2004 Lexus Gs300 Base Sedan 4-door 3.0l; Onyx Black, Black Leather Interior on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Production Lexus NX small CUV headed for Geneva

Just five months ago, our spy photographers caught what appeared to be a mule for the forthcoming Lexus NX crossover with the body of a CT 200h for disguise. Then the LF-NX Concept CUV debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show (it showed up at the Tokyo Motor Show as well) with a massive spindle grille and an extreme version of Lexus' sharp-edged new styling language on full display. Now Auto Express reports that a production version of the LF-NX concept will grace the Geneva Motor Show next March and go on sale next summer. If the names that Lexus trademarked a while back are any indication, it'll come in two trims, NX 200t and NX 300h.
Concept vehicles often look outrageously bold, with more extroverted styling than what eventually makes it into the production version. But Lexus reportedly will leave much of the LF-NX concept's styling alone for the production version, citing its customers' changing tastes.
"What we're finding is that these days customers want to be more expressive, so a lot of the concept's inherent design will come out in the finished car," says Paul Van der Burgh, Lexus' European director. "Why would you want something that looked like everything else in the segment?"

Lexus RX gets Top Safety Pick award from IIHS

Lexus’ newly refreshed 2020 RX crossover has received a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. And as with many vehicles that pass IIHSÂ’s increasingly tough muster these days, thereÂ’s a caveat: It applies only to versions equipped with certain headlights. That metric was also what caused the RX to narrowly miss out on notching a Top Safety Pick+ designation, the highest possible. IIHS rated the base headlights and one of the premium headlight options — both static LED projectors — as acceptable, but it gave a poor rating to the available curve-adaptive LED headlamps, saying they created too much glare. Elsewhere, the RX aced crash testing, earning good ratings across the board. IIHS says this was the first time it put the luxury crossover through its passenger-side small overlap crash test, noting that Lexus made changes to the bumper and front-end structure to improve protection for front-seat passengers. It also gave a superior rating to the RXÂ’s vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, which avoided collisions in track tests at both 12 and 25 mph. Both the RX350 and 450h hybrid version received light refreshes for 2020, including the latest version of Lexus Safety System +. It includes new features such as daytime bicyclist detection and low-light pedestrian detection, adding to the existing pre-collision warning and adaptive cruise control. This is the fourth IIHS safety award for the brand in 2019, following Top Safety Pick+ awards for the ES, UX and NX.

J.D. Power customer survey of dealers counts Cadillac, Buick as big winners

Cadillac and Buick have taken the trophies in J.D. Power's latest Customer Service Index Study examining satisfaction with dealer service. Surveying more than 90,000 owners and lessees of 2009-2013 model-year cars, the study found that those with pre-paid maintenance packages were ten percent more likely to buy their next car from the same brand.
Dealer satisfaction scores have improved overall, Cadillac nabbed the luxury segment ahead of Audi and Lexus, taking the crown that Lexus held last year. Buick keeps the mass-market dealer satisfaction win in the family, finishing ahead of Volkswagen and last year's winner GMC. The study also found that service department use of tablets increased customer satisfaction, as did "best practices" like "providing helpful advice." Who knew?
You can find details on those and more findings in the press release below.