Is Wins Top Gear Award

[Petrol_Head]

The IS won the executive/luxury award in the award ceremonies of this month's top gear magazine.

The aygo is car of the year, so a good day for Toyota and Lexus!

http://www.carpages.co.uk/toyota/toyota-aygo-06-12-05.asp

[lexus boy]

So pretty much Toyota are the Best Car manufacturers around

[Kazi]

That seems to be the concencus!

[daniel]

That seems to be the concencus! 

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Its well documented that their management technique of putting their people first has put them where they are today. All the modern management speak about 'empowerment' etc over the past decade or so originates from them.

Hmmm thats quite a serious post. Better add a smily :D

[LennyLexus]

That seems to be the concencus! 

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Its well documented that their management technique of putting their people first has put them where they are today. All the modern management speak about 'empowerment' etc over the past decade or so originates from them.

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Yep the japanese management styles treat employees as part of the family with life long careers, rewarding hardwork etc.. I've got a whole exam on various types of management styles on monday

ANYWAY Well done Lexus/Toyota, about time japanese cars got recognition, i'm sure there are still many out there that will tell you euro cars are the leaders tho

[terdancam]

That seems to be the concencus! 

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Its well documented that their management technique of putting their people first has put them where they are today. All the modern management speak about 'empowerment' etc over the past decade or so originates from them.

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Yep the japanese management styles treat employees as part of the family with life long careers, rewarding hardwork etc.. I've got a whole exam on various types of management styles on monday

ANYWAY Well done Lexus/Toyota, about time japanese cars got recognition, i'm sure there are still many out there that will tell you euro cars are the leaders tho

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What: autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire management styles? :D :D :D

[crazylex]

So pretty much Toyota are the Best Car manufacturers around

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Best manufacturers compared to any industry - they invented Kaizen (an engineer called Tagouchi) - Kaizen means continual improvement - which leads to zero defects. Most modern manufacturers follow the same theory.

[nicnac]

Honda make engines that are unsurpassed.

My Toyota/lexus is good but has afew things that niggle me...

1 a exaust that somtimes hits the body when starting cold

2 a wiper that has sqeeked from new

3 door seal that makes a noise at speed in windy conditions.

4 an annoying slight vibration at 1800 revs

5 gearbox that leaves a lot to be desired

my previous HONDA was 4 years old when I got it and though not as comfortable as my IS200 Sport Design was a better car and by the way was 160BHP from 1592cc and would kick the ***** of any standard IS 200.in 7.4 seconds 0-60

So I dont agree that toyota are the best manufacturer.

I think most of it is hype !!!!

[Kazi]

How do you figure its hype? Granted Honda engines are hand built and rev to thi max, so...........Toyota make the most reliable cars in the world!

The fact that you had a good experience with Honda is nice, but Toyota over engineer most things to mass produce. Honda don't! Should circumstance change and times are hard or I need to look at another car/manufacture, Toyota will be top of the list. For a Mass produced car there second to none.

Honda have been trying to raise there game for years, bottom line is, speed is not everything, buid quality and excellent marketing prove big numbers. Despite BMW bringing out ******* 3 series for the past couple of years. They have the best Automobile name in the world.

[nicnac]

@Kazdul,

Your Right about the marketuing.....Toyota definitely out class Honda in this respect but that does not mean the product is better!.........................

.It just means they have sharper salesmen .

By the way Ive had 3 hondas over the years and NONE of them had any defects and all passed the NCT here(MOT) with no problems.

The niggles mentioned above are all on a 04 IS200 SportDesign and shoud not happen on a car of this price /marque.

The gearbox tales here on this board are testament to Toyota/lexus engineering expertise.

Try a Honda civic gearchange and you will see what I mean.

I am embarressed to let friends drive mine because the first thing they notice is the crap gearchange 1st to 2nd and say that its dreadful for a semi luxery car.

I look forward to testing the IS250 and am sure it will be comfortable but we alfeady hear of problems with DVD disks in the cd/mp3 player.

This is the sort of thing that Toyota should have ironed out instaed of endlessly going on about "el finesse"whatever that is! You can buy a after market that does this properly for £200-£300.

Also I hear rumours that there are blue tooth compatability problems.

ITS ALL NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR A CAR OF THIS PRICE.

A SHARP MARKETING TEAM WILL SELL ANYTHING AND MAKE THE POOR CUSTOMER THINK HES GETTING A BARGAIN.

