New video from CarCareNut talking about Lexus direction moving forward. I agree they seem to be having an identity crisis right now not knowing whether they want to remain a boring and reliable brand or a more fun brand like their competitors, but also issues with standing out from their Toyota brand, models being discontinued, outdated technology, radical differences in design (see 2026 ES vs current gen). The brand seems a little lost at the moment and I feel like it will change from Luxury to a premium brand moving forward.

 

The nut is a YouTube clickbaiter always going with a contrarian view. Lost by far the #1 selling auto manufacturers, #1 dependability #1 in reliability and #1 in customer service. Has the #1 #2 and #7 most popular selling luxury vehicles.

 

all those figures are based on previously established reputation based on a reliable car brand.......

Future will depend on what they do today.

 

He is not a click baiter. Yes he has his opinions as we all do, but he presents useful and accurate information. His comments on cars are not designed just to please the manufacturers, as so many of them are.

In this particular case, he is 100% spot on, IMO. I have been saying and thinking the same thing for a while now. Lexus has tried to be “sporty” like the Japanese BMW (just look at their advertising and brochures - almost all F Sport focused, and talk of “excitement”, young customers, etc.) and it has muddled their identity. This is one reason there are endless threads in here about the too hard seats and overly aggressive bolsters. Some of us also complain about the ride on regular ES variants being too firm, I being one of them. My two previous ES’s were far smoother and quieter, and didn’t react to every little thing in the road.

Engines in particular is dead on. Yea, the world is in love with 4’s, turbo or otherwise, and as ICE engines they’re here to stay. But drive a Mercedes 4 popper, like in a C or E class, for example and you will learn that, gee, a four cylinder doesn’t have to be rough and buzzy and sound like an old Hoover under hard acceleration If the Germans can do it, certainly Toyota could make theirs better, at least the ones they put in their supposedly premium line up. An RX shouldn’t feel like a Highlander.

Toyota has allowed their cars to move way up market, at least in looks and especially their interiors. It is good enough for a lot of people. Lexus still uses some better materials, has more NVH protection, but look at your choices - very limited colors for the interiors, for example, usually only one, palomino, that gets anything other than that cheap Ikea looking black “wood” trim, and it’s pretty scant at that. Lots of hard plastic from the bean counters, thank you very much. Blah. Genesis, for whatever other problems they may have, builds a beautiful interior on their cars. Yes, they’re a little overpriced too, but just like a Lexus USED TO BE, when you see one and get it in it, your first impression is “wow, this is nice and luxurious”. Far less so now in a Lexus, which is inexcusable. People just aren’t impressed anymore. And now we see - and all hate - the upcoming next gen ES, a tragic looking combo that looks like the illegitimate love child of a Tesla (never a model you want to imitate for style or quality) and Toyota. But it sure does not scream premium, with “engineered” bamboo, fuzzy interior elements right out of a Camry, etc. So how to justify the price delta?? It becomes a very had sell.

The UX, NX and RX are in the German mode for which Mercedes has been rightly criticized - same sausage, different lengths. Just like you often can’t spot a Benz on the road and guess which model it is without reading the badging, well the same is true for the Lexus SUV's. I saw a review of a ’26 RX 350 the other day, and a pretty basic one at almost $57K - top RX’s top $70K, an insane figure. You also wouldn’t have read in these forums (had they been around then, I guess) and seen the horror stories about shady dealer practices, like we do now. When you went into a Lexus dealership 20 years ago you knew, wow, this is a step up from the Toyota dealer down the street, from how you were greeted, treated, the appearance, and most importantly, the experience. Much of that is gone now.

In short, Toyota and Lexus have thrown away a lot of customer loyalty and identity. People used to unfairly claim (except for the LS) that Lexus models were “just fancy Toyota’s”, Today it’s hard not to agree with them - same or worse interiors, exact same buzzy engines, too much tech nonsense (like the door handles), etc.

 

i see both sides. Toyota/Lexus literally had a record year in 2025. So complain all you want people bought the vehicles in droves worldwide.

On the other hand the changes can make a long time owner or fan uncomfortable. It kind of reminds me of when the spindle grill came. Tons of people were vocal how they hated it but sales went up in most cases.

