Auto Trader is one of the largest online sales websites for used and new cars in the UK.

It is the fourth time in five years Lexus has earned the title, which is determined by the real-world experiences and opinions of more than 220,000 UK car owners who responded to Auto Trader’s annual survey.

Erin Baker, Auto Trader Editorial Director, said: “Quality, reliability and comfort were three characteristics that came out of our survey. As one owner said – ‘I wish that I had bought a Lexus years ago, it’s the best car that I have driven and I would never go back to another model’.”

Chris Hayes, Director of Lexus in the UK, said: “In a fast-changing and highly competitive market, reliability remains a top priority for customers. It’s a quality that has always been at the heart of Lexus and it remains so as we deliver our new generation of electrified models. Receiving this award for a fourth time reflects the enduring strength of our reputation with customers who put their trust in our cars and services.”

The well-proven reliability of Lexus cars is backed by an unmatched peace-of-mind warranty programme, Lexus Relax. This provides up to 10 years/160,000 km of cover for all Lexus models, at no additional cost, subject to the vehicle being serviced in an authorised Lexus workshop*.

*Terms and conditions apply, for details visit Lexus Relax | Lexus Europe.

Lexus also received two model-level awards, for NX and RX.

Toyota Motor Corporation received the most model-level awards, six, of all manufacturers, for the Toyota C-HR, Highlander, Sienna and Tacoma in addition to the two Lexus models.

The 2023 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study is based on responses from 30,062 original owners of 2020 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. The study was fielded from August through November 2022.

For more details, click here.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modelling capabilities to understand consumer behaviour, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world’s leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies. J.D. Power is headquartered in Troy, Mich., and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

What Car?  is a leading consumer champion and car-buying platform in the UK. Announcing the result, the platform declared: “There isn’t an unreliable model in the entire Lexus line-up.”

Almost 25,000 UK owners of cars up to five years old took part in the survey, reporting whether they had experienced any problems with their vehicle and if so, how long they took to fix and the cost of any repairs. Lexus once again emerged as the most reliable brand among the 32 featured in the survey, achieving an overall score of 98.4 per cent. Its closest rival was its sister manufacturer, Toyota.

Remarking on the result, Steve Huntingford, What Car? Editor, said: “That means whether you choose a premium priced or affordable model, you can expect the most exemplary standard of reliability.”

All the Lexus models covered by the survey achieved scores of 96 per cent or higher and four of them were placed in the top three in their class. The CT 200h was the most reliable family car and sixth best-performing model overall with a 99.3 per cent rating; the UX 250h was 10th placed overall and third in the small SUV class on 99 per cent; and the IS was the most reliable among executive models on 98.3 per cent. Completing the clean sweep of success, the first generation NX was described as being “virtually bullet-proof”.

We called upon professional driver Paul Swift to take on this unique challenge. Firstly, Paul had to safely drive the frozen Lexus LC out from the freezing climatic chamber with zero visibility. And then, ice still dropping from the LC Convertible, he put the open-top Lexus through its paces around a challenging test circuit.

Discover Paul's impressions from the driver's seat - both of the LC Convertible's awesome V8 power and its luxurious Climate Concierge system - in our short film.

It was a frosty start to the day - inside the car at least. "This morning I got in the freezer and sat inside the car which was quite crispy," explains Paul. "The steering wheel was freezing, and it was all completely dark."

"This morning I... sat inside the car which was quite crispy"

Professional driver Paul Swift on our frozen Lexus LC Convertible

Darkness wasn't the only challenge inside the chamber. The frozen Lexus LC had a coating of ice on the windscreen, just as with a normal vehicle defrost test. Combine that with an instant cloud of condensing cold air around the car once the chamber opened and Paul was driving blind. "It's quite unnerving not being able to see anything," he continues. "The screen was completely frozen up, so I was guided by the team over the radio for the first part... You could hear the crispness of the tires on the ground as I was turning the wheel. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before."

With the car running, the situation in the sculpted leather driver's seat rapidly improved. Our LC Convertible's Climate Concierge includes a heated steering wheel, heated seats and the optional neck heater. These features would be welcome on any chilly day, especially if you enjoy open-top motoring no matter the temperature. For Paul, they were a blessing in the conditions: "[I] started the engine and immediately I could feel the steering wheel warming up and [heat] coming through from the seat... There's even some vents behind your neck to keep that warm." His verdict on Climate Concierge? "Considering it was minus 18, immediately I felt quite comfortable in the car."

