So, here are some comparitive impressions after 2500 km. The comparison car is my MB E320 4-Matic station wagon (Elegance trim) which is now five years old with 75k km. I have split them into things that are much better in the Lexus, some things that are simply different, and some things that are worse. My RX is the second of the four models available here, meaning it has the nav, electric tailgate, leather steering wheel, 19" rims, non-ventilated seats.

Better in the Lexus:
- The whole keyless system works very well. I don't have it on the MB. It would have been nice if it recognized the two keys individually and adjusted the seats before you get in too.
- Love the whole hybrid thing, which is why I bought it.
- iPod integration works flawlessly.
- Bluetooth integration is perfect.
- The sat nav is very good, even if the maps are less detailed and less up-to-date than the competition. I find it easy to use. I like the way I can find a restaurant, click on it and phone to reserve.
- The voice command system works well (in French).
- The basic sound system is better than the base one in the E320. I think this is because there is no speaker in the back load space in the MB.
- The wing mirrors are huge and very useful.
- The rear camera and parking assistance are great.
- The turning headlights are really good.
- Fuel economy is great, especially considering it is much more powerful, though much heavier than the MB.
- Rear seat space is much better than the MB, which was already good. My teenagers like the reclining seats.
- The three-parts split rear bench is much easier to use than the MB folding seats.
- The Lexus is quieter, except when braking. I suppose it is the regenerative system that whines.
- The hillstart assist works well, and is of course absolutely necessary in a car where the engine stops when you stop.

Different:
- The way the dials are dark before starting the car is cool.
- I like being high up. I suppose it would be fairer to compare with the ML.

Worse in the Lexus:
- Biggest gripe: the steering wheel is uncomfortable. The front face is kind of triangular rather than rounded. It is not quite painful, but I will have to change it (or the car if that is not possible).
- The non-ventilated seats are a bit sticky.
- The Lexus suspension is very very firm. I can feel every road bump and ripple. I suppose I should have bought the model with the air suspension. The conventional suspension is much more comfortable in the MB.
- I can't find a way to access the preset radio stations without going through the menu. The instruction in the manual about pushing the prev/next/seek button does not do what it says. It just goes to the next of the ones it has found rather than one of the six I preset.
- Language: The implementation of French is partial. Things on the mini screen on the dashboard are still in English and nothing can really be done when words rather than icons are used on buttons.
- Ergonomics: The buttons in the center panel are scattered strangely without any real thought to which ones are used most frequently or what a logical grouping would be. The temperature buttons are a case in point.
- I can find nothing in the manual that will let me ensure that all door locks will open just by opening the door. It is irritating for passengers to have to push the unlock button before getting out.
- The electric tailgate take twice as long to open or close than the MB one.
- The air conditioning works well, but is designed for people who like fast cold air blowing at them. I prefer the MB model of having less-cold air from a larger set of vents blowing at lower speed.
- Rear load space much less than in the MB.
- There is a bug in the menu system where the info/phone icon sometimes starts the nav.
- I would like pushing on the Radio, CD or USB buttons on the dash to directly open the full corresponding screen rather than just the little band at the top of the screen, but can't find how to do it.
- Lack of rubbing strips on the doors mean they will pick up parking lot scratches.

The cars are within 3% of each other on price, so I think comparing is fair. If you have suggestions about the things I can't work out how to do, they would be welcome.

Very nice comparo! Although I don't own a 3rd Gen RX, there are some Lexus specific things I can help you with.

-Assigning seats to key~I found this in the GS manual. It should still work.
1. Set the driving positions into the memory system using the "1", "2", or "3" buttons on the driver's side.
2. Turn the "POWER" switch to the OFF, then close the driver's door.
3. Push the 1, 2, or 3 button on the driver's side and the unlock button on the wireless remote control at the same time for about 1 second until you hear a beep.
4. Open one of the doors. If a door is not opened within 60 seconds after unlock is pressed, the doors will be locked again and the alarm will automatically be set.

