A Daily Driver Lexus ISF Kicks............

Around Everyone at the NASA Event

Billy Hsu, this needs to be you!!!!!

This weekend, Dave Schotz raced his daily driver Lexus IS F in National Auto Sport Association (NASA) Time Trials at the Auto Club Speedway in California and proceed to dominate against dedicated racecars — Jalopnik has the full story:

NASA Time Trials allow for almost any car to compete for the fastest lap time on a legitimate race course. One guy rolled up in his daily driver Lexus and crushed everyone.

He ran the car bone stock (other than a set of Hoosier Tires andCarbotech brake pads for track duty) and hit 150 miles per hour on the banking.Regardless of the number of doors the car has, obviously the Lexus is not shy of performance. The car won the TTB class against dedicated trailered racecars with full rollcages, no interiors and heavily modified suspensions.

As a three time SCCA solo national champion and two time NASA road racing national champion, Schotz is a proven racer, but no matter — cleaning up on the track with a daily driver (even an IS F) is still a story to tell.

(There’s also a thread over at Club Lexus where driver Dave shares some details about the IS F and this weekend’s race, including some minor controversy.)

http://jalopnik.com/5606943/street-legal-lexus-is+f-owns-dedicated-racecars-in-time-trials

Hey, Now You Can Buy Your LFA---Forget That Lease

Lexus USA Revises LFA Purchase Options

Lexus USA has revised their LFA purchasing options, and will now offer outright purchase of the $375,000 supercar rather than the mandatory two-year lease that was initially required.

This new purchase option does come with one condition, however — the Lexus dealership where the LFA was purchased will retain the first right of refusal to buy back the supercar if the owner wants to sell it within the first two years, and the price will be set at either fair market value or the original price, whichever is lower.

The reasoning behind this restriction is simple: prevent speculators from purchasing the LFA only to turn around and sell it for a profit — a common occurrence when it comes to exotic supercars.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/08/05/lexus-usa-revises-lfa-purchase-options/

Lexus Announces LX470 Recall on Steering Shaft Clip

Lexus Announces Intent to Voluntarily Recall Certain LX 470 Vehicles to Address Potential for Steering Shaft Disengagement

TORRANCE, Calif., July 29, 2010 -- Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today announced that Lexus intends to conduct a voluntary safety recall of approximately 39,000 2003-2007 Model Year LX 470 vehicles to address a steering shaft condition. No other Toyota or Lexus vehicles are involved in this safety recall.

This action follows an announcement made by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan on July 29, 2010.

Lexus has determined that the construction of the steering shaft on involved LX 470s is such that the snap ring on the shaft may disengage when the vehicle experiences an unusually severe impact to the front wheels, such as striking a deep pothole. If the snap ring becomes disengaged and the steering wheel is then repeatedly turned to the full locked position, the steering shaft may disengage over time.

Lexus is not aware of any accidents related to this condition.

“At Lexus, we are committed to setting a new standard for quality customer care and aggressive attention to the safety of our drivers,” said Mark Templin, group vice president and general manager of Lexus. “Our engineers have thoroughly investigated this issue and have identified a robust and durable remedy that will help prevent this condition from affecting drivers in the future.”

The remedy for this condition involves replacing the snap ring with a newly designed one and the installation of an additional component to prevent separation of the steering shaft.

Lexus will begin sending out notification to owners of involved vehicles by first class mail beginning in mid-August 2010, advising them to bring their vehicles to their local Lexus dealer to have this remedy performed at no charge.

Bashing Toyota is easy.....

Hey, Let's Bash Toyota
By AL LEWIS

BP's Tony Hayward drove Akio Toyoda's runaway cars off the 24-hour news cycle. But now that BP's hole is plugged, it's time to start wailing on Toyota again.

Last week, Toyota revealed that a federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed documents, potentially widening probes from stuck accelerators to snapping steering rods.

Don't you just love what we do to Toyota? Why can't we do this to everybody?

Drag the CEO all the way from Japan, shove him before Congress, and make him cry.

Slap the company with the highest possible fine. Sue it hundreds of times. Convince it to recall models by the millions. Make it apologize repeatedly. (Bow more fully for the cameras next time, Mr. Toyoda.)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood once warned Americans not to drive Toyotas. Can you imagine the Treasury secretary warning Americans not to use Goldman Sachs? And why didn't Congress make Mr. Hayward cry? The closest he came to tears was when he whined, "I want my life back," and then got back on his yacht to sail the less poisoned part of the ocean.

So now it's time to beat on someone else. Remember Big Tobacco? How about Big Toyota?
Toyotas can take off as if possessed by Onibaba, the Japanese demon hag. OK, so as investigations continue, it's looking like many accidents were caused by drivers who don't know the difference between the gas pedal and the brake. But Toyotas may have other problems, too.

Toyota hasn't always been forthright. And it's illegal to mislead regulators about safety defects in cars. Not that other auto makers haven't done it. But there has never been a better time to pile on criminal charges.

