A few years ago, it was not uncommon to find cars with proper seat mounted arm rests for both the driver and front passenger. The RX used to have them, MB and BMW had them in the 1990's. Even my wife's old 1997 Honda CRV had them. Proper seat mounted individual arm rests at one time were something associated with more luxurious vehicles but nowadays they seem increasingly rare.

We have owned both a 2000 RX300 and our current 2005 RX330 that will be replaced soon. At the same time while it is being serviced we are driving a loaner current model RX350 which has no individual arm rests at all. Instead it has a common standard padded arm center cushion which is much too far back and too low. Essentially it is useless. The great thing about the previous two RX models were that they were superbly comfortable, and the high driving position combined with individual front arm rests felt part of the luxury character of the vehicle.

Having no seat mounted arm rest may not be a big deal to everyone I know, but the center arm cushions you find in a lot of cars only work if you are tall and tolerate a low down driving position. Really they are better suited to sedans. For anyone like my wife who is petit and wants a higher driving position the absence of individual front arm rests detracts from the comfort of the vehicle in a very big way. I only raise the RX350 as an example of this trend as the seat center cushion seems increasingly standard across the board, but is there any reason (safety or cost perhaps) why seat mounted arm rests are less common even in luxury cars?

It is such a big deal for us that buying a new RX350 is not an option even despite the 10 years of problem free service we have had from our previous two RX's to date, and we always assumed the third generation would be the natural replacement. (My wife actually called the no arm-rest new model as "hateful" like an old friend had been ruined) Does anyone know of any other luxury high riding SUV type vehicles that still have individual arm rests?

Chris

 

no front arm rest imo is fail i love leaning on the arm rest when i am cruising on a long drive. I remember when i was looking at the new mini and apparently the arm rest is an option, it should be standard.

 

I'd have to disagree with your assessment. Cars and SUV's that had seat-mounted armrests have long been known to be uncomfortable, limited with adjustment, and out-dated. You can research many past car magazine articles and find this consensus. And I'd have to agree. Seat-mounted armrests were mainly invented for trucks that had seats high off the floor, creating a long distance between the human body and center storage area, thus making it neccessary. With seats lower in cars, there's no need to have something sticking out in the way of the central area/console. The 2008 RX loaner I had had the most uncomfortable driving position because the armrest's angle prevented my hand from laying even with the shifter and controls. Everything was out of alignment with the car's operational pieces and angled too high up. Manufacturers have gotten rid of these things for good reason. An armrest should not interfere with the shifter, electronics, audio and Nav controls. Because of this, most modern cars today have a central adjustable armrest that can be positioned nicely and not get in the way of essential operating devices.

 

the only suvs that still have arm rests are land rover suvs.

 

I actually like the arm rest in our 04 RX330. I used to use it all the time. if it were not for that chair mounted arm rest there would have been no place to rest your right arm on since the center console was too low. In cars, it doesn't matter too much because the seat are much lower in relation to the center console lid which is usually the arm rest. For high seats in trucks and SUV's though I can see a need for them.

 

i was at dealership checking out the rx350/450h and i actually think the new one is pretty nice. on the old one, the center console was way lower (and no padding), for sure it's not for armrest, that's why there is the independent ones.

but on the new rx, the whole center console is raised up quite a bit and where the armrest is now, i felt pretty comfortable with the location setup. i tried on all 3 suv actually, rx, gx, and lx. all of them i think they have the armrest placed at pretty good location.

to me, i don't feel like any different from driving passenger cars like my gs350, gs400, ls460l, or sc430. i feel like i am just placing my arm where it should be

but of course, again, on previous generation, without the armrest then it's a really stupid thing coz' of the low center console. in fact, i always wonder with my wife when getting the rx loaners, why not have the console higher so it becomes part of the armrest?

 

I always felt the armrest on the 2nd gen RX was too high... making it a bit uncomfortable...

 

I loathe seat mounted armrests. For me they are too narrow and uncomfortable, and even worse, they make interior look like a minivan. But I see the OP's point, if someone is very short and needs to raise their seat all the way up, the console armrest could be too low. You could try carrying some sort of pillow to put onto the armrest to elevate it. Or your could even remove the armrest and bring it to an upholstery shop, and let them add a couple inches of padding and reupholster it with matching leather.

Here you can buy a Lexus pillow

http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=770

 

For my tow rig I HAD to have an armrest that was comfy for long travels. The one in my silverado is like a small island and I love it! I hate tiny little chair mounted armrests, drives me nuts!

In my FJ if you wanted a passenger armrest you had to buy it as an option!

 

yep.. Corolla Verso has had individual arm rests and i fail to see any point to them.

 

If you go to some of the auto web sites like Edmunds, MSN, Consumer Guide etc. you can look at interior pictures of most vehicles that you might be interested in. They always show the seat/arm rest set up.

 

I agree with the OP, the arm rest is very very handy and comfortable and I use it ALL the time. I would sure miss it in future models.

 

I hate seat mounted armrests. They're half as wide as they need to be resulting in a lack of comfort.

 

Armrest height/size/width/style/type/padding/firmness are all personal preferences.

 

What's happening with today's console-located armrests, as opposed to those in the old days with front-bench seats, is that today's arm rests are often integrated with a number of other multi-convienence features on the console, such as flip-open compartments, cubbyholes, control buttons./switches, cupholders, and even things like I-Pod/Bluetooth attachments. So, with a lot of vehicles, the days of simply designing the arm-rest for comfort and nothing else are long gone, sacrificed to the altar of versatility.

For the door-mounted rests, some vehicles still provide them, but, due to cost-cutting, they are not always done in pleasant or comfortable-feeling materials. Lower-priced/entry-level vehicles, for instance (if you are lucky enough to have armrests at all) sometimes have them in hard-plastic, with little or no padding. I like the way, though, that the new Subaru Impreza/Forester does it. The interior is ALL hard-plastic, including the front part of the actual door-mounted armrests themselves, but the rear part of the armrest (where your elbow often rests) has a small area that is WELL-padded.....soft and comfortable.

I myself am so tall and big that my arms are often too high for regular door or console-mounted armrests....so I often end up just resting my left elbow on the flat part of the window-sill instead of the lower armrest.