Drove the 2016 LX (Good and Bad)
12-14-15, 12:27 PM
#1
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
Drove the 2016 LX (Good and Bad)
I own a 2010 LX-570 and have driven it almost 130,000 miles! I Love that car! I had zero problems with it to date, and as such, were curious about the newly re-designed 2016 LX, to see if it's really that much better and worth the upgrade. After test driving it twice (a few days apart) here are my observations:
1. The new look looks really ugly in pictures. But in person, its much better. It's still not as stylish as a Range Rover, and I'm not crazy about it's "edgy" design, but I can live with it.
2. For the most part, once inside the car, from the front seats forward, the car looks and feels totally new. From the second row all the way to the back, its pretty much the same.
3. This car has many more features and more safety features than mine, which I liked.
4. The NAV screen is very large and bright, easy to read even in bright daylight. (I like it a lot)
5. The buttons, switches, etc, have chrome edges and in general feel "upgraded".
But I have a few gripes as well.
6. While the ride was rock solid, smooth and quiet, the 21" rims make the ride rougher and noisier than it should be. I would probably go for the 20" wheels.
7. The steering effort is too hard in low speeds. That was a common complaint on the older ones too. So you'd think they would add extra boost to the power steering at low speeds? But they didn't. It's actually worse. When trying to maneuver such a big car in tight parking spaces, I want to be able to easily turn the wheel with one hand (effortlessly). Instead, it was much stiffer than mine and required two hand to turn the wheel at low speeds. Women in particularly will find this annoying.
8. The heads up display lacks a "brightness" adjustment. (I couldn't find one). I found it a little hard to see in bright daylight. It wasn't terrible at all, but making it a little brighter, would make a "Huge" difference. (Drive the Mercedes S class with the heads up display to experience a good example of how it should be)
9. The display font sizes are too small. I have a hard time reading the temperature gauge for example. On my 2010, it's in beautiful large fonts. (On my wife's 2012 RX, it's tiny. And... most buyers of these cars are people over 40, so larger fonts please!)
10. There is no "Hold" option for the brakes at red light. Many cars have the option to have the brakes automatically hold the car at a red light. Subaru Outback has an "on/Off" switch for example. When on, every time you come to a full stop, you can remove you foot from the brake pedal and the brakes will stay engaged. This helps in bumper to bumper traffic. (I'm from L.A., so it's important to me) Mercedes has a nice feature that once you come to a full stop, just push hard on the brake pedal and the brakes will hold the car. In both cases, once you touch the gas pedal, the brakes disengage automatically.
11. There is an electronic "Brake" button on the center console. When I came to a full stop I tried engaging it to see if it will hold the car. It did. BUT.... It did not disengage when I pressed the gas pedal. This is another one of those "bad Logic Designs" from Lexus. When that occurs, they must disengage the electronic hand brake. For people who are familiar with this feature on other car brands, its confusing!
12. THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH MUST REMAIN ON AT ALL TIMES otherwise the safety features that work off of the radar system (Pre-Collision for example) do NOT work! Terrible logic. The on/off cruise control button should NEVER affect, or turn off the safety features. This is counter-intuitive and dangerous!
13. Front seat;, it appeared to have a weird hump in the crotch area and behind the hump it seemed to be lacking padding (it was unusually hard padding) Maybe it was unique to this one car (or me just aging a little).
Like I said, I love my 2010 LX and there is a good chance I will buy the new one as well. I drive many miles in L.A. traffic and need a quiet, comfortable, and reliable ride. I like many of the new features and the value this car provides over time. It's just disappointing that Lexus is now refreshing their cars a second time (read it as being CHEAP) and when they do finally come out with a new car, is not fully thought through.
1. The new look looks really ugly in pictures. But in person, its much better. It's still not as stylish as a Range Rover, and I'm not crazy about it's "edgy" design, but I can live with it.
2. For the most part, once inside the car, from the front seats forward, the car looks and feels totally new. From the second row all the way to the back, its pretty much the same.
3. This car has many more features and more safety features than mine, which I liked.
4. The NAV screen is very large and bright, easy to read even in bright daylight. (I like it a lot)
5. The buttons, switches, etc, have chrome edges and in general feel "upgraded".
But I have a few gripes as well.
6. While the ride was rock solid, smooth and quiet, the 21" rims make the ride rougher and noisier than it should be. I would probably go for the 20" wheels.
7. The steering effort is too hard in low speeds. That was a common complaint on the older ones too. So you'd think they would add extra boost to the power steering at low speeds? But they didn't. It's actually worse. When trying to maneuver such a big car in tight parking spaces, I want to be able to easily turn the wheel with one hand (effortlessly). Instead, it was much stiffer than mine and required two hand to turn the wheel at low speeds. Women in particularly will find this annoying.
