Toys4RJill

We were out looking at cars today. Husband points something out interesting. Then I start to notice big time.

2002 Lexus ES no door mounted defog vents
2007 Lexus ES door mounted defog vents presence
2012 Lexus ES no door mounted defog vents
2019 Lexus ES door mounted defog vents back

So I wanted to make a shout out as there seems to be this theme by some members in that Lexus interiors are not as good as they once were. As we looked around today, not one Mercedes Benz vehicle has this small detail. None at Toyota. None at Audi BMW, just one in the outgoing 6 series.

As we look more, the LS500, RX350 get the door mounted vents. We further look, nothing in the S-class.

Anyways, all of my cars have the dash mounted vents. My 4Runner is nicely integrated into the A/C vent, but our cars are just sitting on top of the dash and look crappy.

So anyone ever notice this detail? Maybe you don’t care or maybe you do. Thoughts? Kudos for Lexus to bring it back after deleting it in the last gen ES. Was added in the new RX.

Any new cars still do this? Or just a Lexus thing.

Sulu

All cars (please correct me if I am wrong) have vents aimed at the front side windows. Some cars have the vents on the doors; some cars have the vents on the top of the dashboard but aimed at the side windows.

As these pictures show, the location of the side window vent is dictated by the style and location of the dashboard: If the A-pillar is forward of dashboard so that the A-pillar would not block the airflow from a dashboard-mounted vent, the vent is on the dashboard, otherwise it is on the door.

2007 ES, with the A-pillar in line with the dashboard and the vent on the door:



2016 ES, with the A-pillar forward of the dashboard and the vent on the dashboard:



2019 ES, with the A-pillar in line with the dashboard and the vent on the door:


All pictures courtesy of NetCarShow.com

I could not find a good picture of the dashboard of the 2002-era ES.

SW17LS

They are taken out of the door and put on the top corners of the dash as a cost cutting measure. They work better when they're in the doors.

2012 ES has the same door panels as the 2007 ES, where they were taken off was the 2013 ES.

Toys4RJill

Yes. A cost cutting measure for sure. A lot of GM cars had them in the door, the 90s Cadillac STS has them among others. S was very surprised that not one modern day Mercedes Benz has them.