High End Luxury Cars

sv7887 · August 2005

Hi All,
I've owned these high end cars for a Very long time. To clarify, I had to wait TWO Days for a proper diagnosis and only after I telephoned the dealer twice...This much work on a car with this mileage is clearly unacceptable. Being left wandering around the service bays for 40 minutes is also unacceptable especially after I called in advance for an appointment. I don't spend $100/hr on service for charity purposes you know..$1500 for rear shocks sounds extremely excessive. I had that done on my '92 (Rear shocks only) for $335..There is a reason Lexus dealers are one of the most profitable in the industry.

Lexus peddles its product on quality. Clearly this is not the case. I don't know what everyone is thinking here but High End Marque and Long term durability should NOT be mutually exclusive. Having driven for over 30 years I have never encountered something like this...Even my Buick Park Avenue did not cause these many issues. Frankly rust was not the problem here. The car is flawless otherwise.

Between my three brothers and I we've owned every High End marque ever made including Rolls Royce, Jaguar, BMW, MB, and of course Lexus. My brother's 1988 420 SE never needed any of this work done. ..I live in the Boston area and it is real hard to get any independent mechanic to work on the car. Half the time they say "Dealer only.." I've been going to the same dealer for over 15 yrs..

Part of my frustration also comes from my experience with the 2005 as well. The car's Nav system is clearly flawed and the A/C squeaks every time you turn it on..Not exactly impressive for a car with 3700 miles on it...

SV

lexusguy · August 2005

I have friends with MBs, Audis and the like with cars that would sit at the dealer for weeks. A good friend of mine has an '04 Audi A8 that needed a completely new engine. It was at the dealer a lot longer than two days.

I'm rather surprised at the problems with your '05, my '01 has been flawless, just as my '96 was. I dont know anybody with an S, 7, or A8 that didnt have at least one major problem, and I've had zero in 10 years of driving a Lexus LS. The dealer shouldnt give you any trouble about fixing them though. If they do, find another dealer. My wife's RX300 had one or two relatively minor issues, and Rahal took care of them without a problem.

Speaking from personal experience, I left M-B for Lexus in '96 because I was tired of the constant repairs, and my Benz was not 14 years old. My current XK is a heck of a lot more reliable than my XJS was, but its still had its share of problems, the supercharger I mentioned before, an airbag warning that took 2 dealer trips to fix, and it also stalled on the highway for no particular reason. All that and its a weekend car, with less than 30K on it.

blckislandguy · August 2005

(Let me choose my words carefully): I think your reaction to both the way that the dealer personnel acted and their quote for normal suspension work on a car that has spent 14+ years driving over New England pot holes while completely unjustified is not surprising.

IMHO your reaction is a result of your acceptance of the Lexus marketing idea that if you drive a Lexus , 1) they are built so well that they run forever, and 2) that the Lexus service people are not hired from the same labor pool as MB's and don't have to do the same diagnostic tests that normal techs do because (see item 1) the cars are built so well.

PS If your brother's l988 MB has been driven in Boston (as your Lexus has) for the last 17 years (at 15K per year, say 220,000 miles +) without this work being done I wouldn't want to even sit in it let alone ride in it. This whole thing is nutty.

garyh1 · August 2005

Can I make a suggestion and ask that participants in this forum take a moment and add some information to their Forum Profile-- it's helpful in understanding people's perspectives to know, for example, what part of the country (or world) they live in, and what kind of car(s) they have chosen to own themselves. In some cases, I have noticed from postings that people have purchased new cars since they wrote their Profile, so it needs to be updated.

Adding information to your Profile is very easy and doesn't have any real impact on your privacy. Just click on any of the links at the top or right side of the page that mention Profile, Preferences, or My Account, and follow the directions.