8. The heads up display lacks a "brightness" adjustment. (I couldn't find one). I found it a little hard to see in bright daylight. It wasn't terrible at all, but making it a little brighter, would make a "Huge" difference. (Drive the Mercedes S class with the heads up display to experience a good example of how it should be)
9. The display font sizes are too small. I have a hard time reading the temperature gauge for example. On my 2010, it's in beautiful large fonts. (On my wife's 2012 RX, it's tiny. And... most buyers of these cars are people over 40, so larger fonts please!)
10. There is no "Hold" option for the brakes at red light. Many cars have the option to have the brakes automatically hold the car at a red light. Subaru Outback has an "on/Off" switch for example. When on, every time you come to a full stop, you can remove you foot from the brake pedal and the brakes will stay engaged. This helps in bumper to bumper traffic. (I'm from L.A., so it's important to me) Mercedes has a nice feature that once you come to a full stop, just push hard on the brake pedal and the brakes will hold the car. In both cases, once you touch the gas pedal, the brakes disengage automatically.
11. There is an electronic "Brake" button on the center console. When I came to a full stop I tried engaging it to see if it will hold the car. It did. BUT.... It did not disengage when I pressed the gas pedal. This is another one of those "bad Logic Designs" from Lexus. When that occurs, they must disengage the electronic hand brake. For people who are familiar with this feature on other car brands, its confusing!
12. THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH MUST REMAIN ON AT ALL TIMES otherwise the safety features that work off of the radar system (Pre-Collision for example) do NOT work! Terrible logic. The on/off cruise control button should NEVER affect, or turn off the safety features. This is counter-intuitive and dangerous!
13. Front seat;, it appeared to have a weird hump in the crotch area and behind the hump it seemed to be lacking padding (it was unusually hard padding) Maybe it was unique to this one car (or me just aging a little).
Like I said, I love my 2010 LX and there is a good chance I will buy the new one as well. I drive many miles in L.A. traffic and need a quiet, comfortable, and reliable ride. I like many of the new features and the value this car provides over time. It's just disappointing that Lexus is now refreshing their cars a second time (read it as being CHEAP) and when they do finally come out with a new car, is not fully thought through.
12-14-15, 08:19 PM
#5
The electronic e brake on my Audi automatically disengages if you hit the gas pedal immediately after hitting the brake pedal (i.e.. after shifting to pull out of a parking spot). It will NOT disengage if you engage it and then hit the gas pedal. IMO this is how the electronic e brake should work.
12-15-15, 03:07 PM
#6
There are answers to some of your questions/concerns
Referencing some of your concerns-- here has been my experience with my 2016 LX:
1. There is a menu to adjust the brightness and location of the heads up display. I find that it can be adjusted to be bright enough to see in daylight. You can't see it with polarized sunglasses on, however.
2. The collision and safety systems stay on, such as the PCS system, even if the cruise control switch is turned off. It is not correct that the cruise control has to stay off. In the event of sudden stop or impending collision, it assists with breaking and pretensions the seatbelts, for example.
3. All speed cruise brings the vehicle to a stop in stop and go traffic, and if you reach a dead stop, then it will only start again if you press the gas or the cruise lever. The system tries to slow to "slow roll" rather than dead stop where possible and traffic is moving. I like this better than some type of "stop hold" that you have to engage.
4. My drivers seat on my 2016 is very comfortable.
5. There are many different options for the display before the driver, including large font speed indicator and other large font type displays. Not everything can be made larger, but once you read the manual, you can get a lot of the information displayed in large format on one of the two screens, in front of the driver or the navigation screen, or on the heads up display.
1. There is a menu to adjust the brightness and location of the heads up display. I find that it can be adjusted to be bright enough to see in daylight. You can't see it with polarized sunglasses on, however.
2. The collision and safety systems stay on, such as the PCS system, even if the cruise control switch is turned off. It is not correct that the cruise control has to stay off. In the event of sudden stop or impending collision, it assists with breaking and pretensions the seatbelts, for example.
3. All speed cruise brings the vehicle to a stop in stop and go traffic, and if you reach a dead stop, then it will only start again if you press the gas or the cruise lever. The system tries to slow to "slow roll" rather than dead stop where possible and traffic is moving. I like this better than some type of "stop hold" that you have to engage.
4. My drivers seat on my 2016 is very comfortable.
5. There are many different options for the display before the driver, including large font speed indicator and other large font type displays. Not everything can be made larger, but once you read the manual, you can get a lot of the information displayed in large format on one of the two screens, in front of the driver or the navigation screen, or on the heads up display.
