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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  Liked my old RX 350 Better - 2010 Lexus RX 350
  By RX owner - June 20 - 11:00 pm

  I agree with people here who say to stick with prior model of RX. We miss our comfortable seat - this one has much harder seat. My back hurts after sitting in this seat - in my previous RX I was fine. We miss arm rests, the sun glass holder, the lights by home link and the entire car to be frank. The auto lights include the brights and for us the brights go off when we need them on and the solution is to turn off auto lights totally. If you have the older RX and are considering this as an upgrade keep the old one! Lexus needs to rethink this RX and add back in what they removed. Leather quality and wood in older models was much better than the 2010.

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  Brakes do not work - 2010 Lexus ES 350
  By edah2002 - June 9 - 8:10 pm

  Brakes did not work. Was traveling at 10 mph , braked at a light and went into the car in front of me. The brakes DID NOT connect. Hitting the car in front stopped my car Lexus said it was Not their fault BE CAREFUL! Anyone have similar problem?

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  MARK LEVINSON IS WORST EVER! - 2013 Lexus ES 300h
  By mnissan - March 25 - 5:19 am

  I know this maybe hard to believe but the Lexus USA customer service is the WORST. I had to do all the follow up! The car itself is fine but the optional Mark Levinson sound system is horrible. Do NOT purchase this option!!! Please understand I have been very reasonalble with the cusotmer care reps and they dont even care. This will be the last Lexus I purchase if something is not done about the sound system.

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  50,000 and 3 sets of tires later - 2006 Lexus RX 400H
  By thebratz - January 22 - 12:23 pm

  My car is a service nightmare. Every time I bring it in they tell me I need new tires. Maintenance tells me this is standard on this model. It wont start some days and Lexus is not able to tell me what the problem is. I have never made it out the door without paying over $1,000 in repairs. It is a nice car and fun to drive but not worth the headaches of needing to be somewhere and not being able to get it started. Lexus does not seem to understand its own hybrid technology yet when problems occur.

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  Flying ole lady - 2016 Lexus RX 350
  By M Carmack - January 18 - 4:00 pm

  Like the RX but the transmission is so rough, I cant believe it is a Lexus. Like regular gas instead of high-test.comfortable in both front and back seats. Disappointed in low gas mileage. Had by 2011 RX hybrid and I liked it better.

• 

  Yawn, Yawn - 2008 Lexus RX 350
  By jimbo - January 12 - 4:40 pm

  For the past 9 years I have had an ML320 and was persuaded to trade it on a new Lexus. So I get the RX 350 and all I can say about it is that the fit and finish are great. For the rated horsepower it seems to underperform. I was used to a car that was much heavier with a lower horsepower rating that outperformed this dog. All I can say about the handling is that it reminds me of an old man car like the old Buick LaSabre. Very boring and no feel of the road. If you own an M Class hold on to it and treasure it.

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  Not totally happy - 2007 Lexus ES 350
  By frostyr - January 2 - 2:20 am

  I feel that the car is good but not great. The seats are not very comfortable, the stereo does not sound very good and the voice recognition does not work well. My main complaint is that there is a rattle or creaking from the dashboard. On the plus side, the car has great forward visibility and gets great mileage.

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  Not a car, but rather poorly integrated collection of features - 2014 Lexus ES 350
  By mentin - November 10 - 9:52 am

  My wife moved from Infiniti G20 to Lexus ES 350. While the new car is definitely an upgrade in some dimensions, where G20 from the very start felt like well designed car that does everything exactly as you want it to do, ES feels like a poorly integrated list of features - kind of the way (bad) software was done and advertised in nineties. Up to the point that when the rest of the car moved from daylight saving time, the navigation is still on summer time. There are tons of features in this car, but when you actually start to use them, you find out they are garbage.

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  yep - 2001 Lexus RX 300
  By dfksj - November 7 - 10:00 am

  this is a very nice vehicle. im thinking about buying the new 330 series. Maybe next year or the year after, even decent milage !!!

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  Needs a better design. - 2010 Lexus HS 250H
  By JRS-CSC - October 9 - 6:56 pm

  Nice car but for my money, I wish I would have looked around. The car is a pleasure to drive but I would not call it a Lexus. Reminds me of a Corolla from the outside. When i first approached the car, I thought that it was a Corolla. The best part of the car seems to be the inside. There is NO WAY that this car is worth the $40K sticker that Lexus is asking for.