2006 Lexus Gs300 Base Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lexus coupe caught in spy shots actually RC, headed for Tokyo reveal?

Lexus may have pulled a fast one on us. The car our spy shooters spotted yesterday may not, in fact, be an IS F Coupe as we indicated. Rather, the car shown above may be a new model, dubbed RC, that will arrive at this year's Tokyo Motor Show.
Following a report from Automotive News, the RC is believed to be a pure coupe, rather than a hardtop convertible. This gels with information provided on the IS sedan's launch, when Lexus spokespeople said the IS Convertible would remain on the current platform. With styling based on the LF-CC from the 2012 Paris show, the new car will share a rear-drive platform with the IS and GS sedans.
Power is expected to come from a 3.5-liter V6 that turns out 306 horsepower. That car will likely wear the RC 350 badge. A hybrid model is expected to follow, but in a twist, it won't be coming to the US. The big news, though, is that the RC will spawn an RC F.

Lexus joins subscription craze with Complete Lease

Lexus is the latest automaker to offer a vehicle subscription service, even if it isn't marketing it that way per se. The luxury brand is launching Lexus Complete Lease as a "full-service lease program," but if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, well, you get the idea. The program is offered exclusively with the 2019 Lexus UX subcompact crossover, both the UX 200 and the UX 250h hybrid, in all trim and option levels. Lexus is teaming up with roughly 80 dealers for the program in seven states: California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. And it's touted as a simplified monthly payment that includes insurance, scheduled maintenance and other services. So it's a subscription service, OK? More specifically, Complete Lease involves a two-year term capped at a total of 20,000 miles. Insurance is provided by Travelers and includes a $250,000 per-person and $500,000 per-accident bodily injury limit and $250,000 property limit, with a $500 deductible, though other rates and coverage can vary by state. You also get two years of connected vehicle services including SiriusXM satellite radio and Lexus Enform Remote Destination Assist on models equipped with Navigation. There's no word yet on Complete Lease pricing; Autoblog sought that information from Lexus and will update this if we hear back. But we know that the UX is the lowest-priced Lexus, starting at $33,025 for the UX 200 and $35,025 for the UX 250h. For comparison's sake, those are in the same ballpark as the respective starting prices for Volvo's XC40 crossover and S60 sedan, which are available under the Care by Volvo subscription service starting at $700 and $750 per month, respectively. For more information on Vehicle Subscription Services, check out the Complete Guide. Related Video:

What effect did Super Bowl ads have on online car searches?

Lexus's Super Bowl ad Let's Play starring an RC version of the RC 350 sliding around wasn't really a big hit among Autoblog readers, with a pretty miserable 13 down-votes as of this writing, compared to the winning Nissan spot with 52 up-votes. The Japanese luxury brand doesn't need to feel blue about the results, though, because in at least one metric the commercial ranks as the most popular of the night. According to Adweek analyzing figures from Kelley Blue Book, the Lexus coupe saw an astounding 1,820-percent increase in searches on the auto pricing site, more than any other vehicle advertised during the game. Viewers were apparently intrigued by the BMW i3 because the EV came in second place with a 1,131-percent jump. Third place went to the Mercedes-AMG GT with a 950-percent boost from its whimsical ad. The lowest growth for the night was from Toyota with a 20-percent upswing for the Camry. In terms of brand searches, the Kia James Bond-inspired spot brought a 68-percent increase in searches to KBB's website, according to Adweek. Dodge scored a close second with a 62-percent bump, and Fiat's humorous ad apparently resonated enough for third place and a 52-percent jump in searches. Despite the RC 350's popularity, Lexus actually ended up at the bottom of the list with just 6 percent more visitors looking for the company. To explain the weird discrepancy, a Kelley Blue Book analyst explained to Adweek that visitors came to the site specifically looking for the RC 350 and to a lesser extent the NX, which saw a 48-percent jump in queries, but that interest didn't extend to the whole brand. Related Video: News Source: Adweek Marketing/Advertising Lexus Coupe Performance Videos lexus rc lexus rc 350