coolsaber

Hands down the big plus. Non Synthetic leather feels better on a new car, but once its racked on some seat time your basically need to upkeep on the conditioners or else it goes to hell. Rarely does one see this, but thats where NuLuxe materials really holds its own.

SW17LS

I have twins, who ride in a car with Nappa perforated leather. Stuff just wipes off.

Anyways, it's a luxury car not a durable family hauler. That's like saying my Louis Vuitton luggage should be able to be driven over by a car or withstand sitting on an airport Tarmac in a downpour. (Not that I have Louis Vuitton luggage, what am I some sort of dandy? ) or that my china dinnerware shouldn't break when My kids throw it across the dining room. There are products built to withstand abuse, and there are products built to be luxurious.

If that NuLuxe was in a minivan I wouldn't have an issue.

daftzim

Most of the commentary is directed at the physical and build quality of the vehicle which is excellent. However, the infotainment, voice recognition, climate, and navigation systems are exceedingly poor. I have a $200 Garmin GPS that is much more useful than the Lexus system. Voice recognition requires the use of a limited range of very specific commands or it will not work. These commands are not necessarily the ones used in common, vernacular English. Controlling the fan speed of the climate control requires jumping multiple screens on the display-difficult when wearing sunglasses or in bright light. The home screen is virtually useless and customization involves a choice among a few standard templates that evoke nothing useful. I expect to have an accident while using climate control or GPS.

mmarshall

Welcome to CL as a brand-new poster. Glad to have you.

I agree with you to a large extent.....I am generally not a fan of the hard-to-use video/communication/electronic systems in most of today's vehicles. Some of them can be exceedingly complex, and even those that aren't (by today's standards) require some study/practice in the Owners' Manual. That's why, in my reviews (even with my long full-reviews), I usually don't spend a lot of time going into detail about the specifics of how each video or comm system works.....only its general ease or non-ease of use. Each vehicle is different in that respect, and will usually require you to look at the book to figure it out.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

with so many generalities and vague amounts, i'm not following you. are you saying you feel the controls in most of today's vehicles are hard to use? please don't answer "generally" or "to an extent"...

back to the gx, it's just old, out-dated, and weak. but yeah it's reliable.

Och

iTrader: (3)

In the GX in particular the touch screen controls are especially clusterpluck, even worse than other Lexus models with the awful remote touch. It is a terrible vehicle on so many levels, but Lexus found a niche for it and it sells quite a bit.

mmarshall

OK...I'll try and spell it out in simple, plain English.

Personally, I find many, if not most, of today's automotive video system controls both difficult to use and/or difficult to get used to. That, however, is usually not the case with more conventional switches, buttons, dials, and controls, especially from American, Korean, or Japanese-badged manufacturers, though it can sometimes be the case, even with conventional controls, with upmarket vehicles from German manufacturers....M-B, BMW, Audi.

Perhaps this is because, as an (admittedly) older person, I did not grow up with computers and video-screens like today's youth. I had to continually learn them (sometimes rather awkwardly) as I went along. I learned them well enough to do my career-job (and do it well, as I got a number of awards for my work). But I was never really happy with the automation, and retired from my job (fortunately, with a nice pension and benefits) when the increasing level of computerization on that job became more than I thought I could efficiently handle.

I've gotten used to the Buick Intellink system in my Verano, of course (actually, it's one of the less-complex video-systems by today's standards), but that is primarily because I don't really alter the settings on it very much, except to flick back and forth between some pre-set radio stations, and to set the clock twice a year. I do almost everything else with manual controls....even the automatic climate control (which I adjust manually), because I don't like the way that the auto-climate system in the Verano works.

coolsaber

Depends on how high up you put the Remote touch on. I personally dont like the remote touch at all and thought it was a great alternative to the **** poor touchscreens on most lexus models. However after using the remote touch system while driving, I`d take direct control over the out of touch remote touch. With Lexus models even the wonder kid RX unit, the system is designed to mimic other leading systems rather then build upon a strong understanding of how to make life easier when driving

Walk into a the new generation mercs, audis, bmws, or even a jeep dealership and try out their systems. Things get done a whole lot quicker, and safer then what Lexus has going on.

Yes at the end of the day the argument about reliability is one thats strong, but at a certain point the market will even force some sort of update.

I guess 2018 will be that change :P

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

thanks.

understand, but i think there's another factor you allude to here:

as you say, you've gotten used to it. you review dozens of other cars and there's no way you, and not only you but almost anyone, could be comfortable with the systems after a few minutes in those vehicles. i'm a tech nerd and the systems i come across are not always obvious to me either. now one could say (like you did) say that more conventional switches, buttons, dials, and controls are easier to figure out, and that's no doubt true, but there's more and more features on cars today, and so having a button/switch for everything isn't feasible, so a controller or touch screen replaces some of the alternative sea of buttons. this was even done in the space shuttle and of course advanced aircraft now because there literally wasn't enough space for everything to be another button or dedicated dial that can be feasibly reached by the operator.

as i've mentioned before, my jeep has 22 buttons (not including the horn ) on the steering wheel. the main gauge behind the steering wheel is all LCD and configurable with dozens of combinations for the gauge style, and information displayed in several locations. there's a dozen or more button/controls on the center stack and console, and a touch screen u-connect system that has been widely praised as one of the most user-friendly. i can still find faults in it because i'm into tech and user-interface / human factors design, but overall it's pretty darned good. and my car isn't even 4x4 with the air suspension controls and other off-road modes. NO ONE is going to sit in the car and figure it all out in a few minutes.

so maybe you should cut yourself a little slack too - i think if you spent a few days with almost any vehicle you'd get used to it.

back to the gx, the interior is positively archaic. but at least it doesn't have the clumsy remote touch.