Overview & Reviews

Lexus has earned a well-deserved reputation for turning out utterly refined luxury vehicles. The hallmarks of this brand are a quiet, well-crafted cabin, a plush ride and commendable performance from powerful, nearly silent engines.

Lexus began out of a desire by parent company Toyota to create a world-class luxury car brand. Groundwork for Lexus was laid in the mid-1980s, when the company began tapping U.S. focus groups in an attempt to define design concepts best suited for American consumers. Hundreds of prototypes were built and tested on Germany's autobahn and on U.S. roads.

In early 1989, the company unveiled its first two models (which would debut for the 1990 model year) -- the entry-level ES 250 sedan and the flagship LS 400 sedan. The LS 400 was lauded by both journalists and consumers alike for offering a stellar luxury-car experience, with a remarkably silent cabin, superb build quality and a refined V8 engine. At the same time, the LS was priced considerably lower than smaller, lesser-equipped, six-cylinder European rival luxury sedans.

By the early 1990s, the Lexus brand was expanded to other markets, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. More models were added to the lineup, including the SC 300 and SC 400 coupes and the brand's first luxury performance sedan, the GS 300. By decade's end, the company had added SUVs (in the form of the LX 450/LX 470 and RX 300) and had sold more than a million vehicles in the U.S.

The first decade of the 2000s saw Lexus proving itself a trend setter with the launch of many hybrid-powered versions of its vehicles such as the RX 400h and the GS 450h. And by 2011, Lexus even introduced a world-class supercar, the LFA.

In the years since its inception, the Lexus brand has distinguished itself time and again in quality and reliability surveys. The brand's vehicles may not offer as much passion as some Teutonic rivals, but for drivers interested in vehicles that emphasize quality, dependability and comfort, the Lexus marque is hard to beat.

User Reviews:

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  Stellar Commuter / Superb Highway Cruiser - 1998 Lexus LS 400
  By Charlie - June 29 - 9:30 am

  Wow! What a pinnacle of design coming from before the year 2000! Buying a used ls400 for less than $20k must be the best way to get such a refined ride without paying four/five times that for something new that will be comparable. I bought mine for $14k with low miles and it is the best vehicle I have ever purchased to date. Everything about it is so great! I studied engineering and when I found out about how many engineers and designers went into building this and for how long the design process took plus the incredible budget it had, I instantly knew this car would really be something else and boy was I right. This isnt something that was put together in under a year with newly graduated engineering students to turn a quick buck. Everything about this vehicle really shows the design process, thought, and effort that went into making it to final production. I could go on about the history but there are many articles that you can find about it. I will now just write about my experience in owning it. The first thing that I noticed was how quiet the cabin is when I shut the door. Instantly I was sheltered from the outside world. The stillness and calmness of my surroundings was the only thing present. I knew this was going to be one comfortable ride from there on out. When I started the car for the first time, the start was strong, confident, and fast in turning the engine over. The 4.0 V8 came to life and the tales are true. It is a very balanced engine. I couldnt tell that the engine was running after the initial start up. The car I bought was well taken car of. The man before me was 72 years old in 1998 when he bought his LS400. I knew I wouldnt have issues with this vehicle. I have never driven a v8 and only been in trucks that had a v8 or sports cars as a passenger. This v8 was just different. Tuned for comfort, its incredible how smooth the acceleration is and competent this engine is at getting the whole car moving. I was instantly hooked! I dont want to go to v6s anymore after this. The transmission is impeccable in its timing to shift. I can only tell when it shifts from first to second but only barely. After that, its a mystery when the engine gets to its fifth speed. I had to google the specs to know when it shifts. Its that smooth! With close to 300 horsepower, you can get up to speed in a couple of heartbeats. Perfect for keeping up with modern vehicles and drivers who act like the highway is some kind of race track. No issues speeding up to merge. The brakes do a phenomenal job at doing the inverse. Actually, I had to slam on them when a car cut me off at an intersection yesterday and they did their job at erasing my speed and preventing a crash. I am thankful that the braking performance was that good. I am a fan of large capacity fuel tanks and this v8 sips on gas. I was a little nervous of going down in fuel efficiency especially from a car from the 90s but regular driving I am hitting at least 21 MPG combined. Which is the same as my last SUV from the mid 2000s with a v6. This is a perfectly acceptable efficiency for me. On the highway, I have seen almost 25mpg which is still pretty great. I live in a very mountainous state so I expect the MPGs to be closer to 30mpg on a flat stretch of road. Coupled with 22.5 gallon tank, yeah you can go far! This is great for peace of mind when travelling in smaller highways when gas stations are far from each other. Yes it is premium so the price is steeper but hot dang, i dont mind. If it was 15mpg like my truck, I would reconsider this truck but with a range over 400 miles its not too tough of a bite to swallow. The suspension is articulate in controlling the vehicle and absorbing the imperfections of the road. Going over speed bumps you can feel the suspension swallow the force of the vehicle going up and down. It is like riding on a cloud. My coworker saw me drive and could see the vehicle floating on its tires. With the tires it has and the suspension, this is a supremely vibration free ride. Going back to the interior, I really enjoy how thoughtfully placed all the central controls are. Everything just makes sense! The placement must have taken several design sessions to get just right and they did the job. Everything is grouped in priority and relevance to each other. No funky controls cluttering up the dash. The steering wheel is polite and will move out of its way when you are trying to exit and will position itself when you insert the key getting ready to drive. The seats are highly adjustable and will remember their settings once trained. Going into reverse, the side view mirror shifts down so you can make sure your parking job is perfect each and every time. The trim and material selection is top tier and nothing rattles around. It gives the feeling that this vehicle was well put together. The cabin is solid and insulated. The seats are comfortable and the leather is soft and supple. There is plenty of space on the horizontal front but vertically things get limited. I am 5'10" and have just a couple of inches of headroom. I can't wear my cowboy hat while driving. A bummer for sure but no big deal. I sit really straight up anyways and if I inclined a little I could save a couple of inches. Taller people might struggle more. That is the only really negative of the interior. It does have cavernous leg space however which allows you to spread out gratuitously. The exterior design is classic and timeless. I have already gotten countless complements from friends, coworkers, family, and even strangers (one driver rolled down his windows, nodded and gave me the a-okay sign with his hand). I did buy a vehicle with impeccable paint with no scratches or anything signing that it has aged outside. It is a beautifully designed car and quite the sight to see when driving around, you just dont see many of these anymore in the condition mine is. I can see why BMW and Mercedes started to sweat with the release of this vehicle. An gorgeous design from Japan. The germans werent the only ones capable of making a work of art. So far this vehicle has been a joy to use. It has become my new daily and that was the reason why I chose this. I realized that I am going to spend a large number of hours in this vehicle living my daily life and decided that I needed something that would spoil me during those hours with comfort. I wasnt interested in paying close to a mortgage payment for a new luxury car so new it was and a used LS400 in great shape might command a premium but it is still vastly under the price of new. That was all the justification I needed to look for a show room condition LS400 and to pay that much. I paid $14k, the price of an modern entry level domestic hunk of junk. I fully expect this vehicle to drive me at least a decade, and more probably, and for that price, it cant be beat! If you have the chance to find one in great condition with low miles like myself, please do yourself a favor and jump on it! You wont find those any more in the coming years....