12-15-15, 03:40 PM
#7
Also, regarding the steering on the 2016 LX
My experience was that the steering wheel turns very easily when parking or at low speed, easier and just as or more nimble than on my 2003 LX, my 2005 LS, my wife's ES's or my other family's RX's. The steering wheel seems very "tight" (versus loose) and extremely responsive to me with a limited amount of turning pressure/ It does not feel to me like it is unresponsive or difficult to move when parking. My preference is that the wheel not have a "hair trigger" when turning.
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12-15-15, 04:26 PM
#8
Pit Crew
Thread Starter
All excellent news. I had pretty brief test drives with sales reps that weren't very knowledgeable (maybe because it's so new), so it's good to hear from current owners who drive it on a daily basis.
12-15-15, 08:32 PM
#9
Driver
.....
But I have a few gripes as well.
.....
8. The heads up display lacks a "brightness" adjustment. (I couldn't find one). I found it a little hard to see in bright daylight. It wasn't terrible at all, but making it a little brighter, would make a "Huge" difference. (Drive the Mercedes S class with the heads up display to experience a good example of how it should be)
.....
10. There is no "Hold" option for the brakes at red light. Many cars have the option to have the brakes automatically hold the car at a red light. Subaru Outback has an "on/Off" switch for example. When on, every time you come to a full stop, you can remove you foot from the brake pedal and the brakes will stay engaged. This helps in bumper to bumper traffic. (I'm from L.A., so it's important to me) Mercedes has a nice feature that once you come to a full stop, just push hard on the brake pedal and the brakes will hold the car. In both cases, once you touch the gas pedal, the brakes disengage automatically.
.....
12. THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH MUST REMAIN ON AT ALL TIMES otherwise the safety features that work off of the radar system (Pre-Collision for example) do NOT work! Terrible logic. The on/off cruise control button should NEVER affect, or turn off the safety features. This is counter-intuitive and dangerous!
......
But I have a few gripes as well.
.....
8. The heads up display lacks a "brightness" adjustment. (I couldn't find one). I found it a little hard to see in bright daylight. It wasn't terrible at all, but making it a little brighter, would make a "Huge" difference. (Drive the Mercedes S class with the heads up display to experience a good example of how it should be)
.....
10. There is no "Hold" option for the brakes at red light. Many cars have the option to have the brakes automatically hold the car at a red light. Subaru Outback has an "on/Off" switch for example. When on, every time you come to a full stop, you can remove you foot from the brake pedal and the brakes will stay engaged. This helps in bumper to bumper traffic. (I'm from L.A., so it's important to me) Mercedes has a nice feature that once you come to a full stop, just push hard on the brake pedal and the brakes will hold the car. In both cases, once you touch the gas pedal, the brakes disengage automatically.
.....
12. THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH MUST REMAIN ON AT ALL TIMES otherwise the safety features that work off of the radar system (Pre-Collision for example) do NOT work! Terrible logic. The on/off cruise control button should NEVER affect, or turn off the safety features. This is counter-intuitive and dangerous!
......
12-16-15, 12:47 AM
#10
Just make sure you have all these "green" lights on, depends on the dealer, mine was all off when I picked up today
The PCS will always be on, there are settings in the car to set the distance and turn on or off; the cruise part will be the auto cruise feature
On the right of your steering wheel, click the left right arrow to select settings in your center info screen, you will find the brightness settings; if you have polarize sunglasses, then don't bother, your won't be able to see much even with the brightness setting
Last edited by ybing; 12-16-15 at 12:50 AM.
12-16-15, 07:53 AM
#11
Driver School Candidate
Has anyone found how to show a digital clock either on dash or nav screen. the analogue clock is a nice touch but if you just want to glance down and know the exact time its not the most useful.
12-16-15, 08:54 AM
#12
12-16-15, 08:38 PM
#13
Racer
Just make sure you have all these "green" lights on, depends on the dealer, mine was all off when I picked up today
The PCS will always be on, there are settings in the car to set the distance and turn on or off; the cruise part will be the auto cruise feature
On the right of your steering wheel, click the left right arrow to select settings in your center info screen, you will find the brightness settings; if you have polarize sunglasses, then don't bother, your won't be able to see much even with the brightness setting
the PCS light should not be on. If its on, that means PCS is off. Backwards.
12-17-15, 04:01 AM
#14
12-19-15, 10:31 PM
#15
Racer
Not sure where the PCS switch is, but on my IS it was under the dash, clearly don't want people to turn it off; but yes, it that light is on that means it is off, it should show PCS off. I had issue on the IS when stay to close to the front car before over taking, and the brakes came full on after a overtake the car
If you try to change lanes and pass, it will think youre hitting car in front and may brake. If u end up stopping, cars behind will rear end u.
Also making left hand turns require attention as system may think youre going to have front end collision if another car coming at you fast.
somebody a while back also posted it has gone off when going across a metal bridge. I guess the radar gets confused.
PCS has its issues.