First, thank you to Lexus for hosting this event. It was truly amazing to see so many awesome examples all in one place and it was great to meet a lot of the owners. Everyone was so friendly, kind, and happy to be there. On the drive there, I even encountered a group of 2021-2025 IS350 and IS500s and one of the guys filmed my car and sent me the video afterwards (see instagram reel below). The people here were truly the best part about this show and for that, I'm very grateful to have attended.

As for some of the hospitality and execution from Lexus, quite honestly - and I hate to have to say this - I was a bit disappointed and underwhelmed. I've been several Lexus events in the past such as Lexus Racing parties at dealerships, Lexus Driving Tours, and even a random Lexus Carlsbad x SD Padres collab once, and all of those were better than this in terms of feeling like a luxury experience where you were pampered by Lexus. For starters, the "swag bag" was basically an empty bag. Literally just a few stickers in it, some small prototype artwork, and a voucher for a free 25th anniversary T-shirt. There was no free food such as a lunch ticket for any of the food trucks, or buffet tables or snacks. Not even free bottled water. Then, I wanted to buy Lexus swag. I was ready to spend all my hard-earned money on T shirts, hats, model die cast cars, mugs, basically whatever I could get my hands on. There wasn't even a merch booth. I say all this because I've seen Lexus do all this before - but not today. Maybe I was expecting too much. Maybe it was too costly to do more for 350 registered owners. They seemed to spend a lot of money on the banners, but not much elsewhere. At about 2pm, I didn't see anyone in line for the Autocross. I'm not sure if I just missed it or there wasn't any interest.

On the positive side, I thought at the beginning how they took a picture of everyone's car in front of the banner was really really cool. I'm glad they did that. That was special. The paddock was huge and spread out in a U-shape. They advertised this event for 350 registered owners but it felt like I was walking past a thousand IS cars which was also super cool. There was a section for OG IS300s near the front, IS Fs in the middle, and 2014-2025 IS's in the back. In order to see all of these sections though, you had to walk quite far away from the main area (this isn't a complaint, just a matter of fact). But with that said, I noticed a lot of people, including myself, left early - like after only an hour. There just wasn't much to do there. I know they had planned activities like trivia and awards, but that wasn't enough personally for me to stick around for. 1-5pm is a long time.

I hope Lexus can make some minor improvements for the 3 remaining cities, for the rest of you guys. Cheers!

TLDR; The people and cars were amazing and were the best part, but the hospitality from Lexus was lacking compared to other events they've held before.

 

It was nice meeting you, Matt! I'm in total agreement with everything you said. I really didn't like where the event was held and how the cars were laid out too.

 

Very nice wrap up! I’m very glad to see some 2022s with the hyper silver Enkeis show up. Especially the BlueCrew! 💙😉👍🏽👏🏽

 

Now I’m on the fence about attending. I had high hopes for this event but was mainly looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. I appreciate you sharing.

Was your car on display?

 

I still say go (as long as the location is within reason). If you go in with the mentality that it's more of a car meet, you won't be disappointed. Based on what I'm seeing on social media, the people who had the most fun and stayed the longest were the hardcore Lexus fanatics with large (or small) groups of friends. I'm much more anti-social, however, haha. So it's what you make of it. If you're expecting Lexus to do all the heavy lifting and you go in with the mindset that they'll spoil you, then you might be more disappointed like me.

Yeah my car was on display in the very back near the entrance/exit against a chain link fence, which wasn't very photogenic but made it easy to leave early lol.

 

Does it seem as if Lexus corporate was running the event or did it seem like it was farmed out to a promo company or dropped onto the laps of the local dealers?

 

Ran 100% by Lexus corporate. Here's a few instagram reel that captures it quite well!




You can get a sense of the outdoor and indoor spaces. There was a huge warehouse that you had to walk around but none of it was actually rented out by Lexus. The indoor section that Lexus did have was mostly empty space, a few special IS cars on display, a table to collect your free T-shirt, a table with Japangeles merch (they only had 1 T-shirt and 1 Sweater [overpriced IMO] that said "Japangeles x IS350" [which I thought was weird]), and a table with Lexus F-sport car parts on display (not for sale). That was it.

Now, compare it with this video from 4 years ago at Longo Lexus where they had a Lexus Racing party (also open to the public). They had free wood-fired pizza, indoor seating with white tablecloths, and tons of merch to buy. That would keep anyone around for longer.

