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LS460 Debacle.....
Written by: merc1 on Dec 11, 2006 3:31:03 PM
Sword down for a moment. In reading the LS board I sense that some have decided to leave us again because there hasn't been enough praise of the new LS. In fairness, the review in which one compares the LS460L to the E63 AMG is bunk and not at all fair to the LS460L. Car and Driver's comparo while having some curious points concerning weight and having used a pre-production LS460L, ... Read More
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Re: And...continuing to stay on topic [tagman]
Written by: blkhemi on Nov 29, 2006 5:24:05 PM
Tag, I don't know if you remember or not, but back in the summer, Merc and I, during the much-heated debates of the LS' redesign, brought up Lexus pricing stragegy of late. This opened up a whole can of WTF? And of course, we all never fully agreed on anything. Well the time has come, and as predicted, the new LS460(especially in L) is no longer that "value-conscience, sensible" buy that ... Read More
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Re: As the dust settles, [tagman]
Written by: brightness04 on Oct 21, 2006 9:43:24 PM
On the LS forum, there is already notable criticism of the LS460. As in criticism posted by yourself?? and other Europhiles who have not even seen the car in person, much less test-driven the vehicle itself?? Your insistence on asserting "price advantage" only begs to bring the subject of actual price back again . . . after all, how can you even talk about "price advantage" without verifying the actual prices ... Read More
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Interesting reading............
Written by: merc1 on Jun 4, 2006 10:28:05 PM
Been on a long Memorial Day vaction. What did I miss? hpowders - BMW should drop the 7-Series? I had to do a doubletake at the user ID when I read that post. No, they can't drop the 7-Series. As others have stated BMW's overall image would suffer relative to Mercedes' without the 7-Series. The 7 is really BMW's only car that competes in the high-end space with Mercedes on a ... Read More
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Re: LS 460 pricing: quantum leap and incremental increase, new deal [garyh1
Written by: stevekilburn on May 7, 2006 8:04:24 PM
So you want to call me a looney who lacks cogent thinking and gets lampooned left and right. Alright, carry on, but then dont expect me to save you next time when you make a less than perfect comment. You think I am doing this just to "GRAB ATTENTION". Well I dont get it! I have been saying all along that it does not behove Lexus to under-cut competitors prices, when ... Read More
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Re: Merc [designman]
Written by: lexusguy on Apr 7, 2006 9:53:35 AM
"By the way, for someone who has a taste for the likes of Jags and Maseratis, I don’t get your fondness for the SC400. In my opinion it is as plain and uninspiring as it gets... as interesting as a bar of ivory soap. I certainly think the SC430 has more styling booty and panache.: Woah, I never said that I think the SC400 is the best looking car ever, or ... Read More
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Re: Plain as day [tagman]
Written by: sv7887 on Mar 17, 2006 7:06:27 AM
Tagman, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. I still own my 1992 LS400 and will not part with it period. I don't need to justify anything: My experience with Lexus Customer Service and their Service Department has been very poor. How would you like it if you've invested $200K in a certain brand and they treat you poorly when you need them? That's not called Service. They were not loyal to ... Read More
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My '06 Jaguar XJ Super V8
Written by: garysandiego on Mar 2, 2006 6:02:23 PM
I just wanted to chime in with my great experience with my '06 XJ Super V8. I am not a die hard Jaguar fan, have not dreamed about owning a Jag all my life. I did not intend to buy a Jaguar this time around. But having done so, I am really happy. Here is my story. I had owned a two Cadillac Eldorado STS from 1995 through 2000. I enjoyed ... Read More
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Re: Test drive [middlp23]
Written by: lexusguy on Feb 18, 2006 9:36:06 PM
Well, in the LS430's defence, it is a 2001 design. We'll see if the LS460 has what it takes to battle the S550. I dont think anyone else in the class has a chance at the moment, bad news for BMW, Audi, and Jaguar.
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Re: Merc [callmedrfill]
Written by: brightness04 on Feb 4, 2006 12:20:33 AM
No kidding. If throwing in additional 50hp at the tail end of vehicle development cycle were that easy, why not throwing 5 more and trounce the S550? The whole point about Lexus "copying" MB on horsepower is ludicrous. If not for competition, none of the big three premium brands would be updating their products as frequently as they do. Of course all of them try to anticipate what the competitions offer ... Read More
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Merc
Written by: callmedrfill on Feb 3, 2006 4:08:46 PM
Wow! I am so surprised at you! You, of all people, know better than that! You know how hard it is to build a V8, especially to Lexus/Mercedes/BMW levels of smoothness and durability. You know Lexus isn't just throwing 50-60HP onto a car at the end of testing, just to amke a point, or keep up with the Joneses. They haven't done that before, so why start now? You KNOW they ... Read More
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Re: Looks like we've found a chink in Merc's armour? [callmedrfill]
Written by: merc1 on Feb 1, 2006 5:09:21 AM
Having the Maybach and S-Class virtually share taillights, or the C-Class and S-Class of a generation ago, is not a good thing, as it says cost-cutting to the trained eye. Yeah this is a good example. Now if this were true, why doesn't it mean the same thing for Lexus? Lexus is doing the same thing with design from model to model. Anyway, the cars you mention don't have the exact ... Read More
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MB TREMENDOUS sales increase???
