MrIan

Before we bought the RX, that space reminded me of a minvan(no offense, i thought it was carpeted). Also, it kinda bothers me that the shifter is too close to the dash and gets in the way of reaching the storage area behind it.



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2001 RX-300/FWD/Silver/Black Leather
1998 Q45t/Silver/Black Leather
2000 I30t/Gold/Tan Leather

LeXusBoy

I like it cuzz you can put stuff there, but I mean it would be coll if the shifter was there, it would be more comfertable to keep your hand on it. Or so it looks (I was in a BMW and the driver had his hand on the shifter)

MrSypher

It doesn't bother me at all. I keep the top storage compartment open all the time. So it is like there is no space there....

MrIan

Yea, its good for a women's purse(according to the dealer anyway). Not sure if its more comfortable, but atleast lets you rest your arm while cruising down the highway for a few hours.

RX300TC

Ever try carrying home hot take-out chinese food (with soups in the bag)? I find that the take-out order bag fits perfectly in that spot and never tips over!

We love it.

jojo

I think it looks cool and make it distinguished from the other SUVs of the same class. What really irritates me are the armrests: short and narrow. I kind of have gotten used to it by now (2 months), but at the beginning they were driving me crazy: my arm was constantly sliding off. In my old car (Ford Taurus) I could put my arm on the wide armrest, which spanned between the front chairs and it was very comfy, especially on long trips. No more this kind of luxury on RX. May be it's a safety concern, the designers want us to keep our hand on the wheel all the time. I don't know, but I think these so-called armrests on RX are ridiculous. I would rather sacrifice cupholders for the passengers in the back, which are between front chairs, but have more realistic armrests.

gs3_4me

check out the 2002 highlander... they finally addressed the whole center console issue...

looks pretty nice, much more Lexus like versus what's currently on the RXs. Look for this change when they redo the RX in 2003.

LexRX

I kind of like it, the space can be handy for carrying fast food and various other things. Plus, I really like the dual-drawers console design. It would be cool to have a car-like console that wraps all the way down with an armrest, but hey - that is common. The RX interior is different and IMO very cool.

There are even others who are using the same design. Like GM's Saturn SUV, the VUE.

spinteews

only prob about it is its harder for me to rest my hand on the shifter =)... i sometimes when no ones on the passenger seat rest my arm on the passenger seats arm rest instead hehe... works though and still is pretty comfy

AcuLex

I am not crazy about it - it's not useful to carry anything if you intend to use the drawers a lot, which I do. The whole thing could have been better designed but the RX is so nice it's easy to over look the relatively minor inconveniences.

My 2 copper coins.

ObiDon

I didn’t like it at first but now I do. I keep all my extra cords for phone, radar, PDA in the bottom and my badges for work in the top along with the cup holders, and I can have one of them open when I drive without getting in my way. I don’ use the armrest at all, and keep them up. The radar detector is hard wired but I have an extra cord for the loaner.

wwest

I delayed buying an RX because the shifter console reminded me too much of a urinal. Why must there be this huge shifter handle **** anyway?

I had a Ford aerostar and the first thing I did was remove and junk the center storage console. I see Chrysler now allows the console to be moved.

Think about how much nicer, and how much more room to move around, if the shifter was on the steering stalk (and didn't extend into your space) and the center console storage bin was just forward of the rear seats.