LOL Dave, I have no idea! But I searched online and this is what I found:
In 1986, Toyota’s longtime advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi formed a specialized unit, Team One, to handle marketing for the new luxury brand.[5] Image consulting firm Lippincott & Margulies was hired to develop a list of 219 prospective names; Vectre, Verone, Chaparel, Calibre and Alexis were chosen as top candidates. While Alexis quickly became the front runner (possibly due to the association with the Alexis Carrington character on the popular 1980s primetime drama Dynasty) and later morphed to Lexus, the name has been attributed to the combination of the words "luxury" and "elegance."[6] According to Toyota, the name has no specific meaning and is just meant to be pleasing and easy to remember, although Lexus in Australia claim the original name is short for Luxury Export to United States. (LExUS).
I test drove the 335 and it is awesome! Its TWIN-Turbo, someone was saying the turbo's are like the size of your fist, super small. But i really enjoyed driving it. It was fun, sturdy, handled well, and comfortable. John was saying that some company in Florida who specialize in BMW's only have made some crazy piggy back upgrades for it. John's boss is doing some kind of advertising with them, so he's hoping they'll hook him up with parts. hahaha, we'll see. I think we're just going to go broke paying off all the speeding tickets
Jeez... that sounds like and Audi thing to do. I am with you, dealerships suck! They tried to blame the random window issues the TT had on the window tint I had one it! (WTF?)
I also am not a fan of dealership sales people, they bother me. I went into the Audi place in ATL to see the A3s when they first got to the states... when I was looking this sales guy comes over and asks if I need help, so I told him I had a question. I asked him "when will they have A3 Quattors in the US?" he said (no joke):
"Oh, they will never, it's an issue of space, they can't fit the Quattor under the A3's frame." (I mean he sounds a little educated on the subject, no?)
I said: "Dude, they have A3 Quators in Europe, they have for like 8 years!"
No joke, he just turned and walked away from Jen and I - said nothing. lol! To funny! That guy needs to find a new gig. lol!
Romi: It's the Luxury Export to the US that I was getting at. In the 80s, the US changed their tariff structure so Honda and Toyota which had always made their profit by selling a large volume of cheap cars had to adjust. Hence Acura and Lexus came where they could turn a bigger profit on each car. I've always found that to be a cool "did ya know" in my arsenal.
As for the 335, all I can say is wow. 300 horse from the factory with "fist" sized turbos. Some company is going to come out with bigger turbos soon and that car is going to be a MONSTER! I'd love the sport wagon version because there's almost nothing more pleasing to me than having a car that looks like a soccer mom should be driving it that can romp almost anything on the road. Plus with a wagon, you actually get some utility out of it. Now, if only they would make an M5 wagon.....Oh yeah, on the other end of the spectrum, when I make my first few million I'll be driving an M6 vert. No doubt!
----
As for dealerships, they drive me absolutely crazy. When my VW needed its trans dropped for the third time, it took me a week of talking on the phone and I went all the way up to VW's regional warranty rep (covered Maine to D.C.) and when I finally gave up and asked my dad to help, he talked to the VP of the dealership who authorized the service. Bastards. And, to top it off, I had to unchip it, return the air filter to stock, and put the stock exhaust back on before they would do the work. What that has to do with a transmission that had fucked up synchros from day one I have no idea. But apparently the use of aftermarket parts can retroactively break a transmission.
With Audi, I've had warranty issues as well. They have a "customer advocacy" team that you can call when you have a dispute. These people, along with the service managers at the dealerships, are trained to send you around in circles until you give up. I had some problems with my breaks right before I left for Japan for 3 weeks and then as soon as I got back, I was driving from GA to CA for the summer. I wanted them to replace the pads and rotors under warranty but they refused, saying it was aggressive driving that caused the problem. Then, they had the nerve to tell me that I should break aggressively since my rotors only had a few mm left and that a few days of hard driving would put them under the warranty limit. Not only did the dealer tell me that, but the Audi people did too. The dealer even offered to have a tech beat on my car for a few days so I wouldn't have to do it. Are they serious? Unfortunately, after a week and half of arguing I had to leave for my trip so it never got resolved. Then, when they needed to replace the valve cover gasket, I ended up on the phone with the customer care people again. As soon as she told me to talk to the service manager, I went on a 15 minute tirade about how I wasn't going to be handled and sent around in circles again and it was her problem to figure out who was paying for it because I was not going to. They called back a day later and offered to pay for half. I took the offer and will never ever go back to the dealership for service again.
I just don't understand it, they sell and image of luxury and sport yet they only seem to take care of their big customers. If you own an A8 or an RS6, they'll wipe your ass for you if you ask them too. No more VAG for me.
I know! For quite some time, I edited a tv show on cars, so I got to see some incredible footage BMW themselves would send us. That engine is amazing! Well the whole car is amazing.
That car is dope... and the guy in that last video has an amazing array of VERY nice watches on! I mean, the watches he has on, if you added the price of all of them up, would probably be half the price of that car!
It seems as though you are the sites resident horologist. I will need your advice when the time comes to purchase, if you don't mind? But yeah ... I think its a shame that we don't get wagons here. I know they historically haven't sold well here in the states, but the utility of these vehicles are undeniable. Anywho ... BMW, by far is the most satisfying vehicle I have driven to date, as a daily driver. I can't wait !
dlouisroberts - I think its like what was said in another thread about there being so many more shibas ... once you have one, you seem to notice them more and more. I had a similiar experience when I got my crotch rocket. But yeah ... that is pretty funny
I know, it's kinda sad... I am lame like that. I watched the whole season of "The Rebel Billionaire" just so I could see Richard Branson's "Breitling Professional Emergency" (and I have a Breitling anyway).
