situman

Not sure what I'm looking at. Is it the blandness?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Missing right tailpipe but still putting the opening there.

mmarshall

Well, like I mentioned earlier, that's what they said in public...on the Ion, they tried to pass the center-stack gauges off as a safety move....for gauge-visibility. I know some opinions here may differ, but I'm not convinced. To me it screams simplicity and cost-cutting.

The thermoplastic panels, though, and the unique spin-off transmission filter were excellent ideas. I owned a 1999 Saturn SL2 that I loved (after they had quieted the 1.9L four down after the noisy early-90s models). Those plastic side-panels did cost the company extra, but they shrugged off dents, dings, and corrosion like no sheet-metal panels possibly can. They could also be attached and detached from the car's space-frame rather easily by undoing a few clips. One of the older Saturn tricks at auto shows was for a Saturn rep to beat the side of the car with a baseball bat, or to kick a soccer-ball into it at high speed....and show everyone how it is dent-proof.

The only flies in the ointment with them were that they weren't particularly well soundproofed on the road, the fact that the special, mirror-like waterborne paint jobs (which allowed the paint to flex back and forth with the panels) could be easily damaged even if the panels themselves couldn't, and the wide panel-gaps needed for expansion/contraction of the plastic palls in heat and cold.

Inside the SL-series, though there was, or course, a lot of plastic, the only real sign of cost-cutting was the cheap round plastic horn-buttons on the steering wheel spokes instead of a proper horn-pad in the middle.

pavelekPL

From my own experience:
08 Lexus IS250: The leather in the rear side panels is not the same as in the front side panels. Actually it's not even leather, just some material that imitates it. I missed that during my inspection of the car, and if i didn't, i would probably not be driving a Lexus now.

Also not to long ago i got a 2016 IS300 loaner, and noticed that the passenger seat is now only an 8-way adjustable seat, whereas 2nd gen offered 10-way adjustable seats for both, a driver and a passenger.

SW17LS

Doesn't make sense. The dash still needs two molds for LHD and RHD. On cars with the IP in front of the steering wheel they reuse the same IP regardless of what side its on...whether the mold is a small change or a major change, the cost to design and press two molds is the same.

Sulu

Was the Saturn Ion even offered in a RHD version?

SW17LS

I doubt it...

mmarshall

Any of them that were sold in the British/Australian/Japanese markets, of course, would have been RHD. Saturn DID, in the 1990s, offer a RHD version of the SL-series wagon for postal-use by mail-carriers (I remember it), but I couldn't find any hard statistics either way on whether the Ion also offered one....perhaps not, because the Ion did not have a wagon-version.

SW17LS

But the Ion was never sold in any of these markets. It was made exclusively in the US and sold only in North America as far as I can find. So since they didn't manufacture a RHD version the center gauge pod was clearly not to reduce costs when manufacturing a RHD dashboard

SW17LS

Some of that stuff is a little dubious. Especially "higher quality waterfall dashboard layout". Going to a horizontal style dashboard and away from a vertical style dashboard is not a cost cutting or quality measure lol, it's simply a styling choice.

The "damped ashtray" is gone because the car no longer has an ashtray at all, which no Lexus has and many other cars don't have either. Most people don't smoke anymore.

The location and integration of the start button is again not a cost cutting measure, it's an ergonomic and styling choice.

The 3IS is a really different feel than the 2IS, but IMHO a lot of that is made up for with a much better platform that results in a car that's a lot better to drive.

JDR76

While I don't agree with your total list - for example you can still get wood trim, and I see the removal of engine covers as a good thing, not a bad one, you do have some valid points, such as the loss of interior LED lighting. Many of the things you cited are just design decisions and not cost cutting.

However, you should remember a lot of new features were added. It wasn't all take-aways. For example, things like adaptive variable suspension, LED headlights/fog lights, VGRS, 8 speed auto, and a 60/40 split rear seat were all made available or standard.

sears1234

99 Lexus GS is my first Lexus, and I felt it was so good.
I bought a 06 GX later, it was very impressive.

Then I bought 07 ES super luxury, 10 RX 450H, and 12 CT (I like hybrid technology), oh my, these three cars are full of dashboard and rear rattle problems in hot or cold weather, and the "leather" felt so hard in low temperature. (comparing with previous GS and GX)

I brought them into Lexus Bellevue, the technicians told me it's because the materials, they cannot fix the rattle completely, and suggest me to turn on the radio to compensate it.

These issues push me away from Lexus completely.

SW17LS

I've said this a long time. The lower end transverse engine FWD Lexus lines (the ES, RX and especially the dreadful CT) are not the same as the better cars, such as your GS and your GX you had. Not to mention those cars were in that low period of Lexus and Toyota when it came to quality, etc. The new RX seems to be very solid, but even it doesn't have the same solidity as the higher end Lexus vehicles.

Once you're in that higher end and used to that its hard to go back.

evident

I may agree with some of your points but there's No way in hell i'd pick a 2IS over a 3IS. the 3IS is a much better car all around. just the addition of the fold down rear seats makes it a winner over the 2IS. The interior has a much nicer layout as well. I do wish there was LED lighting on the inside and the removal of cooled seats in the 14 was an obvious cost cut.

chromedome

The 2IS might have luxo bits that are missing on later cars but I'd rather take the current Lexus lineup any day. That waterfall console IMHO looks dated on all the models Lexus used it on because the Camry and Corolla also had it. I much prefer the current horizontal LFA-inspired layout, it might look stark in some colors but it looks classy.

Missing exhaust tips drive me nuts. The China-market TSX and TLX has a 2.0 liter variant with one exhaust tip and a black semicircle covering the other. Hideous. Luckily the ES200 uses the same rear bumper as the ES300h with the exhaust hidden from view.