Lexus Rejoice

When companies shop for executive cars there tends to be two default choices -  Mercedes Benz or BMW, as if only German cars carry that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that best portrays your company’s image.

 
Okay, you can be forgiven for giving Fiat and Daihatsu a miss (though they are a lot better these days), and though Korean cars have made great strides, they do still lack the panache and precision that show off your company in the best light. Your employees wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to the core of their beings either. In fact, that may be insult enough for them to quit without prior notice.

  
If you want to stand out from the herd and make your employees feel not only valued, but even happy to sit in traffic because they love their company car almost as much as their wives, there are alternatives to consider. The Lexus IS250 is one of them.

Grand Ideas

Lexus began life less than 20 years ago as Toyota’s luxury brand division, initially exported only to the US (Rumour still has it that the name is a re-jumble of “Luxury Export US”). There it has become an enormously popular brand, rated by one top consumer ratings firm, J.D. Power, as the most reliable brand in America for the last 15 years running. It is now sold in 68 countries, including Germany.

  
All too aware that their competition was very stiff, from its inception Lexus didn’t monkey about, spending more than a billion dollars in development. It also championed a company culture of obsessive perfectionism and provides after-sales service surpassed only by such brands as Rolls Royce and Maybach (service centres with onsite cafes with putting greens, free net access, that sort of thing).

The marque has focused primarily on producing big powerful Benz-like sedans that can accommodate a huge family. Oddly enough, they tend to be driven by old guys sporting fedoras, with the back seats remaining untouched by human backsides giving Lexus something of a stodgy, if bulletproof, image.

More recently, they have produced a line of more overtly sporty cars in an attempt to face down BMW and Audi, with the IS series leading the way on the ground. The IS250 is the entry level model here.

Rising Sun

So how does it drive? It starts off wonderfully. Keyless entry that senses your approach, you leave the key in your pocket and push the large starter button. The engine burbles into life, the dash dials light up and dance for you, and your seats, mirrors and steering column all adjust to the proper settings, clearly stating that this is an intelligent but subservient transportation device - very Japanese. You half expect it to perform a traditional tea ceremony before setting off.

The driving experience is not quite Mercedes Benz and not quite BMW. While Benz sedans tend to offer the comfortable ride first and the handling second (albeit very good handling), and BMW puts the handling first and comfort second, the IS250 seems to go for equal measure. Some purists claim that this approach lacks focus, but like a lot of purists, they are wrong.

They have grown so used to those two brands serving as the benchmark over the last several decades that they believe every other vehicle must either emulate or be cast into purist Hades. Why should it be wrong to find another approach and perhaps create a new paradigm?

The Lexus is silent as a tomb – quieter than both the German brands according to tests. The only downside of this is that the 204 horsepower engine produces a nice throaty roar when you plant the pedal, but you can only hear a hint of it. They really should mic it up and allow you to put it through the Mark Levinson sound system so you can select your volume.

Hot to Handle

The handling is playful, with eager, sharp (but lacking a tad in road feel) electric assist steering and the essential rear wheel drive that lets you fishtail around bends if you have the nerve. It feels young and urges you to feel that way too – leave your fedora at home.

But watch out at higher, more illegal speeds because the Lexus doesn’t always feel so well tied down – not that it feels insecure, but it isn’t a leisurely easy autobahn cruise. You have to pay attention. And yet, it is very much a luxury car – you feel insulated from the world and the nastier bits of the road. 

The six-cylinder 2.5 litre engine is smooth and creamy but likes to rev. It pulls nicely, with 0-100 arriving in just over eight seconds – not facelift fast, but more than enough to put a maniacal smile on your face and make you laugh like Count Dracula. Once you override the six-speed automatic transmission and engage the crispy paddle shifters you never go back – or at least not until after your next visit to the petrol station. With this car, performance definitely has a price tag.

Safety features include front knee and abdomen airbags with main and curtain airbags for the passengers, traction control (which you will probably keep turned off most of the time), and the three levels of braking – assist, anti-lock, and brake force distribution. Go on, drive it into a brick wall and walk away laughing (as long as you are comprehensively insured).

Muscling In

So the Lexus IS250 is fun, it looks good from the outside and even better on the inside. It is extremely well built, and strikes a nice balance between performance and comfort. There is little to complain about.

At THB 3.5m, it is priced pretty competitively with its German counterparts the 320i Coupé (at THB 2.8m, but considerably slower, and the more comparable 325i Coupé costs nearly THB 5m), and the Merc C230 Avantgarde with nearly identical price and horsepower. Though we don’t wish to cast aspersions on local assembly, the Lexus is built in Japan, unlike the German brands that are screwed together in Thailand. That, plus it is packed with standard goodies that can cost extra in the Teutonic comparables. You get a fully loaded, admirable vehicle that doesn’t meet a doppelganger at every red light. Well worth a second or even third look.

  
It must be said, however, that at this point BMW and Benz still have a much better resale value. In terms of quality they shouldn’t, since the Lexus is probably more bulletproof than the other two, but brand awareness, ‘face’, prestige, street cred – popular fallacies basically that play a big part in resale value - will continue to keep the secondhand price of Lexus lower than it should be until Thailand wakes up to the marque’s excellent quality. Hmmm… perhaps you might consider a used Lexus?  

Lexus has had a limited dealer network outwith Bangkok and the obvious question is what happens when something goes wrong if you are out of the city. Can you get your car serviced in Chiang Mai or do you have to take the car to Bangkok? Can Toyota dealers pick up the slack? Director asked Lexus what we could do.

“Lexus Thailand has been aware of this limitation and inconvenience for our customers living upcountry. Thus, we have recently launched ‘Lexus Service Corner’ which provides maintenance and light repair work for Lexus vehicles at select Toyota dealers in 5 major provinces: Surat Thani, Phuket, Ubol Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, and Chiang Mai. You can expect the same level of service at these Lexus service corners as normal Lexus dealers, with exclusive work bays and personnel. We are currently rolling out this project, starting with Phuket, and expect all Lexus service corners to be fully operational by April 2009.”