Spindle Grille Discussion

[Chow]

I had the 2002 LX 470 and 2004 LX470. Looking into buying another LX SUV....but the new front grill is terribly ugly that stopped me from buying it last year (purchased a Range Rover instead). Looking to buy another SUV this year, looked at the Lexus again, but the ugly grill stopped me again. What was the designer thinking, it is terrible un-balance in its design; looks like a deformed shark mouth opened to the floor.

 

[Chow]

I had the 2002 LX 470 and 2004 LX470. Looking into buying another LX SUV....but the new front grill is terribly ugly that stopped me from buying it last year (purchased a Range Rover instead). Looking to buy another SUV this year, looked at the Lexus again, but the ugly grill stopped me again. What was the designer thinking, it is terrible un-balance in its design; looks like a deformed shark mouth opened to the floor.

The attached photo LX570 (earlier version of newer front grill was much better than current design) - with the horizontal white bumper, it stopped the big front grill mouth from opening and dropping all the way to the floor.

 

[Chow]

Anyone know if Lexus is going to change the front grill soon? Not planning to purchase another Lexus until the ugly front grill design is gone.

 

[GSCT]

Anyone know if Lexus is going to change the front grill soon? Not planning to purchase another Lexus until the ugly front grill design is gone.

I would't hold my breath. Given that the spindle grill has coincided with growing sales, I'd bet dollars to donuts it's here to stay.

 

[meth.ix]

I like the spindle grille and even cars like the new IS and RX which I didn't like at first, I grew to like (somewhat) them. If you are into the sporty look like me, I understand why you would like it. But if you are a buyer who wants luxury more than sportiness, I'm sorry but Lexus just isn't good at making there non-Fs and non-F Sports look nice and grand without looking aggressive. I don't mind how Lexuses look right now if they were all F Sports. But for people who want the exterior to look grand and luxurious without having to look at the badge can't really go with any car in the Lexus lineup right now. Even the regular (can I say civilian?) models are far too aggressive looking. The main reason is the grille. I feel like the non-F Sports should all have a divider in the middle. This helps it look much more "normal" and smaller. That's why the old GS looked so much more normal when they simply added the divider. The new stock GS looks hideous with those thick horizontal slats. The only spindle grille that look a little bit good for a regular Lexus is the non-F Sport 3.0IS grille. It has thin chrome horizontal slats, and they were only on the top half of the grille. It looked far more normal and made it less obvious that there is a spindle grille when there really is. IMHO if the LS has that grille it will look much better for a luxury car.

 

[nab]

Anyone dislike the front grill as much as I do?

I have a 2007 460LS and I love it. I would buy another but I can't stand the grill. Hoping change is in the air for next yearvs model. If not, I may look at the new Caddy.

We're with you... Both my wife and I own Lexus sedans, and love them. Additionally, the service a our local dealer has been wonderful.
It's coming time to buy new cars... and because of the grille design, we will not be buying Lexus.

We hate the look of the Lexus redesigned front end... it looks too unfinished and irritatingly harsh for us.

 

[abraxas]

Me too. Have been Lexus loyalists for years but that grill and a few other dumb changes have us looking to get into another brand of SUV soon. Will test drive Audi Q7, M-B GLC, BMW X5 and perhaps the Jag F-Pace. Volvo XC 90 looks good too. Want the reliability of a Lexus with that attitude look.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

And this thread is exactly why that Audi commercial is hilarious.

 

[PeterF]

Anyone dislike the front grill as much as I do?

I have a 2007 460LS and I love it. I would buy another but I can't stand the grill. Hoping change is in the air for next yearvs model. If not, I may look at the new Caddy.

Welcome to the site, RSD!

regarding the grill, I understand your reaction. At first I was not taken by the new grill on my 2013 GS (I liked the 2006 better at first). But my reaction was not very strong. I didn't like the grill on the SUVs though. They seemed larger and more imposing. (I don't own a SUV, I'm more car oriented)

Then I got a RC and really started loving the grill on the cars. In fact, that spilled over to liking the GS grill as well. Now I'm getting the new LC and absolutely love the grill on that car! It is really stunning.