Of course, to read any poster's Profile info, you can just click on the blue underlined name in the title line of any post. I find it adds to my enjoyment of the forum to know even just a little bit about the folks with whom we share our opinions and feelings.

sv7887 · August 2005

Hi,
Thanks for your reply...You hit the nail right on the head with your post..I guess my expectations were sky high due to all that marketing...My car "only" has 96,000 miles on it. You made an excellent point about the Boston roads, that's enough to do it to a Hummer let alone a passenger car. Still the failure of the Power Steering Rack is troubling to some degree. Perhaps I have overreacted. But two issues are still bothering me: 1) The lack of professionalism of the Service Dept at Lexus..I've never had anyone accuse me of being cheap for questioning the bill.."Well we have people who spend 9,000 all the time, but you can do what you want..." The second is the issues I'm having with my new 2005 LS..I don't understand how a Navigation System could give me wrong directions to Massachusetts General Hospital, one of America's oldest hospitals. (1811)...I ended up in some satellite office. We'll see how it works out..

But anyway thanks for listening,
SV

anthonyp · August 2005

Sorry for your problems....around twelve years ago, or there abouts, when I purchased the first Lexus, the dealer was located around twenty miles away...He still is and the facilities are the same...Although we know the advisers well, and consider them friends, they are so rushed with the countless thousands of cars that have been sold over the years that it now takes four or more service advisors to handle the load....That may be the problem with your having to wait around so long.......I find that there has been a general decline in considerations for us lowly customers from almost every business I have done business with over the last few years, and find now to be the worse time of all....Maybe our economy is running flat out and will correct this problem with a coming slow down....In smaller communities they have a bit more time for us, but forget about the large cities...It is incredible Charleston South Carolina Tony

greenbelt · August 2005

Pablo

I think that the JDP surveys for both early reliability and long term ownership issues are much more relevant to the U.S. than anything from Europe.

I also don't know how you can draw any conclusions about the kind of problems when saying stuff like "They are final assembly quality statistics more than anything else, and probably reflect overall quality control well."

How in the world would you know that. What is 'final assembly' quality statistics these days? Is that when Mercedes stuffs the engine in the engine bay or something.

Mercedes, Audi and most European car companies do very poorly in both short term and long term quality and reliability ratings for many, many reasons - not the least of which are outdated manufacturing technologies and processes, ineffective sourcing and supply chain management and partnerships and a pervasive 'screw the customer' attitude.

Your suggestion of some kind of metric that measures the full dimension of the cost of ownership in terms of things like 'out of pocket time' is an interesting idea though that deserves a forum on its own.

lexusguy · August 2005

The service at my Jaguar dealer has been lousy. However, I have been impressed over the last ten years with Rahal Toyota\Scion\Lexus in Carlisle. They are a BIG dealer, a one stop TMC shop, which I understand is pretty unusual. When it comes time for the scheduled visit to the shop, they come and get my car, so it doesnt really matter to me how long it takes them to find the time to fit my car in. On the very rare occasion where something needs to be fixed, they've always been quick to call me and tell me what the problem is and how long it will be before the car is back in my driveway. I dont think you can ask for much more than that.

sv7887 · August 2005

Lexusguy,
I completely understand your point of view. My surprise stems from the fact that Lexus of Watertown has been nothing short of excellent over 13 years. I have all of my Lexus cars serviced there. Lexus of Watertown is a pretty big dealer (one of those newly renovated ones)..But ever since the expansion it feels like the quality of service has fallen. Only 18 months ago they were absolutely excellent in handling the insurance company while my 92 was being repaired. My experience this time has been the exact opposite of yours, they don't call, and I have to press them to tell me when it will be done. At least they gave me a RX330 loaner, which rides surprisingly smooth. I was quite disappointed with the amount of rattles a 1 yr old car has though..Are these RX's built in Canada these days?

SV

lexusguy · August 2005

Yes, the RX and GX come from Canada. I know Lexus had a few problems with the first model year of the GX470, but as far as I know the '04 and '05 cars from those plants are excellent. Not as good as the cars still built in Japan.. but better than everyone else.

I am surprised at the level of service you are getting from your dealer. Definitely complain, and let them know they may be losing a customer. I think they'll change their tune in a hurry.

