The IS F is also going up in value slowly because it’s a compact sports sedan that’s both reliable and incredible to drive. The IS F was a 5-liter V8 monster with a 4.2-second 0-to-60 time and a top speed of 170 miles per hour. A serious machine, with an 8-speed automatic transmission and a fire-breathing exhaust note. If you haven’t heard a straight-piped IS F, you’re missing out.Īnd while the E90 M3 sedan was a really cool car that also had a V8, the IS F wasn’t riddled with any of the problems that the BMW had. Plus, the BMW world is filled with just as much toxicity as it is helpful members, while we’ve seen a slightly better attitude in the Lexus world. The Lexus IS has always been a popular sedan since the sexy IS 300 changed the game in 2000. It was the car to have if you were a young professional, but it only ever had six-cylinder engines. Until 2007, when Lexus rolled up their sleeves and decided they wanted in on the M3 market, and to demolish the Audi S4. It had all the goodies available, including a cushy air suspension with adjustable damping, heated and cooled seats front and rear, and even power reclining rear seats.īut maybe you want a luxury sedan with a bit more performance to it. If you really want to stand out, look for the ultra-rare Ultra Luxury model that had extended leather everywhere, including the glove compartment and an Alcantara headliner. It never really got the recognition that the W220 S-Class of its era did, but the LS was a far better car. The 4.3-liter 3UZ V8 was extremely reliable, and they’re not known to burn oil or have any serious issues. The full-size flagship offered an insane amount of high-tech features for its time, including things like soft-closing doors, massaging seats, and even a fridge in the rear console! Lexus even put radar-guided cruise control and forward collision warning in the LS 430, and the adaptive headlights that could bend left to right.
It’s slab-sided design lost quite a few loyal LS customers, but there’s a lot to know about the trusty 430 that made it one of the best cars to ever come out of the Lexus factory. Lexus had many firsts with the LS 430, in the same way that most commonly seen Mercedes features started with the S-Class. The LS has been through many generations now, but the one that was really tainted was the third generation car, the LS 430. The LS 430 was tainted because of its frumpy styling from 2001 to 2003, before the 2004 facelift actually sharpened up the styling to make for a handsome car. The LS 430 – Car Guy’s S-Class Lexus USA Newsroom SUV’s are nice and all, but let’s move over to the flagship sedan, an area where Lexus started out strong. The GX also offered three rows of seating and was body-on-frame, so while it wasn’t as comfortable as a BMW X5, it was infinitely more reliable and capable for owners who had an interest in going off-road. This system was able to tweak the stabilizer bars and give the GX more articulation, making it even more capable off-road. We here in the USA only got an automatic transmission, and later models got a Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, also called KDSS. The GX 470 started production in 2003 and the first generation model was produced through 2009. Power came from a 4.7-liter engine called the 2UZ-FE with 235 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque.
What North Americans know as the GX 470 is essentially a more luxurious and cushy version of the Japanese and Middle Eastern market Land Cruiser Prado. While the Prado still has “Land Cruiser” in the name, it was a smaller, narrower, and slightly lighter version of the Land Cruiser and Lexus LX. It was also cheaper, which means they sold way more of them than the big daddy truck of the brand. Let’s start with a smaller version of an off-roading legend. The idea was that the car was so smooth that the glasses didn’t fall off, a testament to the ride quality, smoothness, and luxury that only a Lexus could provide.īut, it wasn’t just one car, Lexus has built plenty of cars over the years, all very reliable, but some much better than others. We put together a list of some of the best cars Lexus has ever made. Haven’t seen it? What they did was stack a bunch of champagne glasses on the hood of an LS 400 and rev the motor to redline. Three decades later, Lexus has worked hard to earn this reputation. No one can post an LS 400 on the internet without someone bringing up the old commercial with the champagne glasses. They had a tough crowd to face, to prove that their cars were just as good as big luxury brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi. As the luxury wing of Toyota, the recipe was simple. Lexus set out to make the most luxurious, reliable, and effortless cars in the world. The Lexus brand showed up in 1989 with big aspirations.
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