Why Is A Lexus Is The Ideal Used Luxury car?
Lexus makes the most reliable luxury cars, and everyone knows that. Their cars are literally bulletproof mainly because they’re made by Toyota who arguably makes the most reliable cars ever. Lexus takes real pride in making its cars hence why they are just so reliable and last so many years.
Back in the day, it was Mercedes who made reliable luxury cars. Many old E-Class, SL-Class, and S-Class models still run perfectly today. In fact, many old ex-German taxi E-Class models were shipped out to Africa to be used as taxis and everyday cars. Those cars have over half a million miles usually, yet they work perfectly. A modern E-Class could never last ten years without a fault.
Lexus has been making cars since 1989. It all started with the LS400 which was made to be the “best car in the world” according to Toyota. Why did Toyota start making luxury cars though? Well, in the late 1980s Japanese export taxes made exporting cars more and more expensive. The profit margins for cheaper cars decreased, and many Japanese manufacturers had factories already in their target countries making cheaper cars. Toyota realized that luxury cars were a way forwards as they would still retain the high-profit margins in this new tax scheme.
In order for this to work, Toyota had to match the quality of the Americans (quite an easy task) and the Germans (a lot harder). Toyota wanted to make the best car in the world, so they took real care and attention when building the LS400. Just take one look at it and you realize it’s everything you want a luxury sedan to be. It’s big, comfortable, full of technology and it is a very classy car. We can only assume that Toyota took a lot of inspiration from both American and German luxury sedans, combined all that together to make a better car.
Build quality for the LS400 was extremely high too. Mercedes were at their peak with overengineered cars, Therefore, if Toyota wanted to really impress the world with their new luxury car, they had to be on par with or beat Mercedes. The LS400 was different from the current S-Class, as in it was a lot more modern and different. It felt reliable and well-built. It was also far more discreet which was a bonus.
Fast forward to 2021, and Lexus is now 32 years old. They have a large lineup of cars and still make cars the same way they used to in 1989. Lexus has had a lucky head start since when they started, they had a large money pot from Toyota. This is something Hyundai or Kia has never had, hence why in the early years their cars were called “econoboxes.” Lexus has been building high-quality cars from day one therefore, they’ve always had a top-flight reputation.
So, should you buy a used Lexus? Well, let’s take a look.
Get a Luxury Car Without Luxury Reliability
Luxury cars usually have subpar reliability. BMW’s are known for their issues, so are Jaguar’s, Audi’s, Cadillac’s, Bentley’s, etc. even Mercedes nowadays isn’t that reliable. Lexus though, they’ve always been known for reliability. When you buy a used BMW, people will advise you to get a warranty, just in case anything goes wrong.
Your local mechanic will tell you just how bad Jaguar or Range Rover cars are. Then forums will tell you how “Mercedes don’t build them like they used to anymore.” Then comes Audi, and you just need to watch the news for that one.
The one luxury car brand that always gets praise for reliability is Lexus. This has been going on for decades now, everyone knows Lexus makes quite possibly the most reliable cars. In the used car world, luxury and reliability don’t go hand in hand unless it’s a Lexus.
Lexus may make less interesting cars than Mercedes, Jaguar, or BMW but for most people, this shouldn’t matter. Lexus cars have everything you could possibly desire and we guarantee that on most used Lexus models most of the electronics work in tip-top order. Modern Lexus cars don’t have as many toys as the German equivalent cars. However, that comes at a positive as it is fewer things to go wrong. It also means a more simple, easy-to-use interface which is great for old people.
With a Lexus, you get the same levels (or even higher) as a Mercedes, BMW, Audi, or Jaguar. It has always been that way. But what separates them from those brands is reliability. A lot of the parts on Lexus cars are from Toyota’s so they are cheap to replace. The engines are all Toyota-made too, so again cheap to repair and there are a lot of specialists out there who can maintain, repair, and service your Lexus for far less money.
A Lexus is a luxury Toyota, and that’s not a bad thing. It just means they will work continuously into the future.
They’re Not Too Over The Top
Having a car with all the bells and whistles is great until it all goes wrong. The German cars these days are packed with so much technology, that some start to get faults even when they are relatively new. Now, I’m not trying to sound like Scotty Kilmer here but do you really need all that technology? Or is it just going to be a pain and cause you many problems?
Most Lexus cars have the technology you need. However, they’re not over the top with it. In a new LS model, you have a sat-nav, radio, CarPlay, heated/cooled seats, massager, etc. That’s everything you need in a luxury car. It doesn’t have a separate display for the climate control system or a digital driver’s display where you can look at the sat-nav or different dials, etc.
What the LS has are a lot of buttons and a traditional driver’s display. It doesn’t show you the nav map or anything like that. Why? Because people don’t really need that. It’s just something that will go wrong in the future and then be stupidly expensive to fix. Lexus is not a brand that follows the trend. They know what people want and don’t want. In some cases, sales may be less but check this.
Lexus cars don’t depreciate as badly as their rivals. This is because they’re far more reliable, easier to insure, and getting a warranty on them is cheaper. In fact, you could quite easily run a Lexus without a warranty quite comfortably. The key reason why most other luxury cars depreciate is because of maintenance woes. The fear that the car could break and cause sky-high repair bills.
One of the most reliable Lexus cars is the ES. It’s not a fun car, but if you want to get from A to B in refinement, quality, and luxury without worrying about your car breaking down all of a sudden, then that’s the car for you. Do hundreds of thousands of miles no problem at all.
Featured image credits via: motoringbiscuit.com