BertL

When you get a chance, make your way through that huge stack of manuals. Your Nav screen likely dimmed itself as it's made to do in the dark.

Johnknee

Yeah I saw the huge stack of manuals when I opened the glove box.. I was like

happy1977

I still prefer the rearview mirror version of this and don't want the gridlines. Don't want to lose my spatial abilities and be dependent on these gadgets.

justnana

My 2015 RX350 awd has the parking assist and rear view cam. Of course there are no parking lines to help guide you! Lexus removed them for just this year--why? The camera has clear visibility, but the sensors are useless. The rear "side" view are not on the side at all, they are on the edge of the back bumper... and only signal when things are within 18 inches! The rear view only signal at 3'9"
The camera seems to be off center a bit and that makes it difficult to figure out where the car really is in relation to the view you are given.
Does anyone else think that the parking assist is a piece of junk? My son's company car is a simple Ford Fusion and his parking assist is much clearer and better than this Lexus that I own! I am really disappointed.

litzdog911

I disagree. I think the backup camera and park assist feature work great on our 2015 RX450h. Very happy with these features.

Raeanj

Guidelines and rear cross traffic alert would be awesome. My 2010 fusion had both.

TechNut

You can adjust the sensitivity settings in the menu.

They didn't remove the lines for 2015. Our 2013 doesn't have them either. Our 2015 Lexus ES does have them but frankly they don't really do that much to help, but I do like the idea of having them. I would bet it will be on the next gen since Lexus has added it to other products in their lineup.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I find the camera not as helpful without the guideline. I use to drive a 2010 Prius that had guiding line and the camera was actually straight in the center and not off to the side. I don't really need the camera as other cars I own do not have them. I rather have the option of not paying for it.

BertL

I doubt that will be an option here in the US much longer, given NHTSA will require most US cars to have backup cameras within another couple years. IIRC when that law was passed a while back, increased cost to base vehicles was estimated at something less than $150 -- even less if the vehicle already had an in-dash video/infotainment system, to save an estimated 25% of the something like 200 backup deaths/year where most are unfortunately children with their parents at the wheel.

For me, I always want a backup camera and miss it A LOT on even my little SLK that has the oddest front/back led & beeping sensor system in it's place. It's the piece-of-mind knowing some little something is not out of sight below the bottom of my rear window (child, dog, shopping cart, etc.) I personally look forward to having guide lines. Rental cars I've had with them seemed to help me judge distance better with some of the visual oddities produced by camera wide-angle lenses -- especially as I drive multiple mfgr cars.

TechNut

Odd, the 2010 Prius I traded in for this ES in March didn't have the guidelines and it was mounted well to the left of center. Ours was a March 2010 purchase - although it seems odd they would have changed that during the same model year.

FLYCT

The RX with a backup camera is better than nothing BUT;

After only owning our RX450h for 4 days I can tell you the backup camera that my 2014 Ford F-150 I traded in was far superior. The F150 was brighter, had less much distorted and had much better resolution. The ford also had guidelines which worked very well when backing into our winding driveway. Park assist adds no value backing up our winding driveway but helps in parking lots when maneuvering between tight spots.

It's impossible to use the RX backup camera for guidance backing up our driveway.

Our F150 had another cool feature. It would tilt so you could see hitch ball alignment when backing up to a trailer.

HiggsBosun

Its not like this would be a first for Toyota. I have a 2013 Avalon that has a brighter back up camera and it has the guidelines. I have found them to be remarkably helpful. Without them you gave to use the mirrors a lot more for backing up.
The Avalon also has mirrors that not only tilt when going int reverse, they also turn in slightly giving you a better view of what is directly adjacent to the vehicle.

nutella

Yeah, my wife hates the backup camera on our RX 2015. Useless for alignment as it is so off centre. When I test drove the GX, it had a backup camera with guides that turned to show where you would end up while backing up. Should have put that in the RX... At least the RX is small enough that I only use the camera to see how close I am to the car behind me when parking.

justin1203

I feel like I'm lucky when reading so many comments here.

I have a 2010. Screen is clear, bright, and in full color. No guidelines but is centered as far as I can tell. Sure seems like something changed in the latter years.

BertL

Yes, my rear backup camera also met my expectations (not my desire) upon delivery of my special-ordered 2013 RX450h.

Unlike some perhaps, I have owned Lexus vehicles since 1994, so have a bit of experience with the brand, and 3 gens of new RX purchases under my belt. I'd also say I'm quite the research hound before making most major purchases unlike some owners appear to be on these forums -- some that can even afford (unlike me) to make $50K+ purchases as they appeared to have stopped by a car lot and purchase on a whim, then come onto this forum to complain about something that is just-the-way-it-is. So be that.

IMHO, Lexus has never had the most number or the latest gizmos compared to their competition, nor have they have tended to put a significant number of changes I found of greater significance in the single mid-life refresh of a particular model generation. Again IMHO, Lexus has focused in the past on perhaps reliability and/or serviceability first with minor tweaks YTY, vs taking say the German approach that I've encountered purchasing new BMW and MBZ in that same timeframe, more continually rippling later technologies into each MY for most of their models. IMHO, "the Germans" don't have the "single mid-life" refresh approach I've seen with Lexus in the past 20+ years, and seem to more continually make tweaks year-to-year until a new gen is introduced to mix everything up including body and interior styling -- but of course, any of us could debate that German approach may introduce less reliability and even higher price points because of the more constant changes. It's a trade-off the mfgr and we as consumers have to ponder.

When I decided to purchase a 2012/2013 RX450h (long story -- you can find other threads with my posts on that), I knew I was getting basically a 2010 with a few tweaks, not a new generation vehicle where my expectations would be that Lexus should pull out more of the stops (like if I bought a 4th Gen 2016, vs a 3rd Gen 2015 that IMHO is a slightly tweaked newly-built 2013). Like many, I elected to buy a mid-life refresh 2013 RX, so I'm not dissing any 3rd Gen owners in my comments! Sure, I'd love to have backup guidelines on my 2013, but I didn't expect them from my research before my first test drive, or when ordering my 2012 RX450h and waiting nearly 10 months it took my 2013 to arrive. It seems I'm perhaps in the minority attempting to understand small details like this before I order or take delivery of an automobile compared to others (or even specifics I spent 2 hours researching this morning to replace a 11 YO microwave oven that finally crapped out last night.) Each vehicle mfgr prioritizes what they provide in their models and MY changes differently than others. OK. Whatever. My point IMHO is: Folks, we can complain about features and our desires not being there in a particular MY, but it's also up to us as consumers to know what we are buying before we sign on the dotted line, and weigh if the negatives outweigh the positives before we sign our name on the line. In my case, that's how I ended up with a 2013 RX450h -- sufficiently clear color backup display, slightly off-center, with no guidelines, but that does its basic job for me every time I backup. I know from not having any backup camera on my 2014 MBZ, it is a personal requirement I have one on every future ride, and guidelines are a preference, but likely not a personal deal-breaker for my next ride.

OK, thanks for listening. I feel better getting that off my chest after having held it in for months.