Lexus LS 400: quiet luxury

With the LS 400 and its V8, Lexus made a statement in 1989 – and thus deceived the established European competition.

It was 35 years ago when the Lexus LS 400 fooled the best European brands as the world’s quietest V8 sedan. The first commercial from 1989 with a pyramid of a full champagne glass placed on the hood of the LS 400 is unforgettable.

Even at 233 km / h on the chassis dynamometer, the newly designed V8 with four overhead camshafts remained so quiet that not a drop of champagne was lost.

Trying to redefine it

Toyota wanted to redefine the luxury segment with its luxury Lexus brand, with more comfort and refinement to satisfy customers than the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi V8, Jaguar XJ, Cadillac or Lincoln. At the same time, other Japanese companies such as Infiniti (Nissan) and Acura (Honda) also tried high comfort, but only Lexus was able to reach the stars and break the dominance of German V8s in the USA.

In Europe, however, values ​​such as brand culture and a dealer network were more important to customers than Far Eastern sophistication and reliability, and for Lexus this was only an incentive for more V8 delicacies.

“World of Wonders” or “Oh dear, Mercedes! The new Japanese luxury – cheap, but just as good,” said the media in 1989 on the first LS 400 with a length of five meters and 245 hp 4.0-liter V8 on the American market. With a base price of $35,000, Lexus undercuts the six-cylinder BMW 735i by a respectable $19,000, not forgetting the Mercedes. There, even the 300 E model, which was one class smaller, cost $10,000 more than the Far Eastern rival, which included a unique four-year warranty package instead of the usual twelve months. In fact, this focus on customer satisfaction quickly established Lexus as the most successful luxury importer in the United States and earned Lexus a very small but loyal customer base in Germany.

It can’t be beat in terms of quality

With a price starting at 87,650, the Lexus LS 400 was similar to its rivals in this country, but in the JDPower quality report the Japanese proved that they could not be defeated as it was in its attention to detail when realizing the surprising requests of customers. .

Lexus surprised people by using the world’s first variable speed transmissions for the driver and passenger side or with computer cables made of precious gold alloy to ensure longevity. The goal was perfection, and indeed the first V8 millionaires with the “L” brand logo showed no sign of age.

From 1997 the new generation V8

Quite a few LS 400s proved to be so strong that German dealers eventually ran out of parts to wear to the old treasure. The following V8 generations (from 1997 with a new type of camshaft modification and from 2000 as the LS 430 with a displacement of 4.3 liters and in 2007 as the first hybrid 5.0 liter V8 full hybrid LS 600h with a system output of 445 hp ) went one better: in 2007, a US Lexus spokesman claimed unchallenged that the five-year-old LS had fewer defects than any new German car.

Aleksandra Lippert from ratings agency Classic Analytics explains whether investing in a classic Lexus is worth it: “The eight-cylinder Lexus has always had a lot of character, but rarely a face. Like the old S-Class replacement, the 7 Series and Audi V8, today they only appeal to a small group of individuals who are not deterred by aging electronics and unreliable spare parts.The beautiful Lexus LS 400 is available for only 13,500 euros (SP-X)