With GR becoming a brand there is less need for performance Lexus and Toyota vehicles as GR will fill that role.

 

Regardless of the clickbaiter status suggested, I'll have to agree with CCN assessment on the video. Discontinued LS, GS, and the LC likely to follow; plus the phasing-out of the V6 across the board, Lexus seems to be drifting away from its origin. The once clear gap in quiet cabin, ride quality, refinement, and technology between them, Toyota and others has narrowed. Many new Lexus feel like a lightly upscale versions of their Toyota counterparts, but with a much higher price tag. It definitely looks like a departure from it's roots; and looks not necessarily aligned with the NA market.

I got a Lexus not for a BMW driving dynamics or MB level luxury and tech. I got one, because it's a very reliable and very good looking car, with a base luxury feel, and tech comparable to the Germans but at a more reasonable cost. Going fwd, they will probably still have the Toyota reliability and excellent hybrid technology, but I don't know about the rest anymore.

 

Saw the video and agree with him. Nissan/Infiniti kinda went the same route, and look how that worked out for Infiniti.

Toyota is, IMHO, simply going the route of maximizing profits by minimizing cost from overlap. It looks like future models will *all* be based on the Crown platform. The new ES, etc already look like it. Dropping the LS makes sense because the Crown isn't as big (though it is bigger than the current ES AFAIK).

The differentiation between luxury and non-luxury brands is blurring with all of them...he mentioned Acura, but way back when the TLX came out (2015) while the tech was nicer than what is in our 2015 ES, the quality felt *way* inferior. I havent checked out current Acuras vs Hondas but my guess is they are closer than they have ever been. Toyota just seems to be catching up with blurring that line like the other brands already have.

Good for Toyota, bad for the consumer that wanted the prestige of a Lexus instead of just a more expensive Toyota.

 

^^^ This! +1 on both.

 

ATL, you and I often see eye to eye. We do again. Thanks for your post.

 

I saw the video too. Watched every second of it. Don't mind that guy calling him a clickbaiter. He clutches spams/copy/pastes his JD powers award hype from 2001 and clutches onto reliability accolades from the 97 ES300 era cars. late 90s Lexus blinders on. LOL We're in 2026, dude. 4 speed autos and NA V8s were tossed out with the bathwater a long, long time ago.

If I had to sum up the reasons why Lexus is different now:

1) crossovers/SUV market pref
2) china (drives design/features)
3) customer expectations on tech
4) tech/flash over "reliability" (keeping your car for 30 years isn't as popular as it was before)
5) evs shaping the battlefield--competing future for powertrains makes lexus spending money everywhere on r&d for their own future.
6) autonomy shaping the battlefield
7) competitors getting better
8) all cars getting better/more reliable, therefore not very pressing to flock to "the reliability gold standard" even though that standard is 20 years in the past
9) change in leadership and generational change. kids grew up and are now in the car designing workforce. things will be different
10) profit margins tighter, raw materials more. this means less money to make things nice. lack of vertical integration might make things tighter too
11) possibly complacency, resting on laurels and what not as othr premium makes like genesis steal some of that ol "up and coming we make premium cars carmaker from asia and sell em less than the germans" thunder

 

One thought on Toyota/Lexus reliability. It remains important for many buyers. Even if covered under warranty, though, an unreliable car can become a big nuisance if it’s always in the shop, even if you’re not paying for it (look at Range Rover for instance). But long term reliability is, I think, less important for many buyers today who no longer plan on keeping their cars for a long time or passing it down in the family. Certainly lease customers don’t really care beyond the convenience issue above. Where it might have a bigger impact is in the secondary and beyond market, where it is still considered a “good buy” to purchase a used Toyota product even if it’s not CPO.

 

An excellent post by ATL and can't say that I disagree with any of it...

 

The Car Care Nut called it right in the video. The LC500 is officially dead, the last true, old school Lexus with impeccable quality and excellent engineering, wrapped in an elegant package. Another nail in the brand coffin.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a7...lexus-lc-dead/

 

Ultimately, the success or failure of this bold move will be reflected in the 2026 - 2027 Lexus global sales figures.

 

Crap. The last-gen LS was a failure both commercially and artistically. The LC didn't sell big numbers, but in subjective terms it was a great car. And, RIP V8.

Crap.