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Lexus gets top brand marks from Consumer Reports; Ford, Jeep hit hard

Consumer Reports has released its 2014 Car Brand Report Cards, with Lexus again reigning at the top and doing so with the same industry-topping score of 79 that it registered in last year's Report Cards. This year, the institute credited its lineup for being "usually quiet, comfortable, and fuel-efficient," noting it's the only brand on the list "to achieve an excellent average overall reliability score." The Car Brand Report Cars list is meant to rank the best all-around vehicles based on CR testing and reliability results tallied by subscribers it surveyed. Each brand included must have sufficient test and reliability data for at least three models, a standard which left out 11 marques including Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover and Porsche.
This 2014 Brand Report Cars edition is the first of a new format in which sub-brands have been broken out from their parent brands, with Acura using this year to move up the leaderboard into second place with a score of 75 for its "reliable, well-finished and somewhat sporty models." The top three was rounded out by Audi, climbing from eighth to third by scoring a 74 for "well-crafted interiors, nice handling and good gas mileage." Audi scored highest in the road-test portion, its improved reliability aiding its rise. The top nine was completed by Subaru, Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford and Jeep weighed in at the other end of the rankings, Jeep taking the lowest overall score in the road tests and hampered by "a mix of spotty reliability." Ford was sunk by reliability issues with its MyFord Touch infotainment system which consumers found troublesome enough to negate its cars earning "solid test scores" for being "very nice to drive." Perhaps the rumored switch from Microsoft to Blackberry's QNX for the next generation SYNC will help them out. Cadillac's score also took a hit for infotainment reasons after it was the leading US brand last year, the CUE system in the XTS dragging Cadillac to the bottom of all General Motors brands.

2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible First Drive | Is less roof better?

The azure waters of the French Riviera are set ablaze by the setting sun as a cool breeze wafts in from the Mediterranean. The warm breath from the neck-level heaters commendably compensate. The 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible turns inland, the road winding through the rocky terrain like an ebony ribbon. A stunning blonde in a vintage Ferrari waves as she passes by; a man resembling Pierce Brosnan, but richer, gives a thumbs up. I'm sure someone is having this experience during their first drive of the new LC Convertible, but it sure isn't me. I'm in Scappoose, Oregon, which is as picturesque as it sounds. It's raining. Hard. An old woman in a Subaru pulls out of the Dutch Bros. So yeah, this won't exactly be a romantic tale of car and locale meeting on equal terms of grandeur. Resplendent in Flare Yellow paint, the LC Convertible couldn't be more conspicuous here if there were literal yellow flares bursting from its tailpipes. Yet, even on the Cote d'Azure, the LC would assuredly stand out. Being the color of an electric banana helps, but it’s a stunning car in any shade. From the A pillar forward, it's identical to the LC Coupe, but as expected, things change rearward. Currently available in two colors — black and "sand" — the four-layer soft top fits snugly over the cabin and creates a much different silhouette than the coupe. Although the LC's shoulder line rises to roughly the same point in both body styles, it meets a black trim piece on the coupe that creates the impression of a "floating" roof that extends deep onto the tail, resulting in a tiny trunk lid. By contrast, that shoulder line meets the convertible's roof directly, which pinches the rear quarter window, abruptly ends the roofline and creates a comparatively vast plain of a trunk lid. From the rear and with the roof up, the coupe is the more elegant car. Roof down, it's debatable. To these eyes, that rising shoulder line creates a bit of the hunchback look you get with the 911 Cabriolet. There are other design changes. The trunk lid kicks up further and extends wider, creating a more pronounced integrated spoiler. Within it is the relocated brake light. Covering the lowered roof is a rigid tonneau cover with humps that neatly align with the back seat's headrests. Between them is a small wind deflector that manages to be enough when the windows are raised to create an impressively serene cabin in the brief moments when the drizzle clears to motor al fresco.

Lexus TX three-row SUV coming in about 18 months

When we drove the 2018 Lexus RX 350L for the first time, we called it "generally a far superior vehicle to the GX," but also a "seemingly quick-and-dirty solution" to address the chasm in the Lexus lineup: Lack of a large, three-row SUV on a unibody chassis to counter competition like the Mercedes-Benz GLS and BMW X7. Lexus die-hards were asked to accept the compromises of the silken RX L or parachute into the truckish LX (because the GX is shorter than the RX L). Automotive News reports there's a patch coming. Sources told the outlet a model called the Lexus TX will put three-row seating for adults on a unibody architecture, debuting about six months after the three-row Toyota Grand Highlander that's expected in the middle of 2023. Bolstering that report, Toyota applied to trademark the TX name in 2009, then suspected to be a Mercedes-Benz GLK fighter below the Lexus RX. Toyota followed that up with applications for TX 350 and TX 500h in 2020. The Grand Highlander is the key piece, the TX being Lexus' version of the Toyota. We don't know how much length either vehicle will bring to showroom floors. The 2022 Highlander is 194.9 inches long, the RX 350L stretches two inches beyond that to 196.9 inches. The 2022 Toyota Sequoia is 205.1 inches long, nearly five inches longer than the 2022 Lexus LX. That gives Toyota a hair over eight inches to play with — comparing the RX L with the Sequoia, and assuming the all-new 2023 Sequoia doesn't break the measuring tape — if it doesn't want to present the Grand Highlander as merely a unibody Sequoia. Both new three-row models will be built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, in the process of an $803 million makeover "in preparation to introduce two all-new, three-row SUVs." When the automaker announced the investment in the Princeton, IN facility, it said both models would offer seating for up to eight people, hybrid powertrains, "a semi-automated driving system — which will allow for hands-free driving in certain conditions — a remote parking system allowing the driver to park and unpark from outside the vehicle using a smartphone, and a digital key that turns a user's smartphone into their key and allows them to share it digitally." Lexus dealers no doubt have their calendars circled. The chairman of the brand's National Dealer Advisory Council told AN the TX "can't come fast enough." Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.