Toyota bashing helps Americans forget GM's bumbling former CEO Rick Wagoner and Chrysler's former mis-manager Bob Nardelli. It also gets voters' minds off former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo's special loans to his friends, or Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein's shrewd decision to have the bank settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $550 million. And the systemic fraud alleged at America's biggest banks, a mind-blowing national debt and double-digit unemployment after corporations shipped millions of jobs abroad.

Toyota bashing makes it look like our leaders are actually trying to save America.

"All the Toyota vehicles bear my name," Mr. Toyoda has repeatedly lamented, which is true except that I think someone in the marketing department misspelled it a long time ago and never fixed it.

"When the cars are damaged, it is as though I am, as well."

I don't know if Mr. Toyoda is contrite, or if he's just another grief-feigning narcissist whose grandfather gave him a car company. But I was heartened when he went before Congress in February and said this:

"I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick.... Toyota's priority has traditionally been the following: First, safety. Second, quality. And third, volume. These priorities became confused."

Why can't we make every company admit this? Isn't this the problem with every company?

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB128001605680520665.html

News pg 20 Nissan recall 50,000 Cube for causing fires

In todays NY Post on page 20 they carried a copy of a Reuters article stating:

Nissan recalls 51,000 Cubes

DETROIT-- Nissan is recalling 51,000 Cube compacts in North America after safety regulators said a fuel leak could cause fire after a crash.

The chance that 2009 and 2010 model-years Cubes could leak fuel if struck from the reat at 50 mph led to the recall, documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show.


Now the HS has a much less severe issue and in a almost impossible to duplicate senario and Lexus article gets front pages. We put people in loaners, and jump through all kinds of hoops for them. Word is from Nissan that they are doing nothing special.

We need to spread the word more about how we really take care of customers in comparision to these other companies. General perception is still huge again all the good and right we are doing. You need to be our best advocate everywhere in you life for us.

Keep up the great hard work....Keep showing them why Lexus is great and setting the bar again.

Critiquing the Critics.Toyota comes out on Top

Commentators Critique Toyota’s Critics

In a sign that public frenzy over alleged unintended acceleration (UA) in Toyota vehicles may actually be abating, two commentators this week have each issued withering critiques of what they see as a rush to judgment.

Writing in Forbes magazine on Wednesday, Michael Fumento questioned why journalists have been so quick to accept the number of deaths attributed to UA based on unverified complaints in the NHTSA’s database. He also noted that when the Los Angeles Times cited one such incident, the reporters failed to disclose the driver had been charged with vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence.

Meanwhile, Jason Vines, a former head of communications at Ford, Nissan and Chrysler writing in the Detroit News on Monday, compared Toyota’s situation to earlier claims of runaway Audi and Jeep vehicles. He then noted that NHTSA had taken a deeper dive into many of the Toyota complaints and found driver error, not a defect, was to blame.

Check out the full articles:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0809/opinions-toyota-cars-acceleration-brakes-93-and-counting.html

http://detnews.com/article/20100719/MIVIEW/7190414/1469

The 2011 Lexus Model Release Schedule

2011 Lexus Release Schedule

Lexus USA has published a general schedule for their 2011 lineup — here’s what we can expect for the rest of this year:

Summer
The 2011 GS arrives at dealers with no changes from the 2010 model, save for the new brake override system.

Late Summer
The new IS 350 AWD will debut along with a new F-Sport option package, and the entire IS range will be getting a minor refresh, including the IS Convertible and the IS F.
The 2011 LX 570 will be seeing some minor color changes. The Costa Azul Mica exterior will be discontinued, and Black leather trim will be replacing Gray trim. The Golden Bird’s-eye Maple wood trim will replace Medium Brown Walnut wood trim. A heated steering wheel has also been added to the Luxury package.
We can also expect the 2011 edition of the GX 460 to be released, which will sport no changes other than the new brake override system.

Early Fall
The 2011 RX 350 arrives with new colors, as Satin Cashmere Mica replaces Golden Almond Metallic and Stargazer Black is added. Both Truffle Mica and Black Sapphire Pearl are discontinued.
The 2011 RX 450h also gets a reworked exterior palette, with Satin Cashmere Mica replacing Golden Almond Metallic, Black Opal Mica and Stargazer Black being added, and Aurora White Pearl, Truffle Mica and Black Sapphire Pearl being discontinued.
The 2011 ES 350 also debuts with its re-rated engine, which will now support regular unleaded gas.

Fall
The 2011 LS 460 arrives with only one change: AWD models will be getting a standard coil suspension, with an optional air suspension. The 2011 LS 600hL also has but one change, as it will no longer be offered with Active Stabilizer Suspension System. The Truffle Mica exterior has been discontinued for both models.

The HS 250h also arrives in dealerships, and will have some new exterior colors, as Satin Cashmere Metallic replaces Golden Almond Metallic, Deep Sea Mica replaces Black Sapphire Pearl, and Aurora White Pearl is discontinued.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2010/07/21/2011-lexus-release-schedule/#more-4773