2008 Lexus Sunroof/heated Front Seats on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lexus recalling 3,000 NX 200t CUVs for faulty brake system part

Lexus is recalling about 3,000 examples of the 2015 NX 200t in the US because of possible damage to the ABS actuator during assembly. On vehicles with the faulty part, the anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control might not function properly. If the ABS is activated while driving, it could cause "a loss of vehicle stability," according to the company. No crashes, injuries, or fatalities have been reported. According to company spokesperson Cindy Knight to Autoblog, affected owners will receive notification by mail of this problem in early July. Dealers will inspect the actuator on the NX200t and will replace it, if necessary. Related Video: LEXUS RECALLS CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2015 NX VEHICLES TORRANCE, Calif., May 27, 2015 – Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. today announced that it is conducting a safety recall of approximately 3,000 model year 2015 Lexus NX 200t vehicles. The involved vehicles are equipped with an Anti-Lock Braking system (ABS), Traction Control System (TRAC), and Vehicle Stability Control System (VSC) which are controlled by the ABS actuator. There is a possibility that a component inside the actuator could be damaged during assembly and later not operate properly. Under some driving conditions, if the ABS is activated, this could cause a loss of vehicle stability, which can increase the risk of a crash. To date, Toyota is not aware of any crashes, injuries or fatalities caused by this condition. All known owners of the involved Lexus vehicles will be notified by first class mail. Lexus dealers will inspect the ABS actuator and if necessary replace it with a new one. Information about automotive recalls, including but not limited to the list of involved vehicles, is subject to change over time. For the most up-do-date recall information, customers should contact Toyota Customer Service at 1-800-331-4331, or Lexus Customer Service at 1-800-255-3987. Customers can also access current information on open safety recalls for their vehicles by visiting www.toyota.com/recall or http://www.safercar.gov/ and entering their Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). ###

Lexus IS 250 to get new turbo four?

"All show, no go." That's how I described the 2014 Lexus IS 250 F Sport that you see above, when I reviewed it back in November. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like about the new IS, but the 204-horsepower, 2.5-liter V6 in the IS 250 is not on that list. In my review, I suggested that Lexus ought to get on the bandwagon of offering a small-displacement, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine in its base IS (like its rivals), and now the folks at Motor Trend are furthering that discussion.
Lexus pulled the wraps off its new NX 200t crossover at the Beijing show recently, and it'll be the first vehicle in the company's lineup to use a brand-new - you guessed it - 2.0-liter turbo-four. With 238 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque on tap, that represents a healthy increase over the 204 hp and anemic 185 lb-ft currently being offered with the 2.5-liter V6, and we imagine the fuel economy gains will be rather significant, too. For comparison, the Lexus' four-pot power numbers are very close to the 240 hp and 255 lb-ft offered in the same-sized engine that BMW uses in the 328i.
Motor Trend also posits that Lexus may consider changing the base IS' name from 250 to 200, or perhaps 200t, to properly reflect the new engine's displacement. Of course, that's assuming Lexus doesn't pull a BMW or Mercedes-Benz, and no longer has its alphanumeric names properly reflect the size of the powerplant found underhood.

Genesis cars win accolades, offer value — so why are sales so bad?

My high-school buddy Brent Cormier was so smitten with the Genesis G80 when he saw it at an event I hosted at SXSW in 2016 he bought a used 2013 Hyundai Genesis a short time later and fell in love with the car. "It surpasses my every expectation," said Cormier, a self-described "renaissance man" who owns and runs a real estate agency with his wife Laura, is a food service executive chef and part owner of Austin-based Thin the Herd Guitars. "I was locked into Mercedes and Audi for 10 years," he added. "And felt trapped in an endless pit of maintenance costs." After owning the Genesis over the past two years — including using it as an Uber and Lyft driver to earn extra cash — Cormier learned what some frugal luxury sedan buyers and a handful of car reviewers have discovered: Genesis offers great bang for the buck compared to other premium brands and can compete with the best in terms of performance, features and comfort. Hyundai's luxury brand also earned a prominent third-party endorsement last week when for the first time Genesis topped J.D. Power's 2018 APEAL study, surpassing German luxury-performance icon Porsche. The APEAL study (which stands for Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout) "measures owners' emotional attachment and level of excitement across 77 attributes," ranging from performance to comfort, and asks nearly 68,000 owners of new 2018 models to score vehicles on a 1,000-point scale. In its second year ranked as a stand-alone brand, Genesis earned an APEAL score that bumped it up 15 points to 884 and helped push it past Porsche — and past BMW, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo, Cadillac, Land Rover and Lexus, in order of ranking. Last month, Genesis also topped J.D. Power's Initial Quality Survey (IQS) for the first time this year. And both its models were awarded Top Safety Pick Plus ratings by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, among 11 Plus ratings in all for Korean vehicles. Despite high J.D. Power rankings and great reviews, Genesis U.S. sales were off 50 percent for the first six months of 2018 compared to 2017, and in June Genesis sold only 796 vehicles — the first time U.S. numbers dropped below 1,000 in a month. Part of Genesis's APEAL and IQS success can be attributed to its small product lineup: just two models, the G80 and G90 sedans, with a third, the 2019 G70, launching later this year. And while those numbers may help in J.D.