Lexus has one of, if not the highest retention rate in the industry, so perhaps some dealers take for granted that everybody is going to come back for a new Lexus.

oac · August 2005

Tony:

Real sorry to hear about your issues with the '92 LS. Seems like you were more disappointed with the dealer service than a 14-yr-old car's repair needs. My '99 now has 105K miles, and I have not had to do anything to it other than regular scheduled maintainance. The last one at 100K miles set me back $1300 - water pump, seals, belts, plugs, etc... scheduled service at 100K miles. My dealer is OK, no biggie. If I don't like his work or his service, I look elsewhere... There has to be other dealers out there willing to win your business and provide you a stellar service. Let us know how it all ends....

BTW, I had my dealer upgrade the Nav on my '99 (Sept '98 version) to the 2003 (Sept) version and it works almost flawlessly. I am sure your dealer would be OK to replace your Nav unit to solve the routing problem. Have you asked ?

michael_mattox · August 2005

Well...You could look at it another way...The LS is built so well that the Service people (like the maytag repair man) just don't get enough practice fixing them...

Who knows..You could look at it that way..The Glass is half something?

ctsang · August 2005

I want to know how often you will be at the MB dealerships or shops even before your MB is even over 14 years old.

pablo_l · August 2005

> I think that the JDP surveys for both early reliability and long term ownership
> issues are much more relevant to the U.S. than anything from Europe.

That defies logic. The cars are the same here and there. And the JDP statistics on "problems in the first 90 days of ownership" do not sound like a long term reliability study at all.

> How in the world would you know that.

It is quite obvious that the number of issues arising in the first 90 days of onwership is pretty good data as far as quality control goes. Any issue that arises as quickly is a quality issue, or permit me to perceive it as such when coughing up up more than $50k for a car.

> Mercedes, Audi and most European car companies do very poorly in both short
> term and long term quality and reliability ratings

I can't recall disputing that. But I'd say that Toyota-Lexus seem to be playing in a different league, and everybody else follows with less of a margin among themselves.

> Your suggestion of some kind of metric that measures the full dimension of the
> cost of ownership in terms of things like 'out of pocket time' is an interesting
> idea though that deserves a forum on its own.

I doubt it would gain much support from manufacturers. :-)

greenbelt · August 2005

JDP has two very different surveys: IQS which looks at the problems in the first 90 days and then the long term reliability survey. Go spend some time at their site and get informed.

Plus, if you think the cars are the same between the US and Europe, you should go take a trip to the continent and drive around a bit.

blckislandguy · August 2005

I'm not trying to continue the MB vs. Lexus debate. I'm really not. But it strikes me that despite all of MBs faults--and there are many, at least you are buying a vehicle with some heritage. With Lexus, one is buying a very dependable almost synthetic vehicle complete with overboosted steering, overly done road isolation, etc. Truly, these are different concepts that will appeal to different people. Kind of like do you wear 100% cotton dress shirts or one with permanent press (i.e., polyester) in the cotton.

On a somewhat related note, many have commented about the over extension of the MB line with many, many models. An ad in this morning's WSJ trumpets 8, count'em 8, different Lexus vehicles. Gee, talk about line extension. I think that Lexus has three AWD SUV or cross over vehicles alone.

lexusguy · August 2005

"I think that Lexus has three AWD SUV or cross over vehicles alone."

I'm not sure where you are going with this. Mercedes has M, R, and G and MLK on the way. Thats four. The old guy went nuts trying to throw Mercedes everywhere, in places it shouldnt be. (See: C-class coupe). Thats partly why he's out and Dieter is in. There's not going to be another C coupe.

Lexus has 5 cars and 3 trucks. Only GS, IS, and RX offer more than one engine choice. Thats not exactly a lot. Mercedes already has 8 cars and 3 trucks, dozens of engine choices, and the MLK on the way, plus the B-class which may or may not show up.

oac · August 2005

On a somewhat related note, many have commented about the over extension of the MB line with many, many models. An ad in this morning's WSJ trumpets 8, count'em 8, different Lexus vehicles....

Let's count them:

MBs - C, E, S, CL, CLS, SL, SLK, ML, MLK, Maybach, R, G (12)

Lexus - IS, ES, GS, RX, GX, LX, SC, LS (8)

Lexus = 8
MB = 12

Who is the proliferator ?

lexusguy · August 2005

You forgot the CLK class. Counting Mayback, thats 13.

pablo_l · August 2005

> Plus, if you think the cars are the same between the US and Europe, you
> should go take a trip to the continent and drive around a bit.

The cars relevant to this discussion are. I lived in Europe for over 20 years before moving here, thus I am pretty confident to be far better informed about the car culture over there than almost anyone in this forum, thank you very much.

syswei · August 2005

despite all of MBs faults...at least you are buying a vehicle with some heritage

Some care about heritage, some don't. Personally, when I go to buy a computer I don't pick the Apple or IBM brands because they were the innovators and have heritage on their side. And when I load it up with software I don't pick VisiCalc or Lotus 1-2-3 as the spreadsheet, or Wordperfect as the wordprocessor, simply because they have more heritage or early innovation to their names. I'd rather buy what's best for me based on what my needs and wants are and what is available in the marketplace now....I'd rather have the best product (for me) rather than the one with the most heritage.

With Lexus, one is buying a very dependable almost synthetic vehicle complete with overboosted steering, overly done road isolation, etc....Kind of like do you wear 100% cotton dress shirts or one with permanent press (i.e., polyester) in the cotton.

Cotton vs polyester? That analogy is flawed. When it comes to factors factors other than reliability, MB vs Lexus is more like red wine vs white. Different products for different tastes or occaisions. To each his own. As you said yourself, different concepts that will appeal to different people.

It always surprises me, though, that people that fault Lexus for overboosted steering, overly done road isolation sometimes push MB rather than BMW.

lexusguy · August 2005

Jaguar had plenty of heritage in the late 80s and early 90s, but I wouldnt suggest to anyone that buying a Jag from that era is a good idea.

princeabubu · August 2005

On the topic of Jaguar, have you guys seen the next XK? Talk about a styling disaster. I think Edmunds has some official photos of the car. It looks like a goldfish.

lexusguy · August 2005

Huh? I think it looks great. Its very Astonish, which, considering its an Ian Callum car, isnt very surprising. The 4.2L AJ-V8 is a carry over, but its been bumped up 6 ponies to an even 300, which means a minimum of 400hp for the XKR. There's a new 6-speed manu-matic with paddles on the steering wheel, which means that FINALLY the J-gate shifter is gone. Jaguar says 0-60 in about 5.9 for the 8, which could mean 5 flat or maybe even faster for the R. Depends on the gearing, as Jags in the past generally arent known for tearing up the road in first gear.

lexusguy · August 2005

princeabubu · August 2005

The thing I hate about it is that the front, the side and the back look like they were designed by completely different studios. Especially the front. I think that is the worst looking part of the car. The interior on the other hand is a beauty. I guess we'll just have to disagree, because I think Jag really messed this car up. Stick some whiskers on the front and you have a blue cat fish.

sv7887 · August 2005

Hi all,
A few days back, I angrily posted about the service I got at Lexus..We sat down and went over the proposed repairs and then the mechanic took me on a test drive. It turns out the Service Consultant had needlessly added repairs to the write-up..I hope the readers here would understand the surprise I felt when I told the car needed nearly $4,000 of work! All of this after a costly 90K service only 18 months ago! So they ended up replacing the Rear Carrier Bushings (What are those?) Power Steering Rack, (Should this have broken at 96K?) Right Front Upper Control Arm, and the alternator drive belt. I paid $2,000 with a 15% discount on parts.
The car drives like it did when I first bought it..That took care of most of the annoyance I had with the dealer..I just think I caught the dealer trying to pad the bill, seeing as the Mechanic told her in front of me that half of the initial quote was wrong. At least the mechanics are honest...My annoyance is at the fact that the Service Consultants I've dealt with used to be as well...

