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Lexus Tops J.D. Power’s Vehicle Dependability Rankings for 4th Consecutive Year

2014 lexus es

Lexus has been ranked highest among the most dependable vehicles, according to J.D. Power’s 2015 Vehicle Dependability Study.

The study, which examines issues relating to vehicles purchased in the 2012 model-year, takes into account a number of factors that increase reliability of today’s vehicles, including new technological offerings. Covering 177 vehicle issues across 8 vehicle categories, the study is now in it’s 26th year.

Lexus ranks highest for the 4th consecutive year, returning the “fewest problems per 100 vehicles.” The Lexus ES and Lexus GX were awarded high honors in their respective categories, and the Lexus RX and Lexus CT received honorable mentions in their categories.

2014 lexus es 2014 Lexus GX

 

 

 

 

 

Ready for a test drive? Head to Park Place Lexus Plano or Lexus Grapevine and get behind the wheel of one of these all-new 2015 models.

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Lexus Bad Weather Driving Aids – Tips From Our Lexus Technology Specialists

When the weather gets icy, we always recommend staying off the roads if at all possible, but if you must venture out in the freezing cold, the following advanced systems help keep you safe when driving on snowy/icy streets

ECT Snow – Electronically Controlled Transmission (ECT) Snow mode Reduces throttle response for more gradual acceleration on snow/ice to help reduce wheel spin. The transmission will also shift to a higher gear sooner than in normal mode. The road conditions we just experienced were perfect for this setting.

TRAC – Traction Control System (TRAC) uses the ABS  sensors to continuously monitor the rotational speed of each individual wheel. As soon as they detect that one or more wheels are starting to slip, the system instantaneously calculates the best way to restore traction. The engine’s computer control unit then adjusts the throttle accordingly and the Brake Actuator directs the braking force to the most appropriate wheel (or wheels) until traction returns. Only turn off if stuck and need to rock the vehicle to get it out.

VSC – Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) assists you when taking a corner too fast or being forced to brake sharply mid-corner. Sensors continuously monitor and cross-reference speed, steering angle, yaw rate and deceleration. The instant the system detects a loss of control, VSC steps in and momentarily dictates the individual braking force sent to each wheel. It also moderates the throttle until the tendency of the front to run wide (understeer), or the rear to break away (oversteer), is corrected.

If you have any questions about the technology options in your Lexus vehicle operate, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Park Place Lexus Technology Specialists at Park Place Lexus Grapevine and Park Place Lexus Plano.

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Lexus Named Luxury Brand With “Best Resale Value” By Kelley Blue Book

kelley blue book best resale value awards

For the fourth year in a row, Kelley Blue Book has awarded Lexus with its “Best Resale Value” title. Individually, six Lexus models won the award in their respective segments, including:

Lexus RC 350 – Entry-Level Luxury Car

Lexus LS 460 – High-End Luxury Car

Lexus RX 450h – Hybrid SUV/Crossover

Lexus GS 350 – Luxury Car

Lexus GX 460 – Luxury Mid-Size SUV/Crossover

Lexus LX 570 – Luxury Full-Size SUV/Crossover

kelley blue book best resale value awards

Kelley Blue Book bases “Best Resale Value” calculations on a number of factors, including market conditions for each vehicle, competition for each vehicle, sales data, and more. In order for an automotive brand to receive the “Best Resale Value” award, the carmaker must manufacture excellent vehicles across its model lines.

According to Kelley Blue Book, “Lexus has created a Best Resale Value dynasty. Four straight years as our best Best Luxury Brand when it comes to holding resale value over time is an unprecedented achievement, one that should inject a full measure of legitimate overconfidence in buyers.”

All the more reason to schedule a test drive of an all-new 2015 Lexus today at our Park Place Lexus Plano or Grapevine locations today.

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Rescue Cat Saved From The Grill Of A Lexus RX 350 Goes Viral

Over the holidays, a client of Park Place Lexus in Grapevine brought in their RX 350, but no one expected the little stow away kitty hiding in the grill.  It took some special expertise to get the little guy out, but eventually our team of Lexus Technicians were able to pull the cat to safety.  Mona, one of our Assistant Service Managers at the dealership adopted the little fur-ball and named the cat RC not after the new Lexus RC coupe, but instead for “Rescue Cat.”  RC is doing well now, healthy as can be and happy to have a warm home.  As for the owner of the RX 350, Park Place Lexus Grapevine covered all costs for repairing the car back to its original condition.

The excitement that this little kitten has brought to the area is a wonderful testament to our love of happy stories. Since news of RC’s rescue appeared on our Youtube channel, outlets from all over have joined in to share the story of this kitty’s unusual ride to finding it’s new home.

