FLF

Yeah cause GM didn't try to hide it's defective ABS systems for years, and years, and years...and I think they are still battling out. And that issue may or may not over shadow the spark plug ejecting cover up, and Ford has known about it's cruise control issues for way longer than it was covered in the news. Heck, Lincoln/Mercury paid millions in advertising hush money to keep their "unintended stuck accelerator trajedy out of the news when their car killed it's driver and passenger 7 years earlier. You do remember the media flogging they got right? Just like the one Toyota just got? Oh, that's right, it never happened. Toyota pulled their advertising dollars instead. That was Toyota's huge mistake here! Well, it's good to see all those billions of dollars GM took from us to pay the magazines to recreate a new image for themselves is getting through. The only problem here is it's complete BS. If you take away just fleet sales, I'm talking car sales to Enterprise car rentals and Budget and those that purchase on short term price and by contracts alone, GM, Ford and Chrysler can not compete in sales, even in just the US market, or especially in the US market. It's the crippling labor unions that have locked up the car companies and hence they will never be able to truly level the playing field. When was the last time american car company innovated something? or lead the technology advancements in true automotive design? Not since the 60's.Unless, you count Lee Iococa's K car concept that did help bring the unibody construction to the forefront, but then again it made car building cheaper, so of course the american car companies jumped on that one! LOL!! take a real look around, for example, the 4 door mid size sedan market. Lexus GS Mercedes Benz E 350 BMW 5 series Acura TL Audi A6 Hyundai Genesis Mazda 6 Toyota Camery Volkswagen Passat Honda Accord Then we look at us, Ford Taurus, really, this car just came back last year. It was discontinued for almost 10 years! Where's Ford loyalty? Ford Thunderbird, (gone, discontinued.) after being turned into the retro POS!! and completely ruined the legacy. Chevy Malibu ( You've got to be kidding me right? Until 2 or 3 years ago this wasn't even considered a real car any more. And even now, while yes, it does look alot better, it's still the same POS underneath!) Buick Regal ( this just looks like a bad imitation of a real luxury car and what is up with the "retro" modern grill contraption thing? Cadillac STS/ CTS This is the best I think we are doing right now, but it's still no where near to their Asian and European counterparts. Dodge Charger I'm sorry, but these cars are just designed for kids. There is just no sophistication in anything here. Chrysler 300- Look, it has 22's!!! Frod Crown Vic- Discontinued. The real american car of all time, ended. with No evolution. Why do all the american cars have to be a "gimmick." Look at the Camaro. Why does the interior of that car have to look like a matchbox car interior? Slide into a Nissan GTR and look at that interior! NOW YOUR TALKING! Even the Ford Mustang was all hokey until this last year it finally is starting to look like a real car inside! Geeze, where to start with this one.........first mistake, Taurus was replaced by the Five Hundred for ONE year, not 10. Thunderbird was on most recommended lists because of its quality. Lexus? Innovative? The first Lexus looked EXACTLY like a Mercedes. You know it, we all know it. And the first ES? A tarted up Camry. Sophistication? No. The Lexus can't self-park on declines.......hell, even a Focus can do that. Cadillac is now considered by the press as being equal to Lexus. Charger? It fits its market. Crown Vic, being replaced by the Taurus. Lincoln? A 3 year-old Lincoln is more dependable than a 3 year-old Lexus. Lincoln was #1 in reliabilty. Read the study. The government will probably MAKE money from its loans to GM. Lexus is made in the US. Toyota/Lexus engineering is not what it's been hyped up to be. Too many recalls, too many deaths. I'll buy American from now on. Keep the money, jobs here. Please get your facts right before you make such untrue comments on this site. I for one am not drinking anymore Toyota/Lexus Kool-Aid. Too many have died.

What "conspiracy theory"? Cold hard facts, just as cold as those 4 people who died during their 911 call for help. Are you forgetting them? 100mph, and the driver was with CHP. Dead. It's been reported Toyota paid $10 million for that deadly accident. And the Toyota/Lexus lawyers? Gave each other high 5s for saving the company money by using their contacts with the NHTSA. Then it hit the fan when all the Toyota defects came to light.......driveshafts falling out of trucks, frames rusting in half, stalling Corollas (Toyota called this accident in the making an "inconvenience". Really, Mr. Toyoda? Take your Lexus out and shut it off in traffic, see how much of an "inconvenience" it truly is). Spares falling off Siennas and Tacomas, recalls for brakes, steering, a CU announcenment to avoid one of the Lexus vehicles over safety concerns. And those are just a FEW deadly issues. Conspiracy? YES, by Toyota/Lexus. Hell, their own exec said it best, "we need to come clean". Sad, putting dollars before lives. 27 recalls in 2 years? 14 million vehicles? Was the entire world in on this "conspiracy" because Toyota/Lexus was forced to recall not just in the US but worldwide. Face it, they don't care about you OR your family. And I didn't even go into the gas pedal debacle. So what's your point? Take your conspiracy theory and your Lexus and buy the Ranger. Paul

Why do others hate or cars? Lexus, like Toyota, has become a joke. I'm sorry if that offends anyone but it's true. We're a punchline, like our parent company. "How many Toyota engineers does it take to stop a Camry?" "As many as it mows down". Toyota did this, not the public.

What's truly crazy is that Toyota and Lexus hid safety data then denied there were problems with our cars. One of their own execs said they "needed to come clean" on safety. Toyota/Lexus was fined $64 million for taking months, not the five days as required by law, to notify our government of safety issues. Some issues had been documented for 12 years. Say what you want, Lexus/Toyota only cares about money, not our lives. They've shown that. That SOB's Ranger is probably safer than most of our vehciles. And the highest rated manufacturer in dependability after 3 years of ownership? It wasn't Lexus, Audi, MB, BMW, Acura......it was an American brand.