SV

anthonyp · August 2005

SV that sounds like a nice ending....I have always been treated fairly by Lexus, and quite frankly by all of the different shops that I have purchased cars from, but Lexus the best..

On another subject , as I have been shopping around for a new car to replace the lexus , as this is the time and Lexus doesn`t have a new car coming for a year...I have tried the bmw and audi out...Both the large cars....I find the steering to be over boosted on both the car....That was a bit of a dissapointment but not earth-shattering Tony

blckislandguy · August 2005

Nice post. No disagreement.

Would you elaborate though on the white wine (presumably, Lexus) vs. red wine (MB?) analogy? You may be unintentionally offending Lexus people. White wine drinkers (typically, I know there are exceptions) have less gravitas than red wine people, white wine has less body, doesn't age well, is consumed sometimes as only a thirst quencher, etc. etc. White wine though is sure easy to order. For the appropriate ocasion, you probably can't go as wrong with it as one would with a red, etc.

oac · August 2005

Glad to hear it ended well...

syswei · August 2005

To tell the truth I'm not even a wine drinker (much less a connossieur), I was just trying to think of something not demeaning in the way that polyester is, and didn't realize that white wine people are different from red wine people.

lexusguy · August 2005

Heh. My wife likes the stuff for some reason, but yes, most real wine drinkers will turn their noses up at anything white. Personally I'm partial to Italian reds, especially Barberas, and I drive a Lexus

ljflx · August 2005

Pure red wine drinker here. Put a great porterhouse, filet or pasta (lasagna's my favorite) dish in front of me with a great pinot noir or cabernet and who cares what the heck I'm driving at that moment. Actually my favorite wine is Brunello de Montalcino.

stomp32 · August 2005

Beer and beer only here. Does this mean I'm gonna get kicked off this forum?

ljflx · August 2005

No - but Germans do make great beer. Never tasted a Japanese ale.

rgsw · August 2005

I noted at my last trip to the beer store that some of the Japanese Beer Brands are made in Canada (just like their cars).....

lexusguy · August 2005

We'll, I'd rather have Canadian beer than beer from Alabama.

sv7887 · August 2005

Hi all,
I'm currently driving a Buick LaCrosse courtesy of some senior citizen who saw it fit to rear end my 92 LS yesterday. The damage is largely superficial and I'm not really upset..I just wanted to share my impressions of this car.

It's quite competent. I don't know why people criticize the 3800 V6. It has a good torque band and is more than sufficient for most driving styles. The interior is the downfall of this car..Some of the controls seem flimsy at best. But otherwise a good first attempt.

Since when did "Old" Technology become a bad thing? I sometimes wonder why Manufacturers rush new Tech into cars that makes no sense. What is wrong with the tried and true? I bet previous generation ES300 owners ask this question when they deal with the drive by wire on the new car..I for one don't see the point of such technology. Voice activation is a nice toy, but I find it easier to just use the buttons to change CD's...

Btw they found out what was wrong with my Nav system..Apparently it was the wife and not the car..She hadn't set up MY car properly. (I think some of you recall my wife stealing my new car) She wasn't willing to accept that it was her fault, so we went for a test drive. I typed in Mass General Hospital and it went there perfectly. I was wondering how they got the location of a 194 yr old hospital wrong..Now if only I could steal my car back...

SV

lexusguy · August 2005

People criticize the 3800 V6 because, compared to say a BMW inline or Honda V6, its 3rd world crude. I'll give you the drive and brake by wire argument, I like mechanical better. Some of these electronic systems are only one or two generations old though. Give them some more time, and even electric steering could ok, provided they keep variable ratio off of it.

Other things though, like a ratty OHV V6, leaf springs, beam axles in cars and the like, should be dead. There is no excuse to use them other than cost cutting.

blckislandguy · August 2005

I think that most people couldn't tell an overhead cam from an overhead valve engine and could care less. (I'll bet that even the most readers of BMWs house organ, Roundel, couldn't tell a valve keeper from a valve spring retainer.) The problem is that the new high tech developments have significantly higher initial and ongoing maintenace costs without much benefit to the average driver. Sure, they sound nice but the average family sedan would be far better off with a cast iron American V8 or V6 derivative block with cast iron heads that won't crack when the coolant gets a bit low, solid rear axle, and one set of HVAC conrols. This vehicle would suit the average American's idea of a great maintenance schedule: throw in some Mobil1, weld the hood shut, and drive it for 10 years.