RC the Rescued Cat

This is not the first time Park Place Lexus Grapevine has been in a situation like this.  In the past, they have rescued other cats and even a red-tailed hawk from inside engine compartments which emphasizes the importance of taking precautions during the winter months.

Cats hiding in wheel wells, engine compartments, or anywhere else that might offer warmth is more common than most people think, so it is good idea to be a little more careful when the temperature drops.  A few suggestions are to check around your vehicle before you start the engine, bang on the hood or honk your horn to wake up any sleeping kitties, and most importantly wait a couple seconds before starting your car so any cats in danger have time to get out.

RC was very lucky, but the stories of cats hiding in engine compartments often don’t end up as happily so please be careful!

Fox 4 News came to the dealership to cover the story on RC’s rescue.  You can check it out here.

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Slide to ICE! This Holiday Season with Lexus Owners’ Benefits

ice! at gaylord texan

ice! at gaylord texan

Park Place Lexus Plano and Grapevine are excited to sponsor the Gaylord Texan Resort’s 10th annual ICE! attraction. The event returns with an all-new theme featuring Frosty The Snowman. From November 13, 2014 to January 3, 2015, the holiday classic will be brought to life in an interactive world of colorful ice sculptures and 20-foot ice slides carved entirely from TWO-MILLION pounds of ice by visiting artisans from Harbin, China.

Lexus owners will receive the following exclusive benefits for:

Valet Parking

Lexus owners will receive a discounted valet parking rate of $10 (normally $20) when driving their Lexus vehicles to the ICE! attraction. Drivers of Lexus vehicles will receive a red valet ticket upon arrival and will receive a validation ticket after experiencing the ICE! attraction. Lexus owners driving their Lexus vehicle to the ICE! attraction also receive complimentary self-parking.

During high-traffic days such as the days following Thanksgiving and week of Christmas, valet and self- parking at the Gaylord Texan may reach capacity. During these times, all vehicles will be directed to a satellite lot upon entering the property. The property will then shuttle those customers to the venue.

General Admission Ticket Discount

Lexus owners will receive a $5.00 discount on all adult tickets purchased for the ICE! attraction.  This exclusive offer is valid for all ICE! event days except November 27 – 30, 2014.

To receive your discount, use the promo code PARKPLACE when purchasing tickets at www.gaylordtexantickets.com.

To avoid a $3 transaction fee, box office lines and possible sell-outs, Lexus owners are encouraged to purchase their discounted tickets in advance of their visit, with the designated promo code, at the following website:  www.gaylordtexantickets.com

Glass Cactus

In addition to the benefits offered for ICE!, Lexus owners still receive complimentary valet parking at the Glass Cactus, the Gaylord Texan’s exclusive nightclub and live music venue. The benefit is extended to all owners driving their Lexus vehicles to public events taking place at the Glass Cactus.

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Lexus Manufacturer, Toyota, Celebrating North Texas Move With Hello Texas Block Party

Toyota Hello Texas Logo

Since announcing plans to establish their new North American headquarters in Plano, Toyota, manufacturer of Lexus automobiles, has received an enormous outpouring of support from the entire community.

To say “thank you,” they are hosting a Hello Texas Block Party on Monday, Oct. 27, at Bishop Park at Legacy Town Center, from 12 – 8 p.m.

Boasting a family friendly atmosphere, eighteen local restaurants will offer delicious fare, accompanied by live concerts from Texas musicians including Elaine Garcia, Curtis Grimes, Bobby Pulido, Lone Star Attitude and Jack Ingram.

Celebrities including FC Dallas player George John, NASCAR driver Darrell Wallace Jr., Bassmaster Elite Pro Tournament Angler Kelly Jordon and Olympic Gold Medalists Nastia Liukin will join for “meet and greets” throughout the day.

Visit their event page for more details. We hope to see you there!

Toyota Hello Texas Logo

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Lexus Unveils New Special Editions for 2015: The Crafted Line

To celebrate 25 years of luxury, Lexus showed off their new Crafted Line as a special edition arriving at Park Place and other dealerships this November. The Crafted Line offers customers exquisite style that is unprecedented in the 2015 model line. The beautiful cars feature an Ultra White and Obsidian exterior wrapped around a stunning two-tone black and red interior. As an exciting component of this exclusive line, Lexus is complementing each of The Crafted Line vehicles with a two-piece TUMI duffle bag set designed exclusively for these sporty and elegant cars.

2015 Lexus Crafted Line | Park Place Lexus

The Crafted Line is comprised of the following models: LS 460 F Sport, GS 350 F Sport, and IS 250 F Sport (in all-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive models); RX 350 AWD F Sport and ES 350.  The Crafted Line and F Sport models feature such performance and appearance enhancements as a mesh grille and front and rear lower valences. The chart below offers more detail to each model in The Crafted Line.

