jmarias

When buying a car in the past, you essentially got what you got. A piece of really unchangeable hardware which you would either be happy with, learn to live with, or change out for something else. It came out of the assembly line and you bought it in pretty much a fixed state. If you didn't like something, you could complain about it, but generally any change would not occur until the next year's models came off the line. Way of the world. Note: Major after market mods exist but not discussing them here. I'm talking about the norm of most buyer's experiences.

Now, I believe things have changed a bit. Many facets of the owner/driver experience are created or enhanced by technology. Much of this can be changed/ or improved through software changes. Manufacturers seem to recognize this in their designs and delivered vehicles. Lots of promise for incremental driver experience improvements throughout the time of ownership. Lexus even reminds us of this in the GS by checking for updates each and every time one starts the enform app suite.

But it appears that's where it ends. There is never an update to be had when the system checks. There have been no incremental improvements made available in the programming even though the car has the infrastructure to support it. Nada..nothing.. An annual map update appears to be the "BIG THING". In reality, we seem to be just as "fixed" in software as we are in the hardware rolling off the line.

Why is this? Yes, I recognize that changes must be tested thoroughly for safety issues, etc. But that's not so hard in many of the needed updates. Users/Drivers are accustomed to incremental improvements coming in through our iphone and android devices. The infrastructure is there. Why isn't it being leveraged? Lexus appears to be stuck in the fixed hardware model. The have a great opportunity and I hate to see it wasted.

I love my GS. I just want to see it leveraged to the best it can be.

So, to my point... How do we tell Lexus to get off the stick and help us use what they sold us? They think of themselves as an automobile company. How do we get them to start thinking like a software company as well?

They don't seem to read this board. Is there some forum where they do listen to current owners and work toward improvements for current owners and not just jot things down for the next gen of hardware manufacturing?

Frustrated rant done with for the evening..... Oh, in case anyone (Lexus??) is looking for specific examples, look under my name for prior (very reasonable) posts.

Thanks!

natnut

http://www.lexusideasengine.com/

T4Fun

imho, they are listening. theyre getting more aggressive in the styling for one and offering more sportiness when 5-10 years ago they were not...