thats more of a rwd celica than a modern supra, 200 hp is only exciting if its in 1500lb or less

Yeah... A neat car, but NOTHING like a Supra replacement.

That's true, but it's a start, and if it had an STi mill it'd easily compete with the Z car.

Excellent question. Probably the biggest surprise when I bought my LP640 was learning how exotics are actually purchased. When I bought my Lexus LS460L, it was the traditional stuff; I read reviews, drove several cars, etc. When you move into high priced exotics, there is often little to no chance to drive and compare cars. It's not like you can go out and drive a 430, LP640, etc., in the same day from a dealer's demo fleet. You can't rely on superfluous reviews by non-owners, who are actually comparing the car to their daily drive, so you seek out the opinion of other owners. The truth is, exotic owners sell cars to other owners so we all talk to each other. It's rare that an exotic owner buys a $350k car without talking to someone. Dealers provide tactical support more than anything. I get called on all the time for opinions of other cars, and so have other exotic owners. After a while, you know what's popular and what's not and why. If I want an opinion about a Ferrari, I'll call my friends who have one. I'll call Mark and ask him and how a particular model compares to something else.

There are only about 4,000 Murcielagos built worldwide since 2002. That's an average of only 500 cars a year, worldwide. To sell 500 LFAs, Lexus has to displace some of those owners. Murcielago owners can usually be connected in about three or four degrees of separation so it doesn't take long to hear where actual buyers are headed. As an example, I know of a handful of owners who are eager to get their hands on a 458. I also read the blogs and I read every one I can find where actual owners congregate and I've yet to read any posts where someone is excited to get their hands on one.

As for Leasing, Lexus has that down. Part of what makes a Lexus attractive is the high, carefully controlled resale values, which translate into high residual values and thus lower payments. Part of the thinking is that using this method will make the $350k sticker more palatable. This thread started, not because of ho-hum numbers, or because the car is flat ugly, or because it's an already saturated market, or that it's overpriced, but because Lexus claims they can choose who buys their car. That's the arrogance.

I personally think the long gestational period for the LF-A coupled with the competitions rapid development is what makes the LF-A not compare very well with its competitors. When they started development on the LF-A 10 long years ago they could not have guessed at how good cars like the 458 Italia, LP560-4 and Mclaren MP4-C12 would be for a significant amount less money. Lexus has said that they already sold the US allocation out but I don't know how true that is.

Maybe I am crazy, and don't know anything because I can't afford a $350k car. But it seems to me exclusivity and reliability is only one side of what you expect for ~ $350,000. I myself own a Lexus but the things that make Lexus so attractive at price levels under $100k don't play into the equation when your in the rarified air of being able to buy almost any kind of car that you want.

You can have some fun with the colors on it here :) lexus-lfa.com/Configurator_v2_en.html

Crap my New Years resolution #3 is getting to be so easy...all I can say here is I agree 100% with Tommy's post above. Being nice to Lambo drivers isn't so bad. Japan is full of guys willing to pay $1 million plus for golf memberships as well. My guess is 25 of these are marketed to the US and my second guess is at least 10 guys will pay it. There are some very wealthy people in this country. Will we see one at Ertc? Who knows. I just don't think the ertc attendees fit the Too Dumb to know better criteria. sidebar.......I'm sure it is the quietest supercar inside ever :D
my half pence

It's ugly, underperforms, and way overpriced...but all of them will go to a home somewhere in the world.

http://wot.motortrend.com/6631869/au...ase/index.html

"So much for social media's cries that "it's too expensive." Lexus has announced that the LFA has received more than 500 "formal expressions of interest to purchase" since its introduction three months ago at the Tokyo auto show. That number more than accounts for the entire production run of the $400,000 supercar.

Lexus says it's taking orders through the end of the Geneva auto show in March. At that point the automaker will determine how to allocate the cars to 56 countries. Other sources have told us differently, though. We reported last week that the car had sold out in Japan and that, in December, 90 of the 150 cars slated for California are spoken for.

Each LFA is hand-built in a Toyota/Lexus plant in Motomachi, Japan, while two men at a Yamaha factory construct the 552-hp, 4.8-liter V-10 engines. Lexus tailors the colors of each car to the buyer, and the sole factory option is a navigation system."

Source: Toyota

see, all sold out and alot more than 25 heading to the states, 150 to cali alone according to the article above...

and once again, it doesn't underperform...

this just in from the Detroit auto show via Jalopnik hilarioushttp://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...celeration.jpg
jalopnik.com/5453990/oh-toyota-you-try-so-hard

They have 500 expressions of interest. Not 500 signed contracts... Anyone in any business will tell you how valuable an expression of interest is.

They used Cali as it is easily the cars largest US allocation. I wouldn't be shocked to hear that it was 2/3rds or even 3/4ths of the entire US run.

well yeah, i know that, but that means more than 150 is coming to the US, i'd guess 175-200...

business yes, but if a person expressed interest in buying a limited edition car, i'm sure he or she will buy it if they get the chance.

i don't get why most people on here are to pessimistic about the sales, what do you even care? more than 500 people world wide expressed formal interest in purchasing it. next thing you know they're all gonna be sold and people on here will still be saying "they're lying, no way they sold all of them". how ignorant do you have to be to still try and say that not all of them are gonna be sold?

are you really so bitter that lexus was so successful at they're first try?

(post directed at everyone in here trying to say it won't sell, not just S4)

IT WON'T SELL! Now, call me bitter all you want. I've had no interest in the car from the beginning. It's just that I am a Lexus owner and I think their entire approach is wrong. I think it's overpriced, ugly, a weak performer for the money, a terrible value, and besides all that, I'm not reading much buzz from my circle of friends who can also afford the car.

I don't care if they sell 100,000 of them, I still think they're overpriced. Tommy and H2O could both buy one and therefore I would say their opinions matter a heck of a lot more than mine or others in here.

care to put a wager on that? 100 bucks? vasiliy could hold it

it out performs the slr in every category and the slr is even more expensive, i don't see anybody hating on those...

while i agree its overpriced, it doesn't change the fact that toyota will have no problem at all moving 500 of them...