websailor

Thanks. Where there's a will, there's a way!

gadiehl

Thanks to all for the info. Today, when the temp dropped into the single digits, I had to add air to a couple of the tires. The lack of knowing which tire was low is disappointing as well as shocking. My 2006 Acura RL displayed each tire's pressure in a nice display that identified each tire. When I traded it for the RX45h, I thought I was stepping up. Guess not. Sigh. This isn't the first incident where I've found the Lexus doesn't measure up to the Acura. So much for reputations

gadiehl

Well, there are a lot of differences. Some stem from obvious sedan vs. SUV differences. I like the RX450's larger cargo space, better mpg (although in spite of trying everything mentioned in these forums, I get only 25 mpg on the RX450h). That said, and with the caveat that the RL was a 2006 and the RX is a 2013, some other differences:

• As I said, the RL displayed the tire pressures in a nice "chassis like" display, identifying the pressure for each tire.
• The RX450's front defroster is pitiful compared to that on the RL. The RX450's vent doesn't span the entire windshield as well and so the edges take much longer to defrost
• The RL told me when an oil change was due based, I think, on the oil quality. The RX450 requires me to manually program a day or mpg based reminder
• But on the positive, the RX450 has a tighter turning radius. I was constantly driving over curbs with the RL's wide turn radius.
• The RX450 has a better Nav system, although I don't like that I can't alter the routing when the car is moving.
• RX450 climate controls are much better with direct access to fan and temp controls. RL required 2 or 3 levels to access. Annoying.
• Voice commands: Acura went overboard, too many to remember. RX450 could use a few more, like for direct radio station selection
• The RL display had the annoying restriction that displaying the odometer was mutually restrictive with displaying the outside temp. I like the RX450's better.
• Cruise control on Honda/Acura is easier to use. Extra stalk on Toyota/Lexus is more awkward, at least to me.
• Acura heated seats were more toasty on the tush but had the annoying habit of intermittently shutting off.

That's about all I can think think of right now. Overall, I don't regret buying the RX450.
Gary

Droid13

I don't think Lexus reputation was for having the best gadgets and features of any manufacturer, in fact I think they are fairly conservative in this area. Their reputation mainly lies with reliability and quality, which often means not being on the cutting edge.

Not that tire locations on TPMS could be considered cutting edge, but I can see this being only limited usefulness. Unfortunately this means a tire rotation no longer is just a tire guy with his trusty air tools, he now has to get the technician over to reprogram the TPMS.

My Dad fell into this rabbit hole on his car. He was trying to top up a low tire while referring to the tire location displayed on his dash, and he couldn't make sense of it because the pressure didn't change as he added air. When he asked me to help, the problem was simply the assumption that the last time the tires were rotated they reprogrammed the tire locations. They did not. Going old school and using a pressure gauge we quickly figured out which tires were in which location, and got them adjusted properly.

While I appreciate that more information is usually better than less information, it isn't always so simple. Information isn't free and bad information is worse than no information. Is the cost of programming tire locations each tire rotation worth the extra minute it takes to check all the tires instead of going to the right tire immediately. And the increased possibility of having faulty information (as in my Dad's case), actually resulted in more wasted time and confusion than saved time.

This just doesn't seem to be a reputation breaking issue to me. But don't get me talking about unlit homelink buttons, I still curse Lexus every night before going to bed on that topic.