Comments
LOL Dave, I have no idea! But I searched online and this is what I found:
In 1986, Toyota’s longtime advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi formed a specialized unit, Team One, to handle marketing for the new luxury brand.[5] Image consulting firm Lippincott & Margulies was hired to develop a list of 219 prospective names; Vectre, Verone, Chaparel, Calibre and Alexis were chosen as top candidates. While Alexis quickly became the front runner (possibly due to the association with the Alexis Carrington character on the popular 1980s primetime drama Dynasty) and later morphed to Lexus, the name has been attributed to the combination of the words "luxury" and "elegance."[6] According to Toyota, the name has no specific meaning and is just meant to be pleasing and easy to remember, although Lexus in Australia claim the original name is short for Luxury Export to United States. (LExUS).
I test drove the 335 and it is awesome! Its TWIN-Turbo, someone was saying the turbo's are like the size of your fist, super small. But i really enjoyed driving it. It was fun, sturdy, handled well, and comfortable. John was saying that some company in Florida who specialize in BMW's only have made some crazy piggy back upgrades for it. John's boss is doing some kind of advertising with them, so he's hoping they'll hook him up with parts. hahaha, we'll see. I think we're just going to go broke paying off all the speeding tickets
Jeez... that sounds like and Audi thing to do. I am with you, dealerships suck! They tried to blame the random window issues the TT had on the window tint I had one it! (WTF?)
I also am not a fan of dealership sales people, they bother me. I went into the Audi place in ATL to see the A3s when they first got to the states... when I was looking this sales guy comes over and asks if I need help, so I told him I had a question. I asked him "when will they have A3 Quattors in the US?" he said (no joke):
"Oh, they will never, it's an issue of space, they can't fit the Quattor under the A3's frame." (I mean he sounds a little educated on the subject, no?)
I said: "Dude, they have A3 Quators in Europe, they have for like 8 years!"
No joke, he just turned and walked away from Jen and I - said nothing. lol! To funny! That guy needs to find a new gig. lol!
Romi: It's the Luxury Export to the US that I was getting at. In the 80s, the US changed their tariff structure so Honda and Toyota which had always made their profit by selling a large volume of cheap cars had to adjust. Hence Acura and Lexus came where they could turn a bigger profit on each car. I've always found that to be a cool "did ya know" in my arsenal.
As for the 335, all I can say is wow. 300 horse from the factory with "fist" sized turbos. Some company is going to come out with bigger turbos soon and that car is going to be a MONSTER! I'd love the sport wagon version because there's almost nothing more pleasing to me than having a car that looks like a soccer mom should be driving it that can romp almost anything on the road. Plus with a wagon, you actually get some utility out of it. Now, if only they would make an M5 wagon.....Oh yeah, on the other end of the spectrum, when I make my first few million I'll be driving an M6 vert. No doubt!
----
As for dealerships, they drive me absolutely crazy. When my VW needed its trans dropped for the third time, it took me a week of talking on the phone and I went all the way up to VW's regional warranty rep (covered Maine to D.C.) and when I finally gave up and asked my dad to help, he talked to the VP of the dealership who authorized the service. Bastards. And, to top it off, I had to unchip it, return the air filter to stock, and put the stock exhaust back on before they would do the work. What that has to do with a transmission that had fucked up synchros from day one I have no idea. But apparently the use of aftermarket parts can retroactively break a transmission.
With Audi, I've had warranty issues as well. They have a "customer advocacy" team that you can call when you have a dispute. These people, along with the service managers at the dealerships, are trained to send you around in circles until you give up. I had some problems with my breaks right before I left for Japan for 3 weeks and then as soon as I got back, I was driving from GA to CA for the summer. I wanted them to replace the pads and rotors under warranty but they refused, saying it was aggressive driving that caused the problem. Then, they had the nerve to tell me that I should break aggressively since my rotors only had a few mm left and that a few days of hard driving would put them under the warranty limit. Not only did the dealer tell me that, but the Audi people did too. The dealer even offered to have a tech beat on my car for a few days so I wouldn't have to do it. Are they serious? Unfortunately, after a week and half of arguing I had to leave for my trip so it never got resolved. Then, when they needed to replace the valve cover gasket, I ended up on the phone with the customer care people again. As soon as she told me to talk to the service manager, I went on a 15 minute tirade about how I wasn't going to be handled and sent around in circles again and it was her problem to figure out who was paying for it because I was not going to. They called back a day later and offered to pay for half. I took the offer and will never ever go back to the dealership for service again.
I just don't understand it, they sell and image of luxury and sport yet they only seem to take care of their big customers. If you own an A8 or an RS6, they'll wipe your ass for you if you ask them too. No more VAG for me.
Sorry, I mispoke myself....I meant bring it to the US.
Check this out:
And this:
That car is frickin sweet!
Brad,
It seems as though you are the sites resident horologist. I will need your advice when the time comes to purchase, if you don't mind? But yeah ... I think its a shame that we don't get wagons here. I know they historically haven't sold well here in the states, but the utility of these vehicles are undeniable. Anywho ... BMW, by far is the most satisfying vehicle I have driven to date, as a daily driver. I can't wait !
John
dlouisroberts - I think its like what was said in another thread about there being so many more shibas ... once you have one, you seem to notice them more and more. I had a similiar experience when I got my crotch rocket. But yeah ... that is pretty funny
John
lol ... man I love this forum! It always seems to bring a smile to my face no matter had bad of a day I am having. Thanks Guys !!!
John
No worries Brad, I have my own "issues" too. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity.
And I agree, this forum is awesome!