Tiresomely predictable UK media

[gdh300]

I don't know why I keep going back to it, the UK motoring press.Perhaps I'm being paranoid. But I mean, it can't just be me, can it? I mean, are Lexus really so bad that they can lose every single UK comparison test? Or is something else going on?

Latest one I've read - rather, skipped to the end in anticipation of it being negative - is this one: BMW 8 Series vs Lexus LC

I haven't driven either (obviously), but I mean, really? A diesel over a petrol-hybrid because of better infotainment? Perhaps others can advise...

As an aside (pointedly, perhaps), I notice that this story that was posted at 9 Apr, 2019 11:10am, already (as of 9 Apr, 2019 8:02pm) has had its Disqus comments section closed. Cynically, you could say it is to shutdown discussion of a major sponsors product. A bit like it has been on the glowing article on the new Skoda Scala...

[rich1068]

Quote

The BMW 8 Series is the latest big coupe out there, and we’ve lined it up in 840d xDrive trim to take on our current Best Coupe, the Lexus LC 500h. Both models boast long, low silhouettes, great quality and lots of kit, and wrap it all up in a strikingly styled package, but only the BMW sounds like your taxi's just pulled up if it parks outside your house. So, which is better?

Fixed the article.

No Glyn, it's not just you. 

[malcolmw]

My thoughts:

- Lexus don't take large advertisments in these magazines.

- The reviewers have lost sight of the fact they are reviewing cars and not iPads.

[rich1068]

I agree with your second point but I'm sceptical of the first. I just think it's lazy writing.

[rayaans]

Well, they always have something to grumble about dont they

If Lexus fixed the infotainment and made it good, they'd probably start complaining about the price lol

[scudney]

Lol don't forget the big adverts pay for the magazines and without it most would go out of business(and he who pays the piper dictates the tune)😊

[PaulWhitt20]

Its actually a ploy by Lexus. If the motoring press was constantly singing the praises of the brand, then everyone would want one, and it would loose the appeal of being different. Not everyone can be in the enlightened minority. 

[scudney]

Well said and a nice take 😁

[First_Lexus]

TBH all the Japanese manufactures have a (relatively) hard time from the motoring press. Car reviewers don't drive cars, or review them, in a way that makes sense for the majority of real users. They are obsessed by performance and handling, where most drivers will never really care about what are essentially fine details - and we assume that the journalists have the driving skills to make such judgements in the first place. There is also something of a conspiracy, where they almost dare not go against the 'common' view. Take the VAG DSG gearbox. Speak to garages or owners, and they'll say it is unreliable and jerky in many situations. The press can't praise it enough. Same with the BMW iDrive. I've spoken to numerous owners who hate it and find it difficult to navigate, and yet every review I've ever seen says it is intuitive and the 'best' by far. Curious. 

I won't go into too many details, but as a child and teenager I had a lot of access to motoring journalists (and plenty of other journalists) through my family. Now, this was the 1980s, but I doubt that much has changed. Serious journalists they certainly were not and I wouldn't trust most car reviews to be balanced or fair based on what I saw back then. Fair to say that sometimes reviews were written without a car even being driven...I wish I was joking!

 

[Guest]

Obsessed with performance and handling is exactly right, it’s all you ever here.

Never seem interested in a car that just cruises around and is very comfortable and reliable.

[gdh300]

Glad it's just not me! I used to think Autocar was bad, but Autoexpress make them look as even-handed as Solomon. 

But, speaking of Autocar, this is an interesting opinion piece: linky

After all these years of castigating cars that don't major on 'on the limit' handling?! I'm surprised it got published, so perhaps the editors at Autocar aren't all bad. Perhaps they realise (but won't admit) that it's fundamentally their fault, a bit like how they routinely recommended diesel variants as the best option even if someone did 3,000 miles a year (which they also didn't admit to). Next they'll be saying a car that is reliable is preferable to one that spends eight weeks a year at the dealers!

If this unlikely train of thought catches on, who knows, may be sales of Lexus will pick up?

[malcolmw]

Yes. the comments on the Autocar piece are interesting also. There are a lot of people who agree that motoring "yob" journalism is to blame.

[colin79666]

Good piece about wheel sizes. Note also that often cars are launched/given their first press outing in Spain rather than on a potholed British road. 

I’ve often though What Car? should be renamed What VW group Car?

That all said while comfort and safety are higher priorities for me, the Lexus infotainment is starting to get embarrassing. Surely at least the UX should have had apple CarPlay from launch. 

[dutchie01]

I dont think the motoring press is that important as the vast majority of car buyers do so without ever reading or viewing a review. Car enthusiasts like us ( we are on this blog so care about cars) will have their favourites, mine is Harry Metcalfe, but they write for an inner circle.

to be able to sell a car nowadays it needs to look sporty, needs to be marketed as sporty and needs to be set up so it can "attack "the bloody nurburgring. 19'wheels seem standard now with wide 255/35 tyres to match, stiff springs so you wont get lean when taking that corner at 200mph. The car designers are pushed in this direction as well otherwise the car will not sell. Comfort and every day balanced chassis seem secondary. In the end you get cars that look sporty but in heart are not, prime example is the IS300H Fsport, a great cruiser but not a sporty vehicle by any means. Maybe this will turn around over time with citroen, volvo and mercedes marketing cars as "comfortable" nowadays. Time will tell.      

With regard to Lexus and the competition, well, just maybe, could it be that they are just better than Lexus?

[LexusIS300h]

Whenever you want information on a new car, you always look for reviews on it. Unfortunately most are by the likely lads at What car, auto express et al and if you are specifically looking for a Lexus, a rating of 4 out of 5 is likely the best you will see.

