2002 Lexus Es 300 Sedan on 2040-cars

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2018 Lexus LC 500 Prototype First Drive

Chief executives aren't normally as candid as Akio Toyoda was last week. At the launch of hot new Lexus LC 500 coupe at the Detroit Auto Show, the chief executive of Lexus and Toyota and grandson of the company's founder, said that he'd received letters telling him that his Lexus luxury brand cars were dull and boring and that he agreed. "I took them to heart," said this tiny and forceful boss, "and I'm ensuring that the word 'boring' and 'Lexus' will never occupy the same sentence ever again." But boring has been an ongoing problem for Lexus. And for the last year I've been involved in trying to help solve it. Let me explain. Akio has made his extraordinary "Lexus is Boring" speech before. That was five years ago on the windswept golf courses at the Pebble-Beach Concourse d'Elegance at the launch of the fourth-generation GS sedan. With its new-look spindle grille, basking-shark air intakes, and razor-edged curves, GS was the first of the new-look Lexus models, but Akio still wasn't happy. In 2011, after 11 consecutive years of premium market leadership in America, Lexus had lost it to the Germans. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi didn't just build better looking cars, but more interesting and more fun-to-drive cars. "We're not just making a coupe, we're creating a new generation of Lexus." Lexus' shtick of reliability, immaculate-quality, hybrid gas-efficiency, golf-bag trunk optimization, and specification-adjusted value didn't cut it anymore. Akio, a keen race driver and petrolhead enthusiast, knew his cars needed a dynamic shot in the arm and a smoldering love affair with right-brain desirability. In short, he wanted Lexus engineers to build a car to bring a smile to drivers' faces. A tall order, then. And one which Koji Sato, deputy chief engineer on the LC had to consider carefully. As he says: "Akio's Pebble Beach speech was the starting point; we're not just making a coupe, we're creating a new generation of Lexus." With such a brief, and Akio's legendary peppery opinions in mind, Sato came up with a radical idea. Reckoning that sometime in-house teams can look so much in-house that they become blinkered, he decided he needed to open things up and recruit a team of outsiders. So, for the last year I, along with a small team of hand-picked journalists, race drivers, and keen-driving dealers, have been part of Sato-san's 'irregular army'. Why me? It's a good question.

Genesis, Kia, Lexus EVs earn spots on the IIHS Top Safety Picks+ list

A trio of 2023 electric vehicles — the Hyundai Ioniq 6, Lexus RZ, and Genesis Electrified GV70 — have just earned the Top Safety Pick+ rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The prestigious award from the IIHS requires that the cars and SUVs achieve top scores in a number of crash tests and that they have an “Advanced” or “Superior” front crash avoidance system that activates to help inattentive drivers prevent vehicle or pedestrian crashes. Previous selections for the award among EVs have included the Rivian R1T/R1S, Kia EV6, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and Tesla Models 3/Y. To earn the “+” designation, the agency stipulates that headlights rated “Acceptable or Good” must be standard across all trims, and that a front crash prevention system that earns Advanced or Superior ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations be available. The GV70 earned “Advanced” ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention evaluations. The Ioniq 6 and the Lexus RZ earned “Superior” ratings in these two tests. “To be environmentally friendly, our vehicles and our cities also need to be pedestrian-friendly,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “All three of these vehicles have standard front crash prevention systems designed to protect pedestrians both during the day and at night, when most fatal pedestrian crashes happen.” Overall in its latest list, the IIHS named 51 cars in the “Top Safety Pick+” grouping, and 25 in the secondary Top Safety Pick tier. ThatÂ’s down from 101 total award-winning models last year, likely because the organization has implemented its tough new side-impact test and is also testing for night-time pedestrian detection for collision warning and prevention systems. The IIHS is one of two major automotive safety rating organizations, along with the federal government's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. IIHS is a private organization funded by insurance companies. By the Numbers Genesis Kia Lexus Green Automakers Insurance Safety Electric

Houston repair shop disappears and takes man's Lexus with it

A man in Houston, Texas, is out his sweet new Lexus after the small-time repair shop he took it to just up and disappeared along with his car last month. According to KPRC, Randy Exom purchased a Lexus ES300 back in November and immediately took it to On Site Auto Repair in Northwest Houston to deal with some used car issues. To pay for the work, Exom set up a bi-weekly payment plan with the shop's owner. This arrangement worked out fine until January 19, when Exom showed up to make his payment and discovered that the shop had disappeared. "Everything was going fine up until I came there to make a payment and there was an eviction sign posted, sign on the door, and the regular cars that were in the lot weren't there anymore," Exom told KPRC. Eventually, he was able to reach the shop's owner to get an explanation but it wasn't the one he wanted. "I gave him a call and I said, 'Hey, there's an eviction notice here. Did you move?' He said, 'Yeah, I'm at 59 and Little York now." The fact that the owner didn't give him an exact address raised some alarms, and upon further review it seems that Exom's suspicions were justified. It turns out that the shop's owner, Shawn Gee, has a history of shady automotive dealing. Last fall, KPRC reported cases of cars going missing from a shop at 59 and Little York. That shop, which is now closed, was owned by Gee's brother. On February 10, Exom finally found his car in an impound lot with the rest of the cars from Gee's shop nearly a full month after it went missing. He told KPRC that the impound lot wants $800 to release his car. He told reporters that he wished Gee had called him and worked the situation out like a real businessman. "My thing is my car was in your possession and you should have made some type of contact with me and say, 'Hey this is what's going on, sir,'" he said. KPRC reached Gee by phone on February 10 and he declined to give an on-camera interview. He did confirm the eviction and said that he was working with customers to get their impounded vehicles back. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: KPRC Auto News Weird Car News Lexus houston impound