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  17 year old with 40,000 miles - 2004 Lexus SC 430
  By Pete Giambalvo - January 11 - 5:57 pm

  Just purchased an '04 SC430 in Oregon with 41,000 miles on it. Where it has been for 17 years baffles me. The car looks and runs like new, just a few wear details. It replaced an '02 SC430 that was totaled. I loved the SC430 so much, I didn't want any other car.

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  This has been a great car! - 2004 Lexus RX 330
  By Liz C - October 4 - 10:20 am

  I bought this used in 2015 with 125K miles on it. Previous owner took very good care of it. It now has 175k miles on it. I am looking at a repair now for a transfer case leak, and this will be my first major repair. I should tell you that club Lexus has been a great resource for information. My daughter cracked the vinyl on the passenger dash by riding with her feet on the dash. Contacted Lexus and they replaced the dash for FREE - a $1500 repair. Said that they didn't want their cars seen with cracked dashes. This was in 2018 well past orig 10 year warranty. That really impressed me. I expect to drive this car to 250k at least. My only regret is that the 2004 did not come with Bluetooth for you phone - that did not come until 2005.

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  Luv it all but the tires ! - 2005 Lexus SC 430
  By Mark - January 1 - 6:28 pm

  Walk around it, climb inside it, and then put the top down . YOURE HOOKED ! But then the run-flat tires ruin everything. Couldnt wait to get rid of them...and now its PERFECT !

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  Smooth and reliable - 2001 Lexus LS 430
  By Chad - November 19 - 9:10 pm

  I have owned my 2001 LS430 for 2 years. Not one one complaint. I cant believe how perfect it is after 19 years. No leaks, and drives better than much newer cars.

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  Precision Machine - 2005 Lexus SC 430
  By Greg Hamilton - November 12 - 3:56 pm

  I like many others have had the muscle cars and the European Sports cars, but I can tell you that this is the absolutely the most fun car to drive ever. Top up driving is quiet and luxurious while you cruise along the road with the Mark Levinson sound system surrounding you with pure crisp top quality sound. With the top down it is an experience you will never forget. Cruising down the highway at 70 mph, listening to a sound system that is as clear with the top down as it is with it up. The ride is like floating on a cloud. I wish they still made the SC430 so that i could get a new one,,but I will hang on to my 2005 at long as i can. Best car ever{{{

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  Wonderful Car--But Now Have Mysterious Sound System Issue - 2013 Lexus ES 350
  By ROBERT GOYETTE - June 28 - 1:27 pm

  Great car, smooth quiet ride, best car I have owned. Recently was in accident where I backed out of my driveway too quickly and backed into an immovable utility truck parked on street. Very foolish, my fault. Rear bumper and passenger side fender crunched. Private, very reliable body shop did work, beautiful outcome. Now Sound system is on sometimes, off sometimes. Excellent sound system. Understand amplifier is underneath drivers seat on this model year. Am driving myself and body shop crazy as sometimes sound is OK, then it is not OK. Moved the seat around to different positions, no effect. Sound system was OK this a.m., went to worked, parked, and when returned in p.m., sound system did not work. Stopped at pharmacy on way home, picked up an item, returned and sound system now works again. Anyone have any ideas on this?

