RE: SOTW: Lexus Soarer

[Brigand]

I had a V8 a few years ago and I loved it, a very smooth engine that wafted along on air suspension and howled like a banshee when you put your foot down. I still remember the day I overtook a truck and the howl from the kick-down had a little kid on the path opposite spin round and stare open-mouthed at the noise as I flashed by.

The seats were lovely and comfy and long journeys were a breeze. The cabin was silent when you were cruising, the rain on the windscreen was the noisiest thing you could hear if the stereo was off. And what a stereo it had! A 4.1 system that I'd amped and it sounded cracking, even with the flimsy cardboard sub that was mounted on the rear bulkhead.

The electrical gremlins were an expensive annoyance though. The car came fitted with a very early touch-screen system that controlled all of the A/C, fans, stereo and even the satnav. (That just showed Japan in my case) That Infra-Red touch-screen system failed not long after I bought mine, so I couldn't control anything except the temperature which was a manual knob. I had to replace the IR system with one cannibalised from another car. Then the digi-dash started to flicker, and that was fixed quite easily by a kindly chap who soldered some new components onto it. The fuel gauge was another iffy part, fuel would be added or removed by the fuel fairy every time you turned the engine off then came back later on.

I did worry about the air suspension though, if that ever failed it would have been a wallet crippling fix, the same goes for most big jobs on the Soarer. New parts are getting rare, with many having to come from Australia or Japan. Many owners are having to cannibalise other Soarers to keep theirs on the roads, and there are a few people out there who have a large stock of Soarers in their yards to break and sell.

Would I have another one though? Probably not. It was expensive to run, mainly from insurance and the thirst of the V8, and it was becoming expensive to maintain. One guy I knew had spent probably double what the car was worth in repairs over the years and just couldn't part with it now as he'd never get anywhere near the money he spent back.

[Dr Imran T]

gareth_r said:

beeblebrox said:

gareth_r said:

Oh, and it's a Toyota. It would have to be LHD to be a Lexus.

It's clearly RHD and badged as a Lexus in the photos accompanying the article/ad.

Badges were cheap and gullible punters who would pay more for the L badge were a godsend to dodgy dealers.

http://media.toyota.co.uk/1999/05/grey-importer-fi...

Edited by gareth_r on Friday 18th January 10:41

interesting fact that.

Great shed PH. I was actually looking at this very car recently (well I think it was this one)

[Brigand]

Dr Imran T said:

gareth_r said:

beeblebrox said:

gareth_r said:

Oh, and it's a Toyota. It would have to be LHD to be a Lexus.

It's clearly RHD and badged as a Lexus in the photos accompanying the article/ad.

Badges were cheap and gullible punters who would pay more for the L badge were a godsend to dodgy dealers.

http://media.toyota.co.uk/1999/05/grey-importer-fi...

Edited by gareth_r on Friday 18th January 10:41

interesting fact that.

Crikey, someone got fined for that? People have been calling it the Lexus Soarer for a long time, even though it isn't entirely correct.

In Japan they were called the Toyota Soarer and in the USA they were called the Lexus SC300/400 (depending on engine size) Despite both being the same car, they were marketed in different ways.

So to import a Jap version and call it a Toyota is entirely correct, but to call it a Lexus isn't quite right or wrong. In much the same way that some people badge their Vectras/Astras as Opel instead of Vauxhall.

I saw many Soarers with gold Lexus badges on, even mine was advertised and badged as a Lexus, and had the Lexus logon on the boot lid until I removed it.

A fine seems a bit silly, even if it is technically correct.

[gareth_r]

Brigand said:

Dr Imran T said:

gareth_r said:

beeblebrox said:

gareth_r said:

Oh, and it's a Toyota. It would have to be LHD to be a Lexus.

It's clearly RHD and badged as a Lexus in the photos accompanying the article/ad.

Badges were cheap and gullible punters who would pay more for the L badge were a godsend to dodgy dealers.

http://media.toyota.co.uk/1999/05/grey-importer-fi...

Edited by gareth_r on Friday 18th January 10:41

interesting fact that.

Crikey, someone got fined for that? People have been calling it the Lexus Soarer for a long time, even though it isn't entirely correct.

In Japan they were called the Toyota Soarer and in the USA they were called the Lexus SC300/400 (depending on engine size) Despite both being the same car, they were marketed in different ways.

So to import a Jap version and call it a Toyota is entirely correct, but to call it a Lexus isn't quite right or wrong. In much the same way that some people badge their Vectras/Astras as Opel instead of Vauxhall.

I saw many Soarers with gold Lexus badges on, even mine was advertised and badged as a Lexus, and had the Lexus logon on the boot lid until I removed it.

A fine seems a bit silly, even if it is technically correct.

To be fair, many were given the Lexus badges in Japan, my manual TT for one. The proper winged lion emblem has much more class.

[Brigand]

gareth_r said:

o be fair, many were given the Lexus badges in Japan, my manual TT for one. The proper winged lion emblem has much more class.

Agreed, I had the 'Griffin' (think that's what it was) on the front of mine and it looked much better than some with the Lexus or Toyota badges on. Luckily for me a previous owner had only fettled with the rear badges.

[slinky]

Sorry to lock this, but it needs to happen.