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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  Why buy a fancy camry? - 2003 Lexus IS 300
  By robcrowley - May 4 - 10:00 am

  nothing really thrilling about the eshift automatic. This car is loaded yes but the automatic is so boring to drive and the handling is ok but not all that - rear wheel sucks who cares. after 2 mos I am buying a Saab 9-3 Arc. thankfully with the dealer incents I am not losing my shirt on the lexus. Make sure you test drive Saabs, Audis etc This is really a revved up camry and I am not so happy. oh yeah and after 20K of boring drivng youll have to cough up over a grand for the new tires you need. Also the service coverage ends with the first oil change so get out your $$

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  Daily annoyances - 2000 Lexus RX 300
  By LuvMyAcura - April 29 - 10:00 am

  Whats up with the turning radius? I moved down from a larger SUV hoping to avoid the parking spot tango, only to be stuck with it for another 3 years! I also expected better gas mileage, particularly since it had little to no pickup. The factory cut my carpet too small; Nakamichi audio system sometimes didnt work; piece of trim on the back door continuously popped off; $600 ozone filter replacement at 30,000 miles; parking brake light comes on at 36,000 miles, leading you to believe youre driving with your parking brake on. No, just reminding you to check your brakes! Overall, I was thoroughly unimpressed with the quality of this vehicle.

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  F-Sport not comfortable - 2012 Lexus CT 200H
  By scott261 - April 21 - 3:26 am

  I want to begin my review by saying the ct200h f sport is a good car, but it is not comfortable, especially if you drive long distances. Stay away from the F-sport. The bucket seat design offers no support, despite the built in lumbar support. And once I highlighted the problem I have had very poor support from Lexus themselves, giving me contradicting information. I have had a physio and an occupational health advisor state the seat is causing my back problems, and had no prior problems with Audi, bmw, Ford or Peugeot. All cars I drove long distance. I had no problems with the seat of the regular ct200h, Im curious to know if anyone else has had problems with the f-sport??

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  Rattle X300 - 1999 Lexus RX 300
  By Howrock - April 9 - 10:00 am

  What a disappointment this vehicle is. Ive had issues with the climate control system, rear wiper, sun roof, door handles, luggage rack, outdoor temp gage, cruise control, and alarm system. But the worst of it is the rattling glove box. Ive been to the dealer no less than 10 times trying to have this problem fixed. The dealership has been very nice to deal with and they try real hard, but somewhere along the way they keep forgetting to fix the car.

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  Just plain ugly - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Rsw1 - April 9 - 7:01 am

  I test drove this SUV among other (MB, BMW and even the Grand Cherokee) . No issues with it whatsoever save one very big problem. Its plain old ugly any way you cut it. The front end reminds me of a bass (fish), or a catfish. So why did I bother?, because my sister just bought a MB. She was always a Lexus SUV owner. After listening to her complaints about the new "look", I thought how bad can it be? Yep, that bad. No disrespect, but when I now see these out on the road, I want to ask the owner, "did you actually look at this beast before you bought it?". Each to its own though, one mans trash is another mans art. Just not for me. Lexus really screwed up on this one. To think theyre losing loyal owners to the "fish mouth" front end is disturbing.

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  A Bit Disappointed - 2017 Lexus RX 350
  By Stephen Martin - March 29 - 11:45 am

  Ive been driving German cars for a number of years, so Im definitely used to a different feel behind the wheel and I had different expectations when I leased the Lexus. The Lexus drivers seat does not fit my seat. I feel like Im always sitting on the left side bolster. I dont like the way the car corners/handles; does not give me the feeling its on rails. The throttle response is not acceptable to me. There are 8 forward gears and it seems like the car is always searching for the correct gear. This is particularly noticeable when on cruise control. I am continually lurching forward as the car shifts through the top gears, even on gradual and barely noticeable inclines; its uncomfortable and annoying. When stepping on the gas the car hesitates, again, as though searching for the correct gear or as if asking me if I know what Im doing. I believe the car is always trying to find the most economical performance and when I ask it to do something outside of its programmed economy matrix it talks back to me. Ive used the radar cruise control only twice, because thats enough of that. I also find the technology to be too much for this old brain to assimilate. My learning curve has been challenging: Ive had the car for a month and have yet to scratch the surface of, much less master, navigation commands, climate controls, even the radio, et al. I dont need or want this much incidental stuff. Perhaps Ill get used to the car over time. I hope so.

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  Big Ticket Repairs - 2006 Lexus RX 400H
  By michele55 - March 12 - 10:47 am

  Last year while far from home my RX400h stopped dead on the highway. After having it towed 145 miles and losing 3 days of vacation, Lexus replaced the computer to the hybrid system. The car was under warranty so other than a LOT of hassle, it only cost me $150 not $10,000+. Two weeks ago, I was driving in town and my car died again. Luckily I was able to get the car over to the side of the road--all the systems died. After about a week of trying to figure out what was wrong, Lexus determined it was the inverter and gratefully, even though out of warranty, the dealership replaced the part ($10K+) for free (98K miles on my Rx). My gas mileage has never been much more than 24-25mpg.

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  Big problems at 89,000 but loved my little RX300 - 2001 Lexus RX 300
  By milomadison - March 11 - 12:39 am

  I loved this car and miss it but it wasnt worth the problems we ended up having at only 87,000 miles. Especially after paying what we did. Transmission issues a known problem I see now. We bought it used in 2005 with only 41k miles on it from a Lexus dealer in CA and it was certified (which means nothing). We loved it until this year, the transmission went out, which Lexus agreed to put in a refurbished tranny and we had to pay the labor $1500.00. Then the battery went and then we started having lights go on, the traction control light would not go off, then the driver window would get stuck! You would think a higher end car would be built better!

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  Made a mistake - 2006 Lexus GX 470
  By NeverAGAIN - March 2 - 8:33 pm

  It kills me to admit I made a mistake purchasing this vehicle. Every complaint I read previously about the vehicle manifested with my new GX 470. Less than 1K miles and I kept experiencing grinding brakes and "the clunk". The clunk is a noise it makes after stopping. It causes the car to shift slighltly forward and feels as if someone tapped the bumper. When I showed the dealer a TSB report they were forced to fix it.

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  Not so quiet ride! - 2016 Lexus RX 450h
  By Marcos Villarreal - February 26 - 9:26 am

  Great luxury interiors Not enough sound suppression for road noise in cabin despite $55K plus price ticket Exterior front way too exaggerated design robs class to the vehicle