QUOTE (Terry @ Jul 8 2004, 08:51 AM) |
Just so you know: Lexus is the luxury division of Toyota Corporation. Acura is the luxury division of Honda Corporation. They want a piece of ALL the action. And I'm a Lexus fan - they are beautiful, reliable vehicles, someday I'll have enough money to own one! |
Terry,
I'm aware that is the case in terms of the luxury divisions (Acura/Lexus) for Honda/Toyota. But their divisions compete with one another. Just go tell a Honda dealer that you're considering a TL and hear what they say or vice versa. Likewise with Toyota.
BTW, you don't need a lot of money to be a Lexus owner. Just buy a used one and do what many other owners do, put it on a 84 month loan....
When I was in discussions with Lexus on the ES330 I was talking with their folks explaining that I intended to either pay cash or take a small portion in the form of a 24 month loan (if they provided favorable financing ie. 1.9% or better).
In those discussions, they stated that it had been 'years' since they've seen a 24 month loan for a car that most often they saw 48 month loans and some as far out as 84 months (7yrs!).
As my wife can attest, I gave serious consideration to the ES330. I liked the following:
Comfortable ride, relaxed
Didn't like:
The 1 second or so delay between the time I hit the accelerator and the time the car responded.
The lack of a telescoping wheel,
The lack of horsepower ES330 was 225hp vs. 240hp of Accord and 270hp TL
Position of the LATCH anchors (we have 2 kids) - harder to get at than other vehicles
When you begin to add the options that we wanted (and have in the Accord) you quickly approach $40k on the Lexus. We could have gone for it, but given the other 'annoyances' that I mentioned, we wouldn't have been happy with the choice.
There's no doubt that Toyota makes (Lexus) reliable and dependable cars - anyone can reference the latest J.D. Powers magazine to see that (they'll also see Honda right behind Toyota/Lexus - though Honda's luxury line (Acura) is much further down that list).
You may say, hey, if you want horsepower just check their GS line. Well, we did, and their side curtain airbags only protect driver/passenger (I guess rich folks aren't supposed to care if the kids get knocked off)
It may not sound it, but I'm a fan of Lexus as well, the ES330 is an improvement over the ES300 that also fell short. I'll wait on a future model and buy it when they get it right. After all, it is a Lexus, it should meet all of my expectations, not just some of them. Maybe when the kids get old enough not to mess up the car..... by then they'll be hybrid versions getting excellent gas mileage as well...