false advertising.
You said yourself how good the LS430 was, it won comparison tests and they're still all over the place at least here.
E38 wasn't 20k more, my Dad had a $70,000 740iL. The problem with the 400 then was it lacked features that the others were coming out with or had, some simple like steering wheel audio controls. W220 was just around the corner and loaded with new tech. LS430 took care of all of that. Doesn't mean LS400 wasn't a fantastic automobile better than competition, but it did lack features others had by 2000.
Yeah, exactly. My dads 2004 UL LS430 with every option was $69,000 (I have the sticker). That $70,000 740 was not optioned like that loaded LS430, optioned more like Modern Lux 430 with stickered for about $58,000. So, $12,000 cheaper. That’s 17% cheaper. What year was his 740? Prices jumped a lot from year to year between 2000-2004 too
Right, thus we don't have the technology they have because we don't need it. Their wind tunnels are superior to ours. They sure did something because the 430 is a very tall car, yet it was the most aerodynamic car in production at the time.
No, they have wind tuning engineers that are superior to ours. A wind tunnel is a wind tunnel. But anybody can hire those people, they aren’t exclusive to Lexus.
To be fair that was a really special steering wheel. That was one area the old 460 stood out. So you don't believe that the wheels took 21 days or whatever to make? Yes LS460 was a mass production car but they weren't exactly a dime a dozen. Why would Lexus perpetuate all this false advertising?
No I do believe they took that long to make, I just don’t believe all the fluff about there being 12 “masters” who make the wood.
It’s not false advertising, it’s marketing puffery. Everybody does it. We do it when we market homes. Lexus did it because they were the underdog trying to prove themselves. Note the Germans don’t do stuff like that, they don’t have to. Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, Acura all did. Wood in a Mercedes is “wood”, wood in a Lexus is “hand chosen from the same tree by Yamaha, the maker of fine musical instruments and crafted by a takumi master who trains for 15 years”. It’s wood lol.
Lol well no. But water is $1 a bottle, not a full fledged luxury car that was engineered to beat the world's best.
Uh, when’s the last time you bought water? Deer Park water is $1. These fancy companies charge $5, 6, 7 even 8 for a bottle of water, and they use this puffery to try and substantiate to a consumer why they should spend that vs a bottle of deer park. It makes them feel special and makes them want to spend the money.
By the way, I’m on the beach and you see what I’m drinking:
I have a C&D article that explains how Lexus made the original LS400 smell like a Jaguar inside.
Well, you have people here who had them new and other publications who tested them new that disagree
Again, my 20 year old LS430 still smells like leather. So does my friend's who has the upgrade.
Maybe it’s the aging process of the leather, all I can tell you is that new they didn’t smell like leather inside.
[quote-]You said yourself how good the LS430 was, it won comparison tests and they're still all over the place at least here.[/QUOTE]
Of course it was great, as was the LS400 but that doesn’t mean Lexus didn’t wildly change exaggerate and puff much of what they did to design it. They designed a great car, it wasn’t modeled after bullet trains and didn’t have seats modeled after jet seats, the interior wasn’t modeled after 5 star hotels…
When my dad got his LS400 the one thing that slightly disappointed me was that the leather didn’t look,feel, or smell like real leather. He’d just come out of a Jag so the contrast was obvious. The fact that Lexus had to put swing tags on each headrest saying “Genuine Leather” suggests they acknowledged the issue. Still a great car though.
I used to keep a brochure for every new car that I bought. I think I still have a few. I'll have to see if I can find them.
The writing, descriptions and claims used in them was pretty corny by today's standards. But fun to read.
No, they have wind tuning engineers that are superior to ours. A wind tunnel is a wind tunnel. But anybody can hire those people, they aren’t exclusive to Lexus.
No I do believe they took that long to make, I just don’t believe all the fluff about there being 12 “masters” who make the wood.
Ok, I’ll give you that they may exaggerate. But hey, 12 days to make a steering wheel is 12 days to make a steering wheel… that’s extremely impressive. The wood is fantastic in an LS430, I believe they did their due diligence rather than just slapping more wood trim inside.
Originally Posted by SW17LS
Uh, when’s the last time you bought water? Deer Park water is $1. These fancy companies charge $5, 6, 7 even 8 for a bottle of water, and they use this puffery to try and substantiate to a consumer why they should spend that vs a bottle of deer park. It makes them feel special and makes them want to spend the money.
