Spindle Grille Discussion

[RAL]

I'm not like that, but with the 5LS we'll have more or less a complete Lexus lineup that was designed after the spindle became a thing and looks, in my opinion, pretty awesome with it. It's the brand identity now, and arguing about it isn't going to change anything. Showing up at LE in 2017 and demanding Lexus stop using the spindle is increasingly like dropping in on BimmerForums (picking a BMW site at random) and demanding a 3-series without the kidney beans.

Ian ... I like your schtick!

 

[Judy]

We really dislike the grill....we have owned four Lexus (1991 LS, 2002 LX, 2004LX, 2006LX)....wanted to buy a 2015 newer Lexus SUV, took a look at the ugly shaped front grill and really really changed our mind (got a Range Rover instead). I am looking for another new SUV for 2017 or 2018, and do like Lexus LX (or possible GX) in terms of reliability and comfort a lot, but still do not like the front grill design. So it became a deal-breaker for us in 2015, maybe again in 2017/18. So still waiting to see any improved look in the future... We hope.

 

[abraxas]

Ugliest vehicle on the road.

 

[RAL]

Welcome new member @Judy ... appreciate you sharing your opinion.

 

[mmcartalk]

Showing up at LE in 2017 and demanding Lexus stop using the spindle is increasingly like dropping in on BimmerForums (picking a BMW site at random) and demanding a 3-series without the kidney beans.

BMW might as well take off the kidney-beans off the latest 3-series....they've certainly taken enough other personality-features off of it.

I'm not like that, but with the 5LS we'll have more or less a complete Lexus lineup that was designed after the spindle became a thing and looks, in my opinion, pretty awesome with it. It's the brand identity now, and arguing about it isn't going to change anything.

Agreed....from a purely social-media or forum-comments standpoint like ours. But a drop in sales will....money talks. So far, though, the public seems to still be buying Lexus products in spite of the spindle-grilles. Sure, sedan sales are down, but that's the case across the board, not just with Lexus.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

So far, though, the public seems to still be buying Lexus products in spite of the spindle-grilles. Sure, sedan sales are down, but that's the case across the board, not just with Lexus.

Yup. I suspect the spindle-haters are offset by buyers who were put off by the safe Lexus designs of the early to mid oughts and are happy to have something with all of Lexus' perks *and* a design that nobody will ever call "boring" again.

 

[mmcartalk]

Yup. I suspect the spindle-haters are offset by buyers who were put off by the safe Lexus designs of the early to mid oughts and are happy to have something with all of Lexus' perks *and* a design that nobody will ever call "boring" again.

It didn't necessarily take the new spindle-grilles, though, to make a non-boring Lexus. Over fifteen years ago, I owned a bright Solar Yellow Lexus IS300....bought it brand-new, and kept it almost 5 years. Trust me....there was NOTHING about that paint job that was boring. It turned heads wherever it went. Nor, inside, were the real metal chrome ball-shifter and chronograph gauge designs exactly boring, either.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

Yeah, the IS was kind of a bright spot in that era, even when it wasn't Solar Yellow And everyone loved the "Altezza lights".

 

[mmcartalk]

Yeah, the IS was kind of a bright spot in that era, even when it wasn't Solar Yellow And everyone loved the "Altezza lights".

Yellow ones were hard to find. I had to really hold out to get one in yellow with the options/non-options I wanted. They tried to sell me every other color (which they had in stock LOL)...the Auburn Sky Metallic, which was a nice reddish/copper/bronze color was also a strong temptation.

Another non-boring Lexus, before the Age of Spindles, was the 2Gen SC430, which to some extent, copied the Audi TT. It had a fabulous interior, with what was IMO some of the best real wood that Lexus has ever done, but it looked awkward, and, partly because of the power-hard-top-retraction, the back seat was barely useful even as a package-shelf- much less an actual seat. Though I didn't necessarily agree with his judgement (he can sometimes be just a bagful of hot air), Jeremy Clarkson said he disliked it more than anything else he had tested up to that time.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

The second-gen SC I loved the interior, but I always felt the exterior (especially the back end) was kind of awkward. They sold a ton in Orlando though, because drop-tops are big there.