Yesterday , I was backing up and scraped the bumper of a four door pickup. I didn't realize that I had hit the truck until I began to go forward! Damage$1600.00 to my car and the truck only had traces of my paint on the bumper. Lesson learned, turn completely around when backing up!

 

nc,

Was this daytime or night time? Sorry to know it happened.

 

FWIW - the only time I completely turn around is if I'm trying to get real close to something behind me without hitting it.

With your mirrors properly adjusted, you should have no blind spots and be able to see completely where you're going. It's understood when backing from a parking stall, you need to be aware of your surrounding outside of the mirror's view... But when all is clear, all you need are mirrors. A couple a tips... Adjust the outside mirrors almost as far left and right as they will go, I only see the door handle of my car in the lower corner, maybe a smidge of the body and window moulding. Next, just go slow while scanning the three mirrors. It will take some getting used to, but you'll know instantly if you're about to hit something and you won't have to strain your neck.

Finally, even though most ES owners won't tow anything with their ES, a tip that has helped me backing with a trailer nonetheless... Hold the bottom of the wheel and watch the mirrors only... If you want to go right, move the wheel to the right, the opposite to go left. If you think about this a little, holding the wheel at the bottom and then moving to the right, you're actually turning the wheel to the left. This has an opposite direction on the tow vehicle which moves the trailer in the direction you want it to go. I just love boat ramps, waiting around watching all the goofs trying to launch and we git'r'done in like 45 seconds and that includes turning the whole rig 180 to back in!

 

One of my concerns with this car from the get go is the rear visibility. I also backed up and accidently scaped a completely black car (no hubcaps, black tinted windows, no chrome) at the foot of my driveway. There was no damage to the other car and mine had superficial scapes which buffed out for the most part. I have never done anything like this before. The rear window is too high and too small. Our other car is a Mercedes C320 wagon and and I got spoiled with the excellent all round visibility. As I'll be almost 60 when the lease on my Lexus runs out, the next car I get will have to be either smaller or have much better visibility. A hatchback is likely my best choice. Sorry for your aggravation.

 

nc & brio, do either of you have Park Assist? If not, would it have helped?

I don't have it but there have been occasions when I wished that I did. Agreed, that sometimes it is hard to see out of the steeply sloped back window.

 

I agree that rear visibility is an issue. Our driveway slants upwards into a cul-de-sac with kids and it's very difficult to see when backing out.

However, the backup camera gives a great view and displays more information than I get looking out the rear window. It takes a little getting used to, but that backup camera really comes through in situations like mine. I'm very glad to have it.

 

Sorry about your misfortune ncblue. That hurts!!

I had an ES300 for 9 years prior to this car. The reduced visibility was one of my biggest concerns.....and widely posted about when the ES350 first came out.

I very quickly learned to live by your lesson learned.

 

I agree about the lack of visibility when backing up....but the es350 has nice lines and looks great!

I have the back up camera on my car which has helped on several occasions. I also have the park assist which also helps when objects are not directly behind your vehicle and are in the blind spot behind the c-pillar. With both the back up camera and park assist AND shoulder checking, I have been fortunate at catching objects around my car.

 

I am in Canada and most exotic options are special order and some are not available. I couldn't even get Bronze exterior with beige interior. Only black interior was offered. Options like park assist only come with the UL package which brought the total car price with taxes to around $65,000 Canadian. I would love to have it now but doubt it's possible. I think you need navigation for Park Assist?

 

When we were shopping for our car, there was one on the lot (wrong color) with park assist and no navigation or Mark Levinson. This was in early May, so I don't know if you can still get them this way. I sounds like availability is probably different in Canada though.

 

I have a Premium Plus w/Nav which of course includes the backup camera. It's great! Even at night in a pitch black parking lot, the illumination from the back-up lights is sufficient to produce an excellent wide angle image of what's behind you.

During my recent 5K service, the loaner was a Premium Plus w/o Nav, but it did have Park Assist, so it's obvioulsy an available combination here in New England. When I was shopping for my car I found that the Lexus web site was very helpful in showing what option combinations were shipping into a given region. You just gave them your zip code. If I remember correctly it was in the "Build your Lexus" feature at their site.

Sorry to hear about the accident.

 

I would agree that the back up camera is a very usefull feature, if you are getting an ES I would highly recommend it.

 

Visibility out the back of the current gen ES is really poor compared to the previous gen, so the back up camera is very useful. It did take a little getting used to at first; its just not the same feeling as looking in the rear view mirror.

And I really hate it when it rains and I get water all over the lens - the camera just becomes useless because everything is either blurry or out of focus because its covered by some water drops.