Most owners on this forum will tell you that is baloney, as they have filtered out all the cobblers on hybrid engines, cvt gearboxes, whining engines (matching the journalists), lack of Diesel engines and other daft comments. Most owners would give their Lexus 5 out of 5.

I have always aspired to own one and now I do, but again not without reading reviews and applying filtration. The brand is just so good, it is incredible that it is not selling more than the German marques, but they relate I suppose to a different kind of driver, one who places high values on reliability, comfort and quality and a lesser interest on outright speed and acceleration. 

Somehow, I don’t see motoring journalists agreeing with that. Rather have a noisy 3 litre turbo diesel that can corner on rails and can do 0-60 mph faster than most police cars..... 

 

[royoftherovers]

5 hours ago, LexusIS300h said:

Whenever you want information on a new car, you always look for reviews on it. Unfortunately most are by the likely lads at What car, auto express et al and if you are specifically looking for a Lexus, a rating of 4 out of 5 is likely the best you will see.

Most owners on this forum will tell you that is baloney, as they have filtered out all the cobblers on hybrid engines, cvt gearboxes, whining engines (matching the journalists), lack of Diesel engines and other daft comments. Most owners would give their Lexus 5 out of 5.

I have always aspired to own one and now I do, but again not without reading reviews and applying filtration. The brand is just so good, it is incredible that it is not selling more than the German marques, but they relate I suppose to a different kind of driver, one who places high values on reliability, comfort and quality and a lesser interest on outright speed and acceleration. 

Somehow, I don’t see motoring journalists agreeing with that. Rather have a noisy 3 litre turbo diesel that can corner on rails and can do 0-60 mph faster than most police cars..... 

 

You have got it in one, David.

[gdh300]

13 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

With regard to Lexus and the competition, well, just maybe, could it be that they are just better than Lexus?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blinkered to thinking everything Lexus do is the best you can get. The CT200 gets panned even on this forum, for example. 

But what riles me is that what is better for one person, may not be better for another. A comfortable, non-sport, hybrid Lexus that will last for 20 years may be the best car for Driver A, while an uncomfortable, sporty, diesel Audi that will last 10 years may be best for Driver B. But the ratings the UK press always seem to give weight to the Driver B type. Which kind of comes back to what you said about how most people don't read the motoring press and just want 'the best', so don't look beyond the usual suspects. 

In the American and Australian motoring press, Lexus seem to come out better in comparison to their European counterparts. Why is that? And the same is true for all Japanese marques, which are similarly negatively reported in the UK.

[C Andrew Green]

17 minutes ago, gdh300 said:

 sporty, diesel

@gdh300

HaHa good one! I thought that the two terms were mutually exclusive, but German manufacturers however disagree!

Andrew

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, gdh300 said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blinkered to thinking everything Lexus do is the best you can get. The CT200 gets panned even on this forum, for example. 

But what riles me is that what is better for one person, may not be better for another. A comfortable, non-sport, hybrid Lexus that will last for 20 years may be the best car for Driver A, while an uncomfortable, sporty, diesel Audi that will last 10 years may be best for Driver B. But the ratings the UK press always seem to give weight to the Driver B type. Which kind of comes back to what you said about how most people don't read the motoring press and just want 'the best', so don't look beyond the usual suspects. 

In the American and Australian motoring press, Lexus seem to come out better in comparison to their European counterparts. Why is that? And the same is true for all Japanese marques, which are similarly negatively reported in the UK.

Beauty still lies in the eye of the beholder Glyn.

One man`s meat is another man`s poison/

Don`t believe what`s in the Press.

There is no major motor manufacturer now in Australia, so I would expect the S.E.Asian manufacturers to be rated highly.

What do you think of the Ceed ?

[gdh300]

6 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

What do you think of the Ceed ?

Ha! Yes, it's good enough, but it's no Lexus. The base Ceed are perfectly fine but I promised myself I wouldn't have just a 'perfectly fine' car again, hence I only considered the Kia because of needlessly boosty engine and the stylishness of three doors. Unfortunately at the time I wanted to replace the IS, no Lexus really ticked all the boxes for me. 

The Proceed feels like a fun diversion, but not something I'd keep as long as I did the IS300. 

[Linas.P]

In other hand Lexus infotainment is really very bad... for person who doesn't care about it, I understand it might not be an issue, but for person who does care - it is major irritation. I take it would have been unfair comparison with M850i, hence they compared with 840d... Lexus strong points are build quality, reliability.. no point are given for exclusivity and weak points are driving dynamics.

As for comparison with diesel I have already pointed out somewhere else my surprise that Lexus hybrids are still being compared with diesels (I thought we got over the diesels in this country?!).

I think overall motoring press compares the cars "as is now", they do not care Lexus will be reliable for next 10 years, or that leather and other finishes will be as fresh after 200k miles... today and now BMW is more exciting to drive and more practical. Hence it wins and Lexus looses. 

I would not call it lazy approach, or bias, or predictability, lack of advertising budget for Lexus.. more likely shortsightedness of reporter, kind of skimming over the top report, emotionally driven and probably not good quality consumer advise overall.  

[doog442]

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

I think overall motoring press compares the cars "as is now", they do not care Lexus will be reliable for next 10 years, or that leather and other finishes will be as fresh after 200k miles... today and now BMW is more exciting to drive and more practical. Hence it wins and Lexus looses. 

 

Totally agree. Not just the motoring press but the masses who buy their cars on finance and change them every three to four years. 

Anyway life is too short. Just buy what you want 

Lexus have tried to shoe horn so many into a hybrid, there's a reason long time posters have gone elsewhere.