Long and luxurious, the 2018 Lexus LS 500 sedan is a masterwork of engineering and design wrapped around a jumble of needlessly complicated and fussy controls.
The big sedan's looks and comfort can easily stand alongside the best in the industry. It uses an all-new architecture that will be the basis for Lexus cars _ and perhaps an SUV or two _ for years to come. The architecture is called, you guessed it, GA-L or global architecture-luxury. Flights of poetry like that are enough to make you glad Lexus uses strings of letters and numbers rather than creating names for its vehicles.
Most new cars that are going on sale now are labeled 2019 models, but don't let the LS's 2018 tag bother you. The car is all new. Toyota built a few before Jan. 1, so it had be called a 2018.
The LS competes with sedans like the Audi A8, BMW 7-series, Cadillac CT6, Jaguar XJ and Mercedes S-class. You might be able to stretch a point to call the Lincoln Continental Black Label AWD a competitor, but Lincoln's engineering, price and image are so different that few if any buyers considering the Lexus sedan are also shopping Ford's luxury brand.