Speaking of HVAC controls, it strikes me as needlessly complex to have an automatic HVAC system, some with even dual controls (I guess the one on the right is for the "little woman" who always feels warm?). Not only are most cars occupied by only one person but most people, myself included, just turn up the heat or AC when we want a change in temp. To heck with waiting for the "controls".

anthonyp · August 2005

Unfortunately our auto industry took your advice, and gave us what we thought we wanted, and now have to try and catch up...I do agree with the problem of how to make one small area of a car appear warmer or cooler than the next right next to it. Oh well Tony

lexusguy · August 2005

You have just described the Ford Crown Victoria\Mercury Grand Marquis, almost to the letter. Its packing an ancient 4.6L V8 with a stunning 224hp, delivering an amazing 17mpg in the city! Its heavy, slow, and handles like it came from the '70s, which it pretty much did. There's none of them there new-fangled electro-bable anywhere to be found. Except... Americans dont want them. The sales numbers say that the average American wants a Toyota Camry, or a Honda Accord.

designman · September 2005

THE GOOD:
Overall I really like most of the exterior shapes and new interior. Couldnt stand the old center stack, it reminded me of an old pub urinal. Yes, Aston-like is an appropriate description. In some ways its better, particularly the shape of the butt which is delightful, and the restraint in keeping the beltline reasonably low.

THE BAD:
The shape of the front end is too simple and banal. Needs sculpting and better grille detail. The Conestoga wagon wheels look too delicate and hitchhike onto the fatuously fashionable megaphone spoke shape that we see on several of todays cars.

THE UGLY:
Striving for good design is sometimes like building a house of cards. Make one wrong move and it collapses. Go straight to the lamp treatment for the coup de grace. They are too big, shapeless and discordant. The tail lamps didnt need those widows peaks which are so out of character. The front lamps are too independent, heavy-handed, coming out of nowhere, fighting the total design. I cant picture the exact vehicle the front lamps compare with, but Tiburon comes to mind. Look at how those front lamps intrude on the wheel well, like a cleaver on a loin of pork. Heavens, what were they thinking with that detail?

_______

Now for my sophisticated review of Ljflxs favorite wine, Brunello de Montalcino drum roll

A little bit strong, but GOOD!

(Ljflx and Hpowders I do hope that rings a bell.)

;-)

ljflx · September 2005

Grape juice ! Remember - Norton gets tipsy from reading the label.

what do you think of the IS?

blckislandguy · September 2005

Lexusguy, I agree. Most Americans don't want oafish cars larded up with "Presidential Edition packages" that get poor mileage with worse reliability. But IMHO they really don't care about "high tech" advancements beyond AWD.

I suspect that if Detroit built a nimble cars with good mileage, reliability, quality interiors and AWD was optional they would have winners. One way to get the reliability would be with some basic powertrains. Rather than multi-valve heads put the money into equiping every car with a transmission cooler to extend its life another 50,000 miles. Maybe double the size of the oil filter and remote mount it if necessary to prolong engine life in the hot and cramped engine compartment. Rather than MB like electronic modules, offer a heated windsheld (like Rover and Jaguar) and seats which deliver real benefits without maintenance headaches.

Consider this: there might be fewer Volvo/Saab owners now in the US if the first Taurus and succeeding versions had a premium option that included a simple AWD system, leather seats, a decent interior and a good powertrain as an option.

Talk about poor product planning. Just as the upper middle class exploded in size, instead of calling Haldex for the AWD (you don't think Volvo developed this on their own nickel, did you?) , young Bill offered us grey mouse colored cloth seats, lousy powertrains, and strictly FWD!

lexusguy · September 2005

Well, there arent many Volvo and Saab owners anyway. I dont think they even put a tiny dent in the Taurus, especially when it came out and ruled the market. Also, few Volvos and even fewer Saabs are AWD. Most, just like the Taurus, are FWD. The two companies that really pushed for AWD in cars were, and continue to be, Audi and Subaru. Everybody else is playing catch-up with them, including Volvo and Saab.

