SW17LS

I think in this situation one must separate cost with value. Something is not necessarily a better value just because it’s cheaper. Since you plan to keep the car so long, you’re going to get more value out of the new car IMO. You’ll have the latest tech, the latest styling, the latest performance tweaks and it will stay a current and enjoyable car longer than the used one will.

For instance I leased an outgoing generation LS and am considering an outgoing generation S Class. I wouldn’t have done either of those things if I were going to keep it 15 years. I would have waited and gotten the new model.

When it’s just a 3 year commitment, that’s one thing. But 15 years is a long time to be committed to a car and I would start that out with the best car vs the cheapest car.

natnut

Silver/Black, Fsport and Navigation sound like very common and popular options. You soldiered on with the same car for years, what's another six months?

Gekko

Finding a used local 2021 in 6 months will be virtually impossible let alone in my specific configuration. How many people dump a new car 6 months or less after buying it? Even the loaners are kept for longer and typically are not F Sport with Navigation.

dassboot

It is not the feature of Apple Car play alone it is fact that Apple Car Play is part of a system that requires 4G vs 3G and Toyota was informed in 2014 that 3G would be phased out and continued to manufacture expensive cars under the Lexus line up 2017 with 3G. When it became a competitive loss not to offer AirPlay in 2018, they made the switch then silently, never telling the public that 4G was now integrated 4G was not the selling point, the CarPlay addition was even being overrated. Older 3G owners and new owners buying used 3G vehicles, which have no upgradability, because their pee-brain engineering staff, could not and did not implement a decision, after the initial notification of a future phase-out, to modify 2015, 2016, and 2017 systems which had Lexus Enform and Lexus Enform Remote, to a system that could be upgraded to 4G or 5G when the owner needed to keep what they initially paid for after a phase-out was implemented so the resale vehicle's value was not diminished further by obsolescence. Now with 2021, there is touch-screen 4G system "still not upgradeable" as most Lexus owners do not know why upgradeability is a sound a and intelligent engineering decision in this regard, so now that 5G is out, are you going to throw out $90,000 plus for your dream car in the Lexus line with all the bells and whistles or even buy a used version at a little less, and find out it will be phased out soon and is still not upgradeable as the upgradable option that should have been implemented in 2014, still has not been done? This is my point.

SW17LS

Upgradability is not common in the automotive world. You are just now seeing carmakers adopt this ability. While I’m quick to jump on Lexus for not adopting tech faster, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that they would have made their systems upgradable several years ago. Nobody was doing that. Most carmakers still aren’t in MY 2021.

You just don’t buy a Lexus for tech. If tech is important to you, you should buy something else.

Toys4RJill

I think you have made a pretty strong argument and a very passionate one. I think Toyota had started installing 4G as early as 2016 with their new TNGA stuff....I am not sure if Carplay is connected to 4G...

With that said, I also see the argument that a brand new redesign should have all the new stuff, but mid cycle does not always get upgrades....have other companies done similar upgrades from 3G-4G in the mid cycle for some platforms? I’d be interested to know.

geko29

Only by virtue of your phone having 4G. The infotainment does not have to have any cellular connection at all. Our Audi has one, but it's insanely expensive so ours isn't active, and Android Auto works fantastically.

dassboot

I bought mine for sound engineering and in this area they have failed. The infotainment portion is not the point here it is a system that no longer works which includes safety features.
These are the features that will no long work Period! That I care about:Your 2017 Lexus IS 350 offers available Lexus Enform services that rely on access to 3G wireless networks.

As of October 31, 2022, at 11:59PM CST, the following available Lexus Enform subscription services will be terminated:
• Lexus Enform Safety Connect®1 including Automatic Collision Notification, Enhanced Roadside Assistance, Emergency Assistance Button and Stolen Vehicle Locator.

• Lexus Enform Remote2 including Remote Engine Start/Stop, Door Lock/Unlock, Vehicle Finder, Guest Driver Monitor, Vehicle Status and Alerts, Key Fob Remote Start, and Integration with Alexa® and The Google Assistant.

• Lexus Enform Destination Assist3 including 24-hour live response center agents.

• Lexus Enform Service Connect4 including Vehicle Health Report, Vehicle Alerts and Maintenance Alerts.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Lexus Enform won't be dropped other than for these model years. A new generation of Enform (or a new name) will be offered with the same (if not more) features than current

gengar

This isn't the issue and undermines your argument. 5G isn't the problem for 4G obsolescence; it's how long the 4G spectrum/frequency bands the current Lexus systems can use are going to be supported by whatever network operator Lexus is willing to contract with.

I get that you're here primarily to vent, but you still haven't answered the simple question I posed previously - what's the acceptable cutoff for you for technological obsolescence? Because, as already discussed, Audi was the first to market with 4G-compatible systems (MY2015) but that was for just one model (the A3), and only three MYs before every Lexus except for the GX became 4G-compatible. So in terms of first-to-market vs. Lexus, we're talking about a differential of less than three years here for nearly all models.

If a less than three-year range for technological obsolescence is going to be a deal-killer for a car purchase, I'm not sure any car will be satisfactory.

SW17LS

I mean, I like those features too but they don’t make or break my experience with the car. If that kind of tech would do that for me, I wouldn’t get a Lexus.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

a simple solution on the connectivity issue would be to let the car connect via wifi to one's own phone hotspot. then the car doesn't care what 3G,4G,5G is in use. what am i missing?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

incredible toyota has models as recent as 2019 still using 3G

easier to find a unicorn.

Toys4RJill

Do you happen to know when the other Audi's were upgraded to 4G?

That will probably comes faster than expected.

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

I could see the long distance remote start being an issue. If the car is parked in the mall parking lot and you wanted to start it using the app, it wouldn't be able to receive the signal if the vehicle itself wasn't connected.