2013 Lexus Gs 350 Sedan on 2040-cars

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Mercedes, Infiniti, Lexus rank tops with mystery shoppers

If you want the best experience possible when buying a new car, then you'd better head down to your local Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, or Lexus showroom. According a mystery shopper study conducted by the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, those three luxury brands ranked highest among the 33 makes surveyed. The highest scoring mainstream brands included GMC, Hyundai, Kia, and Ford.
The study asked 5,203 mystery shoppers about the tactics used by salespeople during their most recent automotive purchases, and found a few interesting parallels along the way. For example, dealers at Infiniti, Land Rover, and Smart leaned heavily on vehicle walk-arounds with potential customers, while Jaguar, Volvo, and Audi were quick to point out exclusive features.
This study contrasts with a similar study conducted by JD Power in 2012. Its Sales Satisfaction Survey listed Mini as the top scorer, while Pied Piper's mystery shoppers ranked the BMW-owned brand below the industry average. Lexus scored highly on both surveys, as did Infiniti and GMC.

2013 Lexus IS F

Sometimes fortune really smiles on even shiftless car-reviewing Dutchmen like myself, I must admit. I had come into Austin, TX the week before I was supposed to meet up with the good people at Lexus, who had graciously invited me to drive the 2014 IS. I flew in early because Austin is a pretty good place to eat, as well as being a place that my wife doesn't live. Let me say that a nicer way... while my stunningly attractive wife pretty much represents all things good and light in this world, she does occasionally shoot me a sideways glance when I dig in for my fifth Tacodeli breakfast taco. Thankfully, I leave most of my good sense and information about the effects of high-calorie diets on lifespan at home with Molly when I come to Texas, so I can better focus my laser-like attention on car reviews and TexMex. You guys are worth it.
Aside from all the tacos, I was also lucky to be visiting town the weekend before South By Southwest really kicked off in earnest, because it was that Sunday that my good old buddy John, and my new old buddy Pat, were headed up to the Circuit of the Americas to see the first ever SCCA Majors event there. It was lucky that I had planned to be out at CotA, which is east of Austin, because that made it very slightly easier for a very nice woman named Marcia to bring me a 2013 Lexus IS F from Houston, roughly 150 miles away.
Marcia brought me the IS F to replace another press car, which was having mechanical troubles; I didn't ask for the fire-breathing IS but when it was offered up I figured I couldn't do much better as a warm up for the 2014 IS program I was about to go on. See, lucky right?

BMW M4 vs. Lexus RC F in Head 2 Head sports coupe showdown

It's the showdown everyone's been looking forward to, the East versus West grudge match of the year. We're talking, of course, about the BMW M4 versus the Lexus RC F.
Although BMW uses a twin-turbo straight-six and the Lexus uses a free-breathing V8, the two are pretty closely matched on paper: a luxury coupe with over 400 horsepower channeled to the rear wheels.
The BMW has been doing these cars for longer, and the M4 boasts a higher power-to-weight ratio. But then the RC F has more power - and without forced induction to break up the rev range. So which is the better luxury muscle coupe? Watch the latest episode of Motor Trend Head 2 Head to find out.