"Considering it was minus 18, immediately I felt quite comfortable in the car."

Professional driver Paul Swift on Lexus Climate Concierge

The windscreen completely defrosted within minutes so Paul and the team could head out onto Millbrook's famous Alpine Test Track. Paul highlights the challenges from a driver and vehicle perspective: "The Alpine Route's quite testing because it undulates quite a lot. It's got some quite fast-flowing corners into some tight hairpins, so you can feel the chassis. You're really asking a lot of the car as you're dipping into these corners and then turning in."

How would our luxury soft-top respond to this test? "It does everything you want from a performance point of view, but also it's comfortable," Paul relates. "There was no problem with understeer, the gear change is effortless, and it has the blipper as you're going down so you get that little [blip of revs] which is quite appealing." And as well as looking stunning from every angle - roof up or roof down - the LC Convertible sounds the part: "It's a 5.0-litre V8 engine," he explains, "You can give it full power and...you can hear the exhaust opens up and you could hear the full V8."

So, what was Paul's verdict after experiencing the frozen Lexus? "I've never really experienced anything as dramatic as this where you're going from such extreme cold back to sort of normal temperatures for the UK in May," he reveals. "In regular UK May temperatures, it's still not St. Tropez [but] I felt comfortable in the car, so it does exactly what it's meant to do: keeps you up to temperature." Paul continues: "It does everything you want from a performance point of view, but also it's comfortable. I'd like to keep it..."

Blue skies and sunshine are the ideal backdrop for a great drive in the Lexus LC Convertible, but this is a car that’s just as capable of dealing with much harsher weather conditions, as an icy endurance test has proved.

To demonstrate the LC Convertible’s depth of quality, Lexus subjected a standard car to 12 hours inside an industrial-scale refrigeration unit at -18°C. More than that, the four-layer roof was stowed for the sub-zero marathon, exposing the interior, and the test was followed by an immediate high-power drive around a demanding test track.

The gruelling trial is the subject of a new Lexus short film, available to view here.

The venue for the event was the Large Climatic Chamber at the Millbrook Proving Ground in the UK. The 468m3 unit is regularly used to test the endurance of defence equipment as well as road vehicles, at temperatures between +85 and -60°C, with up to 98 per cent relative humidity.

For the LC Convertible’s visit, the mercury was set at -18°C – cold enough to freeze rubber and the industry standard for assessing defrosting performance. Taking the test a step further, the Lexus was given a preliminary water spray so that a sheet of ice would form over the vehicle body.

Greg Fleming, the senior engineer overseeing the trial, said: “With the roof down, the interior components would be in an extremely stressed condition and it would not be a nice place for anyone to be – the hope was that the air conditioning system, the heated seats and steering wheel would all still operate as they should.”

Once the Lexus was parked inside the chamber, it took about an hour for the powerful gas conditioning system to bring the temperature down to the required level. Then the car was left untouched overnight.

Paul Swift, a professional stunt driver, was recruited to put the Lexus to its post-freeze test. On the call of “action” for the film crew, the 457bhp V8 engine fired up first time and the car’s displays and gauges sprung instantly to life, showing no adverse impact from the extreme cold.

As Swift discovered straight away, the Climate Concierge responded immediately to heat the cabin. “I could feel the steering wheel and the base of my back warming up and the vents in the head rest behind my neck. It was actually quite pleasant, considering it was minus 18, I felt quite comfortable in the car right away,” he said.

His driving skills were then called into play as he piloted the Lexus out of the chamber to take on Milbrook’s hill course, an alpine-style test route of challenging curves, climbs and descents.

Here the LC Convertible demonstrated exhilarating performance to match its styling and comfort, shedding dramatic shards of ice from its bodywork as it gathered speed.

“I didn’t really know what to expect but pressing the start button she started right away,” said Swift. “The route is testing, so you are asking a lot of the car and you can feel the chassis,” Swift explained. “There was no problem with understeer, the gear change was effortless and there is an appealing blip of the revs as you change down. This is a lovely car and does exactly what you need it to do.”

