Lexus Wallpapers

Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Japan, Lexus Lease-only Lexus LFA - Click above for high-res image gallery The rich are very different from you and we, now more than ever. First off, we don't have the mental fortitude for jumping through all of the hoops that Lexus is making potential LFA customers limbo beneath. Let alone the cash. Thing is, the rigamarole involved never mattered because Lexus is only making 500 examples of the LFA and we're simply not going to lose sleep over the process it takes to park one in our garage. However, a potential LFA owner sent us a copy of his order guide, and like any good train wreck, we can't look away. Also, remember, this info ain't intended for public consumption. For your living-vicarious pleasure, here's how it works: As reported, you cannot buy Lexus' first ever supercar. You have to lease the mostly-carbon-fiber-and-unobtanium LFA. That's sort of good news for the non-disgustingly wealthy, right? After all, leases are the cheap and easy way to get into a new car. Are you sitting down? The monthly lease payment on the Lexus LFA is $12.398.44. For 24 months. That's $297,562.56 worth of lease payments over two years, at the end of which you own nothing. However, Lexus is quick to point out that the LFA's MSRP is $375,000, so you're technically not paying full price. And at the end of 24 months, lessees are free to plunk down an additional $93,750 (more than the base price of a very comparable Nissan GT-R, we should mention) and buy their LFA outright. Of course, you can't just waltz into your local Lexus dealership with $12,398.44 and rocket waltz out in an LFA. Lexus has to actually select you to lease its (admittedly awesome) car. Once you're chosen, you've got 10 days to drop off a $10,000 deposit at your local Lexus dealer and submit to a credit check. We should mention that this will not be the only deposit and credit check Lexus requires. Once your credit checks out, you then have to deposit an additional $50,000. To mini-recap, that's $60,000 down on a $375,000 car. Sounds reasonable (from a detached, algebraic ratio perspective) until you remember that you're not buying the car, just leasing it. All of this will be/is happening from March-June 2010. Production of the LFA doesn't start until December. We don't know how long each car will take to build, but customers lessees will be required to go through a second credit check immediately prior to delivery. We're not entirely sure you really want to pass the second credit check. Here's why. Remember the $12,398.44 per month lease payment we mentioned a couple paragraphs up? That's just the breakdown. All LFAs are being doled out via Lexus' 1Pay Lease Program. Meaning that to lease the LFA, you hand Lexus a check for $237,562.56, which is the full amount of the lease minus your $60,000 pair of deposits. Oh, and there's a $700 "aquisition fee." Plus tax, title, license and registration. The good news? Even though you have to lease the LFA, because of the lengthy approval/deposit process, each car is still made to order. Meaning that even though you don't own the car, you can still order it in Passionate Pink, a $3,000 option. Make the jump to read the pricing guide. Gallery: First Drive: 2011 Lexus LFAContinue reading Lease the Lexus LFA for $12,400 per month, $298,000 due at signingLease the Lexus LFA for $12,400 per month, $298,000 due at signing originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal, Ford, GM, Mercury Remember when Congress got all up in the grilles of Detroit automaker chief executives for traveling to Washington in luxury courtesy of the companies private jets? It appears our lawmakers are less than perfect when it comes to sourcing their own cost-effective transportation, as Politico is reporting that at least 10 members of the House of Representatives have monthly vehicle leases that exceed $1,000 per month in taxpayer money. But those leases, they're for specialized, bulletproof SUVs to keep our elected officials safe, right? Well, not so much. A little digging from Politico shows that members of Congress just don't know how to shop around. Of the top five lease prices listed, the most exorbitant monthly outlay at least appears to come with the best excuse. Missouri Democrat Emanuel Cleaver pays a reported $2,900 a month for a mobile office equipped with wifi and a wheelchair lift. Representative Cleaver justifies the hefty price tag by arguing that he uses the vehicle as his mobile office, foregoing the off-site office many other representatives have. Oh, and the mobile office runs on used cooking oil. Other congressmen have less credible excuses, but it apparently isn't stopping them from giving it the old college try. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) $1,628 to lease a GMC Yukon. Reyes blames short lease terms and fuel efficiency regulations on the high lease prices. Meanwhile, we suspect that every other American with decent credit can choose from dozens of CUVs or SUVs with 24-month leases for less than $600 per month. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) rolls in a $1,230 per month Chevrolet Tahoe. A spokesperson for Cheeks Kilpatrick claims the 13th District rep. leases the vehicle because General Motors headquarters resides within her district. Ironically, Cheeks Kilpatrick's son, Kwame Kilpatrick, the former Detroit mayor who left office in disgrace after being found guilty of perjury, caught plenty of flack a few years back for spending $1,000 per month for a taxpayer-funded Lincoln Navigator. Rep. Harry Teague (D-N.M.), reportedly worth more than $36 million dollars, pays $1,266 per month for a Chevrolet Malibu. That's right, folks, a Malibu. Not a bad vehicle by any stretch, but $1,266 per month? Really? Other high lease offenders include Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who rides in a $1,259 per month hybrid Toyota Highlander, Rep. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), who trolls the St. Louis streets in $1,059 a month Ford Escape hybrid and Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) with his $1,026 per month Mercury Mariner hybrid. Not to be left out, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) apparently also spends $1,143 every month for an unspecified leased vehicle, and multimillionaire Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) leases a Lexus RX400h for $843 taxpayer-funded dollars a month, reportedly arguing that he needs the vehicle's bigger accomodations because he's over six-feet tall and has to make an hourlong commute twice a week. Head over to Politico to read more about congress and the expensive vehicles they lease on your dime. We're thinking there are thousands of Autoblog readers who can help their congressmen procure a more cost effective lease vehicle than some of the ridiculous prices you just read about. Any volunteers? [Source: Politico]Report: Congressmen spending thousands of dollars a month to lease ordinary vehicles originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Cadillac, GM, Luxury When General Motors entered bankruptcy last spring, the automaker announced the closure of 1,350 dealers and another 650 dealerships that had more than one brand. Recently, The General announced that it planned to reinstate 661 dealers of the 1,161 that applied for a stay of execution, though GM was short on details surrounding why those dealers were chosen. Many of those dealers never actually left the GM dealer group when the automaker gave dealers until October, 2010 to wind down their stores. A report from Automotive News quotes multiple sources who say that a large percentage of reinstated dealers carried the Cadillac brand. While GM hasn't publicly announced any brand breakdowns of which dealerships were reinstated, 55 of the 75 dealers AN spoke to that were given a new lease on life were of the Wreath and Crest variety. When GM sent out notices to dealers around the country informing owners that their dealerships were being phased out, a large portion of those stores were reportedly rural Cadillac outlets. AN reports that The General was looking to decrease the dealer footprint of Cadillac from 1,422 U.S. stores to closer to 500. The idea was to more closely mimic the urban-centric model used by Lexus and BMW; a plan that AN says GM has now ditched. Still, GM reportedly earmarked 922 Cadillac stores for closure. Even if the majority of reinstated stores sell Cadillacs, we're thinking The General has still managed to significantly shrink the retail footprint of its luxury marquee. [Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req. | Image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images]Cadillac stores make up bulk of reinstated GM dealerships originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Europe, Lexus, Toyota, Racing 2010 Lexus LFA racer - Click above for high-res image gallery Toyota has announced its racing activities for 2010. And while Formula One has already been removed from the program, the Japanese automaker has plenty going on in other disciplines, including the domestic Super GT series, Formula Nippon, NASCAR and...what's that? The Nürburgring 24 Hours. As you may recall, Toyota's Lexus division took LFA prototypes to the 'Ring in both 2008 and 2009 for the round-the-clock race to help drum up some excitement and give the prototypes some competition testing. Since then, the LFA has gone from concept car to race car to production car and is now going back to endurance racer for this year's event. The pair of cars, now based on the production LFA, will be fielded once again by Gazoo Racing, piloted by a roster of Japanese and German drivers with a wealth of experience between them in sportscar racing. They'll be supported by Toyota factory personnel, potentially to include once again company president Akio Toyoda. The announcement comes hot on the heels of the similar news regarding a track-oriented LFA special edition, reportedly bearing the Nürburgring name as well. The race takes place in May, but in the meantime, you can check out the press release after the jump and the fresh images in the gallery below. Gallery: 2010 Lexus LFA racer [Source: Toyota]Continue reading 'Ring Leader: Lexus announces return to N