David Z

SOOOO many ES350s... here's more photos from sunny Florida:

Believe it or not, I did see an S450 while in Florida. I didn't get close enough to see the license plate. Perhaps it was from Canada, as I don't think they're sold in the US.

America's always been backwards in that regard. Actually I doubt it's for protective reasons because you don't see anyone other than seniors with them. That said, the Florida sun is HARSH. I took a photo of this 1990s Corolla to illustrate my point: Anyway, here are a few more vinyls I captured: A Lexus ES350, LS460, and a Chrysler 300C:

A few photos from my trip... Lexus everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Most impressive are these LS460s - about 5 parked in a row at my grandparent's country club: (I think there must have been a reason the valets chose to park 5 next to each other, but still, it shows the popularity of the car in their area). In these next few shots you can see the popularity of the ES350! The ES350 is the best-selling luxury car in the USA. I've seen hundreds since I've been here: You can see that Lexus outnumber Mercedes about 2 to 1 in this area. The LS460 sells about 35,000 a year (compared to 250 or so in Australia), and has outsold the S-Class and 7-Series since it was introduced. Another shot of the main road, lined with Lexuses and other luxury cars as far as the eye can see: Lexus are less popular with the young, though. At the car park of the local high school, I saw only a couple of IS250s and RX330s, one old ES, and NO LSs at all.

It just gives it a more elegant appearance, I suppose. It's also useful in Florida because of the intense sun, which causes paint to fade quicker (and roads as well - about a year after a road is paved, the black asphalt quickly fades to light grey). You see 10 year old cars here with paint that's already starting to crack/fade, and the roof has the largest surface area that's getting sun on it, so I suppose the vinyl would give it some protection. Cheaper to replace a worn vinyl top than to respray a roof, i reckon.

It might seem strange to an Aussie, but vinyl roofs continue to live on here in the US. When you think vinyl you think Cadillac or Lincoln, but actually they're just as common here (with the elderly, of course), on Camries, Avalons, Accords, Sonatas, and Nissan Altimas. You even see them on Lexus ES350s and LS460s. While here I took a photo of 3 generations of Camry with vinyl roofs, plus 1 Accord: A 97-99 model with a tan roof, photographed in a 55+ apartment complex: A current model Camry, with a black roof and fake chrome B-pillars on the door (again very common here): Here's an 02-04 Camry what looks like a dark navy blue or maybe black top, and chrome rims! This one was taken at an expensive country club, where the residents are mostly over 60. Apologies for the image quality - it was in an undercover car park. And, lastly, an 03-05 Accord, at a local shopping centre: