Man that thing is neat...what a find!

Problem with those power trunk closers is they would jam if you slammed the trunk, which would require a service visit to get them unjammed. I remember being in parcel pick up at the grocery store (remember that?!) while they were loading groceries and leaping out of the car and yelling "don't slam the trunk!"

Soft close tech has gotten better haha.

 

I have better memory than I thought This is from an RX330

 

Awesome.... thanks for the post.

 

Wow, interesting!

 

I love car owners who meticulously keep their car like that (that 96 caddy) vs. a careless owner with self inflicted dings and dents on their new car.

Wow, just learned something new today

 

That's really interesting. I wonder what makes them put something like that in the RX of that vintage, but not the LS, or ES? And why stop offering that?

 

Oh we all know why car makers stop offering features in their cars....it's all about cost cutting.

Just like back in 01-03 LS430, it had the voice recorder in the upper console button area. Lexus took out that feature in the 04-06 LS430.
I remembered clearly b/c I was pissed about that.

(somehow I can't find a picture of it-my google image search is off today)

 

Growing up our family friends had a first gen Toyota Van. I remember being amazed that it had a little mini fridge/ice maker in the center console. The dual moonroofs were pretty cool, too.

 

I don't think the issue is cost cutting for something like this, for instance it was on the RX but not the flagship LS? And the cost of this vs the cost of what has been added to that car as far as features are concerned is negligible.

 

Cost-cutting is just one of the reasons. Lack of demand (or sales) is also a big factor. For instance, GM first offered airbags back in 1974....virtually no takers. Lincoln and Chrysler offered anti-lock brakes on the early-70s Continental and Imperial....again, virtually no takers. Congress, in early 1974, tried to legislate an ignition-lockout (which prevented the engine from starting) if it detected weight on the front passenger seat and the seat-belt was not buckled. The idea, of course, was to force everyone in the front seat to buckle up. Well, it turned out that the interlock prevented millions of engines from starting even if it detected the weight of a bag of groceries or a package sitting on the seat...never mind a human being. The outcry from the public was so extreme, so quick, that Congress itself was forced to rescind the legislation in only six months.

 

My 2009 RX350 had the adjustable vanity lights in it. Had never seen them in recent cars before I had that one. RXSF said it was also in the RX330 so I guess they must have stopped doing them when they did the body refresh in 2010 or 2011.

 

I used to have one of those big Fleetwoods, mine was a 1995, bright red, light tan interior. It was the stripper model, which is what I wanted, the "Brougham" package got you the vinyl top, which I thought looked fussy on that more rounded body style. Mine had a lot of the things you talked about, the turn signal indicators on the fenders(also displayed for your headlights and high beams, the idea was if the bulb was out, the indicator on the fender would not light up). Mine didn't have the optional rear seat vanity mirrors though, that was a neat option, and yes they had an adjustment for the brightness of the lights.

One neat thing those old Cadillacs have(and my 1992 SC), turn on the turn signal, there is a light on the side of the front bumper/fender that turned on so you could see the inside side of the road where you'd be turning. Ones on the Cadillacs really worked, the ones on the Lexus are more gimmick since they're in the front part of the bumper, not actually on the side of the car.

 

Those were called "Cornering Lights", and they were either standard or optional equipment on a number of luxury cars long before your 1995 Fleetwood. My old 1965 Buick Electra 225 had them.

 

My 04 RX has the adjustable vanity lamps, but the 14 RX does not. Also, speaking of older models, back in the day I had a '69 Olds 98 LS, back seat passengers also had a fold out tray with mirror, vanity lamp, and a spot to put those little kleenex's. I don't think there's anything out there today under 100k that offers something like that anymore.

 

Longtime reader here on Car Chat, First timer poster. I just wanted to jump in, and say that my 2007 RX has the adjustable vanity mirrors. Those same vanity mirrors with the dimmer switch were used in the 2002-06 Camry XLE, 2005-12 Avalon, and various Chrysler products from the mid 90s to early 2000s.