RX350--Love It, but a few nitpicks

[Jerry]

Purchased a new RX 350 a few weeks ago. My first Lexus. And I absolutely
love this car. Great power, terrific handling, and a very smooth ride.

There are two things that I wish were different. For those of us that
are a bit on the stocky side and have our seats all the way back, the
driver's right arm rest doesn't come out far enough. With my right hand
on the wheel, my right elbow hits the end of the arm rest and it's not
very comfortable. If I'm not using my right hand to steer, I have to
bring it close to my chest to have it supported by the arm rest. I
decided to not even use the right armrest. I mentioned this to the
dealer and he acknowledged that others have commented on this. I'd love
it if Lexus could come out with an aftermarket modification or if there
was a third party add on or modification that could correct this.

The other item is the inability to use the presets for seat position,
etc while driving. I understand that this is probably a safety related
issue in that Lexus doesn't want the driver to have his position
radically change while driving. But for those of us who have fine tuned
our seating positions and want to responsibly switch between the two
presets, or even memorize a new position that is created while driving,
this is a bit of an annoyance. Is there any way to override this and
allow the use of the presets while driving?

These two items are really minor issues that don't significantly impact
my love for this car. But why not strive for perfection? :-)


BTW, I was reading the other posts that indicate that most RX drivers
are female. Very interesting. I wonder why that is. I'm definitely a
male and still love this car.

Jerry

[Geo]

As to the last, the RX is definitely a chick car. Women like to sit up high
(better view), value handling little, don't want a too large vehicle (too
intimidating), like a soft ride, don't mind vague steering (they like light
steering), and are comforted by the reliability of the Toyota/Lexus badge.
The RX is also, technically, NOT a minivan...very important for image
reasons.

Some men feel the same way, of course.

We own a an older GEN 1 LS400, an E46 330i, and an RX330. The LS was my
wife's daily driver until we got the RX330. She loved it then, but now far
prefers the RX330 (height plus its "zippy"). She hates my 330i (harsh ride,
too much road noise, 6-sp manual). I love the 330i and utterly dislike the
RX. I find it noisy (powertrain), unrefined, having awful handling, poor
cargo room for its size, mediocre mileage, lower quality than our old LS
that I still thing a jewel of a luxury sedan. I really would have preferred
a Toyota or Honda minivan to the RX. I would never buy an RX for my own
use...but my wife loves it.

- nopcbs

Post by Jerry
Purchased a new RX 350 a few weeks ago. My first Lexus. And I absolutely
love this car. Great power, terrific handling, and a very smooth ride.
There are two things that I wish were different. For those of us that
are a bit on the stocky side and have our seats all the way back, the
driver's right arm rest doesn't come out far enough. With my right hand
on the wheel, my right elbow hits the end of the arm rest and it's not
very comfortable. If I'm not using my right hand to steer, I have to
bring it close to my chest to have it supported by the arm rest. I
decided to not even use the right armrest. I mentioned this to the
dealer and he acknowledged that others have commented on this. I'd love
it if Lexus could come out with an aftermarket modification or if there
was a third party add on or modification that could correct this.
The other item is the inability to use the presets for seat position,
etc while driving. I understand that this is probably a safety related
issue in that Lexus doesn't want the driver to have his position
radically change while driving. But for those of us who have fine tuned
our seating positions and want to responsibly switch between the two
presets, or even memorize a new position that is created while driving,
this is a bit of an annoyance. Is there any way to override this and
allow the use of the presets while driving?
These two items are really minor issues that don't significantly impact
my love for this car. But why not strive for perfection? :-)
BTW, I was reading the other posts that indicate that most RX drivers
are female. Very interesting. I wonder why that is. I'm definitely a
male and still love this car.
Jerry

[mcbrue]

SHAME ON YOU !!!!! This forum is NOT for saying bad nasty things about
the perfect Lexus cars !!!! Well ... that is what some people say. I
think it should be a forum for discussing the many shortcomings of the
Lexus vehicles as well as their good points. You have pointed out a
couple more ways in which the Japanese mind has utterly failed in the
task of trying to optimize the vehicles for maximum comfot. Their
egineering goal is to have everything that the luxury vehicles have,
but not necessarily engineered for full size human comfort. So thanks
for pointing out a couple more instances of engineering for show, not
go. When I get the time, I will list probably 40 little things like
that which could change the Lexus into a luxury car.