Prime
That Lexus could be fake. This is why
What you need to know:
Have you ever asked yourself if that “prized” car is the real deal?
Well, think twice! It doesn’t mean that if your car moves like a Lexus, has the shape of a Lexus, a Lexus logo on the rims and one on the body and on the grille, it is therefore a genuine Lexus. With the sprawling spare parts shops all over town, it is easy to source various parts including badges, labels or car signs.
Some Lexus fans fix such signs on Toyota Noahs! A sign or label is just that, it doesn’t make the car perform better. It only serves to temporarily satisfy one’s ego. True, Windoms, Harriers, Celsiors and Altezzas are all made by Toyota, the same makers of Lexus which serves as a platform for these cars but when it comes to price and performance or ratings in the industry, Lexus is still miles ahead of her sisters. A genuine Lexus is more expensive than its derivatives.
That is why there are more of such brands in the bonds and very few genuine Lexus cars. Why? Good question. For the uninitiated, Lexus is Toyota’s high end division. Call it arrogance or class, there are some markets where a Toyota is a no go. But put in something from the same company with a different sign/logo or name, packaged differently to meet their taste and the same people who hate Toyota will grab it with wide arms. Surprised or shocked? That is how things are.
A similar fate followed Volkswagen’s high end Phaeton. It is a very nice car. So luxurious that in some sections it beats both Mercedes and BMW which are believed to be trendsetters. It is also very expensive. Imagine a car sharing a platform with the Bentley Continental?
In fact, some world leaders use it as their vehicle of choice. So had VW Group just called it Phaeton, its sales wouldn’t have plunged like they did because some Americans, the targeted people just don’t like VW, simple as that. The kind of money one spends on a Phaeton doesn’t warrant the VW badge as VW is on the lower end of German marquees in terms of street credibility and desirability, in the US, that is.
There are other high end Japanese brands from Honda and Nissan who respectively trade in the western world as Acura and Infiniti. So, with competition from mainly European car makers mainly BMW and Mercedes Benz, Toyota had to up her game and remain relevant in the premium division.
So next time you come across a car with significant similarity to your Honda but having an Acura badge then respect it for it is in a different league. This confuses many people who innocently write about Nissan Infiniti and Toyota Lexus.
Those cars don’t exist, now you know! Let no one fool you. If it is a sales pitch from a dealer in the various car bonds, don’t believe him, educate him instead. Some local dealers have duped buyers especially of Harriers and Land Cruisers VX type as having bought the real Lexus!
The real Lexus cars on which the Harrier was based and the one for the Land Cruiser VX are marketed or sold as RX and LX series respectively. A number of these Toyotas are branded as Lexus in Uganda. It means either the owner bought it ignorantly but paid for it expensively or bought it knowing that it is a Toyota but for pride’s sake, bought several Lexus signs to replace the Toyota ones. Talk about pimping one’s ride to gain status!
How did we get here?
According to Robert Okello, a motoring enthusiast and owner of a Toyota Aristo (sold as Lexus GS 300), the Toyota Harrier and the Lexus RX300 are similar but for different markets.
“Until recently, Toyota didn’t want to have the Lexus brand in their Japanese Domestic Market (JDM). For the RX300 there was the Harrier, IS300 - Altezza, SC300 -Soarer, LS400 - Celsior and LX460 -Cygnus. With later models being for the JDM and that is what we get here in our bonds. In fact most used cars we get here are JDM cars,” Okello explains.
Okello adds that with the introduction of the Lexus brand in Japan, the JDM equivalents were discontinued. “Indeed, the rule of thumb for a true Lexus is not to see any Toyota badging on the whole car. In fact Lexus goes ahead and badges everything just like the German counterparts right down to the speedometer and windows,” Okello notes.
Mechanically speaking, the JDM equivalents and Lexus are to a large extent similar with the differences residing in options like leather seats, safety features, GPS etc.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, another car expert says, “The Toyota Harrier was specifically for the JDM market, while the Lexus RX was for the international market. In fact, if you show a picture of the second-generation Lexus RX to any Japanese on the streets, he or she would likely identify the Lexus RX as a Toyota Harrier,” he notes.
This is so because the Lexus RX was not on sale in the Japanese market, only the Toyota Harrier was. “From the re-badging exercise, the better spec Toyota Harrier L- and Premium L-packages eventually became the Lexus RX SUVs for the international community, where it was well-received in USA, UK and South East Asia regions.”
“And because Japanese typically change their cars on a three-year cycle, the excess “unwanted” secondhand cars are auctioned off to companies that bring them to countries all over the world as reconditioned vehicles,” the expert argues. The second generation Lexus RX (see picture below) is out and so is its Harrier sister. The third generation Lexus RX is also out but not the Harrier. So anyone expecting to drive a third generation Harrier may wait for years on end without seeing one.
How to know the Lexus is fake
1. If all the rims are screaming Lexus but the steering wheel cover has a Toyota sign. It isn’t a Lexus!
2. Some may cover all the rims and the steering wheel cover but forget that the windows and sometimes the mirrors have Toyota inscriptions. The dashboard too, in some genuine Lexus models has to reflect this.
3. In some models, the speedometer has a Lexus inscription or logo. Sure, you cannot change everything. Someone who really knows their game, will find out that the car was tampered with. For instance, in some cases even the headlamps have Lexus or Toyota names on them.
4. Just like anything fake, a Lexus badge that has just been attached always looks clumsy and with the real deal being more elegant.
So you cannot have two cars in one. It is like having a Mercedes Benz Smart! No way, Smart is Smart and never Mercedes although the Stuttgart firm makes those tiny cars. And don’t be confused by BMW Mini that is a different story.
If you are still confused let me break it down with a Ugandan product. Recently Rwenzori Beverages introduced a premium mineral water product. It is sold more expensively and bottled differently but it is from the same people you have known for years who bottle cheaper mineral water. Now, take the old brand to be any other Toyota based on the Lexus and the premium brand to be the actual Lexus.
