midcow3

Terry, the CT joy-stick, mouse button works great. It is easy to adapt to and keeps your eyes on the road much better than the touch screen systems. I have touch screen on two other vehicles and I much prefer the CT approach. The only downside and with any multi-level menu system (such as Windows 7) is that you can't go directly to a specific radio station or other function; instead it takes several button pushes.

Take Care,
MidCow3

P.S. - Haven't named my CT but my iRobot's name is Ralph

TerrySmith

Thanks for the response. Good to know. I was sitting in some at a dealer recently and at 6' 3" can only sit in the driver's seat if it's all the way back.

Terry in Sunnyvale
___________________________________________________
2003 LS430 UL (aka Betty)
2011 IS F ML (aka Jail Bait)

TerrySmith

Well if she talks to you, she needs a name. And tell Ralph that Siri (on my iPhone) says hi.

Terry in Sunnyvale
___________________________________________________
2003 LS430 UL (aka Betty)
2011 IS F ML (aka Jail Bait)

djyoshi626

iTrader: (5)

I've seen people tape their vehicle's registration paper from the DMV to the side of the window to block the sun......

Keep in mind people, these "little things" also rack up to $$$ for the car. I'm sure you can buy aftermarket gas-struts for your hood... no? If not, I think we might have a market for them.

zukikat

I don't know how it compares to the CT but the fully loaded 2002 IS300 I chose in 2005 when it came off its' original 3 year corporate lease had the factory DVD based Nav system option with the high mounted motorized flip-up screen and joystick controls and over the first few weeks I had the car several friends complained that it wasn't a very nice system because it wasn't touch screen but personally I found it easier see the high screen and easier to reach the joystick than reaching even the radio and climate controls, and moving through the menus once I memorized them within the first few uses was simple enough to totally do as desired without taking my eyes off the road by counting the audible feedback sounds, PLUS the screen was always perfectly clean instead of always being covered with fingerprints like touch screens end up being.
The main reason I chose that IS300 was for the 2JZ engine they got and the only reason I chose to part with it several years later was to buy a 1998 Twin-Turbo 6-Speed Supra instead.

I may be incorrect but I believe that in any Toyota/Lexus vehicle the glove box light only functions with the parking lights and/or headlights on, so no glove box light during the day. Plus occasionally their chosen placement isn't always ideal and sometimes gets unknowingly blocked by glove box contents but I can't say that I've seen any Lexus vehicles or even upper model Toyota vehicles that did NOT have a glove box light as standard equipment in the last 20+ years...

Both my fully loaded 2002 IS300 and my reasonably equipped 2001 IS300 had a hood prop stick too, it's not just a CT thing and although it bugged me a little sometimes I so rarely even opened their hoods that in the grand scheme of things, does that really matter?
Both of those IS300's had an oil level warning light (which never even came on) and my LS400 also has a coolant level warning light so unless you do your own maintenance or like staring at plastic engine cover panels there's not much need for opening the hood anyway...
Plus try opening an LS400 hood when one of the original hood shocks gets tired... Now THAT is a heavy hood!

Tom59

Gas hood struts last about 5-6 yrs in the cold weather in all my cars. The start to lose their ability to keep the hood open. I have replaced many of them. Especially hatch struts on Celicas. I see no benefit when the hoods are so light now. Weight savings......

My biggest complaint are the side mirrors they are a weird shape and don't give a very good view. The trunk was shrunk because of the batteries that would be second.
I had my windows tinted and that helps tremendously with glare. Night time driving is 100% better as far as headlight glare too.
I still love the little buggy......looking forward to the CT300H. The CT500h.......300hp/300tq coming in 2018.

JimsGX

Are you saying you also had the front windshield tinted and that cut down on oncoming headlight glare? What % tint did you have installed?

GrdnRxR

Has anyone tried installing a different visor ?

Tom59

NO, tint on the windshield that is illegal here. The glare is from cars behind you and your side mirror glare... not oncoming traffic. I think rear glare is the worst , for me anyway. Side glare from the sun is much improved too.

LexFather

For me it is the armrest....or lack of my arm resting

Trexus

For myself it's not having any cupholders in the rear seating area...what's up with that Lexus?

HybridL

Just get a good pair of nice looking sunglass and floss.

ravaul

The absence of a power trunk release and a button on the key fob for it. Appears all other Lexus models have them.

HybridL

The matrix even has one btw ravaul

Cruiter

Terry, if you're considering one with the NAV, don't be concerned. While you can always find some folk that will be less than happy with new designs, the over all acceptance of the new systems is speaking for itself. On my RX 450h, it's a great improvement over the old 'reach out and touch the screen' mode that 'did' take your eyes off the road. Any system can be distracting but using the 'remote' with haptic feedback is a joy over the old. The function process is new and different (something to learn), but it's logic actually makes sense when you do. I can't imagine going back to the old way.

You can imagine a drawback or improvement to any system, I wish a few features were different, but overall I love it.