PS I dont like Honda salesmen either...they know their product is good and generally have a take it or leave it attitude.

[daniel]

@Kazdul,

I am embarressed to let friends drive mine because the first thing they notice is the crap gearchange 1st to 2nd and say that its dreadful for a semi luxery car.

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Ive got no complaints about the change from 1st to 2nd on my IS, other than 1st gear's ratio seem a bit low. There seems to be a gapping chasm between 1st and 2nd. Once you get past 2nd, all the gears feel very closely spaced. Ive heard other people wineing about 1st gear, and I presume its this problem. Maybe its for pulling caravans up steep hills or something

dan

[saracen]

I look forward to testing the IS250 and am sure it will be comfortable but we alfeady hear of problems with DVD disks in the cd/mp3 player.

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What kind of problems have you heard about in relation to the DVD player. I'm just asking as I have an IS250 on order and have specified the MultiMedia option.

[autobeach]

nicnac,

Toyota are the best car manufacturer bar none - but that does not mean they don't make mistakes, they just make fewer. Toyota are also getting paranoid that other manufacturers are catching up, and that they are making more mistakes (recalls, etc).

Wall Street values Toyota more than GM, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler combined since they make big money year in year out. Being the best manufacturer, however, does not mean that you have the best engines, best design - though, thankfully, this seems to have improved with the latest IS.

There are loads of manufacturing stories about Toyota - I like the one that Toyota builds a defect free car in the time it takes Mercedes to fix the problems on an assembled Benz at the end of the line.

[nicnac]

As an engineer I look at a car as a piece of egineering and this is how I judge a car.

Shure,if it looks good as well thats a bonus but has anyone read the Lexus magazine that buyers of new cars get from Lexus.Its a load of etherical rubbish and tells you absolutely nothing about your car .

All Japanese cars are probably better engineered than the european marques but that doesnt mean that Toyota are the best .......more popular because of better marketing.not better.the way I see it

1 Honda.... overall

2 Lexus/Toyota....comfort

3 Subaru...performance

4 Maxda...general

5 Nissan....plod

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

I look forward to testing the IS250 and am sure it will be comfortable but we alfeady hear of problems with DVD disks in the cd/mp3 player.

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What kind of problems have you heard about in relation to the DVD player. I'm just asking as I have an IS250 on order and have specified the MultiMedia option.

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The only thing I believe is a "problem" is that you cannot play DVD's crammed with MP3's....but then that's true of most DVD players...? Anyone disagree?

I have just tried to use Win Media player and Real Player, and and neither will allow me to copy MP3's onto a DVD...the DVD format is not recognised (inspite of me having a dual layer DVD writer...).

So the only way that I can see of doing it is to use Roxio to convert the DVD into Data storage and copy the files across...messy, but probably worth a try...

Most home DVD players that support MP3 ought to be tested too. You can load JPEGs onto DVD and watch them through DVD players, so MP3's ought to work...

I'll try this when I have time and post back.

[Drummerboy]

All Japanese cars are probably better engineered than the european marques but that doesnt mean that Toyota are the best .......more popular because of better marketing.not better.the way I see it

1 Honda.... overall

2 Lexus/Toyota....comfort

3 Subaru...performance

4 Maxda...general

5 Nissan....plod

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@ Nicnac

If Honda are the best overall Jap manufacturer why didn't you buy an Accord?

If it's speed you were after (you mentioned the Civic would ***** all over the IS200) why didn't you buy a Scooby?

What exactly were you looking for when you bought the Lex? (I'm not arguing with you BTW, just trying to understand your rationale :mat: )

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

All Japanese cars are probably better engineered than the european marques but that doesnt mean that Toyota are the best .......more popular because of better marketing.not better.the way I see it

1 Honda.... overall

2 Lexus/Toyota....comfort

3 Subaru...performance

4 Maxda...general

5 Nissan....plod

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@ Nicnac

If Honda are the best overall Jap manufacturer why didn't you buy an Accord?

If it's speed you were after (you mentioned the Civic would ***** all over the IS200) why didn't you buy a Scooby?

What exactly were you looking for when you bought the Lex? (I'm not arguing with you BTW, just trying to understand your rationale :mat: )

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I thought anyone under 65 was barred from buying Honda....

