So I have to ask, with the LX/LandCruiser and the GX/4Runner (4th Gen) why was the 3rd Gen never Lexus worthy? Was it the lack of a V8? The sub-par luxury cruising ability? The fact it's built on a truck chassis?

 

probably the fact that lexus was busy piggybacking and rebadging when it came to trucks, and a rebadged 3rd gen just wouldnt fly. its trucky, moreso than the 4th gen, and its also utilitarian in design.. not too many frills beyond things like auto climate and leather.

lexus has become its own brand in the last 4 years or so.. they do far less piggybacking than they used to... (ie lc/lx)

anyway, thats just a guess.

 

All Lexus' are piggybacked... right? Highland/RX ES300/Camry.. Well I think Camry chassis is used for nearly ALL other Lexus'.

 

rx came before highlander. es is pretty much a piggyback yes, but not direct rebadger which is more what i meant.

 

I gotta give Lexus credit.. they did an awesome job on the GX470. It's so luxurious in there, and since a loaded V8 4Runner w/ NAV costs over $40k the Lexus isn't that overly priced. I paid $60k for my LandCruiser brand new, If I had bought the GX I'd probably still have it since it would have been about 8-10k less.

The LX price in the mid 70's is crazy, it's not that much different than the LC. They don't put the HID's on the LC because they're already so close in options.

 

I hate luxurious trucks

 

So don't buy one! I have a great urge to offroad an $80K SUV, otherwise I agree.

I'm glad the 3rd gen never got rebadged to a Lexus. If it had, there would be a lot more grandma, grandpa, soccer mom drivers in them!

I think Lexus has been brilliant. They went from nothing to the #1 luxury brand in 10 years! They got little help from GM going on strike in the 90s, but they've maintained the #1 ranking over the years. They also pretty much invented the RX330 style SUV that eveybody has now.

 

yup, rx300 was the first suv of the year for MT. they made an award for it since it was so different and defined a new kind of suv.

 

Dude---you paid $60k for a Landcruiser? You should be in the "aint no way I'm taking this thing off road, cause it is a sweet rig and I don't want mud in my interior" group! Are you modifying that rig? If so, we'd love to see pictures. You know I'm just speaking out of jealosy...those new cruisers are SAHWEEEEET!! So what the hell are you doing checking out the activities of a bunch of yay hoos like us?

 

where i'm from, there are so many daggum soccer moms, cheerleaders, sorority girls, and others driving 4Runners, it's refreshing to see a 2nd gen. They all drive 3rd gen, silver 4Runners, with 2wheel drive. it's kinda weird though, you can tell when it's a guy's 3rd gen, because they all seem to be black or green around here...

 

Maybe older people would apply more to the "if" part but there's plenty of Soccer Mom 4Runner drivers out there anyway especially it seems in SW metro Denver;those "biotches" are all over.
Us off-road Runner owners are still the minority and will always be and I kinda like that.

 

How dya figger? They used to have one "piggyback" (LX 450=fancy Landcruiser) and one more or less "Lexus-only." (RX300=RAV4=Camry platform) Really I'd call them both piggybackers.

Now they have 2 piggybackers Lx470= fancy Landcruiser, GX470=fancy 4Runner) and one "Lexus-only" (RX330 has evolved into its own.) The RX400H is a 330.

I think the answer is they had it covered with the small and large models, but as SUV sales continued to go nuts they wanted more of the market so they finally did the 4Runner too. Nothing to do with second or 3rd gen, just timing. Wonder if they intend to do a Lexus pickup a la Lincoln and Cadillac pickups? :pat:

 

Just look at it, does it look like a Lexus?

 

In the Land of the Rising Sun, Lexus doesn't exist. All the vehicles being sold outside of Japan as a Lexus are Toyotas in Japan. The LX470 is called the LC Cygnus, the GX470 is known as the LC Prado, RX330 is known as the Harrier...etc....