Having owned a Lexus and a Toyota I’d agree they’re terribly overrated. Toyotas used to be great but the newer ones aren’t even as good as a Kia IMO, although Kia makes pretty good stuff. My last Toyota was probably the worst, most boring modern car I’ve ever owned. Lord I hated that car. I think what helped Lexus at the time was you could get German car refinement that wasn’t also a total maintenance nightmare. Nowadays most cars are equally good so really there’s no point in paying more for the Lexus vs something like even a Honda Accord that’s better at half the price.