It’s finally happened: I really fancy a Lexus
Forty-five. I always wondered how old I’d be when a fondness for Lexus set in, and now I know. It’s 45.
I’m not saying I didn’t appreciate Lexus before this year. On the contrary, I’m a big admirer of all things Lexus. Love the show, Steve, etc. It’s just that I couldn’t see myself buying a Lexus.
I didn’t grow up longing to own a Lexus, primarily because the company didn’t exist. As Eiji Toyoda launched the Circle F project in 1983, I was still pushing Matchbox Superkings along my living room floor, while coming to terms with the thoughts I was having about Daisy Duke’s denim shorts.
Seven years later, my attention turned from Daisy’s denim to Chris Goffey’s beige slacks, as the country got its first glimpse of the Lexus LS 400 on Top Gear. I’ve no doubt my Dad would have muttered something along the lines of preferring a Saab, and I didn’t give Lexus a second thought. Until this year.
Werther’s and WKD
It’s like Chris Tidy-beard’s review planted a seed in my head. A small kernel of a thought that would lie dormant for 30 years. One day I’m a Lexus denier, then I wake up fancying the denim shorts off the ‘Japanese Mercedes’.
It must be love. Why else would I accept the cookie policy on the Lexus website without changing the settings? That’s like swiping right on a dating profile or inviting a date to meet your parents.
I fancy a Lexus IS. I could see myself spending the rest of my days with the saloon. An F Sport, maybe. Something a little racy. A splash of Tabasco sauce on a Werther’s Original. A WKD after a cultured evening at the opera.
I’ve spent too much time using the 360-degree function on the Cazoo website. An IS 300 F Sport for £21k looks the part. In white, for the authentic internet bride experience.
Turning Japanese
I’m appreciating the tight panel gaps. The stylish analogue clock. The dashboard that looks like it has been inspired by a Denon hi-fi system from the 1990s. I’ve got no interest in a 3 Series, A4 or C-Class. The IS is the one.
Some people buy a Porsche when they have a midlife crisis. Others run off with the receptionist. I’m turning Japanese. It’s good to get things out in the open.
I’m looking forward to buying comfortable clothes from a mail order company which advertises in the back of a Sunday supplement. Enjoying river cruises on the Rhine. Completing Which? satisfaction surveys.
In the meantime, I must dash. Gardeners’ Question Time starts in a few minutes.
4 Comments
I must admit, even as someone officially in the ‘young adult’ bracket for some reason, the Lexus IS is very appealing, in a deep blue with alloy colour alloys (don’t get the trend for black wheels on everything) would be a lovely thing to have as a daily.
But does it have LEDs or Halogens, that is the question that makes or breaks a car, as LEDs just cannot be accepted by a self-respecting empathetic car enthusiast…
Oh God. I’m 45 and yet the desire to own a Lexus hasn’t hit me. Yet. Is this how mid life sneaks up on you? I daren’t even look at one in case it casts some sort of Japanese Teutonic Manga spell over me and I start finding an LS400 or something looking all appealing.
Seriously though, never even driven a Lexus in as far as I remember. IS200 does look quite nice but even so, I’m not ready for everything that Lexus ownership brings. Especially having to listen to Steve Wright.
Less than a week after I posted this, Lexus announced that the IS, RC and CT are being pulled from sale. Was it something I said?
My first realisation that I am now middle aged was that I was starting to give Volvo’s admiring glances.