2015 Lexus Crafted Line Interior | Park Place Lexus

2015 Lexus Crafted Line Comparison Chart| Park Place Lexus

For The Crafted Line, Lexus partnered with TUMI luggage, known for producing unparalleled premium travel, business, and lifestyle luggage accessories for over 35 years.  Each Crafted Line vehicle comes with an exclusive luggage set to match the elegance of these beautiful cars. The TUMI luggage pieces offered with the cars feature the Lexus logo along with an interior to match the vehicle’s, including red stitching. Along with the two bags that come with the cars, TUMI also has designed larger bags to accompany The Crafted Line owners’ on a longer travel.*Delivery, handling and processing is an additional $925.
2015 Lexus Crafted Line Tumi Luggage Set| Park Place Lexus

All Crafted Line models, along with the TUMI duffle bag set, will be on public display for the first time at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance August 15-17.  For more information, check back with Park Place Dealerships, as pricing details are expected to be released closer to the launch of The Crafted Line.

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Lexus Wants You to Run With the Bulls

Let’s face it, who doesn’t like to go fast? Whether you are a CEO, soccer mom, college student or anything in-between most everyone loves the thrill of speed. As your pulse rate climbs, the hair on the back on your neck stands up right and that natural high of flying across asphalt courses through your veins all while a roaring machine serves as your chariot to this oasis of adrenaline. There is just something that the feeling of going fast gives off that infatuates us as human beings. It especially hooks the people at Lexus and for the first time ever they want to show the people just how much they like to go fast. For the first time in the company’s prestigious history they are releasing three of their new cars on the race track. Never before has Lexus released any of its vehicles on the track to dealers but these cars are different. Each new model Lexus is releasing is inspired from the asphalt up with speed at the fore front of each design.

The new 2015 NX is Lexus’ first ever compact crossover with a turbo charged engine. It is a car that takes everything Lexus is known for: quality, fuel efficiency, reliability, comfort,  etc and adds a 2.0-liter, direct-injection, 235-hp, 258-lb-ft torque, 17-psi of boost. In America the 2015 Lexus NX will be available in a two variants, the Hybrid and the Turbo, with AWD available for both and the F-Sport package. Lexus is looking to make quite a slash with these new models and the NX is just where they are getting started when it comes to speed.

The 2015 RC F has a powerful and refined V8 that promises to take both the track and street with its own aggressive style. Under the hood that 5.0-liter V-8 is rated at 460 hp mated to an eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters and a special torque-vectoring differential. The chassis is specially tuned and wider 19-inch wheels are fitted to provide the car with tremendously precise handling. The interior on bot the 2015 RC and RC f models is impeccable with craftsmanship and materials that look just as this chic speed machine should. All three of these cars can run and run fast. The only thing Lexus doesn’t know is if you can handle it.

That is why Lexus is hosting its first ever “Running of the Bulls” starting off in Dallas, TX September 15-16 at Motorsport Ranch to give people a chance to feel the power behind all three of these new Lexus cars.  Lexus will be traveling the country showing off these cars and for a full tour calendar of where and when Lexus will be click here.

If you want to see more Lexus vehicles or just want to check out more on these new models come by Park Place Lexus Plano or Park Place Lexus Grapevine to see the nation’s largest stock of new and used Lexus cars.

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Lexus Wins its 17th JD Power Award

When you buy a car you want to trust that everything’s going to run smoothly, the way it is meant to be. And there’s one manufacturer that has been doing it the “way it is meant to be” for almost the past two decades. This standalone manufacturer in the dependability category is Lexus.

Park Place-lexus-what-car-jd-power

When it comes to dependability, the world knows that winning the JD Power award is the apex. This year Lexus again took the top spot in J.D. Power’s 2014 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study – now three straight years. The Japanese auto maker has averaged 40 fewer problems per 100 vehicles than the second closest manufacturer, and that’s a lot. The 2014 Lexus ES, LS, GS, GX and RX won individual awards as well, each coming in top of their class. Although Lexus lost the top ranking in 2009-11, it had been on top of the survey for 14 years before that. All this being said, the Lexus brand stands as the cornerstone of quality and dependability in the automotive industry. Lexus’ constant “Pursuit of Perfection”, partnered with its penchant for innovation, has helped this automaker establish itself as quality manufacturer. Their vehicles exude class, comfort, efficiency and most of all dependability.

If you are looking for a car that is made to be more reliable than any other on the road, then you should check-out the impressive inventory of new and pre-owned Lexus vehicles at  Lexus Plano or Lexus Grapevine.