In terms of preset, using the "SEEK" button will find the next radio station, not a preset. On the GS, if you use the "CH/DISK" button, it will go to the next assigned preset.

Hope that helped...

Thanks for the seat memory tip. That does indeed work, except that you have to push the unlock or lock buttons on the door, not the key.

the buttons of the left of the steering wheel change the presets on my rx350

i would take this one step further as one of the things that really bugged me from day one, most other cars have secondary displays or way of showing whats happening IN ADDITION to the showing settings on the NAV screen, while on the 10RX you have to fiddle with the mouse to see anything.

for example, there is no way to tell what temp the A/C is on without messing the mouse to bring up the A/C screen. same for fan speed, stereo settings, radio presets, ventilation mode or pretty much any setting.

its annoying, makes me sometimes think to myself what if the nav screen died? you wouldn't be able to use any function of the car?

you can set it to auto unlock all doors when you shift to "P".

same here, i expected the ride to be much softer, it seems perfectly smooth on good roads, but on badly maintained roads its indeed quite bumpy and you feel every small imperfection in the road.

Updates:

- None of the six button push possibilities (up and down on each of three buttons) moves between the memorized radio stations, whether pushed briefly or held down for a second or so. Since it works for others, this seems to be a defect on mine.

- Just returned from a 700 mile / 1150 km round trip to Bavaria, including stretches above 100 mph on the Autobahn. (The car was delivered with R-rated tires, which are limited to 106 mph, which I don't see noted in the manual, though I suppose it is there somewhere. Pressure information is given for higher speeds. Important since the car is limited electronically to a higher speed.) The car returned 7.8 l/100 km, which is 29.4 miles to the US gallon. The trip was to see Neu Schwanstein castle in the foothills of the Bavarian alps. We took four days. The family of four plus dog was comfortable the whole way. The air conditioning turned out to be more irritating than the steering wheel. It is really hard to cool the car while avoiding a cold blast on exposed skin. Nav system got us effectively to the obscure lane in a village where our hotel was, and the traffic monitoring saved us time too.

I have searched once for the option to unlock doors when in P, and will will look again. Thanks for the tip.

I agree with the hassle of not knowing what the A/C settings are, though you can see them by pushing on any of the relevant buttons rather than the mouse.

Thanks for the tip on the door locking, which I now found. The same setup list includes changing the mini-display to French, so that is OK now too, though the temperature is still shown as "Outside".

Cruiter...why can't those bastards respect our cars...just like we respect theirs???

I have found in the Eco Mode the A/C does not blow a "cold blast" of air but it still is cold enough for our border colie in the back.
Terry

another tip regarding the a/c: if the air coming out is still too cold (even on minimum fan speed), try adjusting the vent dial to restrict the amount of air coming into the passenger compartment. this works great and provides the right balance of comfort.

It is difficult to tell yet cause its not cold outside, but on the heated seats it appears the heat may not be hot enough.

One comment my wife and I had--driving the 450h is a little like riding a disney attraction. Hard to explain but it may be as simple as the sound as you are coming to a stop.

and for whatever the reason I find myself not driving nearly as aggressively as before.

on the mileage issue--my tires were filled to 37 pounds cold-which certainly helps mileage--but the ride was not harsh.

Hal
I think a lot of us are driving less aggressively. Aggressive driving has a direct negative affect on the reason we stepped up for the Hybrid in the 1st place. Initially I was going to order the battery powered Escort radar detector as it's too hard and unsightly to use the old one plugged inside the console but in the end, I just decided to drive closer to the speed limit and not worry about it. Now I'm enjoying driving even more, go figure .

I'm only getting about 23mpg and I'm am pretty much always in the ECO range (always in ECO mode). Now, so far I've been doing short trips in town, but it just seems dissapointing.

The first mile you drive a hybrid gives you the worst mpg because the engine has to warm up before it starts switching to battery mode. Therefore, if you most of your trips are only a mile or two, it is understandable that mpg would be lower than anticipated.