 

I am having trouble understanding the fact that they are celebrating all these great ICE cars and at the same time, killing them off in favor of electric SUV throwaway appliances.

How does Lexus corporate reconcile this in their mind? I guess in the future, in the Toyota world, we will only have GR to look at?

I will get off my soap box now! LOL

 

Nobody minds you on your soap box - these are excellent questions that everyone else is asking. However, I think Lexus corporate can easily defend the direction they've gone with the IS and this 25th anniversary celebration. First, they kept the V6 in the newest generation. Second, they've killed the IS EV idea as of a couple days ago. This is pretty consistent with the IS celebration.

Lexus, as a whole, however seems to be going through a transition, identity crisis, whatever you want to call it. Personally, I don't like what they're doing at all. I feel pretty meh about the whole GR brand. It feels like Akio Toyoda's lovechild that he's pushing onto the rest of us, which is diverting resources from Lexus. The GR GT also doesn't impress me. I know socials are fawning over it, but IMO the design is awkward and incohesive, and for a TTV8, the exhaust note sounds pretty horrible (like a vacuum cleaner). Nobody really asked for this car. You know what everyone wants? THE GS F BACK!!

However, change happens and companies have to adapt. CEOs and common folks don't see eye-to-eye. CEOs have visions and a unique foresight that the rest of us don't yet understand. Not always, but at least that's how "great" CEOs are supposed to operate. They have to make unpopular and questionable decisions that ultimately will help save and grow their company.

 

^^ Well said and exactly what I was thinking.

The Lexus brand will carry on and sales will continue to kill it. It's a nice lineup for the general public who love the brand's positioning.

As an enthusiast and someone who has owned an ISF, GS350, GSF and now an IS500 UE, the UE is likely my last Lexus. And I will keep it until the wheels fall off. I still regret selling the 19 GSF. Dumb.

As I grow older, I think I'm heading in the direction of one day owning a 911. I don't see Porsche abandoning their heritage.

 

That was where my car was parked too! Way easy to leave the event! Pull out, turn right, then turn left and I'm out of there!

 

Ultimately, I’m super glad Lexus gave the IS the send off and recognition it deserves. Y’all made very astute points, WE may be witnessing the end of what WE call ‘Lexus’ Golden Age’; but to new buyers, the magic is just beginning.

I too remember the Lexus events where white linen tablecloths, a variety of food, merch, and access to drive the new cars were an annual affair. One year it was SUV only, where they created dirt mounds and other obstacles to compare theirs against the competition. The Explorer & Expedition were conspicuously parked to the side, due to their lack of capability. (Shade. 😂 ) I went to the launch of the new LC after the suspension was revised and drove it around the course.

Great experience, great memories.

 

Wow that sounds fun! Just goes to show how creative they can be. The 25th IS anniversary tour is much more a car meet than a white table Lexus event. That was ultimately the disconnect. I don't know if it was the demographic or not that made them approach it this way. Maybe they don't want to be handing out free food and drinks to 18-25 y.o.'s who bought their cars as 4th owners. LOL.

It was still fun. Just not Lexus-y.

 

It all comes down to personal preference on what you wanted to get out of the event. I think it's awesome that Lexus USA is recognizing the 25th anniversary of the IS period. I feel the event was a great success and many of my friends that went drove from afar and loved it. While constructive criticism is good, we should be grateful they care...otherwise this whole idea could have been ignored completely.

Events like these are strategic and was purposely made not to be a "Lexus-y" event. The IS from the start was created to break away from the original Lexus norm. Events like these show the mothership TMC there's still a huge interest and following with the IS platform. We're 3 generations in and very lucky we're at Gen 3.4 of the IS in this growing age of CUVs and EVs. Take it from someone who has seen this whole movement blossom from the start. I would have been at this event (Toyotafest and the Petersen event) if it wasn't for a prior commitment.

 

So here is a question I thought about. Had Lexus charged a small entry fee for the show but also provided a much better experience with free food and better merchandise, would you have liked that better? I am just saying Lexus did all of this for free, and while it certainly didn't meet a lot of folks expectations (including mine), it was an "ok" event (just ok).

So to get the white cloth treatment, how much would you have been willing to pay to get that kind of experience?