Yeah… a Totoya showroom… with… well… Totoyas… and those other ones that are the same Totoyas but with Lexus written on them so they are more expensives…

I know I should not write if I don’t have anything to add to the topic… But with a car maker as uninspired as Toyota… You can make a showroom as big as you want…
It will only outline that their lineup is a posterchild for utter anarchy only rivaled by Mercedes (sl/e/cl/cls/g/wtf ?).
And their designers have two different set of motto:
boredom (Century/Crown/Lexus)
or insulting ugliness (all their city cars, Porte).

Unfortunatly for car lovers but hopefully for their customers their cars are nearly unbreakable… (but seems that Clarkson managed to finally kill a Hilux by sinking it in a British lake)

Which subway/train station would I get off at if I’m going to the Big Sight? Wiki has nothing about the place.

You know what… for me even the Prius is a marvel, not even speaking about the drivetrain, just all the feature available to the driver and passengers, they are wonderfull… BUT it’s such an eyesore that i’d prefer being killed rather than having one in my garage.

Japan is a country where your car reflect your status. Lexus just say that you have just enought money to look rich. But not enought for the Mercedes Benz.

To make an analogy with the Krauters, Lexus is to Toyota what Audi is to Volkswagen. Nearly identical except for the pricetag (*) and the fact that you don’t have cookies while waiting on Toyota or VW dealerships…
The analogy extend to the fact that Toyota and VW have common dealership really often. (Audi was separated few years ago, the 2 others were stealing their cookies… maybe…)

(*) and for that little detail that is the quattro transmission and can save your ass big time when the Japanese weather go banana.

Ok… I totally agree with you one the quality of the cars (especially for Benz who have gone down the crapper since some times now). But to make it a simple example:

In Japan you get more good j-bitches if you show off your Mercedes car-keys rather than your Lexus/Totoya/whatever-J car-keys.
(social status IS a bitch too…).

You’re talking to someone who would personnally kill his garagist and rape his dog (Unammed Kraut-brand… me fear lawyers) and who would rather likely drive anything made by Honda (Those Toyota Hilux recall scares me a little) rather than continuing with Kraut’s. BUT it would waste a big part of the japanese fun… (being a show off pay big time here).

If I was still in Paris… I wouldn’t touch a Kraut with a stick. Might as well go with an expandable and well thought Renault Megane. But here… Do as Japanese do…