Sascha Hammerl

I have several. That's all I have for many years. Wouldn't drive any other cars.

Mercedes car's quality have declined in the recent past. the last 'built to last' Merc is the W124 E-Class. back then Merc had a 'money no object' policy, thus their cars had unsurpassed quality level. Mercedes-Benz-"engineered like no other"

since the W210 E-class, cost cutting measures were obvious in the car's interior. cheap shiny plastics were used in abundance. but fret not as this issue has been rectified, starting with the CLS.

Like i said before, MB and BMW are 'established brands' with badge and status appeal whereas Lexus only came about in the 90's with made over toyotas. But that is changing now since Lexus are designing their own cars now.

Fact of the matter is that Lexus do make 'quality cars'. When the orginal LS400 came onto the scene in the 90's, it scared the shit out of MB and BMW with its 'super silent' engine and build quality because the europeans didn't expect Japan to produce a car of such high standards. Just sit in an early 90's S-class and a LS400 and you can see why the europeans sat up and took notice.

I honestly feel that it's competition like Lexus that keeps raising the bar for on road refinement etc forcing the market leaders to keep themselves ahead of the game. (Take Proton who have no competition. That's why they feel its still ok to produce substandard cars.)

Not all MB models have outstanding quality. The orginal ML Class Benzs were shocking (mainly cos they were built in America). A year ago they had a 'car build quality' survey (based on consumer opinions) in America and MB came a shocking 7th. I couldn't beleive it myself but it was there. Since then MB has taken the appropriate measures and now they are back in the top 3 again.

Obviously an apartment will always be an apartment no matter what you do to it. But what about 3 story penthouse apartments with 12,000 sq of space? hahaha…:) But for investment purposes of course a house is better than an apartment anyday.

My bottom line is: At the end of the day only you decide what will make you part with your money. No one can tell you which make of car you should by.

the Honda Founder.. = has worked for toyota before he became a motorcyce maker..

read the history.. His father making a something like Piston Ring for Toyota in a workshop beside his house..

Toyota already A VERY-VERY long history and long time runner in the japanese automobile..

I like the Lexus logo more than the toyota logo.

L = Luxury?

I also not agreed LEXUS will take over MB or BMW status. No doubts more people is buying LEXUS, it does means anything to me. For me, I prefer to buy MB or BMW with less Gadget on it compare to LEXUS. These gadget can be replaced easily not the body and chassis and engine.

Back to the base line: Apartment is apartment never be the same level as Condominium or Bungalow.

If you gave me a choice between the BMW 5 series, Lexus GS, Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6, Volvo S60, or the Jaguar S-type, I'd choose the BMW 5 series hands down. Simply because it's one of the most well engineered machine you'll find. I'm not saying that the others are not good, but the 5 series simply overwhelmes me. And heck it has design which lasts.

Back to the Lexus. It is surely Toyota, but whoever said that Toyota was bad to start with? Toyota does compete in the F1 doesn't it? It shows how wide and well-based their company is. I just think that subjecting Toyota to a crammy flat with all the gadgets doesn't cut it. Think of the Toyota as an apartment with just enough gadgets and the Lexus as a more well-furnished apartment.

I think that's more of a fair statement Dogthewan.

recently Lexus have been using 'L-Finesse' designs(whatever that means) which was made in house(Lexus). new Lexuses will have no resemblance whatsoever to their Toyota cousins. look at the new GS and IS. instant classics!

this will play a major role in making Lexus a 'proper' luxury brand. they'll get the respect they truly deserve.

yes, it is true that Lexus cars are sold cheaper than their direct rivals, but it is not because they are in inferior to BMW or MB. Lexus have always been a bargain and thats mainly because they have found a sweet spot in investing their funds. they know the right compromise to take with their cars and therefore are able to sell them at a lower price.

that doesnt make them any less remarkable. take the new GS as an example. it excels in refinement of its engine(a Lexus forte), and also gadget wise.. nothing else in the same class even comes close. Lexus is now a major player in the luxury market. true it doesnt handle as good as the 5Series or ride as well as the E-Class. neither is the Audi A6. but the Audi is a 'proper' luxury car ain't it? the same should go with Lexus. the lower price is just part of the brand's broad appeal

On the same note, i would choose the new GS Lexus over the current 5 Series anyday. You should check out the specs and features on the GS, it's mindblowing!

I suppose the only reason why Lexus sales are doing well (or even selling their cars for that matter) with the likes of Mercedes, BMW and Audi as competition is mainly because:

1. Lexus undercuts starting prices

2. Lexus offers you more bang-for-your-buck (more equipment for your dollar).

It's a very sound marketing strategy because Lexus knows that for the time being, they cannot compete against established competion directly. So instead, they offer the same sort of high build quality as the competition but at a lower price and with more equipment.

For example, here in Australia the Lexus RX330/Harrier starts in at about 70K fully loaded (most notable are reverse camer, xenons and the 11-speaker Mark Levinson sound system). Compared this to the BMW X5 which costs from 82K and it doesn't even have xenons. I would think you would need to buy a top of the range X5 (around 120K+) to get the same equipment levels as the Lexus .

Speaking of 4×4's, the Nissan Murano just got officially released here from 50K! Man that's the price of my X-Trail back in Malaysia!

Also the Maybach Exelero will be unveild here in October with a ticket of AUD$8 million. Any takers?

mostly entirely built by machine and has no human touch at all which is close to almost zero defect quality, the possibility is height compare to hand maid.

I agreed that higher Trim spec and add some camera and brand can create an image of Luxury or Class for customer. But back to the based, the car body structure and chassis still the same and I don't think the body steels or panel materials are different for LEXUS and TOYOTA.

So, handling and durability might be the same. Is like buying a cheap apartment or flat and then install AIR-CON, better flooring, Plasma TV……Luxury furniture, but the based structure still cheap.

How can it compare with BMW and MB? For me it is different standards cannot compare with. LEXUS only win because of Service and quality gap control to customers. Don't you think so?

the radiator is at the back for better weight balance.

As for this car, i've seen it in toyota's free magazine few month's back with the purchase of altis (not mine)… more detailed description but less pics… didnt say anything about supra replacement, just new prototype then… this is a magnificent car, avantgarde… its a toyota, nothing less to expect from them…

lexus is more expensive because the materials used are of higher quality, though the fundamental chassis and engine and other components are common to some toyota.

and in states / europe and now japan, the lexus dealers and toyota dealers are seperate. you get better service and maintenance for your lexus than your toyota.

Let me put this into perspective for you.

For instance. Laptops. If you have an Acer laptop or a Fujitsu laptop…which will you go for? You pay more for the Fujitsu. The parts are pretty much the same as rumour has it that most components for laptops in the world comes from 3 manufacturers, regardless of brand. So why do you pay 6000 ringgit for a Fujitsu and 4000 for an Acer?

In Toyota's case,Lexus is created to segmentate the market in Western countries. The reason to this is because Toyota wants to compete with other luxury branded manufacturers directly, eg. BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

To the laymen, Toyota is your workhorse, the car which gets you from A to B, the car with reliability.

Lexus means class, finer built and sleeker cars with a whole lot of extra features. Eg. The Lexus Harrier. Toyota has their own version, but without the premiums. The Lexus LX300 has a camera at the back of it, while the Toyota doesn't.

Finally, an example which we commonly see is that there is the Lexus luxury model competing with the S class which costs a whopping 1 million ringgit, while Toyota's executive model, probably be the Camry, competing with the likes of Honda Accord.