If you are using the radar cruise control, that does not mean you don't have to pay as much attention to your driving. You still need to be ready to apply the brake if necessary. However, I really do think of it as a safety feature. It will at least slow you down if by some chance you are not paying attention if a car darts in front of you suddenly. That is enough warning so that you can slam on the brakes if necessary. I find that I get less tired on long trips with the radar cruise control. My wife's current RX400h does not have this feature and I do not enjoy driving her car on long trips at all. Her new RX450h will obviously have radar cruise and everything else that is available except for the rear seat entertainment package. Thus, we are very much looking forward to its arrival (probably some time in June).

 

i really want to have this feature. never tried it in my life but im sure it works really well.

i dont really see it as a safety feature, seeing as how the disclaimer says that if somebody darts in fron of you, it will just beep at you instead of braking because it wont actually slam the brakes for you.

much more of a convenience issue. i mean, who wants to toggle the little **** back and forth to drive. haha

 

It really is a bit of a safety feature when you really think about it. If by some chance your are tired and start to doze off on the Interstate and a car darts in front of you, it will at least beep and slow you down. This should wake you up if you are starting to "doze off", so that you can slam on the brakes. But you are right in that it will not slam on the brakes for you. The driver needs to do that. Of course, if you have the pre-collision option, and the system senses that a crash is imminent, it will tighten the seat belts, deploy the air bags, and I believe slam on the brakes the last second.

"Convenience" is a good word to use but it is really more than that. It reduces the stress in driving by not having to mess around with the accelerator and brakes anywhere near as often as you would without this feature on the Interstates. Therefore, you do not get as tired on long trips.

 

my understanding is that only the precollision system on the LS will slam on the brakes for you at the last second, but the basic system on the RX, IS, ES, and GS will not. anyone know?

 

The Dynamic Radar Cruise Control in the RX comes with the Pre-Collision System, but for $1500, I can find better ways to spend that money.

 

I heard that Lexus does not offer this option any more in the RX due to liability issues. I also see that you can no longer select it when you build an RX online. I had a hell of a time just getting the Luxury package; seems like most RX buyers opt for the base model...

 

I do not think Lexus could have made a bigger mess of ordering an RX if they had tried. This has been a disaster from day one with one at the dealerships or Lexus knowing answers to questions like the one asked in this thread.
That being said our RX is suppose to have the optional cruise but I find it useless on my LS on four lane roads as I am constantly pushed to the back of the line. I like conventional cruise best for multiple lanes roads, and the radar cruise best for two lane roads.

 

The base model you meant is "FWD" or "AWD" without additional pkgs? Or "FWD" or "AWD" with Prem/comft or lighting/Navi or non-Navi?



IMO, I don't think it's liability issue but can't explain clearly why. Each country makes their selective models to sell, from Lexus Plants in Japan. NA is a little different due to the Cambridge Plants in Canada. I'm not sure why kind of liability you pointed to, but I guess Lexus may think "a lot" to make these decisions. Lexus NA tries not to sell something other countries are popular and decides to sell the varied models/pkgs based on the regions. I can understand they sell more AWD to the North rather than the South, but I cannot understand others.

Perhaps, next year, once Cambridge Plant can built more high-quality cars with more features, we will see more selections/pkgs available on the market.

 

MAybe this is because of that train accident in Washington DC. That train had auto crusie control that was suppose to keep a safe distance from the tarin in front of her, we all know how that turn out. Personally, I am not ready to let a computer to do the stopping for me as of yet.

 

I still haven't been able to get this car. I've contacted the nearest dozen dealers and all said it's a custom order from Japan (3-5 month wait and $5K deposit)

 

Why do they say they need such a large deposit? I made a $1000 deposit, and got the vehicle in 3 1/2 months, from Japan. (It has radar cruise control.)

 

not true, you can still get dynamic cruise and pre-collision system (at least in canada). see my post under canadian pricing thread, i've listed the 3 packages that are available for order.

 

Ok, to be more precise, the salesman told me dynamic cruise was not available due to liability concerns, and he also told me that Mark Levinson was not available. So it was a pleasant surprise when the car arrived with Mark Levinson after all.

Still, when I go to the Lexus website, the Luxury package, Mark Levinson and Dynamic Cruise are not even listed as options, although they were a few months ago...

 

Must be a local issue for you. I just checked Lexus site and all the options you said were not there were listed as options. I have a Rx-10 on order with all the options you say are not available.

 

Well, you are right, I just tried again with different zip codes, and different options are available. Using 02210 and 90210, you can't even pick the luxury package. But using a Dallas zipcode of 75398 they were. What the hell is going on??

I find this really annoying - if I ask 3 people at my dealership one question, I get 3 different answers. Lesson learned - if you want a new RX 2010 - be VERY specific about the options you want, and make sure the dealership gets it right...