FWD still has the same advantages that pushed everybody away from RWD in the '80s. Its still cheaper, still simpler, still more space efficient, and still lighter weight than even the most advanced AWD system. FWD isnt going anywhere. If the general public considered AWD to be a critical feature, the compact leader would be Impreza, and the midsize leader would be Legacy. It hasnt quite worked out that way. Toyota sells more FWD Camrys than Subaru does with an entire line of cars. Wether or not Fuji heavy industries could actually supply the NA market with 400,000+ Legacys is irrelevant, as nobody is asking.

What killed the Taurus (as well as Malibu, Impala, and the Chrysler LH sedans) is that Detroit left them to rot while they enjoyed a decade long love affair with SUVs. Now that gas is starting to really get expensive, they are finally realizing that essentially giving the NA car market to the Japanese on a silver platter was maybe not such a hot idea. They are trying to fix their mistake, I will give them that. But Japan is not going to just hand it back.

pablo_l · September 2005

Agree with the new Jag - it actually continues the somewhat gutless Jag design. Feels too recycled, and the new front is just way too unsophisticated, with no character at all.

As to the Brunello, the Sangiovese grape is notoriously hard to domesticate. But if you're willing to spring the money for a top Brunello (a lot, very limited supply), wow. They take age - but try a Gaja if you ever see it. Unforgettable! I am a big Barolo fan, the nebbiolo grape is not quite as complex and can be enjoyed younger without parting with $200 for a great bottle! I also enjoy good Rhone Syrahs, one can get awesome value there.

designman · September 2005

I like the new IS and think it will be successful. However I read somewhere around here that it got soft compared to the last version. This is not the first time we have seen this happen. I recently drove a Camry, the first time since my mother-in-law had a 91 Camry, a car which I very much liked because it was a small tight handler. Man that car has changed for the worse. Its now a sponge on wheels. A Ford Focus is more fun to drive.

The LF-S has grown on me. I sure hope the LS comes out something like that. IMO it is the best attempt at the future and change. It is sleek and minimal, radically and delightfully different from the 7 and new S. There is talk that the LS shouldnt have such a sporty look. If so, Id like to know why they even bothered with the concept. The thing I like about it is that it doubles as sporty looking and the futuristic large sedan. You can see the family resemblance to the IS and GS, particularly the greenhouse/rear deck relationship, but I think the LF-S pulls it off the best.

designman · September 2005

I am always amazed at wine connoisseurs. There is so much to keep up with. I could never do it. The only thing I know is that I like a dry hearty wine. I know it when I taste it but dont have a clue what to buy. I used to be up on cigars but gave them up shortly after Cigar Aficionado hit the newsstands in the early 90s when cigars suddenly became fashionable, demand spiked and quality went down. I remember someone once giving me a Cuban Upmann and throwing it out because it was obviously counterfeit.

sv7887 · September 2005

Hi All,
I'm starting to wonder whether it's time to let my 92 LS go and replace it with an ES330. Lexus and Jaguar has some good lease rates right now and I don't know whether I should take advantage of it...Having put $2K into it I know I sound like a fool..But those were safety issues, and it would be unethical to sell a car in that state...My question is, should I just cut my losses? Or am I just making something out of nothing? It has 96,000 miles and I've replaced rear shocks, Right Front Upper Control Arms, Rear Carrier Bushings, Power Steering Pump and Rack. Also, I've done the standard 90K where the Timing Belt and Water Pump.

But the issues is this..It needs two new sets of tires (Summer and Snow) Front brakes sooner or later, and I worry the alternator will quit one of these days. Counting the 2K I've already spent, it is almost breakeven when comparing it to leasing a ES330 or getting an 3 yr old XJ8..

Your thoughts?
SV

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