$7 for a bottle of water?? Believe it or not some (not all, or not many) of the water companies really do do that, take it from a spring or have their “setup” built around the river etc etc. Then they reverse osmosis it or whatever, etc. I saw this neat documentary about it because I was curious too.
$7 for a bottle of water?? Believe it or not some (not all, or not many) of the water companies really do do that, take it from a spring or have their “setup” built around the river etc etc. Then they reverse osmosis it or whatever, etc. I saw this neat documentary about it because I was curious too.
Sure like I said, they aren’t lying they are just exaggerating. At the end of the day, it’s water.
To be fair all the article said was they “studied” hotel couches and luxury airline seats. The term “studied” is subjective and could mean anything but I don’t doubt they studied it. I have stayed at some nice hotels but maybe I haven’t stayed at the ones they studied because I have not been impressed with any hotel furniture.
I have no doubt that a group of Toyota designers and marketers convinced Corporate that it was essential for them to travel the World, stay in luxury hotels, drive luxury vehicles etc. during the LS400 development. And well done them I say, if you can get away with it, good for you. I doff my cap to their enterprise.
ClubLexus Stories
Celebrating Lexus & Toyota from Around the Globe
2026 Lexus IS 350 F Sport Review: The Last of Its Kind Still Rocks
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Confusing Things Lexus Has Ever Done!
Joe Kucinski
2026 Lexus ES Review: Lexus Re-Embraces Founding Principles
Michael S. Palmer
10 Lexus Bargains That are Cheaper Than a New Toyota RAV4
Joe Kucinski
8 Weirdest Things Lexus Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
10 Lexus Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
Verdad Gallardo
8 Tips for Improving Your Hybrid or Plug-in Hybrid's Efficiency!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Best Lexus Models No One Remembers
Joe Kucinski
TRD Off-Road Premium: Best 2026 4Runner, Except This One Thing
haha... i was blown away by some of the furniture in hotels on south beach miami!
ok take the ***** swinging contest elsewhere... you feel 'very good' about your audis, w12's etc., and how 'smart' you are not buying new cars, as this post attests, but of course most people can't do the repairs you can.
many are 'proud' of their buying decisions for sure, but no need to use them to put down anyone else's choices in order to make themselves feel superior.
Oh I am just saying I buy used so I can have my house paid off at 28 at this rate, then I'll buy whatever I want car wise if I can validate the cost to myself.
That's very correct I can do things most people can't and I'm free to leverage that to drive whatever I want. That also means I objectively have far superior cars dollar for dollar than nearly anyone and can own stuff most will never be able to. That's literally why I learned to do this, I wanted supercars before I was 30 so I could be young enough to properly enjoy them and not be a 70+ year old who can't.
Interesting choice of cars for a household. They must have some loyalty towards Mitsubishi which you don’t see often these days. I can’t even tell you they last time I’ve seen a Mitsubishi dealer or even considered one outside of the mid-nineties Eclipse GSX and 3000GT.
Interestingly enough my friend that owns a used car lot said he is going to try and get into a new dealership and the manufacturer he would consider was Mitsubishi since it’s too hard to get dealerships of other around me.
Thats really a funny observation lol. It’s similar in the retirement community in NJ my in laws live in.
Saw this yesterday, first modded current generation Yukon I have seen.
Originally Posted by Striker223
Oh I am just saying I buy used so I can have my house paid off at 28 at this rate, then I'll buy whatever I want car wise if I can validate the cost to myself.
Our income and lifestyle situations are also quite different.
That's very correct I can do things most people can't and I'm free to leverage that to drive whatever I want. That also means I objectively have far superior cars dollar for dollar than nearly anyone and can own stuff most will never be able to. That's literally why I learned to do this, I wanted supercars before I was 30 so I could be young enough to properly enjoy them and not be a 70+ year old who can't.
If someone wants old cars perhaps. I don’t care how well they run I just don’t want old cars.
And you haven’t met many 70 year olds. I know lots of 70 year olds who absolutely can properly enjoy cars. 70 is not necessarily old today. There are also many many people much younger than that who can buy cars like you are talking about and enjoy them.
Or did you just not take a shot of any?