The consumer champion’s detailed study produced its findings from the real-world experiences and opinions of more than 47,000 UK motorists, covering almost 59,000 individual vehicles. Lexus secured its leading status with a fault-free report for the CT 200h hatchback and a near-perfect performance from the NX mid-size SUV. The results covered vehicles from new to three years old and three to eight years old.

The glowing report from Which? states: “Got the money for a Lexus? Do it. You might just forget what a mechanic’s waiting room looks like.”

A key factor in Lexus’s impressive performance is its self-charging hybrid technology. Which? highlights the proven durability and mechanical simplicity of the electrified system in making Lexus cars more resilient to faults. Lexus introduced hybrid to the UK premium market in 2005, since when it has constantly improved its performance and efficiency and extended it across its entire model range; today hybrids account for 99.8 per cent of its UK new car sales.

Ewan Shepherd, Director of Lexus in the UK said: “The results of the thorough research carried out by Which? are a further validation of the lasting quality and craftmanship engineered into every Lexus model. Making cars that people can rely on, year after year, is fundamental to our business and goes hand-in-hand with our commitment to always providing the highest standards of customer service.”

More information about the Lexus CT can be found here: https://www.lexus.eu/car-models/ct/

More information about the Lexus NX can be found here: https://www.lexus.eu/car-models/nx/

With more than 1.3 million members and supporters, Which? (https://www.which.co.uk/) is the largest independent consumer body in the UK.

For the second year in a row, Lexus is ranked first in reliability with a record score of 97%. Lexus NX 300h, IS 300h and CT 200h also rank among the Top 10 most reliable models in their respective categories (SUV and Family Cars), hereby reconfirming the industry-leading quality, durability and reliability of Lexus’ hybrid powertrain.

More than 43,000 consumers from Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain have contributed to this survey, which included more than 400 models from 37 car brands. Participants were invited to fill in an online questionnaire, indicating the age of their car, the number of kilometres driven and the problems and malfunctions that have occurred. The reliability score for each brand is calculated on this basis.

Euroconsumers is a consumer group working to promote consumer information, defence of their rights and personalised services in 5 countries: Belgium (Test-Aankoop/Test-Achats), Italy (Altroconsumo), Portugal (DECOProteste), Spain (OCU - Organisation of Consumers and Users), Brazil (Proteste).

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As a leading luxury brand, Lexus has always been curious about what those notions are and has consistently sought to anticipate luxury consumers’ expectations. “From the very beginning, our greatest curiosity hasn’t been machines, it’s been people,” said Lisa Materazzo, vice president of Lexus marketing in the USA. “What moves them? What makes them tick? It’s the inspiration for everything we do. From the products we craft to the dealership experience, it’s what makes us uniquely Lexus.”

As part of ongoing efforts to exceed expectations, Lexus USA commissioned a study of more than 3,200 Americans from Gen Z to Baby Boomers. According to the study, exceptional experiences and quality top the list of demands. But new must haves have also entered into Americans’ future luxury expectations, including time for the occasional “digital detox,” a desire to be unique and an increased focus on wellness.

Amazing Experiences, Exceptional Quality

Simply put, luxury has always been about exceptional quality and, more recently, experiences over possessions. They are the single most inherent features of luxury and are the top “must-haves” for luxury brands, according to the study findings.

Most Americans (56%), feel that luxury is better described as a lifestyle of experiences than a collection of belongings. This trend is projected to continue, as the majority of Americans (73%) believe that identifying luxury with experiences over belongings will be just as, if not more, important in the next decade.

Indeed, looking to the future, successful luxury brands will differentiate themselves with quality experiences and service, not just quality products. A full 86 percent of Americans expect luxury brands to provide exceptional experiences¾from being highly responsive to customers’ needs, providing expert support, and focusing on the details; to the personal touch, such as knowing the customer’s name and preferences and even attention to the sensory, such as scent, lighting and mood.

The New Luxury: Digital Detox

Americans love their digital devices and will continue to demand and value technological advances that allow them to connect more seamlessly. That said, the dependency on these devices also has many feeling the pressure to be “plugged in” at all times. This might be why, in the next decade, almost three times as many people will associate luxury with the opportunity for the occasional “digital detox” time to voluntary refrain from social media, news, email and the internet from time-to-time.

