Where do you put your sunglasses?
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 25
Likes: 1
From: Ga.
After trying a few different locations I have gone with placing my sunglasses in the tray that sits atop the "voluminous" (hi Anita
) center console. The key to success in that location... make sure you ease the door down so you don't mistakenly crush them if they aren't sitting as they should.
Pole Position
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 2,145
Likes: 960
From: Toronto, ON
I am really surprised, given all the advances in automotive technology and comfort & convenience features, that having a decent place to store sunglasses is so baffling to the designers, that it leaves them drooling on their computer screens. At the end of a drive, I don't need my sunglasses to orbit the moon and be recovered in a fiery splashdown the next day, just a convenient nook is all it takes but that just seems too much to ask.
I've done pretty much all the things other people have said, the flip holder, the bracket on the visor, the cup holder, a glasses case, the door pocket, all a bit annoying.
My '10 RX has the exact same flip open holder that came in my two previous Toyotas (07 Camry in the top center and 04 Sienna above the door), and they remain barely useful. First off, if you use curved glasses they don't fit, even straight ones don't fit well sometimes. Second, push the door to open, position glasses, close door, reverse steps to remove. PITA! OK, a small one, but still... especially if you need to grab or store them while driving at dawn or dusk.
All it would take is a simple cylinder shaped compartment located conveniently anywhere on the dash or door. Some cloth ridges to keep them from rattling around or getting scuffed, stick them in, pull them out. No solid rocket boosters required.
I've done pretty much all the things other people have said, the flip holder, the bracket on the visor, the cup holder, a glasses case, the door pocket, all a bit annoying.
My '10 RX has the exact same flip open holder that came in my two previous Toyotas (07 Camry in the top center and 04 Sienna above the door), and they remain barely useful. First off, if you use curved glasses they don't fit, even straight ones don't fit well sometimes. Second, push the door to open, position glasses, close door, reverse steps to remove. PITA! OK, a small one, but still... especially if you need to grab or store them while driving at dawn or dusk.
All it would take is a simple cylinder shaped compartment located conveniently anywhere on the dash or door. Some cloth ridges to keep them from rattling around or getting scuffed, stick them in, pull them out. No solid rocket boosters required.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,676
Likes: 18
From: So California
Personally I think it's simply the way Lexus (mis)prioritized the need for a sunglasses holder in the 3rdGen RX US Marketplace. It wasn't overlooked, as countries without SOS have a sunglasses holder above the rearview mirror. Now, as I've said before, it can be debated if even that space is wide and deep enough for Maui Jim's and other wraparound styles some of us have. It simply appears to me that Lexus sorta "cheaped-out" on the 3rd Gen for the US Market, and elected to put SOS in that space rather than have it somewhere else. Was that an oversight or a legitimate prioritized design decision, we here will never know and could debate it ad infinatum. What does amaze me is that given how Lexus seems focused on the US market in much of their designs, and the percentage of the global market the US represents to them in sales, Lexus seemed to miss how important big sunglasses are to many of the consumers here, and regressed in their 3rdGen design. It's one of the things I'm interested in seeing if Lexus' "pursuit of perfection" in fact puts back (or improves) in the 4th Gen around the corner. 
...although, FWIW, BMW went through a similar challenge with lack of usable cup holders for years, that we here in the US take for granted. (From what I've read -- don't know it as fact) cup holders of any substance and in usable locations were not seen as a big of a deal in the European market, and its why it took years to have anything that was sturdy enough to handle "large" size cups put into the cabin that are so common here in the US. My 2009 3-Series still couldn't manage a "Big Gulp" size if I had tried to put one in, and I wouldn't have trusted even a "large" without putting a hand on it to avoid it tipping over around a corner or anything except a very slow and smooth stop. It's a good thing I never drink in my rides, and when I do, it's bottled water with a cap on a road trip to this day.
...although, FWIW, BMW went through a similar challenge with lack of usable cup holders for years, that we here in the US take for granted. (From what I've read -- don't know it as fact) cup holders of any substance and in usable locations were not seen as a big of a deal in the European market, and its why it took years to have anything that was sturdy enough to handle "large" size cups put into the cabin that are so common here in the US. My 2009 3-Series still couldn't manage a "Big Gulp" size if I had tried to put one in, and I wouldn't have trusted even a "large" without putting a hand on it to avoid it tipping over around a corner or anything except a very slow and smooth stop. It's a good thing I never drink in my rides, and when I do, it's bottled water with a cap on a road trip to this day.
CL Community Team
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,423
Likes: 201
From: US
When I got the GS I was wondering where to keep the shades too. Then I found a reasonable sweet spot - the door pocket. When we got the RX, I tried the same one but my arm was a bit too short 
My wife keeps hers in the small space where the arm rest is. Not my favorite part of the car for sure. I think a case in the center console is what I would do.
My wife keeps hers in the small space where the arm rest is. Not my favorite part of the car for sure. I think a case in the center console is what I would do.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 1,676
Likes: 18
From: So California
Such a fashion statement and I bet a visual compliment to go with your Matador Red. Beats the socks off my using the rather massive brown hard case that came with my pair of Maui Jim's, and that I store out-of-sight inside the center console.
Too funny. Thanks for that first thing this morning.
Beats the socks off my using the rather massive brown hard case that came with my pair of Maui Jim's, and that I store out-of-sight inside the center console.Too funny. Thanks for that first thing this morning.