Now, I will add that I am a research psychologist and understand a few things about attitude formation. One principle that is tried and true is that when one has a strong initial impression of something (whether good or bad), it is very hard to change that attitude bc one can't get by that initial strong feeling to allow other facets to move that attitude (like the many other great traits of the vehicle and the brand). To some degree attitudes that develop a very strong valence initially tend to be rooted in less rationale reasons, but this also is true for initially strong positive first impressions. If you hate the grill, you hate the grill. period. Completely understandable. If you are interested in seeing if your attitude might swing a little, then the best thing is to consider other facets that have a more positive emotional valence and others that have positive factual/ data-based origins, such as looking at the interior, ride quality, comfort, luxury, reliability, or even looking at the huge grills sported by other competitors (as someone has posted here). One can also look at the grill and look for positive aspects. The detail in the new LS grill is v impressive. In any event, that's just if your curious about changing that strong negative reaction. In the end, it is an individual difference things that, for all of us, has a big emotional (not really rationale) component.

regarding the new LS, I have seen some pictures that seem to magnify the size of the new LS grill in a distorted way. I'd wait to see it in person, before choosing a Cadillac. But, you must know that I am a Lexus believer. I have never had trouble cleaning my RC grill and I've taken it on a number of very long road trips in summer. The bugs wash off easily.

 

[Benito]

Based on the few photos of the 2018 NX300 and F-sport version and of the NX I feel that the spindle grill has finally fully matured and looks absolutely great on a Lexus SUV. I think that the horizontal slats on the non F sport grill finally look good in the 2018 version.

I agree with those who love the newest iterations of the spindle grill, I think Lexus have got the look right now especially on the new LC and LS.

 

[PeterF]

I like the spindle grille and even cars like the new IS and RX which I didn't like at first, I grew to like (somewhat) them. If you are into the sporty look like me, I understand why you would like it. But if you are a buyer who wants luxury more than sportiness, I'm sorry but Lexus just isn't good at making there non-Fs and non-F Sports look nice and grand without looking aggressive. I don't mind how Lexuses look right now if they were all F Sports. But for people who want the exterior to look grand and luxurious without having to look at the badge can't really go with any car in the Lexus lineup right now. Even the regular (can I say civilian?) models are far too aggressive looking. The main reason is the grille. I feel like the non-F Sports should all have a divider in the middle. This helps it look much more "normal" and smaller. That's why the old GS looked so much more normal when they simply added the divider. The new stock GS looks hideous with those thick horizontal slats. The only spindle grille that look a little bit good for a regular Lexus is the non-F Sport 3.0IS grille. It has thin chrome horizontal slats, and they were only on the top half of the grille. It looked far more normal and made it less obvious that there is a spindle grille when there really is. IMHO if the LS has that grille it will look much better for a luxury car.

excellent point.Meth.ix; Lexus is moving very strongly into the general exterior design that accentuates the large grille. This, more sporty / aggressive look may turn off those used to the older design that might have conveyed a more luxurious experience, but it may attract new buyers as well. (as I said before, I really like the older design too). But, there is no way to satisfy all. I like the idea that adding the middle divider tto non f-sport models might even out the picture making it more palatable to some, but I will add that over time I have really grown to love the current GS grille and don't understand some responses that make fun of, or hate it (see head to head the GS F with the CTS-V). I actually love the progressive and aggressive GS F grill and GS grill in general) and front facia much more than the CTS-V. Let me echo your idea and others' comments that the grilles on the recent Lexus models (2018 LC and LS) really get it right. If you look at the pics of the LS F-Sport,the grill takes on different persona depending on the vehicle configuration.