To Know Me is to Love Me: Personalization

Americans want personalization to be built into the purchase process. Thinking ahead to the future, almost all (93%) expect to see just as much, if not more, features from luxury brands allowing them to make special requests. In fact, more than half (51%) are hoping to see additional tools and innovation supporting ways to customize their online luxury orders.

Having an Impact: Environment and Sustainability

Most Americans expect luxury brands to have environmentally friendly manufacturing processes (81%). More than seven in 10 also believe luxury brands should act like leaders on issues surrounding sustainability (71%).

And, they are open to innovative materials to help satisfy their demand for more sustainable manufacturing practices. In fact, nearly half (48%) look to see more original materials like faux leather and lab-grown diamonds in the future.

Scrutiny on how luxury brands embody “green” behaviour is expected to intensify. Looking into the future, this expectation as a luxury requirement increases by 8 percentage points, with a nearly a third (30%) saying it will be essential.

Some product categories are also held to a higher standard than others. Americans are more likely to say being environmentally friendly is more of a “must-have” for luxury brands in categories such as beauty/cosmetics, food and beverage, and automotive.

An Empowered Way of Living: Personal Enjoyment

The concept of luxury goes beyond what is tangible, with many Americans considering the freedom to enjoy oneself and focus on what’s important to be a luxury.

Those numbers are expected to increase in the next 10 years, with 51 percent saying time to enjoy oneself and 50 percent saying the freedom to focus on health and wellness will become even more of a luxury.

Looking Further: The Year 2050

Thirty years from now, Americans predict mind-reading technology, space travel and flying cars will be luxury symbols. Indeed, advanced technology leads the list in terms of what luxury is expected to look like in the year 2050. Top on the list are:

• Devices for mind reading
• Space vacations
• Flying cars
• Dream recording technology
• Brain implant devices to aid memory

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The honour follows on from Lexus’s exceptional performance in the 2019 What Car? Reliability Survey, in which the brand was the highest-ranked manufacturer for the third year running and its CT 200h hybrid luxury hatchback recorded a 100 per cent fault-free performance across the previous 12 months.

What Car? Editor Steve Huntingford acclaimed Lexus’s track record, saying: “Lexus managed a clean sweep of wins the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, claiming the top spot for cars aged up to five years old, with an almost perfect 99 per cent, and for those aged six to 15 years old. A score of 93.3 per cent in the latter category demonstrates just how well the Japanese luxury brand builds its cars and why it’s such a worthy winner of our 2020 Reliability Award.”

Ewan Shepherd, Director of Lexus in the UK, said: “We’re delighted to receive this award in recognition of the quality that’s built into every car we make. With record sales in Europe and the UK in 2019 and a strong ongoing order bank, we can see that that more and more people are choosing Lexus self-charging hybrids. Their experience is enriched by the level of customer service delivered by our network, which has no equal in the industry.”

The Which? report, based on its own extensive tests and consumer feedback on reliability from more than 40,000 car owners, names the UK’s best and worst car buys. Which? is a brand name used by the Consumers' Association, the largest consumer organisation in the UK.

Faring particularly well in the diverse and fiercely competitive larger SUV segment, the Lexus RX took the prized Which? ‘Our Pick’ spot. As well as being noted for ticking all of the boxes as a luxury SUV, Which? customer survey results position the range-topping Lexus hybrid SUV as “one of the most reliable new cars you can buy”.

Another class leader, the Lexus CT 200h takes top spot as the Which? ‘Our Pick’ medium car. Survey results show that 94 per cent of CT 200h remain trouble-free in the first three years of ownership, proving it to be the most reliable medium car you can buy new today.

Alongside the recognition for individual vehicles, the Which? Car Guide places Lexus as its carmaker of the year in its brand reliability table, with 64 per cent of Lexus models on sale receiving ‘Best Buy’ status.