Written by: lexusi on Jan 15, 2006 2:00:43 PM
Although in my IMHO I do not judge the car by its sales, but thats why manufacturers produce cars? to sell no to display?! anyhow, Lexus sales were shown against BMW sales, and here is the other part of the story, the MB sales (USA only), lets see how tremendous it is! yah BTW, here is an intersting point: "Posting its best sales month with 31,192 units sold in December, MBUSA ... Read More
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Re: Copying, Gimmicks etc.... [brightness04]
Written by: merc1 on Jan 11, 2006 2:41:33 AM
All of that about 1906 goes back a way bit before my time. Lexus' original LS400 was rounder than the German iron of the day for sure, but the overall presentation made you think "Mercedes". Sure the individual details were different, but the whole thing screamed Mercedes overall. Thats why Lexus got the copy rep from not only the press, but buyers alike. The 2001 LS430 only made it worse. Now ... Read More
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Re: Percentage leased... [tagman]
Written by: brightness04 on Jan 10, 2006 1:33:18 PM
I don't want to get too much into lease vs. buying, lest we raise the ire of hosts (and justifiably so). What you said about lease vs. loan is correct in a conventional case dealing with third-party banks. The case is quite different with vendor financing. Lease with inflated residual can be a very effective way of cooking books on sales revenue. What happens is that, some manufacturers often offer lease ... Read More
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Steering problems on 740i
Written by: 92735i on Nov 11, 2005 2:10:42 PM
I also owned a 2001 740iL not spt pkg but did have the BMW Spt 18" rims with ContiSportContacts. Your symptoms are tire related. If suspension is "true" you have a tire issue, period. I had Kumhos on my 735i and they were the worst tires I ever had. All performance tires will become noisy with wear, and will shimmy with wear. You have to adjust tire pressures accordingly to your ... Read More
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Re: 740ILphone [rebel920]
Written by: scholder on Nov 10, 2005 8:34:59 AM
I recently purchased a 2001 740i and had a similar problem. Turns out that if it is from the earlier part of the year they have no retrofit harness to accomodate bluetooth but later year model does. You may want to contact BMW for info. Have you heard any good news to help?
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finding a Timesport 8000 for 2001 740il
Written by: lloyd7196 on Nov 4, 2005 9:38:39 PM
I love my 2001 740il and have Timesport 8000 Motorola telephone but I am concerned if its lost, stolen or breaks down, since its discountinued, it is possible to find a BMW dealer in US or other source to buy one? would like to find one as a back-up now since years later it may be harder to find (and to answer one other posting about getting service, I was able ... Read More
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BMW longevity and reliability
Written by: 92735i on Nov 4, 2005 12:19:42 PM
I now have 220k miles on my 1992 735i. I paid $30k in 1994 off a lease, it had 30k miles. Repairs: Radiator and fan clutch @150k miles power steering hoses (both) twice in 11 years radio (replaced with another OEM) headliner @ 140k miles Drive shaft @ 220k miles Fuel pump @ 160k miles bulbs every now and then top-end freshen up @ 160k miles ($3000) Car runs perfect, no ... Read More
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Tony, what if it was 2001?
Written by: 00boxsters on Apr 21, 2005 7:53:11 PM
Income and educational levels of affluent consumers driving luxury cars "Fixing Cadillac," Newsweek, May 28, 2001 If you wonder who is behind wheel of luxury cars, here are some interesting statistics: luxury car median age household income % of college graduation Mercedes-Benz 52 $186,236 71% Lexus 50 $151,711 69% BMW 45 $149,609 69% Acura 48 $107,261 61% Lincoln 59 $113,656 49% Cadillac 62 $106,701 46% Just found this on a google ... Read More
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Re: Merc1 [stroudman]
Written by: ljflx on Apr 21, 2005 10:01:01 AM
But isn't that exactly what you just did with your point about Toyota?? We are not talking Corolla here we are talking LS430, a car hardly made for the lowest common denominator. Let's get real. OAC - what I said about the MB S is what I feel personally and what I am hearing from others. The brand has lost stature since 2001 when I was shopping. Does anyone think they ... Read More
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Re: GS 300/430 [oac]
Written by: ljflx on Apr 19, 2005 7:31:31 AM
OAC - That car will make those and the others including the Audi V12 and VW V12 (do they even sell Phaetons anymore, I never see any ads anywhere and I never see the car on the road) look like dinosaurs and it'll be 15%-25% cheaper to boot. Latest and greatest technology in a sportier look from the worlds most reliable auto maker at a heavy discount. Pretty easy to see ... Read More
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Re: Extended Wty for 2001 740i?? [kyfdx]
Written by: brm49 on Mar 3, 2005 11:30:58 AM
kyfdx- Thanks for the input. I agree $4k is pretty much rape, but, if you're unfamiliar with the situation in CA right now vis-a-vis auto extended warranties, then let me just sum it up by saying as of July 1, 2004, It Sucks. Very few, and I mean hardly ANY companies will sell individual policies in CA due to the taxes and surcharges that the CA insurance commissioner imposed. The few ... Read More
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Re: Extended Wty for 2001 740i?? [brm49]
Written by: kyfdx on Mar 3, 2005 7:09:11 AM
I'm not going to be very helpful here, but.... If you are buying a car that requires a $4000 warranty, you are just asking for trouble.. I'm not saying that a 740i doesn't require a warranty (it definitely does), but the price should be a tipoff that you won't have a really happy experience with that car.. 3rd party warranty companies are always iffy.. Call around and see if you can ... Read More
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Extended Wty for 2001 740i??
Written by: brm49 on Mar 2, 2005 3:18:36 PM
In advance I'm sorry for length of msg, but just trying to provide background: We're very close to buying a 2001 740i Sport, 59K miles...to the best of my research, it appears to be clean title, 1-owner CA car, very good mech shape, etc. We would be buying it from a small wholsale operation that does have a very good reputation for both their sales and servicing of "high-end" German cars. ... Read More