Seriously, we have a Jazz, wonderful car :duh: ! Rock hard ride quality, thin door panels that dent easily in car parks, rough sounding engines, twin spark per cylinder (plugs cost the earth and inspite of super efficient engine claims, we average 35mpg), need manual rocker/tappet adjustment (£), massive windscreen pillars so you have bad vision, needs front tyres every 10000 miles, lots of road noise, wind noise, engine noise, thin unsupporting seats....excellent design? I'll let you mull it over..

Ooh - the dealers - naff!

It's darn reliable though!

On the other hand, I had a Toyota Corolla - best car I ever had!

So, went back to the brand..no nonsense good cars...can't wait for the IS...March 2006...roll on!

PS - I have driven the Accord...it's "nice" but over priced for what it actually is. It was comfy, everything was OK but bland, and it did not stir me at all. The new IS on the other hand, it's gorgeous and did not need a good salesmen to sell it to me. Honda make good lawn mowers engines and motorbikes though....

Incidentally, I have not had a Toyota since 1999 (Carina E....dull as marbles), so I don't have a Toyota fetish...I just happen to think the new IS is Top dog (having driven all of the competition...) especially when you consider the value... :D

[nicnac]

@jamboo

Ageist remarks Jamboo .....shame on you ....dont thro your toys out of the pram now!!!!...comparing a £9 grand car with what ......get real.

@drummerboy

You make a valid point about the Accord .

Actually i was going to buy one an execetive 2.4 with all the bits.It was going to cost me less than the IS200 sport Design.

A mate bought a 2001 IS200 the week before I and I had it for about an hour and decided I liked it a lot so I went in to the dealer on monday and did a deal .

|n some respects I am glad and in others i am not.

The honda had cruise control sat nav etc and the Lexus was behind in tecnology but this was to be expected as it had been around for 5 years by then.

The real point Im trying to make here is that this oneupmanship that is portrayed by some people on this board is in my opinion ill founded.

Lets have more of the reports by Koshime and Steve on the real IS250 and lets all admit that Toyota is a good japanese manufacturer like All THE REST

Regards

Nick

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

@jamboo

Ageist remarks Jamboo .....shame on you ....dont thro your toys out of the pram now!!!!...comparing a £9 grand car with what ......get real.

@drummerboy

You make a valid point about the Accord .

Actually i was going to buy one an execetive 2.4 with all the bits.It was going to cost me less than the IS200 sport Design.

A mate bought a 2001 IS200 the week before I and I had it for about an hour and decided I liked it a lot so I went in to the dealer on monday and did a deal .

|n some respects I am glad and in others i am not.

The honda had cruise control sat nav etc and the Lexus was behind in tecnology but this was to be expected as it had been around for 5 years by then.

         The real point Im trying to make here is that this oneupmanship that is portrayed by some people on this board is in my opinion ill founded.

Lets have more of  the reports by Koshime and Steve on the real IS250 and lets all admit that Toyota is a good japanese manufacturer like All THE REST

Regards

Nick

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You're right, there is nothing in it, joking and jiving apart, they leave the europeans standing, whatever the Japanese badge...the Jazz is actually a great small car all round and we would have another (i'm 38!). It does everything we need it to do and has a huge amount of character, but seriously, the dealers in Leicester leave you wanting...they really do not understand customer care/satisfaction at all.

The germans and americans have a tradition...name...that's it! they have sat on it too long, and whether it is a Honda or Toyota or Lexus, the engineering is streets ahead! Well done you japanese manufacturers!

PS you could accuse some of the "posters" on this forum for being biased...

I'm not - I'm just a person that's found the right car!

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Nick - seriously, if Lexus are as good as they say, get those niggles sorted by them...you should not have to put up with squeakes etc...though the gearbox sounds as though it is "design intent" between 1st and 2nd...

If it was a Ford it would have been "designed in a tent..."

[nicnac]

Jamboo,

It seems to be universal ...Honda dealers that is.

The reason I hadnt bought the Accord earlier was the dreadful attitude of the local dealer here in Ireland.

Another mate the following week went to the same dealer to by an exec accord and because of the attitude went and bought one of the last Camrys in the Toyota dealer.

It seems they need a few "Mole" types who have entusiasm for their brand!!

well done mole .....keep it up!!!

I think the ropy gearchange is due to the way the throttle works.you can get around it but you have to really make an effort to lift the throotle to drop therevs.