tshelly

Just test drove the 2010 and all I can say is WOW! The newly designed interior and exterior are a great improvement over the Generation 2 design. I like the new mouse-like device for the Nav: very intuitive and user-friendly. The seats were much more comfortable than the 09. I liked the LED lights on the interior for the reading lamps. The drive was much quieter than my 09 Pebble Beach. The seals on all the doors are triple seals which makes the ride quieter. The 09 has double seals.

The interior design grows on you immediately. I kept comparing the 09 with the 10 and I really like the way the 10 is laid out. The driver and the passenger are in their own cocoon - so to speak. It seems more futuristic inside -- at least in the front. The back seats don't really seem to have much improvement over the 09. I like the fact that there are two levers in the trunk, one on the left and one on the right. You just pull these and the back seats fold down. Very nice feature.

Not really happy about the donut spare, because you don't get the nice wheel that matches the other wheels. But I guess it would be easier to take it out of the back instead of from the bottom of the vehicle. There is nowhere to store the tonneau cover for the back. It won't fit under the trunk cover anymore, because they did not create a space for it. Who the heck needs the cover anyway. I very seldom use it. I guess you could just leave it at home.

I like the doors on the 10 because they are about 2 to 3 inches taller than the 09. They also appear to be wider and heavier. When I shut the doors you could hear the difference between the 09 and the 10. The 10's seem more solid sounding.

I had the salesman park the 09 and 10 beside each other so I could see the differences. The 10 does look more aggressive than the 09. With the right exterior color like black, dark blue, or even silver it would look more masculine than the lighter colors like white, cerulean blue, etc.

Every time I hear the word cerulean blue it reminds me of the X Files episode called "Pusher" where a seemingly unmotivated murderer apparently talks his victims into killing themselves by using the key phrase "cerulean blue."

Anyway, where was I. Oh yeah, the 2010 RX 350.

All-in-all I am very impressed with the 10. All pros and no cons.

P.S. The model with the Nav was about $44,000. It had the premium sound, not the Mark Levinson. The salesman said that Lexus was only planning on building 5% with the Levinson stereo.

Yea, right -- If there is the demand I am sure they will produce as many as people buy. I hate it when salesman try to make you believe that you won't be able to buy a car with certain options, because these options are exclusive and in limited numbers. I guarantee if I threw out a wad of cash and said I wanted one, he would call up and find me one before I walked out with all my cash in hand. Chumps!

meowmix52

Thats great
I really like the new interior, but I still would prefer a remote touch and a touchscreen with both as an option. Judging from the photos, the exterior is actually worse in my opinion, but many say that it is much better "in person."
Anyways, I'm content over my newly bought '09 RX, which I got for for 40K AWD w/ Navigation and other goodies. Guess I will have to wait for the next new redesign or unless my '09 breaks miraculously
PS: How much quieter is the interior? My '09 RX is a huge upgrade over the "quiteness" of my old Toyota Camry.
How much quieter is the '10? Very noticeable?
And does anyone know when the second redesign will come out? '15?
Thanks!

CDNROCKIES

Nice review, thanks.

I just got the call today from my salesguy...can't wait to actually drive it.

tshelly

The way the NAV is laid out there is no way it could be a touch screen. You cannot see this in pictures but in person you can see why. The Nav screen sets behind another piece of clear plastic that curves with the dash. The plastic would be closer at the top and farther away at the bottom. The other thing is that the Nav screen sets so far back that you could not reach it when you are sitting on the seat, unless you had monkey arms. By the way the screen on the 10 is larger than the 09. I assume this was to make up for the difference in moving it back about 10 inches.

I forgot to mention that I drove a non-Nav 10 and one thing I found neat in the non-Nav is that there is no back up screen on the dash. It is on the left side of the rear-view mirror. It is about 2 inches by 2 1/2 inches. The clarity was pretty good for such a small area. Once you put the car in forward it disappears off the mirror. Pretty nifty.

I played with the Nav screen 10 that was on the showroom floor.

tshelly

I did not take my 09 Pebble Beach to the dealership, because I thought they would just shine me on and not let me drive the 10, since I just bought the 09 last year. I took my MB instead.

I drove the 10 first and then I drove another 09 on the lot, right after driving the 10. I would say that it was at least 25% quieter than the 09.

Another thing I liked about the 10 is that the front windshield wipers are set so low that you don't see them from the inside of the vehicle. Not so with the 09, you can see them on the windshield.

Of course the rear windshield wiper is now on top of the rear window on the 10. and you cannot see it from the inside. This allows you to view more of what is behind you. Also, the rear window is slightly larger, about 15-20 % larger than the 09.

meowmix52

oh ok thanks
I guess Lexus was trying to mimick the navigation inside the BMW with the remote i-Drive and the non-touch screen which sat far away as well.

and wow 25% more quieter, it would be barely audible then
(should have waited for the new model )

do you think a savings of 6.5K and no car for a month would be worth it?

PS: What makes the new seats so much more comfortable? Is it larger, or curved shaped? Judging from the photos they don't look much different besides the fact they have holes O_O

tshelly

Since the seats are perforated with holes this allows air to escape from the cushion you are sitting on. The one I was driving had ventilated and heated seats. You can turn the ventilation on and feel air coming from inside.

kalvano

He's not trying to make you believe anything. He is correct. Lexus is only building about 5% total Luxury package cars, with the ML to start with. After that, they will see what demand is.

He didn't say he couldn't get you one, he said they weren't going to build many.

tshelly

Don't know what your financial situation is. I wish I would have waited also. I talked with the salesman who sold me the 09 PB and he said if I wanted to trade mine if for a 10, that they would offer me $27,000. I paid $41,000 a year ago and I only have 5,000 miles on it. I am definitely not going to take a loss of $14,000 to drive the latest and greatest. I will wait for 5+ years and then see what they have to offer. The way the economy is going and the alternative fuels that the current administration wants to develop, we all may be driving one-horse power machines. Hmmm! I guess those would be horses!

RXSF

are you sure it wasnt 26% quieter?

as for the car, yay! i also did not know that i can store my torneau cover in the car? for my RX300 and my RX330, i just put it in the house

EyeKutr

iTrader: (5)

I saw one today at Lexus and it is nice. The dimensions of the vehicle and overall profile are very similar. Exterior has some subtle changes and is nice. INterior is much improved. I must add, some of the recent vehicles seem to have inferior quality compared to the previous gen, but this vehicle really seems to have improved from the previous gen RX....

jeffgdula

I drove one at our local dealership a couple of days ago. It was a definite improvement and we are glad we waited instead of getting an '09. Looks much better in person and the interior looks better than I originally thought too. My gf can't wait to get one.

ecount00

Had a chance to try one out. Have to say the joystick controller for the stereo/nav is very slick easy to get the hang of.

rcf8000

I drove one for about a half hour yesterday. The only negative for me is the nav screen being so far away. Also, I prefer touch screen.

I think the road noise is better than on my '07. However, my overall impression is that it drives pretty much like my old one.

AlexusAnja

The only negative I can think of is that the '10 wood looks so fake. I almost think they dug into the Chrysler faux wood bin to pull some of them out. Other than this, no negatives of course compared to the previous generation, but really nothing "spectacular' that I think would make a 2nd gen RX owner jump on the '10.

The exterior really is better looking in person than on pictures. On pictures the lower part of the car looks all bloated, but in person, it's much more proportional.