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  Lexus LS400, the perfect budget luxury car. - 1999 Lexus LS 400
  By Will - August 9 - 1:38 am

  The Lexus ls400 was the car that paved the way for the Japanese luxury car industry. And it was for a good reason. The car took over four years to develop since its start in 1985, and cost over a billion dollars to engineer at the time which is equivalent to well over 2 billion dollars today. It was the first car ever to sport GPS navigation in 1992. It was among the first vehicles to have a telescopic steering wheel with an airbag in 1990. Over the years, the LS400 just keep getting better. It went through 4 generations until 1998, when the final ls400 model was produced. In my humble opinion, the last generation of the ls400 was the best Lexus ever made in terms of overall quality and performance. It’s the perfect balance of quality and reliability. It has good power, and with the same amount of horsepower as its heavier older brother, can hit 60 mph in under six seconds. This might not sound like much, but it feels faster considering how torquey it is. The sport mode button raises the shift rates, and since the last generation has variable valve timing, the power feels very gradual, until it kicks in. It feels a lot livelier than its older brother, the ls430. This isn’t to say that the ls400 isn’t a luxury car to the core. It’s still heavy, torquey, smooth and refined. It has power, but it feels just so effortless, and gradual. The low range feels torquey enough to cruise everywhere at half throttle to save gas. The acceleration isn’t the only thing that feels effortless. The transmission shifts effortlessly and cruises effortlessly on the highway at around 2000 rpms. In fact, it’s geared so that in the fifth gear (that’s added to the 1998 model as well), it is able to hit 156 miles per hour. The steering feel is effortless. It isn’t direct like a newer car, it feels numb in the center, but it is very capable. The Akebono 4 piston calipers in the front of the newer model provide more braking power than the car would ever need, and it does so smoothly with a somewhat soft but responsive brake pedal. The suspension rides very smoothly. I’ve ridden in a 2004 Mercedes s class, and it honestly was on par. The cabin is so quiet that you can’t hear the motor run. The ls400 isn’t the type of car you buy for looks. I’m not saying it’s an ugly car, but it could be mistaken for a 90s Camry from someone who isn’t aware of what an ls400 is. The facelift model looks a little better in the front with its self-leveling HID headlights but when you get around to the rear, it looks like a 1992 accord again. The interior makes up for it though. There are cool features here and there that are just impressive for a car that was designed in the 80s. Even the early models had power headrests, lumbar support, and power mirrors. Most of them came with a beautiful wide electric sunroof that rolls open with the rest of the windows at the push of a button as an air out feature. The sunroof and the rear ashtrays make it the perfect hotbox car if you’re into that sort of thing. Whether you end up with the pioneer or the nakamichi stereo, the stock system is amazing for something that came out of the 90s. There’s a built-in amp and subwoofer along with a 6-cd changer in the dash. The cup holders work beautifully and the rear seats are so plush, it’s practically a sofa back there. If you haven’t driven a Lexus LS400, you should. I believe that the LS400 is truly Toyota at its very best, at least for the North American market. You’ll be pleasantly surprised. As soon as you get in it, it will make you think “Wow, this is a ‘90s car?”. Even more so when you start to drive it around. It’s so effortless and pleasant to drive. How can you not want one when you can find even a last generation that has been driven by an old guy for under 5 grand in amazing shape? With their build quality, it’s not uncommon to see them drive over 300 thousand miles if well maintained. Matt Farrah even drove one a million miles.

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  Perfection - 2002 Lexus SC 430
  By Pete Birks Leicester, UK - January 16 - 4:45 pm

  Bought my sc430 two months ago. Returned from a hospital appointment to find some *****had crashed into the wing. Would you believe the insurance company are writing it off as too expensive to repair. What idiots throwing away a Picasso because the frame has a tend in it. The great news is I will soon have a payout from them and can go searching for another. Sadly here in the U.K they are a rare beast only a couple of thousand registered. Maybe I should move to California where sc430 are obviously truly appreciated

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  Shake, Rattle and Throw Up - 2012 Lexus GX 460
  By Leo Mickey - March 30 - 10:39 pm

  I owned a 2008 LS460 and loved it, no complaints. I decided to try for an Lexus GS460 SUV because of commuting and concern of snow/weather. I have owned this car for 6 months now and I cant get use to the terrible bumpy ride. I love the look inside and out, I love the fact that its high and I can see better, it has great pick up, but the ride I cant get use to. Sometimes when you go over certain bumps in the road the hole rear shifts and the car shakes and I feel in my gut. Ive taken the car to the dealer and we took a test drive but they said this is normal for an SUV. Hopefully, I can get use to it and not throw up in the process.