Full list of Lexus accolades:

Category Model Status

Medium cars Lexus CT 200h (2011-) Our Pick and Best Buy

Used large cars Lexus IS (2005-2012) Best Buy

Used large cars Lexus LS (2007-2012) Best Buy

Larger SUVs Lexus RX Hybrid (2015-) Our Pick and Best Buy

En route to the top spot, Lexus achieved the highest rankings for the interior and comfort, exterior and reliability categories. Significantly, the results are based on the opinions and experiences of car owners rather than experts and commentators, and Britain’s motorists once again responded in their thousands to the survey.

Lexus models also dominated the Driver Power model categories, with the RX taking the award for Best Premium Large SUV and rated best for interior and comfort; the RC coupe emerging as Best Sports Car and best for reliability and build quality; the IS saloon Best Compact Executive Car and runner-up to the Best New Car of the Year; and the GS saloon named Best Executive Car.

Driver Power is the UK’s largest, most comprehensive car satisfaction poll. Success in the survey is based on the first-hand experience of thousands of UK car owners who responded to Driver Power survey questions about the quality, reliability and performance of their vehicle (up to two years old) and the service they receive from retailers and repair shops.

Steve Fowler, Auto Express Editor-in-Chief, said: “It’s fantastic to see Lexus top the Driver Power brand ranking for the third year in a row. The company has a proven track record of building luxurious, desirable and comfortable cars, and the stellar reliability rankings Lexus continually generates will be the envy of many carmakers, too.”

Ewan Shepherd, Director of Lexus in the UK, commented: “It’s 30 years since the Lexus brand was born and it’s always been our aim not just to deliver the best customer service, but also to redefine what great service means to today’s customers. It’s this core commitment to excellence, a line-up of great new products and the hard work and dedication of everyone who works for Lexus – especially our retail partners – that has helped us once again claim top place in the Driver Power manufacturer rankings.”

For more information please visit: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/driver-power

The 2018 survey separated cars into two age brackets, with those aged one to four years old in one bracket, while those four years and over were in another. But all were subjected to the critical gaze of more than 18,000 UK motorists, who were quizzed about their personal ownership experiences over the last 12 months.

The What Car? survey covered reliability performance in a variety of areas, including mechanical components, bodywork and trims. Participants were also asked to indicate how long their car was out of action before a satisfactory repair could be carried out, and the cost of such work. Findings were weighted to take into account the severity and impact of any faults.

Taking both category results into account, the What Car? team confirmed that “the most dependable brand for long-term ownership is Lexus, whose efforts are led by the CT hybrid hatchback.”

Ewan Shepherd, Director of Lexus in the UK, said: “We are very proud of the meticulous development and world-class production standards in each of our vehicles. Quality and customer satisfaction are at the heart of the Lexus offer, and it’s great to hear our customers are really feeling the benefit of that.”

The full What Car? Reliability Survey can be read here: www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-2018/

On each of the two criteria, quality and reliability, the Lexus brand gets first place. In terms of quality, the percentage of satisfaction reaches 93.7%, compared to an overall average of 81.4%. The percentage of satisfaction in terms of reliability is 96.2%, while the average of all brands is 85.4%.

Lexus consistently leads customer satisfaction surveys around the world, especially JD Power US surveys (first place in 2018 for the seventh year in a row), but also in Europe with the Auto Express Driver Power survey in the United Kingdom, AutoIndex in Norway (first brand in 2018 for the seventh year in a row),

“Receiving this award for the sixth time is nothing short of incredible. It is a testimony, not just to the quality of our cars, but to the effort and pride our dealerships put into their work. We feel humble and grateful towards our customers, who show us great trust and rank us so highly year after year. It is a strong motivation, and we will not be resting on our laurels. Continuous improvement is a fundamental ingredient of the Lexus philosophy”, says Tone Thunes, Marketing & Customer Care Manager at Lexus Norway.

Lexus also holds the top spot in Sweden for the sixth consecutive year, with the score of 892 points – a clear lead over all other brands.

"For us, the result is an important confirmation that we are doing the right thing but we are humble for the challenge of continually developing our customer care to continue to have the most satisfied owners" said Dick Zachrisson, Head of Lexus in Sweden.

AutoIndex is carried out on an annual basis by Loyalty Group International. This year, it is based on 15,934 unique responses from randomly selected car customers in Norway and more than 15,000 in Sweden. The survey covers 23 car manufacturers. The vehicles must be initially registered between 2010 and 2016.