It certainly is not up with Mercedes or BMW so where would it stand? It has not been around as long as other luxury cars so what effect does that have?

Lexus is better than either Mercedes or BMW.

Lexus is a dressed up Toyota.

It is a different kind of luxury car than what you listed. Lexus is more known for comfort and reliability, whereas the German cars are more known for performance and looks.

All of the current Lexus models r classified as ''luxury'' in one way or another. There r meany factors that determine wheter or not a car is a luxury vehicle or not. Price is not the only determening factor. You can buy a $60K corvette or a $250K Ferrari & they r not classified as luxury cars but a $43K Lincoln Town Car is classief as one. There is different levels of luxury though. Entry or near-luxury, mid-level, high end, & ultra luxury. Here is a good article on luxury vehicles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_cars

If u have questions about whether Lexus is really a luxury brand, just go to the showroom & check out the latest LS460. The features r equivalent to a Bentley, & far exceed the BMW 7 series & Mercedes S class in terms of comfort & amenities. So in my book - yes, Lexus is definitely a luxury brand. As suggested above by several others, the definition of ''luxury'' might be different for everyone so the most important thing is that u r comfortable with what u r buying.

l think a Lexus would be considered a luxury brand, & it by far trumps BMW & Mercedes-Benz in all categories (especially the Z3!..lol)
l feel that if u really want the best car for ur money, u buy an Audi! The only German manufacturer that still produces 100% of the vehicle in Germany. The problem with BMW (especially the Z3) is that lots of their parts r in fact made in parts of east-Asia & the United States. This has a significant & very noticeable effect on the quality & finish of the vehicle, & they will depreciate faster than used underwear. So yes, Lexus is luxury, but Audi is r scaled down versions of god!

l have Lexus Soarer and It has more features in it than my Brother is SL500 Merc. It is right up there with Merc & BMW.Check some of the Lexus in Show rooms. Japan made them to compete in this market. Just wish they would hurry up and bring out a V12.

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Ca not get anymore simple than that. You should get out more.

Lexus is not just a dressed up Toyota. It is Toyota is daughter company; its luxury division. Reliabilty of Lexus' is world reknown. l would say Lexus is going up their with Mercedes & BMW. Lexus just came out with its all-new LS460 & LS460l cars to compete head on with the Mercedes-Benz S class & BMW 7 series. The IS350 & IS250 compete against the 3 series, the ES350 competes against the entry level 5 series, & the GS350 & GS430 compete against the higher performance 5 series. The RX competes against the Mercedes Benz ML class & the BMW X5. The GX470 competes also against the ML class & X5. The LX470 competes against the GL class; BMW does not have a vehicle to run against Mercedes or Lexus. Lexus is planning to release the all-new LX570 early 2008 & it is very promising. Compare these vehicles on all their different levels, & some cars will shine is some catagories while others will be dull in those catagories. Although Lexus may not have been around as long as BMW or Mercedes-Benz, but it has proven to be just as good, if not, better than the two.

luxury is dependent on the owner, not the car.

Lexus is a knock off of Mercedes & BMW. They are always a step behing the germans in performance, enginerring & technololgy. Adding useless technology such as autopark is not really something that makes the car stand out. How about safety & performance inovations which the Germans & Americans(yes Americans) are ahead of toyota example being airbags, ABS, Advancetrac, roll stabilty, all of which are german or american inventions.

Why is not it up with Mercedes or BMW? What makes them different? They all have a high performance class. They all have created new technologies that have revolutionized the car world. They all are smooth riding and very luxurious. How is Lexus any less luxurious as Mercedes or BMW? The heritage has nothing to do with how good a vehicle is.

In the 15 years Lexus has been making cars, they have won more JD power awards then MB and BMW combined. They are the #1 selling Luxury brand in America. Compare cars and see the quality build of a Lexus compared to the others. Not to mention you save a ton of money compared to German cars. Lexus defines Luxury. The others are still trying to catch up

Yea Yea Lexus will never have Mercedes or BMW ''Heritage'' but heritage does not make a luxury car. Heritage is SNOB APPEAL. So Mercedes & BMW drivers can look down at other people & think ''ha! my car is better than yours!''

Lexus makes awesome cars. The new LS is as good as or better than the new S Class & 7 Series. l do not care how many magazines claim the 3 Series is better than the IS, the IS is 100x better looking with a much nicer interior. Lexus will never have Mercedes & BMW is heritage, however Mercedes & BMW will never have Lexus' reliabuility.