It’s an oft-stated fact that the detail that Lexus puts into the manufacturing of their cars is almost ridiculous, but there are a number of statistics from a recently published Just Auto article that bear repeating:
- Of the 19 hours it takes to build a Lexus, 11 of them are spent in the paint shop.
- Once out of the paint shop the cars are put under special lights where trained eyes look for imperfections – and around 10% don’t make it. They have to go back through the process.
- Once the car is assembled it has to go through quality checks involving a staggering 1,400 items.
- There are some 2.5 kilometres of quality check lines at Miyata [Japanese factory where the Lexus IS and ES are built] making sure that not only does everything work, but such things as the door closing speed and the sound of the seat and sunroof sliders are monitored.
- Such attention to detail means that currently around 30% of the IS sports saloons and RX sport utility vehicles are rejected by the quality police and have to go back for treatment.
As a strict perfectionist myself, it’s really no wonder why I’m so drawn to this car company — this is quality control of an entirely different level.