Lexus was criticized for making boring luxury cars; cars that were very comfortable and luxurious inside, but all drove in the same comfortable but unexciting way. Now that Lexus has addressed this (BTW, I am not a Lexus or Toyota employee) issue by making more dynamic looking and driving vehicles, some will criticize that as well. You simply cannot please everyone (sorry). However, one thing is clear to me is that Lexus is trying to listen to their customers and critics and continue to develop outstanding vehicles bases on both their vision for the future and the input of others (see the Akio Toyoda report on the development of the LC from the LF-LC concept and the movement of Lexus to being a "more emotional Lexus"). The other thing is that the high quality (and luxury) and reliability of the Lexus vehicle remains regardless of the grille, and,in my book, that beats out the Germans right there. I first came to Lexus because of the high luxury and reliability (overall quality), not because I liked the grille in the 1999 GS 400.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

No matter how bad you think the Lexus grille is, at least they aren't Kardashian-ing it up with a light-up logo. Stuttgart's fallen a long way from the stately hood ornaments they used to have.

 

[mikeavelli]

I find it interesting that the LS dropped its long time horizontal slants for mesh even in the standard model. The spindles have various standard and sport grills which are not completely uniform.

Hate it or love it, it sure is a ballsy move.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

The pictures from the Lexus India opening make me wonder if we aren't going to see a future "recursive" spindle where the mesh is itself made of spindle shapes. The LS500's mesh hints in that direction but isn't quite there.

 

[Tom Fitzgerald]

Anyone dislike the front grill as much as I do?

I have a 2007 460LS and I love it. I would buy another but I can't stand the grill. Hoping change is in the air for next yearvs model. If not, I may look at the new Caddy.

I'm with you on that. I have a 2010 Lexus RX and love it. Was going to buy the new RX, but could not stand that awful grill. I'm hoping that, given time, Lexus will come to their senses and redesign. I wonder what percentage of Lexus owners like the thing.

 

[abraxas]

If Lexus was smart they'd offer at least 2 grill styles and let the public decide. Even a slight upcharge would work for us.

We've been looking hard at a 2018 Audi Q7 Premium Plus but the lack of console storage and super small cup holders is a deal killer. Great car, love it but it's the little convenience things that can kill a sale too.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

Nobody else offers grill styles; instead they're all following Lexus' lead and making theirs bigger and more noticeable (overly so in the case of the trick light-up Mercedes one). It's what the majority of customers seem to want, given Lexus hasn't had trouble moving cars with the spindle.

 

[abraxas]

Nobody else offers grill styles; instead they're all following Lexus' lead and making theirs bigger and more noticeable (overly so in the case of the trick light-up Mercedes one). It's what the majority of customers seem to want, given Lexus hasn't had trouble moving cars with the spindle.

Unless I'm reading the charts wrong, Lexus sales have dropped year to year after the radical change to styling ugliness. http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/lexus/

http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/lexus/lexus-rx/

I'd like to see a broad based survey of what exactly loyal customers want rather than speculation and conjecture. I've recently talked to many sales peeps at Acura, Audi, Volvo, and Jaguar and unless they're telling me what I want to hear, they say they're hearing the same groans from loyal Lexus owners.

We're just going to hold on to our 2013 RX350 for a few more years. Unusual for us as we usually trade out of a car and buy new about every 2-4 years.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

The people who hate the grill are very vocal, yes. Everyone else just keeps enjoying new Lexuses.

And the data doesn't quite say what you claim. Sales were down slightly in 2015, the first year of the new styling, but if you break out the sub-models that's because the bottom fell out of the 450h hybrid. That's something that had already been happening but really picked up that year. However, the RX moved a brand record 109K in 2016 and the early data for this year shows the RX and its even more anime-styled brother the NX are flying off of dealer lots.

 

[mikeavelli]

Unless I'm reading the charts wrong, Lexus sales have dropped year to year after the radical change to styling ugliness. http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/lexus/

http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/lexus/lexus-rx/

I'd like to see a broad based survey of what exactly loyal customers want rather than speculation and conjecture. I've recently talked to many sales peeps at Acura, Audi, Volvo, and Jaguar and unless they're telling me what I want to hear, they say they're hearing the same groans from loyal Lexus owners.

We're just going to hold on to our 2013 RX350 for a few more years. Unusual for us as we usually trade out of a car and buy new about every 2-4 years.

Lexus had record worldwide sales last year.
https://lexusenthusiast.com/2017/02/07/lexus-sets-global-sales-record-in-2016/